GAME #7: Cornell vs. Mansfield University
GAMETIME: Friday, Oct. 31 at 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoelkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2008 RECORDS: Cornell (4-2, 3-1 CSFL); Mansfield (1-2)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 1-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell defeated Mansfield, 35-0, at Karl Van Norman Field on Sept. 27, 2008
THE HEAD COACH: Coach Terry Cullen's record moved to 148-122-7 (.548) after a victory over Army last weekend. Cullen has been a member of the coaching staff since 1964 and officially became the Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football in 2001.
THE CO-HEAD COACH: In August, 2008, it was announced that Bart Guccia would assume a majority of the on-field coaching and gameday decisions for the Big Red. Guccia is in his fourth year with the sprint football team and has posted a 4-2 record (.667) in his new role.
THE MATCH UP: Both teams are coming off of huge wins in their last game. Last weekend, Cornell needed a play in the final minute to overcome an Army deficit, while Mansfield won its first ever CSFL game last weekend against Princeton. In the first ever meeting between Cornell and Mansfield, the Mountaineers literally could not move the ball offensively against the Big Red defense, accumulating just 14 yards of total offense. The 35-0 loss to Cornell earlier in the season was also the Mounties' first ever CSFL game.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS: The Mansfield offense revolves around quarterback Danny Moss. Moss has been an effective passer, completing 30- of-63 passes for 275 yards. He also has thrown two touchdown passes and only one interception. Moss is also third on the team with 58 yards on the ground. Also watch out for Tyler Floyd. The leading rusher for Mansfield, Floyd had a breakout game last weekend against Princeton, where he had 71 yards on 10 rushes, including a long 41-yard touchdown run. One of the few remaining players from the Mansfield Division II varsity team, Soloman Isom, is the defensive catalyst. He leads the Mounties with 29 tackles on the season. Cody Croasdale leads the team with 3.5 sacks and is third on the team with 24.5 tackles.
LAST TIME VS. MANSFIELD: Mansfield University, playing in its first ever CSFL game, could not have prepared for a hungry Cornell team. After losing its opener to Penn, Cornell came back with a dominating 35-0 victory over the Mountaineers. In front of a crowd of 3,100, the quarterback tandem of Zak Dentes and Elliot Corey combined 179 yards in the air, a passing touchdown, and two rushing touchdowns. On its first three drives, the Big Red scored three touchdowns to welcome Mansfield to the CSFL with an early 21-0 deficit. The defense of Cornell would not allow any idea of a comeback as Mansfield had possession of the ball for only 21:06, while racking up a mere 14 yards of total offense and -58 rushing yards. Mansfield only had one first down on the day as the Cornell defense posted 10 tackles for a loss and three sacks. Michael Brennan led the Big Red with 61 reception yards and five catches, while DJ Schiavetta and Timothy Bruhn both had 50 yards on the ground.
THE MOUNTIES' LAST GAME: It was a game for the Mansfield record books, as the Mounties defeated Princeton last weekend to earn its first ever CSFL victory in its first year in the league. Princeton jumped ahead 3-0 in the first quarter, but Mansfield scored 28 unanswered points to win the game 28-3. The highlight of the day was a 41-yard touchdown run from Tyler Floyd that gave Mansfield the 14-3 lead late in the first half. Three different Mounties running backs had a touchdown run. Floyd led the game with 71 rushing yards, while Lucas Bailey also added 61 yards on the ground and a touchdown of his own. Danny Moss had a touchdown pass and 105 yards in the air. Meanwhile, the Princeton offense was stifled by Mansfield. The Mounties only allowed 29 yards on the ground to the Tigers and 153 yards overall. Mansfield had six sacks in the game with three of them coming from Cody Croasdale.
CORNELL'S LAST GAME: Cornell won a very important game last weekend, going on the road and defeating Army, 12-10. The game was scoreless going into halftime before Cornell opened the scoring in the third quarter with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Zak Dentes to Chris LaBerge. Although the extra point was missed, Cornell led 6-0. The Black Knights came charging back in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead in half with a long 42-yard field goal on their first possession. On their second possession, Army found itself deep in its own territory, but Abe Payne connected with Geoff Phillips for a 90-yard touchdown pass. The extra point game Army a 10-6 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in a defensive stalemate. Cornell would have its chance, and with 39 seconds left, Dentes connected with Upal Starker for 10-yard touchdown pass to complete a 57-yard drive, giving the Big Red the 12-10 victory. Dentes threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns on the day, while Josh Friedman led the Big Red in reception yards for the third straight game (64 yards). John Parke had four sacks and a team leading 12 tackles on defense.
SENIOR NIGHT: This Friday night's game will be the final game of the season for the Big Red, and it will also be time to honor the seniors that have been a part of the team. 22 members of the team are seniors, including many team leaders in many offensive and defensive categories: passer (Zak Dentes), rusher (Ryan Smith), receiver (Josh Friedman), interceptions (Matt Malleo), all-purpose yards (Michael Brennan), field goal kicker (Mitch Ottinger), and tackler (John Parke).
RECORD WATCH: Zak Dentes' 226 yards against Army last weekend were enough to give him 2,607 for his career, an amount that puts him into first place on the all-time Cornell passing list. Dentes passed Dave Zittel '88 for the most career passing yards by a Big Red quarterback with a 15-yard pass in the beginning of the third quarter against Army last weekend. Meanwhile, Michael Brennan had three receptions for 34 reception yards against Princeton on Oct. 10, which gave him 1,053 in his career. He is now in second place on the all-time Cornell receiving list and only 78 yards behind the all-time receiving leader Jason Meier '93.
HOME DOMINANCE: Schoelkopf may have a new surface on it for this season, but the results for the sprint football team have been the same. With a victory over Penn two weeks ago, Cornell won its seventh straight home game. The streak, which started back in 2006, is the longest in school history. The previous record of six straight has happened four times in Cornell history, most recently over the 1990 and 1991 seasons.
GO ARMY: The victory over Army last weekend moved Cornell into second place in the CSFL standings, but it still has a shot at sharing the title with Navy if the Black Knights can defeat the Midshipmen on Friday night at Rip Miller Field in Annapolis, Md. Army and Navy have played once this season already, in a non-league game, with the Midshipmen escaping with the narrow 14-7 victory.
1. Navy 3-0
2. Cornell 3-1
3. Penn 2-2
4. Army 1-3
5. Princeton 0-4
UP NEXT: Friday evening's game will conclude the 2008 sprint football season.
