SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland (0-0, 0-0 NJAC) vs. Buffalo St. (0-0, 0-0 NJAC)
Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011; 1 p.m.; SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex; Cortland, N.Y.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)
TICKETS: $6 adults, $5 students with ID (SUNY Cortland students free with ID), Children 12 and under Free

Follow the game online:
WXHC Radio Broadcast
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THE MATCHUP: Cortland, ranked 13th nationally by D3football.com, opens its 2011 campaign by hosting Buffalo State. The teams will meet as members of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) for the last time – the Bengals are moving to the Empire 8 in 2012.

THE SERIES: Cortland and Buffalo State have played every year since 1984. Cortland has won 18 of the 27 meetings on the field. Buffalo State's lone win vs. Cortland since 2001 was a 27-20 triumph in Cortland in 2005. Last season in Cortland, the Red Dragons posted a 35-7 victory as Justin Autera rushed for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Dan Pitcher threw a TD pass to Mike Humphrey and Bill Smith returned a fumble one yard for a score. Buffalo State's score came on a Ryan Lehotsky TD pass to Rob Smith in the third quarter. Cody Allen led Cortland with 10 tackles and Matthew Krumm made 10 tackles for the Bengals.

CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland comes off a 2010 campaign in which it finished 10-2 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Div. III tournament. The Red Dragons finished as tri-champions in the NJAC, along with Montclair St. and Rowan, with an 8-1 league mark and earned the league's NCAA automatic berth via tiebreaker.

Graduate student quarterback Dan Pitcher and junior tailback Justin Autera return to highlight Cortland's offense. Pitcher, a first team All-NJAC selection, passed for 1,757 yards and 18 touchdowns last fall. He established a school record by throwing a TD pass in 11 straight games (a streak that ended vs. Ithaca in the final week of the regular season). Autera, the NJAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, rushed for 1,380 yards and 18 touchdowns, caught 32 passes for 220 yards and two scores and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

The offense also features five offensive linemen who started at least five games last year. Senior tackle Billy Castro was a first team All-NJAC honoree last fall. Senior center Corey Hymes and senior tackle Matt Pitcher, like Castro, enter their third seasons as starters. Pitcher played the first six games last fall before suffering a season-ending injury. Junior guards Randy Bloom and Mike Wutzer started eight and five games, respectively, last season.

Junior wide receiver Mike Humphrey finished with 29 catches for 326 yards and four scores last season. Senior Jake Burgess made 18 catches in 2010, but a preseason injury may keep him out of the lineup as the 2011 campaign opens.

Returning defensive leaders include senior linebackers Cody Allen and Bill Smith, senior cornerback D.J. Romano, junior free safety Phil Bossman and senior defensive end Connor Tompkins. Allen, a first team All-NJAC choice, has led Cortland in tackles each of the last two seasons, including 105 last fall. Smith finished second on the squad with 79 tackles in 2010.

Romano totaled two interceptions and a team-high 15 pass breakups last season. He enters this year with 11 career interceptions, four shy of tying the school record of 15 held by Jeff Beck from 2004-07. Bossman made 34 tackles and broke up three passes last season, while Tompkins finished with 52 tackles, including a team-best 10.5 for losses.

Senior placekicker Marc Corrado and junior punter Pete Furey both return after All-NJAC campaigns. Corrado made 46-of-48 point-after kicks and 10-of-15 field goals. Furey, who is also slated to start at cornerback this season, averaged 35.8 yards per punt. He pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line 18 times compared to just four touchbacks.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 15th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 90-52 (.639) ranks him second at Cortland in career victories and first in 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...BUFFALO STATE: Buffalo State finished 4-6 overall and 4-5 in the NJAC in 2010. The Bengals finished strong, however, with wins in their final three games, and scored at least 20 points in eight of their 10 games.

Junior quarterback Ryan Lehotsky passed for 2,100 yards and a school single-season record 23 touchdowns in nine games last season. He completed 57.2 percent of his passes and was intercepted only seven times. The team's returning reception leaders are senior wide receiver Matt Pagano (16 catches, 156 yards, 1 TD) and senior fullback Ben Mauer (10 catches, 130 yards, 3 TD). Ismail Brooks is the top returning rusher with 168 yards and a score on 36 carries in six games.

Seven starters return on defense, led by senior safety Brandon Hodgins. In 10 games last fall, Hodgins made a team-high 78 tackles, including three sacks. Senior linebacker Matthew Krumm and junior linebacker Jordan Boser finished with 73 and 70 tackles, respectively. Boser registered 11 tackles for losses.

