ITHACA, N.Y. – After suffering its first loss of the year last week, the Cornell sprint football team has a chance to get back in the win column on Friday when Navy comes to town. Cornell and the Midshipmen will kick off at 7 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: Cornell vs. Navy
GAME TIME: Friday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Navy leads, 52-13-2
LAST MEETING: Navy won 42-21 on Oct. 28, 2011
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (3-1, 2-1 CSFL), Navy (3-0, 1-0 CSFL)
LIVE STATS: Cornell Live Stats
LIVE VIDEO: RedCast

THE HEAD COACH
Coach Terry Cullen is now in his 47th season at the helm of the Big Red program with a 166-128-7 record (.563). 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, Cornell announced that Bart Guccia would assume a majority of the on-field coaching and gameday decisions for the Big Red. Guccia is now in his seventh year with the team and has posted a 19-11 record (.613) in his new role.

ABOUT NAVY
The Midshipmen, based in Annapolis, Md., are the defending league champions and a favorite to win the Collegiate Sprint Football League yet again. Navy also won a league championship in 2009. With only three games under their belt this season, the Midshipmen are farther behind in their schedule than Cornell but remain undefeated at 3-0. Coming off a 37-14 win against Post last weekend, Navy also defeated Princeton 62-13 in Week 2 and handled Coppin State 38-27 in a non-league game on Sept. 14.

THE SERIES WITH NAVY
The Big Red and Midshipmen are common enemies, having battled 67 times in history. Navy holds a distinct advantage, claiming 52 of those games including a 42-21 win last season. Last season, the teams were tied 14-14 at halftime, but the Midshipmen dominated the second half and outscored Cornell 28-7 in the final 30 minutes. Brendan Miller completed 14 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns that game and also ran for a score.

SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN
Navy offense this season has been a well-oiled machine, rattling off 45.7 points per game with a very potent rushing attack. The Midshipmen are averaging 160 yards per game on the ground and 117 per contest in the air. Running backs Corey Garcia and David Williams are both over 100 total yards on the year while quarterbacks Lewis Correale and William Hampton have combined for 350 passing yards. Receiver Michael Buck has seven catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Navy is averaging three interceptions per game and giving up just 18 points per game. The Midshipmen have stout run stoppers and have allowed a mere 62 rushing yards per game. Matt Piotrowicz has 23 tackles on the year, and Will Parker has 18.

A WIN OVER THE MIDSHIPMEN WOULD…
…be Cornell's first win against Navy since 2006…keep Cornell at worst one game behind  Army for the lead in the CSFL standings…clinch a season record over .500 for the first time since 2010.

LAST WEEK
The Big Red came up against more than it could handle at Army on Oct. 5, falling by a 38-14 scoreline. Despite holding the Black Knights to their lowest point total of the year, the Big Red could not get its own offense going. The loss marred what had been an undefeated season.

300
Against Princeton on Sept. 28, Terry Cullen coached his 300th game in charge of the Big Red. Cornell outscored the Tigers 20-0 in the first half and went on for a 22-15 victory in their head coach's 300th contest at the helm. Cullen has won a share of five CSFL championships since he became the team's head coach in 1977.

NEVERMORE
Cornell welcomed Franklin Pierce to sprint football with a 26-21 victory over the Ravens on Sept. 22. The game, held at a high school field in Massachusetts, was Franklin Pierce's first-ever football game. Charles Clausner was the hero, making the game-winning touchdown catch with just over two minutes to play. The defense then held firm, forcing a Ravens turnover on downs to end the contest.

OVERTIME THRILLER
Cornell's six-overtime victory against Penn was the longest game in program history and equaled the total number of overtimes the team had ever played to that point. The Big Red had previously only gone to overtime five times, with their first overtime game in 1996 going to double overtime. Cornell's other four extra-period games ended after the first overtime. The team is now 4-2 in overtime games.

LEAGUE RANKINGS
Through three games, Cornell sits third in the CSFL on offense with 347 yards per game. Defensively, the Big Red's 358 yards allowed per game is sixth in the conference.
Individually, Benjamin Herrera has cracked into the top five rushers in the league with his 190 yards on the season. Brendan Miller continues to be the second-most prolific quarterback with his 988 yards passing and seven touchdowns. Receiver Abe Mellinger has the third-most receptions in the league with 18, and his 377 total yards are second-best. Defensively, Michael Monahan is in fourth place with 35 tackles. Riley Scott is one of eight players with a league-high two interceptions.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
In other CSFL games last weekend, Penn pulled out a tight 16-13 victory over visiting Mansfield, moving to 2-2 on the year. Princeton, meanwhile, lost a heartbreaker against Post in overtime, 32-29. The Tigers have not won a game since 2005 and came inches away last week. Navy had the week off.

VERY SPECIAL
Kicker John Rodriguez was named the CSFL's Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 3 after he kicked two field goals against Princeton. His kicks from 48 yards and 25 yards out helped the Big Red to a 20-0 halftime lead. He was also perfect in two extra-point tries.

OFFENSIVELY MINDED
Senior receiver Abe Mellinger was named the CSFL's Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 19 for his eight-catch, 102-yard performance against Penn. Mellinger is the first Cornell player to earn the honor since Doug Famularo did after week three of the 2010 season. Mellinger currently tops the CSFL with his eight catches.

NATIONAL APPEAL
The sprint football team has players from 18 different states on the roster, with New York and California having the highest representation. Twenty-eight players hail from the Empire State while the Golden State has 10 players on the Big Red roster. Just one player comes from Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Virginia and Washington.

UP NEXT
Cornell has its lone bye week coming up. After a week off, the Big Red will return home for a tilt against Post on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.