GAME #1: Cornell at Penn
GAMETIME: Friday, Sept. 19 at 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pa.
2008 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 CSFL); Penn (0-0, 0-0 CSFL)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads,56-31
LAST MEETING: Penn defeated Cornell, 35-28, at Franklin Field on Oct. 20, 2007
THE HEAD COACH: Coach Terry Cullen's record moved to 144-120-7 (.545) after a victory over Army in the last game of the 2007 season. 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 MATCH UP: Cornell and Penn both open the season with a CSFL title in sight. Penn finished only behind Navy in last season's CSFL standings with a conference record of 3-1, while the Big Red followed right behind with a third place finish. The team's split the series last season, with Penn winning a 35-28 overtime thriller in their last game at Franklin Field. Despite the loss, the Big Red still holds the all-time series advantage with a record of 56-31.
SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: Penn is coming off a very impressive 4-2 (3-1 CSFL) season last year. The Quakers return 18 All-CSFL players from last year, including three first-team selections, seven second team nods, and eight honorable mention selections. Leading the offense is second-team All-CSFL quarterback, Michael D'Angelo. D'Angelo, who was second in the league with six touchdown passes last season, caused a lot of problems for the Cornell defenses. Without last season's league leading rusher, Rob Lombardi, the offense will lie more on D'Angelo's shoulders, and Marten Basta, a second-team All-CSFL tight end, should become a more essential part of the offense. On the defensive side of the ball, watch out for second-team All-CSFL linebacker Sam Biddle. Biddle's 49.0 tackles last season lead the Quakers and were fifth in the league. He will be joined on defense by defensive back J. Andrew Feigenbaum and linebacker Michael McMullen, both of whom earned post-season CSFL mentions.
LAST TIME VS. PENN: A 26-yard touchdown pass from Zak Dentes to Upal Sarker with 32 seconds left to play capped a 14-point fourth quarter comeback, but it wasn't enough, as Penn defeated Cornell in overtime, 35-28, on Oct. 20 at Franklin Field. Cornell racked up a total of 471 yards on offense as Dentes went 23-for-37 for 325 yards, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another to lead the Big Red. Both of Dentes touchdown tosses went to Sarker, who accumulated 100 yards on five receptions, while his favorite target on the day was Michael Brennan with 10 catches for 150 yards. Glenn Palmer led the ground attack for Cornell, rushing 19 times for 97 yards, while Matt Malleo carried the ball eight times for 20 yards and a touchdown. Penn's offense was limited to 286 yards, including a mere 90 yards on the ground as Clay Hemminger and Greg Solomon led the Big Red with 10 tackles each. Quaker quarterback Mike D'Angelo completed 8-of-12 passes for 185 yards, with 103 yards of that coming on his two touchdown passes to Michael Stack (32 yards) and Tomas Altamiran (71 yards).
THE QUAKERS' LAST GAME: Penn ended its 2007 season on a high note, crushing Princeton by a score of 53-18. Although the Tigers held the Penn offense in check to start the game, a Quaker touchdown opened the floodgates. Backup quarterback Colin Dampier threw a perfect pass to Thomas Altamirano for the 23-yard score. An extra point later gave Penn the 7-0 lead. Altamirano would throw a touchdown pass of his own off the wide receiver option late in the first quarter for the 13 point advantage. Penn would eventually score four more touchdowns en route to 41 straight points. Princeton was able to put some offense on the board late in the game, but the large deficit was too much to overcome. The Quakers had three players with at least 60 yards on the ground, and Colin Dampier threw four touchdowns. Mike Paci and Peter Stevens led the team with eight tackles each. Penn had two sacks and interceptions on the day.
CORNELL'S LAST GAME: In the final game of the 2007 season for the Big Red, Army came to Schoellkopf with a chance at the CSFL title, while Cornell, the defending CSFL champions, wanted to end the 2007 season on a winning note. Trailing late in the contest, the Black Knights almost made a comeback, but Cornell held on to win a gritty 14-7 victory. Midway through the first quarter, Zak Dentes put the Big Red on the board with a 12-yard pass to Jack Rossman. Mitch Ottinger added the extra point to give Cornell a 7-0 advantage and that is how the score remained until the intermission. On Cornell's second possession of the second half, Dentes handed the ball off to Matt Malleo, who proceeded to throw it down the field to an open Chris LaBerge for the touchdown. Another Ottinger extra point gave Cornell a 14-0 lead. The Black Knights closed within seven after Abe Payne threw the ball into the corner of the endzone only to be caught by an Army receiver to make it a 14-7 lead. With just a few minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Big Red had possession of the ball deep in its own territory. Unfortunately, the Army defense prevented Cornell from running out the clock and the Black Knights got the ball back with 43 seconds on its own 35-yard line. Army proceeded to march down the field and with seven seconds left, and the ball on midfield, Payne lofted a Hail Mary pass into the air. A Cornell defensive back got his hand on it, but still it landed in Army's Jamie Antonides' hands. Antonides ran down the field with the endzone in his sight but Malleo chased him down and tackled the receiver at the 15-yard line to save the game, and give the Big Red a 14-7 victory.
BIG RED All-CSFL: Cornell team capped off a 4-2 season by having 12 players receive CSFL post-season honors, including seven players making the first-team. The seven first-team members tied the amount Cornell had during its title run the previous season. The Big Red also had two second-team and two honorable mention selections. Returning honor recipients from last year's squad are QB Zak Dentes (first-team), WR Michael Brennan (first-team), LB John Parke (first-team), DE John Gonos (first-team), OL Michael Ottinger (second-team), and DB Matt Malleo (honorable mention).
A DENTES IN THE RECORD BOOK: Zak Dentes, the hometown hero quarterback, has a chance of escalating through the Cornell Record books this week. After passing for a league leading 891 yards last season, Dentes has accumulated 1,736 career passing yards. That amount puts him in fifth place on the Cornell career passing list. He is 72 yards behind Evan Williams '93 for fourth place, and just 172 yards behind Paul Freeman '85 for third.
GOLDEN RECIEVER: Michael Brennan also has a chance to move up in the Big Red record books. Last season, he was the main target for Dentes, amassing 409 yards to lead the CSFL. He finds himself in sixth place on the career total for reception yards in Cornell history. Brennan, a senior, needs just 51 yards to move past Henry Kim '04 for fifth place.
CULLEN FAMILY HONORED ON FRIDAY: The Cornell University Department of Athletics will be honoring the Cullen Family and its 50-year commitment to the Big Red sprint football program this fall at the team's annual Alumni Weekend. To commemorate the Cullen Family's contributions, a special ceremony will be held on Friday, September 12 in Duffield Hall Atrium at 7 p.m. Bob Cullen coached the team starting in 1958. During his time at Cornell, he won Cornell's first CSFL title in 1975. He was joined by his son Terry Cullen in 1965, who started out as the team's offensive coordinator and was later named co-head coach.
CATCH ALL OF THE ACTION: Cornell University and Internet Consulting Services will again offer subscription packages for Redcasts for home games during the 2008-09 season. Live audio and video options will be available for purchase so that Big Red fans can follow many of their favorite teams this coming season. Click here to sign up for Redcast packages.
UP NEXT: Cornell travels to Mansfield, Pa. for its first ever game with the newest members of the CSFL, Mansfield University. The game is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 12:30 p.m.
