ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell sprint football will begin its 76^th season of organized play on Saturday with a road matchup against Mansfield, a team that has never beaten the Big Red in 11 all-time meetings.  Under the direction of The Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football Terry Cullen and co-head coach Bart Guccia, the Big Red will look to a long list of returners and a bright incoming class as its strives for CSFL success in 2015.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #1: Cornell Big Red at Mansfield University Mountaineers
WHEN: Saturday, Sept.  19, 2015, Noon
WHERE: Karl Van Norman Field — Mansfield, Pa.
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 0-0, Mansfield 0-0
LIVE STATS: GoMounties.com
RADIO: GoMounties.com
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
After finishing the 2014 season 3-4 and fifth in the CSFL, Cornell graduated just six players, three on each side of the ball, meaning the 2015 roster is packed with returners who have seen a significant amount of playing time. The team also introduces a large and talented class of freshmen to bolster the Big Red's depth. Last season, Cornell opened the season with a 28-7 win against Franklin Pierce on Schoellkopf Field. The team then dropped contests to Penn and Army West Point before routing Princeton, 55-0. CSFL power Navy beat the Big Red, 42-30, before Post snuck by with a 17-14 win. Cornell closed the season with a 38-21 win over Mansfield at Schoellkopf.
 
BACK AGAIN
The Big Red returns at experience at just about every position this season. Junior Rob Pannullo will return to quarterback after a breakout sophomore season. Junior Kevin Nathanson and All-CFSL selection senior Benjamin Herrera will be back in the lineup at running back. At receiver, Trevor Marrero will step into a lead role, while the Big Red offense returns its entire interior.  Defensively, senior Evan Zittel and junior Christopher D'Ambrosio will continue to be leaders. Senior Andrew Schulman, juniors Daniel Ferguson and Ryan Jackson, and sophomore Dominic LaBell and Ian Rawn all return to the Cornell defense after playing significant roles in 2014.
 
PRODUCTIVE PANNULLO
In his first season as the Big Red's starting quarterback, Rob Pannullo made an impression, notching 408 rushing yards and 982 passing yards, averaging just under 200 all-purpose yards per game. He also boasted a 52.6 completion rate, threw 12 touchdown passes and ran for four touchdowns on the ground. In Cornell's season finale 38-21 win over Mansfield in 2014, Pannullo finished with 266 all-purpose yards, ran for two touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass.
 
ALL-CSFL
At the close of the 2014 season, the Big Red had four players named to the All-CSFL First Team and two to the second team. Senior running back Benjamin Herrera, graduated offensive lineman Gregory Zalevsky, junior defensive back and punter Ryan Jackson and junior linebacker Chris D'Ambrosio earned first-team honors while graduated wide receiver Jonathan Roth and sophomore kick returner Karriem Royster made the second team.
 
CAPTAIN QUARTET
Cornell will be led by four captains this season, two offensive and two defensive. Seniors Benjamin Herrera and Trevor Marrero have been tabbed to lead the offense, as both return playing experience and leadership skills to the Big Red's roster. On the other side of the ball, seniors Evan Zittel and Jared Meichner will head the defense.
 
FRESH FACES
Cornell boasts 14 freshmen this year, one of the largest incoming classes the team has had in recent years. Co-head coach Bart Guccia has noted that this young group is one of the best he's seen in terms of athletic ability. Two members of the incoming class, quarterback Connor Ostrander and defensive back Conrad McCarthy come to Cornell from Longmeadow High School, where they played for the Massachusetts state championship. In addition, the group includes two athletes who are natural centers and played the position in high school, something Guccia notes is difficult to find in an incoming sprint football class.
 
ABOUT HEAD COACH TERRY CULLEN
Cullen, The Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football, has been the patriarch of the program at Cornell for over half a century after joining his father, former head coach Bob Cullen, in 1964. In his 51-year tenure, Terry Cullen has posted a 173-145-7 record, including two undefeated seasons and six league championships. His title was endowed in 2001 and, in 2008, he requested to relinquish some everyday coaching duties to co-head coach Bart Guccia.
 
ABOUT CO-HEAD COACH BART GUCCIA
Now in his eleventh season on the Cornell sprint football coaching staff and his eighth as co-head coach, Guccia's teams have amassed a 39-29 record since he joined the program in 2005. Typically offensive-minded, Guccia has developed the Big Red's balanced offensive attack.
 
ABOUT MANSFIELD
The Mountaineers finished last season 1-6, with their sole win coming in a 67-0 rout of Princeton. Senior tight end Joe Bucek and junior linebacker Spencer Underdown will serve as Mansfield's captains this season. Bucek earned First-Team All-CSFL honors for the second straight season in 2014 after making 30 receptions and totaling over 300 yards. Underdown, also a First-Team All-CSFL selection, led the league in tackles with 55. The Mountaineers also return two of the CSFL's top receivers in first-team selection Kurt Logan, who led the league with 32 receptions, and second-team pick Eddie Larcom, who was second with 35 catches.
 
THE SERIES WITH MANSFIELD
The Big Red has never lost to Mansfield, holding an 11-0 advantage all-time. The teams last met on Oct. 31, 2014, the final game of the season, when Cornell won 38-21. The Mountaineers got on the board first, but the Big Red followed with 31 unanswered points to take a commanding lead that Mansfield would never recover from. Quarterback Rob Pannullo ran for two touchdowns and added a scoring pass to Rob Hendricks. Benjamin Herrera and Kevin Nathanson also each had five-yard touchdown runs.
 
UP NEXT
Cornell will take on Franklin Pierce in Rindge, N.H., on Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. before returning to Schoellkopf Field to play all three of its home games in three consecutive weeks. The Big Red opens the season at home against Army West Point, a perennial power in the CSFL, on Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.