OFFENSIVE RECAP: Crandall caught an 88-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Dan Juvan (Dobbs Ferry/Yonkers) on the first play of the fourth quarter. Juvan threw for 227 yards and matched a career-high with three touchdown passes. He threw a 22-yard pass to senior fullback Dan Ross (Tonawanda/Tonawanda) and a 28-yard pass to junior tight end Brian Weverbergh (Staples/Westport, Conn.).  Senior Jamie Donovan (Sidwell Friends/Washington, D.C) ran for a game-high 141 yards. Ross scored the game’s first touchdown, rushing for a one-yard score on the final play of the first quarter. Weverbergh led Ithaca with four catches, gaining 72 yards. Senior wideout Brian Hogan (La Salle/Jamison, Pa.) caught three passes and Crandall gained a career-best 98 yards on his two catches. Senior running back Alex Baez (Patchogue-Medford/Medford) ran for a season-best 59 yards and sophomore Thomas Bergerstock (Webster Thomas/Webster) gained 11 yards on Ithaca’s final drive.

 

DEFENSIVE NOTES: The Bombers– playing without two injured starters – held Brockport to 52 rushing yards on 33 carries (the Golden Eagles entered the game averaging 217 yards per game on the ground). Senior linebacker John Scanlon (Amity/Choate Rosemary Hall/Bethany, Conn.) and sophomore defensive end Adam Drescher (Christian Brothers Academy/Fayetteville) led Ithaca with nine tackles apiece. Scanlon matched a career-high with three tackles for loss. Drescher, who was in on two tackles for loss, matched a career-high with his nine stops. Senior cornerback Scott Lieber (Hinsdale Central/Hinsdale, Ill.) – who was making his first start of the season – and senior free safety Charlie Stephens (Staples/Westport, Conn.) each made seven tackles for Ithaca, along with junior linebacker Matt Scalice (North Tonawanda/North Tonawanda) and sophomore defensive end Joe Goetz (New Hyde Park/New Hyde Park). Senior linebacker Mike Nowak (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa) added five tackles (three for loss), a sack and his third fumble recovery of the year. Sophomore linebacker Tyler Baker (Notre Dame/Milford, Conn.) and sophomore nose tackle Kyle Scharles (Canandaigua Academy/Canandaigua) finished with career-best totals of five and two tackles, respectively; both made their first career start. Senior strong safety Ryan Terlecki (Pennsbury/Fairless Hills, Pa.) made six tackles, including a career-best three for loss. 

 

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT: Crandall’s 83-yard touchdown return was his first career special teams score. He added a 40-yard runback on his only other return. Senior punter Nick Horowski (Nazareth/Nazareth, Pa.) punted twice; neither was returned and both were downed inside the Golden Eagle 15. He also threw a nine-yard pass on a fake punt with Terlecki making the catch for a Bomber first down. Freshman Dillon Dwyer (Garden City/Garden City) kicked extra points after four of Ithaca’s five touchdowns. Freshman Lonson Becker (Staples [Conn.]/Easthampton) led Ithaca with two tackles in kick coverage.

 

HOMECOMING HAPPENINGS: The Bombers have celebrated Homecoming with a win 23 times in the past 25 years (losing only in 1994 and 1995) – averaging over 32 points per game in those wins, including last fall’s 44-14 rout of Hartwick.

    Since 1997 Ithaca has won 17 Homecoming games – posting wins at Alfred (2002), American International (1998), Brockport (1998 and 2006), Hartwick (2005 and 2003), St. Lawrence (1997) and Springfield (2005) in addition to winning all nine of its own Homecoming games.

    Norwich has been Ithaca’s Homecoming opponent once before; in 2005 the Bombers celebrated with a 41-7 win over the Cadets.

HALL OF FAME HONORS: As part of Homecoming Weekend, eight members will be inducted into Ithaca’s Athletic Hall of Fame Friday night, including three inductees with ties to the football program.  Dan Feldman ’90 (who also played lacrosse) was a two-time all-American linebacker, earning first-team honors as a senior. He was a starter on Ithaca’s 1988 national champion team and finished his career with 227 tackles. Ed Pesaresi, who spent 36 years as a professor of physical education and was named chair of Ithaca’s School of Human Performance and Physical Education in 1974, was an assistant coach with Ithaca’s football and baseball teams. Jim Wilson ’63 was a lineman with the Bomber football team and was picked to play in the Gem Bowl following his senior season.

 

KICK-BLOCKING RECORD: The Bombers have blocked five PAT attempts so far this year, which is already a single-season school record (Ithaca blocked three extra point attempts in 1998 and 1999). The team’s six total blocked kicks is already Ithaca’s highest season total since the 1995 Bombers blocked a school-record seven kicks (two PAT attempts, three field goal attempts and two punts).

