1 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008

Butterfield Stadium (c. 5,000); Ithaca, N.Y.

THE GAME: Ithaca opens the 2008 season, hosting Lycoming Saturday, Sept. 6. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Butterfield Stadium.

 THE COACHES: Entering his 15th season as Ithaca's head coach, Mike Welch (Ithaca '73) has posted a 112-41 (.732) record, including a regular-season mark of 103-35 (.746). He enters the season 15th among active coaches in winning percentage. A running back who earned two letters while playing for coach Jim Butterfield, Welch succeeded his former coach after spending 10 years as an assistant at his alma mater.  He is 2-1 against Lycoming.

        Lycoming's Mike Clark (Lycoming '93) makes his head coaching debut after replacing long-time Warrior coach Frank Girardi, who won over 250 games in his 35 years. Clark is one of two first-year coaches that will face the Bombers this year; Ithaca graduate and former assistant coach Blaise Faggiano is in his first year at the helm of the Utica program. The last coach to make his collegiate debut against the Bombers was Buffalo State's Paul Shaffner in 2004; Ithaca beat the Bengals 45-0.

 THE SERIES: Ithaca holds a 3-1 lead. The Bombers beat Lycoming 25-0 on Oct. 1, 1948; 56 years later (the longest gap Ithaca ever waited between games with any opponent); Ithaca celebrated Homecoming with a 49-7 rout of the Warriors.

 LAST TIME THEY MET: The Bombers opened their season with a win for the 27th time in 31 years, beating the host Warriors 31-6 last Sept. 1. Dan Juvan threw for a career-best 309 yards, completing 22 of 32 passes, and matched a career-high with three touchdown passes. Defensive end Adam Drescher, who was named Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on D3football.com's Team of the Week, posted career-best totals of nine tackles and four tackles for loss, forced a fumble, tipped a pass and blocked the extra-point attempt after Lycoming's touchdown. Brian Weverbergh caught Juvan's first TD pass. Ithaca's offensive line, which included right guard Eric Russo, left guard Chris Gray and right tackle Sean Mirkov, did not allow a sack as Ithaca attempted 35 passes. The Ithaca defense limited the Warriors to 74 yards through the air and 16 rushing yards. Matt Scalice matched Drescher with nine tackles. Dillon Dwyer kicked a 26-yard field goal to open the game's scoring and added extra points after all four Bomber touchdowns. His seven points matched the highest first-game total by a Bomber kicker.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS: Lycoming enjoyed 30 straight winning seasons from 1974-2003, but the Warriors have gone 16-23 since then and have been held under 20 points 26 times in those 39 games. Sophomore Josh Kleinfelter was the team's leading rusher last year (509 yards) and junior Brad Shellenberger caught a team-best 41 passes. Either junior Colin Dwyer or sophomore Tim Hook is expected to start at quarterback behind an offensive line that returns four starters. Linebacker Chris Smith (44 tackles) and safety Nick Reese (46 tackles) are among the returning defensive starters. Last season's team turned the ball over 31 times in 10 games, while creating just 16 turnovers of its own. The MAC preseason poll had the Warriors picked fifth in eight-team conference. 

EMPIRE 8 UPDATE: This season marked the seventh year of Empire 8-sponsored football and the fourth 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 (Norwich will drop out of the conference following this season).

    The Bombers own an all-time record of 27-5 in league competition. They were picked atop the conference's preseason poll after being selected fourth in last year's poll. Ithaca 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 88-29-2 (.748) advantage against the conference's current members.

ITHACA ITEMS: Ithaca's win over Springfield last fall clinched the program's 37th straight winning season. The Bombers own the nation's second-longest active streak of winning seasons at any level of college football (Linfield has clinched its 52nd straight winning season).

    The Bombers will enjoy a three-game homestand this year for the 21st time since 1970; Ithaca has posted a winning record in 18 of the previous 20 homestands and have notched 3-0 records on 11 occasions.

    This season marks the third 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.

    The Bombers' 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 win 19-18 and in 2001 Ithaca scored twice in the last 5:29 to beat Springfield 17-16 after trailing 16-3.

        Since 1985, Ithaca is 59-12 (.831) during September, including a 37-9 (.821) record under Mike Welch. The Bombers have won 34 of their last 39 September games.

 NEXT WEEK: The Bombers make their first road trip, traveling to Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to face the King's Monarchs (0-0) in a non-league game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at King's' Meltzer Fields. This week the Monarchs open their season hosting Randolph-Macon.

 FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Ithaca sports information director Mike Warwick in the sports information office at (607/274-1401) or mwarwick@ithaca.edu, or at home (607/662-4446) or Lycoming SID Jonathon Holtz (570/321-4337).