SUNY Cortland Athletics

PHOTOS: Dave Urick (53) making a tackle in 1968 game; Neer Masika (56) celebrating in 1996; Dan Pitcher (9) throwing a pass in 2011 (photos: Cortland Yearbook, Cortland Standard, Darl Zehr Photography)


By Fran Elia, Cortland Sports Information Director

The 2019 Cortaca Jug rivalry game between Cortland and Ithaca College will be played Nov. 16 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., with the schools hoping to break the Division III football attendance record of 37,355 set by Minnesota schools St. Thomas and St. John’s at Target Field in Minneapolis in September 2017. Currently more than 30,000 tickets have been sold.

General Ticket Sales Web Site

Each game week as the big event nears we’ll be taking a look back at some of the top Cortland memories from past Cortaca Jug games.

Flashbacks from the entire series:
1988 Red Dragons Win "Upstate NY Game of the Century"
Botched Field Goal Turns Into Cortaca Jug’s Most Memorable Play in 2014 Red Dragon Victory
Red Dragons Beat Undefeated and Defending National Champ Bombers in Wild 1992 Contest
Cortland Wins Thriller at Ithaca in 1997 for First Road Win vs. Bombers in 30 Years
Cortland Pulls Off Two of Cortaca’s Largest Comebacks in 1999 and 2010
Red Dragons Work Overtime for Back-to-Back Wins in 2005 and 2006
Late Heroics Lead to Unexpected Road Wins in 2003 and 2013
Cortland's Three Largest Cortaca Jug Wins (1968, 1996, 2011)
Goal-Line Stands Lead Red Dragons to 2002 and 2012 Cortaca Victories
Cortland Wins Inaugural Cortaca Jug game in 1959

“Honorable Mentions” that almost made our list:
 
2015: Cortland won 11-8 at Ithaca to clinch the Empire 8 crown
1982: Cortland rallied from a 17-7 deficit at home behind TD runs from Mike Bowe and Dave Cook to win 21-17 to end Ithaca’s nine-game Cortaca streak, prompting one of the few photos ever of players celebrating with the Jug after the game

This week’s flashback:

Cortland's Three Largest Cortaca Jug Wins

Cortland and Ithaca played 16 times in the “pre-Cortaca Jug” era from 1930-58, with Cortland winning nine times and tying on three other occasions. All nine of Cortland’s victories were by double-figure margins, including five by at least 25 points.
 
Since the Cortaca Jug has been on the line, however, Cortland’s victories in the series have typically been nail-biters. The Red Dragons have won the Jug 24 times, with 18 of those wins by seven points or less and only three by more than 20 points.
 
All three of those blowouts came with help from Cortland players with eventual NFL ties. Rod Verkey graduated in 1969, was signed by the Atlanta Falcons and played on the team’s taxi squad for two seasons. R-Kal Truluck was a senior in the fall of 1996 and became the first-ever Cortland player to appear in a regular-season NFL game. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals from 2002-05. And the 2011 squad featured tight end Tyreek Burwell, who later transferred to the University of Cincinnati and was an offensive lineman for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts from 2015-18, and quarterback Dan Pitcher, who is currently an assistant coach with the Cincinnati Bengals.
 
1968 (Cortland 34, Ithaca 13)
 
Cortland picked up its third straight win versus the Bombers with a 34-13 home triumph on Oct. 5, 1968. The Red Dragons’ starting lineup featured three C-Club Hall of Famers: Verkey, who started at both tight end and defensive left end; linebacker Dave Urick, who as a lacrosse coach led Hobart to 10 straight NCAA Division III titles from 1980-89 and coached 23 years at Georgetown from 1990-2012; and safety Stanley Kowalski, who is posthumously being inducted into the C-Club Hall of Fame this weekend.
 
Cortland finished with 490 yards of total offense – 246 passing and 244 rushing. Don Congdon completed 12-of-19 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns, while Verkey, fighting injuries after an All-America season the previous year, caught six passes for 73 yards and intercepted a pass on defense.
 
