SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (3-2, 3-2 NJAC) vs. Western Connecticut St. Colonials (0-5, 0-4 NJAC)
Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011; 12 p.m.; Westside Athletic Complex; Danbury, Conn.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)

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THE MATCHUP: Cortland looks to rebound from a one-point loss at Montclair State when the Red Dragons travel to Western Connecticut State in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest. Cortland is 3-2, with its two losses by a combined six points to teams that are both undefeated (Montclair and Kean). The Colonials are looking for their first victory after opening the season 0-5 (0-4 NJAC).


THE SERIES: Cortland has not lost to Western Connecticut in the 10 meetings between the schools. The teams played three times from 1988 to 1990 as well as every year since the Colonials joined the NJAC as a football affiliate member in 2004. Cortland's 26-10 win in Danbury in 2004 was the first-ever NJAC game to not include a New Jersey school.

The closest game in the recent series came in 2007 when Cortland rallied at home for a 27-26 win over the Colonials on a Ray Miles to Eric Hajnos touchdown pass with 12 seconds remaining. Last season in Danbury, Cortland scored 24 points in the second quarter to lead 31-0 at halftime on its way to a 45-0 victory.

Justin Autera and Anthony Giuliano each scored two touchdowns in last year's matchup. Autera scored on 9-yard and 7-yard runs and finished with 18 carries for 95 yards. Giuliano ran for a 73-yard touchdown out of a “wildcat”-type formation and also caught a 28-yard TD pass from Dan Pitcher.

In addition, Tom Lewis blocked a punt that Connor Tompkins returned 15 yards for a score, Marc Corrado kicked a 36-yard field goal and Ray Nichols caught a 16-yard TD pass from Hudson Woodward. Linebacker Cody Allen paced the defense with eight tackles, five solo, and a pass breakup as the Red Dragons held the Colonials to seven yards net rushing and 110 yards of total offense.


CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland rallied from 17 points down late in the third quarter to take the lead, but Montclair kicked a 32-yard field goal with 1:16 remaining and the Red Hawks beat the visiting Red Dragons, 34-33, last Saturday. Down 31-14, Cortland used TD passes from Dan Pitcher to Mike Humphrey and John Babin, and a Marc Corrado 28-yard field goal, to tie the game at 31-31. Cortland then took a 33-31 lead on a safety with 4:56 remaining after a sack by Connor Tompkins and Steve Gruber before Montclair mounted its winning drive.

Pitcher completed 18-of-32 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns. Babin caught six passes for 138 yards and two scores and Humphrey finished with four catches for 47 yards and a score. Bronson Greene rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries and caught three passes for 53 yards. Safety Steven Lenhart recorded nine tackles and a forced fumble, defensive end Vaughn Labor made seven tackles, six solo, and defensive end Joe Kirchner registered a sack and two forced fumbles.

Pitcher has passed for 1,255 yards (251 per game) with 13 touchdowns compared to three interceptions in five games. He has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes (85-of-142). Babin is the team leader with 33 catches for 607 yards and eight touchdowns. Tailbacks Dorian Myles and Bronson Greene have rushed for 314 and 223 yards, respectively. Greene has a team-high five rushing scores.

Corrado has made 5-of-6 field goals, including his last five attempts, 18-of-19 point-after kicks. Pete Furey averages 36.1 yards per punt. Lenhart's 32 tackles are best on the squad, followed by linebacker Bill Smith's 31 stops. Kirchner has totaled three of Cortland's 14 sacks and Furey, also a starting cornerback, leads the team with six pass breakups.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 15th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 93-54 (.633) ranks him second at Cortland in career victories and winning percentage. He was the NJAC Coach of the Year and a finalist for Liberty Mutual National Div. III Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading the Red Dragons to the league title and the NCAA quarterfinals.