    Sophomore Adam Drescher has four of Ithaca’s PAT blocks (one in each game), breaking the Bomber season record of two shared by Jerry Anderson (1995) and Anthony Melville (1999) and breaking Anderson’s career record of three. He also has a blocked field goal and his five overall blocks on the season leave him two short of Ithaca’s single-season record (set by Dave Stone in 1982).

MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME: Saturday’s game wraps up a three-week Bomber homestand, which will be followed by a week off. As a result Ithaca will go four full weeks without playing an away game – the program’s longest streak since the 1978 Bombers won four straight home games (over Alfred, Clarion, Springfield and Canisius) on their way to the NCAA playoffs.

 

BOUNCING BACK: Ithaca‘s win over Brockport snapped a two-game losing streak. The Bombers have lost three straight regular-season games just once in the past 30 years. Coming off a loss to visiting St. John Fisher, the victory allowed Ithaca to avoid its first home losing streak since 1973.

EMPIRE 8 UPDATE: Norwich University, an affiliate member of the Empire 8 in football since 2004, announced this week that it will drop out of the Empire 8 following the 2008 season to join the North Atlantic Conference, which will sponsor football beginning in 2009.

RECORD WATCH: (note Ithaca career and season records include post-season games since 2002; statistics compiled in post-season games before that do not count toward Ithaca career and season records):

    The 88-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Dan Juvan to junior wide receiver Kyle Crandall was the program’s longest pass play ever, topping the 86-yard touchdown pass from Mike O’Donovan to Abe Ceesay against Cortland on Nov. 8, 1997.

    Senior running back Jamie Donovan has rushed for 3,227 career yards, second on Ithaca’s all-time list. He needs 184 to pass three-time all-American fullback Jeff Wittman (3,410 yards from 1989 to 1992) atop the program’s all-time list.

    Donovan broke Wittman’s record for career rushing attempts; his 24 carries against Brockport give him 608 (Wittman’s record had been 586). Donovan’s rushing touchdown total of 36 matches Tommy Giorgio (36 from 1997 to 2001) for second on Ithaca’s all-time list, trailing Wittman (44). With 222 career points Donovan ranks fourth on Ithaca’s career list and needs 25 points to pass Giorgio for third.

    Senior running back Alex Baez has raised his career total to 2,037 career yards and ranks ninth on Ithaca’s all-time list. Baez became the ninth Bomber to reach 2,000 and is 60 yards away from passing Dave Remick (2,096 yards from 1972 to 1974) for eighth place and 70 away from moving ahead of Mike Scott (2,106 yards from 1986 to 1988).

    Junior quarterback Dan Juvan has passed for 3,132 yards; the 21st Bomber to pass for 1,000 yards and the 14th to reach 1,500, he became the sixth Ithaca quarterback to reach the 2,000-yard total during the season-opening Lycoming win and the sixth to eclipse 3,000 with his 227 yards against Brockport. Juvan’s pass efficiency rating of 136.6 ranks fifth on the program’s all-time list and he also ranks among the Bombers’ career leaders in completions (fifth with 260) and TD passes (sixth with 23).

    Senior strong safety Ryan Terlecki raised his career total to 198 tackles; he’s two away from becoming the 23rd Bomber to collect a career total of at least 200.

    Senior free safety Charlie Stephens has intercepted eight passes, leaving him two short of becoming the 11th Bomber with 10 career interceptions. With 162 career tackles, Stephens needs 38 more to reach the 200-tackle mark.

    Junior tight end Brian Weverbergh has raised his career total to 51 catches, good for fifth among Bomber tight ends and 25th overall. His total of 25 catches this fall already matches the sixth-best single-season total among tight ends.

    Senior wide receiver Patrick Heenehan (Ramapo/Franklin Lakes, N.J.) has raised his career total to 48 catches, tied for 27th on Ithaca’s all-time list.

        Senior wideout Brian Hogan has caught 44 passes, tied for 31st on the program’s all-time list.

        Senior fullback Dan Ross has 47 career catches; he ranks 29th overall and fifth among Ithaca running backs.

 

ITHACA ITEMS: Ithaca‘s win over Utica last fall clinched the program’s 36th straight winning season. The Bombers own the nation’s second-longest active streak of winning seasons at any level of college football (Linfield has recorded 51 straight winning seasons).

    Senior Nick Horowski, who punted just once in his first three years while backing up two Empire 8 all-stars, is averaging 38.3 yards per punt; no Bomber has posted a higher average over a full season since 1973. He’s put 58.8 percent of his punts (10 out of 17) inside the 20 – that figure would set a school record over a full season.