Fullback Larry Bucchioni rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. Earl Rodgers caught three passes, including a 55-yarder for a score, and defensive back Gary Feger intercepted two passes – one of which set up a short Bucchioni TD run for the game’s final score in the fourth quarter.
 
1996 (Cortland 41, Ithaca 13)
 
It didn’t look like a blowout early on for Cortland, which was trying to claim the Jug for the first time since 1992. In front on an estimated 7,500 fans at Davis Field, the Red Dragons led 7-0 at halftime courtesy of a Jeff Scutt blocked punt that Jeremy Kierst returned 15 yards for a touchdown.
 
The lead grew to 20-0 in the third on a Romel Griggs 9-yard TD run and Scutt’s 35-yard return of a fumble forced by a Patrick Bond sack. Ithaca closed the score to 20-6 after three quarters, and the teams traded scores in the first six minutes of the fourth – Dan D’Accurzio scoring on a 1-yard run for the Red Dragons and Jeff Erne catching Neal Weidman’s second TD pass of the afternoon. Cortland pulled away in the final five minutes on Rob Hale’s 5-yard TD pass to Kevin Long and D’Accurzio’s second 1-yard scoring rush to make the final score 41-13.
 
Ithaca held a 246-201 advantage in passing yardage, but Cortland’s defense limited the Bombers to 35 net rushing yards on 26 attempts compared to 123 rushing yards for the Red Dragons. Young finished with a game-high nine tackles and Truluck’s six tackles featured three tackles for loss, including two sacks, along with a fumble recovery. Jason Pettis had an interception as well as Cortland won the turnover battle, 4-1.
 
“Our offensive line was really outstanding,” said Hale afterward to the Cortland Standard in reference to tackles Pete Skutnik and Mike Nicot, guards Joe Schwarz and Brian McAvan, and center Pat Lalley. “That’s really where we dominated the game was up front.”
 
2011 (Cortland 27, Ithaca 3)
 
Like the 1996 game, the 2011 contest at Ithaca’s Butterfield Stadium did not shape up as a blowout early. Ithaca scored its lone points on Andrew Rogowski’s 39-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but Cortland tallied the game’s final 27 points for the 27-3 win. It was Cortland’s largest road win versus Ithaca since a 28-0 victory in 1955, four years before the Jug debuted.
 
Pitcher, a graduate student in his final season, led the Cortland offense both through the air and on the ground. The Cortland native completed 23-of-36 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions or sacks and ran 11 times for 94 yards. Burwell, Mike Humphrey and John Babin each caught TD passes – Burwell’s TD catch in the second quarter was his lone reception for the season – and Kordel McInnis caught seven passes for 73 yards. Bronson Greene closed the scoring on a 2-yard TD run with less than two minutes left, and Chad Stalter intercepted a pass in the end zone as time expired to preserve the 24-point margin.
 
“The lanes were there today,” Pitcher said to the Cortland Standard about his big rushing day. “We did know they drop a lot of guys sometimes, and they also blitz. It was one of those things where it was kind of in the moment. I stepped up and was able to make some big runs.”
 
Cortland’s defense sacked Ithaca quarterback Jason Hendel eight times, led by Mike Wilson, Jesse Scanna and Joe Kirchner with 1.5 apiece. Six of those sacks came during one Ithaca drive midway through the fourth quarter to help seal the victory. Steve Gruber made a team-high six tackles and Cody Allen registered five tackles and an interception as Cortland outgained Ithaca, 417-226, in total offense.
 
“It was a whole team effort,” senior linebacker and captain Bill Smith said to the Cortland Standard afterwards. “No one person did a lot, everyone did it together, and that’s the type of defense you want to have. We were strong up front, strong at linebackers, we were all filling our holes and we were filling in for each other, and that’s the thing you love.”

Coverage Links:
1996 Box Score
2011 Box Score
2011 Game Recap
"Probable Starters" for 1968 Game (see below)

Video - Courtesty of Ithaca College Television:
1996 Highlights - Ithaca's "Gridiron Report" weekly recap show with Ithaca head coach Mike Welch and current ESPN anchor and Ithaca grad Kevin Connors
2001 Highlights - from Ithaca College Television's broadcast