Senior Kimani George and junior Steve Phillips return as starters at defensive end. George made 45 tackles, with a team-high five sacks, and Phillips finished with 30 tackles. Senior Kevin Healy and junior Kam Johnson are back as starters at safety along with Hodgins. Healy was fourth on the team with 67 tackles and Johnson recorded 41 stops.

Senior Nick Debbins connected on 34-of-40 PAT kicks and 4-of-5 field goals last year. Sophomore Mike Doherty averaged 26.4 yards per kickoff return with two touchdowns during his freshman campaign.

Jerry Boyes returned to the sidelines as Buffalo State's head coach in 2009 while maintaining his role as athletic director, a position he has held since 1999. Boyes has compiled a 95-76 overall record (.556) in 17 seasons as the Bengals' head coach (1986-2000, 2009-10). He led the program to seven NCAA playoff appearances and three ECAC titles, and was a three-time ECAC Upstate New York Coach of the Year selection. Boyes was a two-time All-America quarterback at Ithaca College and earned a free agent tryout with the Cleveland Browns. He also played basketball and baseball for the Bombers before graduating in 1976. Before coming to Buffalo State, he was the offensive coordinator for Ithaca squads that were a combined 72-18 with three appearances in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Div. III title game. The team won the 1979 national title.

NOTEBOOK:

* WXHC (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com) in Homer will be broadcasting all Cortland games, home and away, for the sixth straight season. Bobby Comstock returns as play-by-play announcer and is joined for the first time this season by former Cortland running back Will Loeb as color commentator. Loeb played three seasons for the Red Dragons from 2007-09 and has worked with Comstock previously in other sports covered by the Cortland Internet Radio network (www.cortlandreddragons.com/radio).

* Cortland has won its last six season openers – last year at Kean, the previous four years versus Morrisville and in 2005 against Brockport. The Red Dragons' last opening-day loss was a 42-26 setback at home to Brockport in 2004.

* 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).

* The Red Dragons have 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).

SCHEDULES/RESULTS:


CORTLAND (0-0, 0-0 NJAC)
    
Sept. 3      * BUFFALO ST.                         1:00
Sept. 17    * KEAN (NJ)                             1:00
Sept. 24    * at Rowan (NJ)                        1:00
Oct. 1        * MORRISVILLE ST.                   7:00
Oct. 8        * at Montclair St. (NJ)               1:00
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

BUFFALO ST (0-0, 0-0 NJAC)

Sept. 3     * at Cortland                               1:00
Sept. 10     at St. John Fisher                       7:00
Sept. 17   * WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST.     12:00
Sept. 24   * at Montclair St. (NJ)                  1:00
Oct. 1      * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)           12:00
Oct. 8      * at Kean (NJ)                              1:00
Oct. 15    * THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY    12:00
Oct. 22    * at Rowan (NJ)                            1:30
Oct. 29    * BROCKPORT                               12:00
Nov. 5     * at Morrisville St.                          12:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS


CORTLAND vs. BUFFALO ST. – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 17-9)

Year                   Winner                   Score                   Site
1984                  Cortland                  30-17                  Buffalo St.
1985                  Cortland                  22-20                  Cortland
1986                  Buffalo St.               18-14                  Buffalo St.
1987                  Cortland                  37-17                  Cortland
1988                  Cortland                  30-7                    Buffalo St.
1989                  Cortland                  25-0                    Cortland
1990                  Cortland                  21-12                  Buffalo St.
1991                  Cortland                  35-0                    Cortland
1992                  Buffalo St.               30-21                  Buffalo St.
1993                  Buffalo St.               45-0                    Cortland
1994                  Buffalo St.               17-10                  Buffalo St.
1995                  Buffalo St.               36-33                  Cortland
1996                  Buffalo St.               15-12                  Buffalo (UB)
1997                  Cortland                  38-9                    Cortland
1998                  Cortland                  58-31                  Buffalo St.
1999                  Buffalo St.               20-17                  Cortland
2000                  Buffalo St.               26-10                  Buffalo St.
2001                  Cortland                  36-7                    Cortland
2002                  Cortland                  28-0                    Buffalo St.
2003                  Cortland                  36-14                  Cortland
2004                  Cortland                  28-14                  Buffalo St.
2005                  Buffalo St.               27-20                  Cortland
2006                  Cortland                  38-20                  Buffalo St.
2007                  Cortland                  30-27                  Cortland
2008                  Cortland                  35-14                  Cortland
2009                  Cortland                  42-13 *                Buffalo St.
2010                  Cortland                  35-7                    Cortland

* victory later vacated - NCAA secondary violation