MacNeill has guided Cortland to the NCAA playoffs in 1997, 2005, 2008 and 2010. His 2008 squad was honored with the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy and the ECAC Div. III Team of the Year awards. MacNeill is a 1979 Cortland alumnus and played linebacker and defensive tackle from 1975-78. An assistant coach at Division I-AA Villanova University from 1984-1996, MacNeill is Cortland's 11th head coach since the school's modern era of football began in 1924. MacNeill served as linebackers coach at Villanova and was the team's defensive coordinator from 1988-96.


A LOOK AT...WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST. UNIV.: Western Connecticut dropped to 0-5 on the season with a 35-21 loss last Saturday at Morrisville State. The Colonials trailed 14-0 early in the second quarter, but tied the game on freshman quarterback Will Arndt touchdown passes to Mark Seward and Chris Elser. The Mustangs, however, scored the next three touchdowns, while the Colonials finished the scoring on a 4-yard TD run by Elser with 1:34 remaining.

Arndt passed for 142 yards and two touchdowns, but completed only 15-of-40 passes. Seward caught seven passes for 56 yards and Dion Small rushed for 83 yards on 19 carries. Bill Birdsell recorded 17 tackles, including 10 solo stops, and Michael Farnsworth's five tackles featured three for losses.

In its last home game on Sept. 24, Western Connecticut scored 33 points and gained 398 yards of total offense in a 44-33 loss to current NJAC co-leader Kean.

Two freshmen have seen playing time at quarterback for the Colonials this season. Hime Rraci is 48-of-124 (38.7 percent) for 663 yards and four touchdowns, but has been intercepted nine times, while Arndt is 18-of-59 (30.5 percent) for 153 yards and two scores. David Plaza is the top receiver with 14 catches and Small has rushed for 253 yards on 82 carries with two touchdowns. Rraci has three rushing touchdowns and Dave Plakson has caught three TD passes.

Birdsell and Mike Lacaria lead the team with 49 and 44 tackles, respectively. Tyrell Ballard has two interceptions and two pass breakups. Ryan Falaguerra averages 35.7 yards per punt with 8-of-30 inside the 20-yard line. Nicholas Randles is 7-of-9 on PAT kicks and has made his only field goal attempt.

John Burrell is in his 10th season as WCSU's head coach. He has a combined record of 37-58 (.389). The 1992 Middlebury College graduate served as an assistant coach for the Colonials for six seasons, including four as defensive coordinator, before taking over the head coaching reins in 2002.


NOTEBOOK:

* Graduate student Dan Pitcher has thrown at least one TD pass in seven straight games (all five this season and two NCAA games last year) and has TD passes in 18 of his 19 games as a Red Dragon starter (two games in 2009, 11 of 12 in 2010, five in 2011). Pitcher's school-record streak of 11 games with a TD pass ended versus Ithaca last November. His current seven-game streak is now the fourth-best in school history.

* Freshman tailback Bronson Greene earned NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Week honors for the second straight week after rushing 30 times for 118 yards and a touchdown at Montclair State. Greene also caught three passes for 53 yards after taking over for injured starter Dorian Myles. The previous week at home against Morrisville, Greene ran 12 times for 59 yards and four touchdowns. Greene rushed for 3,518 yards, a school record, in his three-year varsity career at Shenendehowa High School.

* Cortland has reached the 400-yard mark in total offense each of the last four games. No Red Dragon squad has accomplished that feat in a season since at least 1984 (single-game team totals from before 1984 are currently not available). Cortland gained 455 yards versus Kean, 406 at Rowan, 506 versus Morrisville and 430 last week at Montclair State).

* Sophomore wide receiver John Babin has 33 receptions for 607 yards and eight touchdowns through five games. The school single-season records in those categories are 68 receptions and 1,089 yards by Steve Ellis in 1994, and 10 TD catches by Eric Hajnos in 2009. (Ellis' totals do not include four catches for 38 yards in an ECAC playoff game that year since the NCAA did not begin recognizing postseason stats in their records until 2002).

* Babin has led Cortland in receptions every game this fall (five vs. Buffalo State, seven each vs. Kean and Morrisville, eight vs. Rowan and six against Montclair) and has reached the 100-yard mark each of the last three weeks. Ellis holds the school single-season record with six 100-yard receiving games in 1994.