    Jamie Donovan’s 141-yard effort in the Brockport win was the 12th 100-yard rushing game of his career; only Wittman (22) and all-American Bob Ferrigno (15 from 1978 to 1980) have more. Donovan has run for 462 yards in his four games against Brockport.

    Nick Horowski’s completion to Ryan Terlecki for a first down marked Ithaca’s first fake punt since Dustin Ross gained 33 yards on a fourth-down play in a 42-17 win over Brockport on Oct., 2005. The last time Ithaca passed for a first down on a fake punt was Sept. 10, 2005, when punter Nick Aiello threw an 11-yard pass to Patrick Heenehan.

    Kyle Crandall is the first Bomber to score on a kickoff return since all-American Kelly Gordon ran back the second-half kickoff for a score in last year’s Cortaca Jug game.

    Gordon was also the last Bomber with a touchdown catch and a touchdown on a kickoff return in the same game (Nov. 19 at Union in the NCAA playoffs).

    Dan Ross is the first Bomber with a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same game since running back Justin Kulp notched a one-yard scoring run and a one-yard touchdown catch at Alfred on Nov. 6, 2006.

    Saturday’s game was part of the 20th three-game homestand the Bombers have had since 1970; Ithaca has posted a winning record in 17 of the previous 19 homestands.

    Since 1998, six Bombers have scored touchdowns on punt returns: Matt Buddenhagen, Troy Canada, Ron Amato, Matt Tosh, Kelly Gordon and Jason Chier (Brian Hogan’s return of a blocked punt for a 2006 touchdown is also credited statistically as a punt return).

    Huntingdon’s failed two-point conversion attempt in last fall’s season opener marked the sixth consecutive unsuccessful two-point attempt by Bomber opponents. All six have been pass attempts; Ithaca opponents have missed on eight straight two-point conversion attempts through the air.

    This season marks the second year in a row that the Bombers have a week off during the season; that schedule quirk had not happened previously since the 1991 team took a week off en route to winning the Stagg Bowl.

    Ithaca’s comeback in their 2005 St. John Fisher win (they trailed by 14 points with nine minutes left) marked the fourth time since 2001 that the Bombers have rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit of at least 10 points. In 2003 the Bombers trailed the Cardinals 19-7 in the fourth quarter before winning 20-19, in 2002 Ithaca trailed Hartwick 18-7 in the fourth quarter before scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final 6:41 to beat win 19-18 and in 2001 Ithaca scored twice in the last 5:29 to beat Springfield 17-16 after trailing 16-3.

 

NCAA LEADERS: In the latest national statistics (through games of Sept. 22), the Bombers were ranked among the national leaders in three team and three individual categories. Ithaca ranked sixth in punt returns (20.5), sixth in net punting (38.1 yards per punt) and 40th in passing offense (270.3 ypg).

        In individual statistics, Dan Juvan ranked ninth in total passing yards (971) and 34th in passing yards per game (242.8 ypg) and Dillon Dwyer ranked 17th in field goals per game (1.3).

 

EMPIRE 8 INFORMATION: This season marked the sixth year of Empire 8-sponsored football and the third year that the conference’s champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. The 2004 addition of Norwich and Springfield as affiliate members brought the league’s total to seven football playing members.

    Last year’s loss to St. John Fisher snapped Ithaca’s conference-record 11-game Empire 8 winning streak (the Bombers also won their first 10 Empire 8 games); the team owns an all-time record of 24-4 in league competition.

    The Bombers were picked fourth in the Empire 8 preseason poll; they had been chosen first in each of the first three conference preseason polls.

        The Bombers won the inaugural Empire 8 title in 2002 and repeated as conference champion in 2003, posting a 4-0 league record each season. In 2004 Ithaca and St. John Fisher tied for the league crown with 5-1 records. In 2005 the Bombers posted the Empire 8’s first 6-0 record en route to their fourth league championship. The Bombers also won conference titles in the Independent College Athletic Conference (forerunner to the Empire 8) in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987. Ithaca owns an 84-29-2 (.739) advantage against the conference's current members.

 

UPSTATE UPDATE: Ithaca is ranked seventh in the fifth regular-season Upstate New York poll, as voted on by the region’s sports information directors.

1.	Alfred (12 first place votes)	80 points	4-0	2 (last week)
2.	Rensselaer (three)	67	4-0	3
3.	St. John Fisher (two)	43	4-1	1
4.	Hartwick	38	3-1	NR
5.	Hobart	14	2-2	5