ITHACA, N.Y. – Sprint football's season opener could hardly have been more exciting. After a nearly two-hour rain delay, Cornell and Penn fought into six overtimes and the Big Red eventually prevailed close to midnight. The Big Red looks to follow that thrilling victory against the Quakers with another win against an unknown foe in Franklin Pierce on Saturday. The Ravens will be playing their first ever sprint football game.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #2: Cornell at Franklin Pierce
GAME TIME: Saturday, Sept. 22, 12 p.m.
GAME SITE: Oakmont Regional High School (Ashburnham, Mass.)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (1-0, 1-0 CSFL), Franklin Pierce (0-0)
LIVE STATS: None
LIVE AUDIO: Ravens Sports Network
LIVE VIDEO: None

THE HEAD COACH
Coach Terry Cullen is now in his 47th season at the helm of the Big Red program with a 164-127-7 record (.562). 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 17-11 record (.607) in his new role.

ABOUT FRANKLIN PIERCE
The Ravens, based in Rindge, N.H., are brand new to the Collegiate Sprint  Football League and will be playing their first ever game this weekend. Franklin Pierce is a Division II school in most other sports, including soccer, volleyball, cross country, track and men's hockey. The Ravens are coached by Peter Ewald, who was the head sprint football coach at Post University for the last two seasons.

A WIN OVER THE QUAKERS WOULD…
…begin the lifetime series with a 1-0 advantage for Cornell…give the Big Red its fifth consecutive victory in a non-conference game…begin the year 2-0 for the first time since 2010.

STARTING STRONG
After defeating Penn last weekend, Cornell has now won its last three opening games, defeating Mansfield in the first contest in 2011 and 2010. Cornell is 5-2 in the last seven seasons in its first game at Schoellkopf Field.

OVERTIME THRILLER
Cornell's six-overtime victory against Penn on Friday 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.

OFFENSIVELY MINDED
Senior receiver Abe Mellinger was named the CSFL's Offensive Player of the Week 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.

LEAGUE RANKINGS
After one week, Cornell's 364 yards of offense ranks it third in the league behind Army and Penn. In passing yards, the Big Red's Brendan Miller is second in the league with his 241-yard performance in the driving rain last week. Mellinger leads the league with eight catches, and teammate Charles Clausner is tied for third with six. John Kelder is the CSFL's top tackler, making 13 in week one. Riley Scott, meanwhile, is one of two players in the country with two interceptions.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
In the only other CSFL game last week, Mansfield managed a tight 23-16 victory against Princeton to move to 1-0 on the season. Navy won 38-27 against Coppin State in a non-league battle, while Army knocked off SUNY Maritime 42-0 on Sept. 9.

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 just six days between games this week as the team prepares for Princeton coming to town on Sept. 28. The game will kick off at 7 p.m.