GAME #2: Cornell at Mansfield University
GAMETIME: Saturday, Sept. 26, 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Karl Van Norman Field (Mansfield, Pa.)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (0-1, 0-0 CSFL), Mansfield (1-0, 0-0 CSFL)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 2-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell defeated Mansfield, 38-28, at Schoellkopf Field on Oct. 31, 2008
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.espnwilliamsport.com/
THE HEAD COACH: Coach Terry Cullen's record moved to 149-123-7 (.548) after the loss to 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 fifth year with the sprint football team and has posted a 5-3 record (.625) in his new role.
THE MATCH UP: Cornell will play a more experienced and tougher Mansfield team than the Big Red played last season, Mansfield's first year fielding a sprint team. In the Mounties' first game against the Big Red last season, Cornell blew the team away with a 35-0 victory. Mansfield showed significant improvement in the teams' second matchup, as Cornell fought its way to a very close 38-28 victory.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS: After playing last season as a probationary program, Mansfield enters its first season as a member of the CSFL. The team will try to improve on its 1-3 record from last year, and is already well on its way with a victory over Princeton last Saturday. Danny Moss returns to start another season as the team's quartback. Moss was a leader of the offense, completing 50% of his passes for 513 yards and four touchdowns. Tyler Floyd and Lucas Bailey are coming off solid freshman years as the team running backs, while seniors Ryan Bernaiche and Matt Gant could provide some difficiulties for the Cornell secondary. The defense lost many of its key leaders from last season, including linebacker Soloman Isom, the team's leader in tackles. Cody Croasdale, the team leader with 3.5 sacks last season, returns to charge the defensive line.
LAST TIME VS. MANSFIELD: It was a very emotional senior night at Schoelkopf Field when Mansfield University came to Cornell. The Big Red struck early when Zak Dentes led the team down the field, completing three passes on the drive for 85 yards and a touchdown. Mitch Ottinger connected on the extra point and a field goal on the Big Red's next possession to give Cornell a 10-0 lead. It looked like a repeat of the first meeting between the two schools until Mountaineers' quarterback Danny Moss led the offensive charge for a touchdown. Mansfield forced a turnover on Cornell's next possession, and this time Moss ran 33 yards in for the score to give the Mounties the lead, 14-10. Elliot Corey came into the game as the Cornell quarterback, throwing a touchdown to Michael Brennan to end the first half with a 17-14 lead. Mansfield recovered in the second half when Tyler Floyd scored his second touchdown of the game, this time off a 72-yard pass, and Cornell was on the verge of a great CSFL upset. The great senior leaders of the Big Red would not allow for such a thing in their final game of the year, and Dentes came back into the contest to throw a 5-yard touchdown to Upal Sarker to regain the 24-21 lead. Again, Mansfield retaliated with another touchdown, but the Big Red scored two touchdowns in a row as Dentes completed his final eight attempts in both Cornell scoring drives, and Cornell held on to win a 38-28 thriller.
THE MOUNTIES' LAST GAME: Mansfield earned the second win in program history, and first as a member of the CSFL, when the Mounties defeated Princeton at home last Saturday, 33-0. After starting out slowly, the Mounties held a slim 6-0 lead over the Tigers, but with just 13 seconds left in the half, Mansfield scored two touchdowns. The first came by way of a three-play, 11-yard drive, while the second was scored on an interception return. The 20-0 halftime lead was more than enough as the team earned its first ever shutout.
CORNELL'S LAST GAME: Cornell started the season with a whole new crew of offensive starters in a 20-14 loss to Penn last Friday evening at home. After both teams struggled to put points on the board for the first 22 minutes, Penn struck first with a 26-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Todd Busler to take the 7-0 lead. The Big Red responded immediately with a circus catch by D.J. Schiavetta, who tipped the ball to himself around the defender at midfield to run in for the game tying score. Busler led another Penn drive near the end of the half that resulted in another Quaker touchdown and a 14-7 halftime lead. Penn then came out of the locker room and used an eight-minute, 90-yard to score its third touchdown of the day. The Big Red blocked the extra point attempt, but the Quakers held a 20-7 advantage. The Big Red scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter via two long passes from Elliot Corey to make it a 20-14 game, but Cornell was unable to put together a final game-winning drive. Corey completed 5-of-9 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, to go along with 55 rushing yards. Schiavetta also excelled in his first game as a starting running back, leading the team with 71 yards and a rushing touchdown, as well as 74 yards in the air and a receiving touchdown. Schiavetta also posted a game-high 179 all-purpose yards. Defensively, Clay Hemminger had a game-high 14 tackles and blocked a Penn PAT, while Tim Kozen had two sacks for the Big Red.
LONG PASS: Elliot Corey's 74-yard touchdown pass was the longest play from scrimmage by the Big Red in over two years. The last time Cornell was able to have such a big play was a 74-yard touchdown completion from Corey's predecessor, Zak Dentes '09 on September 14, 2007. In a play very similar to the one last Friday, Dentes completed the pass Matt Malleo '09 at the 50-yard line, who used his quick feet to juke out the defenders and run into the endzone for the score. Like the play last Friday, the Malleo touchdown also occurred during the team's home opener, which also happened to be against Penn.
HOME DOMINANCE: The loss to Penn on Sept. 19 ended Cornell's eight-game home winning streak. Dating back to 2006, it was the longest home winning streak in program history, eclipsing the six straight home wins from 1990-91.
REMAINING CHAMPS: After the very big graduating class of 2009, the Big Red only has seven players that were letter winners on its 2006 national title team – LB John Parke, DB Evan Levy, LB Daren Philips, OL Michael Adler, LB Andrew Jeong, OL Sam Lincoln, and WR Chris LaBerge. These seven players will try and earn another national title in their final season.
UNSUNG ROOKIE: One of the most important players for the Big Red making their sprint football debut on Sept. 19 was Alex Perilstein. Perilstein will serve the role as place kicker and punter for the season, providing the Big Red with a special team advantage. Before arriving on the sprint football squad, Perilstein, a junior, was the backup on the varsity squad for two seasons after walking on as a freshman. Perilstein was an accomplished kicker and soccer player in high school, earning all-league honors in both sports.
UP NEXT: Cornell will travel to Annapolis, Md., next weekend to take on Navy at Rip Miller Field on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.
