ITHACA, N.Y. —The sprint football team will begin a three-game road trip on Saturday when it heads to Mansfield to take on the Mountaineers in the 15th Annual Josh Palmer Pigskin Classic.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #2 – Cornell Big Red at Mansfield Mountaineers
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Karl Van Norman Field — Mansfield, Pa.
2016 RECORDS: Cornell 0-1, Mansfield 0-1
LIVE STATS: GoMounties.com
AUDIO: ESPN Radio
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell heads into the game against Mansfield looking for its first win of the season, having dropped the season-opener last weekend, 40-7, to perennial Collegiate Sprint Football League powerhouse Navy. Despite the score line, the Big Red had some impressive individual performances. Senior running back Kevin Nathanson led the offense, rushing for 81 yards and a touchdown, while linebacker Conrad McCarthy led the defense with seven tackles and an interception. … Cornell finished the 2015 season with a 4-3 record, its first season over .500 since 2012, and finished fourth overall in the CSFL standings. … Rob Pannullo returns at the quarterback position for Cornell and will look to build off of his junior year when he accounted for 1,045 yards, throwing for 605 and  running for another 440. He was fourth overall in the CSFL for total offense in 2015. … On defense, Cornell returns nine starters from 2015. Seven of the top 10 tacklers are back, including 2015 All-CSFL second team honoree linebacker Chris D'Ambrosio, whose 40 tackles and three sacks both led the Big Red last year, is back for his senior season.
 
ABOUT HEAD COACH TERRY CULLEN
Terry Cullen, The Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football, has been the patriarch of the program at Cornell for __ years after joining his father, former head coach Bob Cullen, in 1964. In his 53-year tenure, Terry Cullen has an overall record of 233-213-11 and his record as head coach is 174-148-7. Cullen has had two undefeated seasons (2006 and 1982) and won six league championships. His title was endowed in 2001 and, in 2008, he requested to relinquish some of his everyday coaching duties to co-head coach Bart Guccia.
 
ABOUT HEAD COACH BART GUCCIA
This is Guccia's 12th season as a member of the sprint football staff and his eighth as a co-head coach. Since Guccia joined the Big Red staff in 2005, the team is a combined 43-32. As co-head coaches, Guccia and Cullen have amassed a 30-26 record.
 
PRODUCTIVE PUNTER
After a productive first week in which he punted the ball five times for a total of 179 yards and averaged 35.8 yards per punt, senior Ryan Jackson sits atop the CSFL statistical board. Jackson's 46 yard punt in the first quarter against Navy was also the second-longest punt of the opening weekend, trailing only a 49 yard boot from Chestnut Hill's Dante Fuchs. Jackson also contributed seven tackles for Cornell while patrolling the secondary.
 
ABOUT THE JOSH PALMER PIGSKIN CLASSIC
The Pigskin Classic, which first started in 2001, is named for former Mansfield football player and assistant coach, Josh Palmer, who overcame Hodgkin's Disease to return to the field for the Mounties. While he was undergoing treatment and recovery, Palmer started the Josh Palmer Fund to support Mansfield-area young adults afflicted by cancer.
 
FRESH FACES
The sprint football program may have graduated 23 seniors after last season, but they also added 25 new faces to the roster this fall. Co-head coach Bart Guccia says that the 14 freshmen, five sophomores, five juniors and one senior will be critical in filling out the depth chart behind the plethora of returning starters.
 
A CAPTAIN QUINTUPLE
Cornell will be led by five senior captains during the 2016 season. The offense will be represented by quarterback Rob Pannullo, running back Kevin Nathanson and lineman Caleb Minsky. On the other side of the ball, defensive back Ryan Jackson and linebacker Chris D'Ambrosio will lead the defensive charge. All five players have been members of the sprint football team every year since their arrival at Cornell in the fall of 2013.
 
BIG RED RUSHING REDUX
Cornell returns four of its top five rushers from 2015, all of whom gained 125 yards. Amongst the returners are last year's leading rusher quarterback Rob Pannullo and second-leading rusher Kevin Nathanson. Pannullo led the Big Red last year with 557 yards and the tailback Nathanson contributed 370.
 
ALL-CSFL
Cornell had 11 players earn spots on CSFL teams at the conclusion of the 2015 sprint football season, and six of those players are returning in 2016. Senior running back Kevin Nathanson, senior offensive lineman Caleb Minsky, senior linebacker Christopher D'Ambrosio, and senior defensive back Ryan Jackson were all named to the All-CSFL second team. Senior quarterback Rob Pannullo and junior defensive back Rene Diaz were All-CSFL honorable mentions.
 
ABOUT MANSFIELD
The Mountaineers dropped their season-opener against Penn last weekend, 31-7, with the Quakers scoring the last 21 points of the game. … The Mansfield offense was led by Adam Hutchinson, as the sophomore quarterback rushed for 67 yards on 11 attempts and threw for 158 yards and a touchdown. Senior wide receiver Kurt Logan caught seven passes for 78 yards and returned four kicks, averaging 23 yards per return. On defense, John Capwell had 12 total tackles, including one sack, and recovered a fumble. … In 2015, Mansfield finished 2-5 overall and went 1-4 in the CSFL.
 
THE SERIES WITH MANSFIELD
Last year's 33-7 season-opening win over the Mountaineers pushed Cornell's all-time record against Masnfield to 12-0. The Big Red scored 26 unanswered points on the strength of quarterback Rob Pannullo, who threw for 116 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown.
 
UP NEXT
Cornell will hit the road again next weekend when it heads to Chestnut Hill College on Friday for a 7 p.m. matchup.