GAME #6: Cornell vs. Army
GAMETIME: Friday, Oct. 23 at 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, NY)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (3-2, 3-1 CSFL), Army (5-0, 3-0)
SERIES RECORD: Army leads, 52-17
LAST MEETING: Cornell defeated Army, 12-10, at Michie Stadium on Oct. 24, 2008
THE HEAD COACH: Coach Terry Cullen's record moved to 152-124-7 (.549) after the victory over Penn 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 8-4 record (.667) in his new role.
THE MATCH UP: Cornell, coming off a big win last Friday over Penn, is back home to take on Army at Schoellkopf on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. Army holds the series advantage with a record of 52-17 against the Big Red, but Cornell is coming off its biggest victory of the season. Army, sitting on top of the conference standings with a 3-0 record, is looking for its first championship since 2003. The Black Knights are also looking to avenge last season, when the Big Red earned the 12-10 victory on the road on Oct. 24, 2008.
SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS: Army's defense will be the toughest that Cornell plays all year, especially considering to the Big Red's run-oriented offense. The Black Knights have allowed only 22.6 yards per game on the ground this season. The Army secondary has also been strong against the pass, posting 11 interceptions on the season. The defense is led by Bryan Girouard and Taylor Griffin. Girouard is among the CSFL leaders with 40 tackles, while Griffin leads the league with three interceptions. Offensively, the Black Knights are led by Tim Meier, who has thrown for 790 yards and rushed for another 324. With the graduation of last season's CSFL MVP, wide receiver Geoff Philips, Army has become a run happy team, having three players already accumulate 200 yards rushing on the season.
LAST TIME VS. ARMY: Cornell won a very important game, going on the road and defeating Army, 12-10 on Oct. 24, 2008. 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 next possession, Army found itself deep in its own territory, but Abe Payne connected with Geoff Phillips for a 90-yard touchdown pass and the extra point gave Army a 10-6 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in a defensive stalemate. Cornell would have one final chance and with 39 seconds left, Dentes connected with Upal Starker for 10-yard touchdown pass to complete a 57-yard drive and give 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). John Parke had four sacks and a team-leading 12 tackles on defense.
THE BLACK KNIGHTS' LAST GAME: Army dominated Mansfield University in the 2009 Adirondack Trust Allegiance Bowl last Saturday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 42-0. Wide receiver Benjamin Johnson was named the Ken Kunken Most Valuable Player after catching three touchdowns and racking up 152 yards. Freshman quarterback Time Meier threw for 216 yards and Ricky Lentz ran for 180. Mansfield managed only 177 yards of total offense in the game.
CORNELL'S LAST GAME: Down by 11 to enter the fourth quarter, Cornell came back with just four seconds remaining to tie up the game and eventually defeat Penn in overtime, 27-24. The Big Red opened the fourth quarter down, but D.J. Schiavetta ran into the endzone. Elliot Corey completed the pass to Chris LaBerge on the ensuing two-point conversion to bring the Big Red within three points. The score remained 21-18 until Alex Perilstein connected for a 37-yard field with just four seconds on the clock to send the game to overtime. Penn only managed a field goal in its OT possession, while Cornell got a rushing touchdown from Corey to win the game for the Big Red. The Cornell defense had its best performance of the season. Against an offense that was averaging over 450 yards a game, the Big Red allowed only 341 yards, including only 141 in the air to the league's leading passer. John Parke led Cornell with 10.5 tackles, and Jon Mackintosh had six tackles and an interception. DJ Schiavetta had his third 100-yard game of the season, accumulating 146 yards on the ground on just 24 carries.
DEFEATING ARMY: A victory over Army would give Cornell its first four-game winning streak over the Black Knights in program history. The Big Red's current three-game winning streak against Army is the most since 1981-82.
OVERTIME REVENGE: The overtime victory for the Big Red moves Cornell to 3-2 in overtime games against Penn. The last time the Big Red participated in an overtime contest was back on October 20, 2007, when it fell to the Quakers, 35-28, despite a valiant fourth-quarter comeback to tie the game. With just 32 seconds left to play, Zak Dentes '09 completed a pass to Upal Sarker for the game-tying touchdown, capping a 14-point fourth quarter comeback. Unfortunately, Cornell was unable to score on its overtime possession.
RUNNING WILD: The Big Red continued to permeate through defensive lines to cumulate a season-high 320 yards on the ground vs. Penn. D.J. Schiavetta led the charge again with 146 yard rushing. The 320 yards give Cornell a total of 1,168 rushing yards, the fifth most of any Big Red team since 1970. It is also only the ninth time in that time span that Cornell has had 1,000 yards rushing in a season. Cornell needs to only average 163 yards in the next two games to tie the program's record for a season.
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Cornell Rank
|
Year
|
Rushing Yards
|
Games
|
Yards per Game
|
|
1
|
1975
|
1494
|
6
|
249
|
|
2
|
1982
|
1378
|
7
|
197
|
|
3
|
1986
|
1231
|
7
|
176
|
|
4
|
1974
|
1177
|
6
|
196
|
|
5
|
2009
|
1168
|
5
|
234
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UP NEXT: Cornell ends its 2009 season and celebrates Senior Night in a non-conference game against Mansfield on Friday, Oct. 30 at Schoellkopf Field at 7:00 p.m.