* Cortland and Western Connecticut in the top 30 nationally in Division III in the following categories:

CORTLAND:
15th, Rushing Defense, 84.8 yards/game
29th, Passing Efficiency, 154.4 rating
Tied 30th, Fewest Sacks Allowed, 0.8/game
John Babin, 13th, Receiving Yards, 121.4/game
Dan Pitcher, 20th, Passing Efficiency, 160.1 rating

WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST.:
13th, Fewest Sacks Allowed, 0.6/game


* Cortland's has 14 sacks through five games, including two last week at Montclair. Cortland has recorded at least 30 sacks each of the last 10 seasons, including 31 last year and 50 or more in both 2005 and 2006. Cortland's 50 sacks in 2006 were the best nationally in Division III. The Red Dragons set a school record with 52 sacks in 2005 (sacks have been officially tracked at Cortland since 1982).

* Cortland is in its 12th season as a football-only member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). The Red Dragons compete in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) in most of their other sports. Cortland was the first non-New Jersey school to join the NJAC for football, starting in the 2000 season, and has since been joined by Western Connecticut State, Buffalo State, Brockport and Morrisville. Cortland has finished at least tied for first in the NJAC five of the last six years (2005-08, 2010).

Cortland's Weekly Award Winners (game date/opponent in parentheses)

Cody Allen, Sr., Linebacker
D3football.com Team of the Week (Sept. 24 at Rowan)
D3football.com Team of the Week (Special Teams) (Oct. 1 vs. Morrisville St.)

John Babin, So., Wide Receiver
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 3 vs. Buffalo St.)

Pete Furey, Jr., Punter
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 3 vs. Buffalo St.)

Bronson Greene, Fr., Running Back
NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 1 vs. Morrisville St.)
NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 8 at Montclair St.)

Dan Pitcher, Gr., Quarterback
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 24 at Rowan)

Andrew Tolosi, Fr., Cornerback
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 24 at Rowan)


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (3-2, 3-2 NJAC)

Sept. 3      * BUFFALO ST.                         W 28-12
Sept. 17    * KEAN (NJ)                             L 16-21
Sept. 24    * at Rowan (NJ)                        W 31-28
Oct. 1        * MORRISVILLE ST.                   W 55-14
Oct. 8        * at Montclair St. (NJ)               L 33-34
Oct. 15      * at Western Connecticut St.      12:00
Oct. 22      * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)         1:00
Oct. 29      * THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY  1:00
Nov. 5        * at Brockport                           1:00
Nov. 12         at Ithaca                               12:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS

WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST. (0-5, 0-4 NJAC)

Sept. 9          SUNY MARITIME                        L 0-48
Sept. 17      * at Buffalo St.                            L 17-82
Sept. 24      * KEAN (NJ)                                L 33-44
Oct. 1          * at Rowan (NJ)                         L 14-51
Oct. 8          * at Morrisville St.                      L 21-35
Oct. 15        * CORTLAND                              12:00
Oct. 22        * BROCKPORT                            12:00
Oct. 29        * at Montclair St. (NJ)                  2:00
Nov. 5          * at The College of New Jersey     12:00
Nov. 12        * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)          12:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS


CORTLAND vs. WESTERN CONN. ST. – SERIES HISTORY
(Cortland leads 9-0)

Year                   Winner                    Score                Site
1988                  Cortland                  24-21                Cortland
1989                  Cortland                  21-0                  West Conn
1990                  Cortland                  45-14                Cortland
2004                  Cortland                  26-10                West Conn
2005                  Cortland                  26-7                  Cortland
2006                  Cortland                  49-21                West Conn
2007                  Cortland                  27-26                Cortland
2008                  Cortland                  41-14                West Conn
2009                  Cortland                  35-6 **              Cortland
2010                  Cortland                  45-0                  West Conn

** victory later vacated - NCAA secondary violation