THE WEEK OFF: Ithaca is idle this week, marking the program's fourth year in a row having a week without a game during the regular season. Before 2005 Ithaca hadn't had a week off during the season since 1991. That year the Bombers took a week off between beating Buffalo State 41-23 and topping Cortland 23-14 on their way to winning their record third Stagg Bowl. Since 1958 the Bombers have had 10 seasons that featured a week off (1975, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991; in each case they won the game before the break and the game after the break. Seven of those 10 teams (1975, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 2007 and 2008) reached the NCAA playoffs.

    The Bombers own an all-time record of 34-7 (.829) in league competition. They were picked atop the conference's preseason poll for the fifth time in the six years that the preseason balloting has been conducted.

    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 then won the title outright last year with a 5-1 mark. 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 a 92-31-2 (.728) advantage against the conference's current members.

HOMECOMING? AGAIN? Saturday's win at Frostburg State marked the Bombers' third straight Homecoming game – Ithaca spoiled Hartwick's Homecoming two weeks ago with a 24-20 win before hosting St. John Fisher the next week in their own Homecoming. Since 1997 the Bombers have won 22 of 23 Homecoming games – posting wins at Alfred (2002), American International (1998), Brockport (1998 and 2006), Frostburg State (2009) Hartwick (2009, 2005 and 2003), St. Lawrence (1997) and Springfield (2005) in addition to winning all 10 of their own 11 Homecoming games.

BOUNCING BACK: Ithaca went into Saturday's game coming off a loss to St. John Fisher; the Bombers have lost a total of 72 games in the past 33 years and have now bounced back with a win their next time out 60 times.

LAST WEEK: Senior quarterback Brian Grastorf (Niskayuna/Rexford) threw three touchdown passes and the Bombers withstood a late rally to beat host Frostburg State 20-10. Ithaca stopped the Bobcats twice on downs in the fourth quarter.

OFFENSIVE RECAP: Grastorf capped Ithaca's opening drive with a six-yard pass to junior wide receiver Dan Ruffrage (Notre Dame/Whitesboro) and added a nine-yard touchdown throw to junior wideout Thomas Vossler (Saranac Lake/Loon Lake) 32 seconds into the second quarter. After Frostburg State scored its only touchdown, Ithaca drove 71 yards in a 14-play, seven-minute drive to seal the win. Junior tight end Dan Higgins (Greece Athena/Rochester) caught a 10-yard pass from Grastorf to cap the drive. Grastorf completed 18 passes for 192 yards. Grastorf threw for 192 yards and raised his season total to 17 touchdown passes. Sophomore running back Adam Lajara (Cambridge/Cambridge) ran for a career-best 97 yards to lead all rushers. Vossler caught six passes and moved into 15th on the program's all-time list, upping his career total to 78 receptions. Ruffrage made five catches. Ithaca's offensive line – junior left tackle Leland King (Burlington/Burlington, Vt.), junior left guard Rich Mallon (Locust Valley/Bayville), senior center Mike Boch (East Rochester/East Rochester), right guard Kevin Heinzelman (Hudson Falls/Queensbury), a graduate student; and senior right tackle Jake Queener (Geneva/Geneva) – did not allow a sack.

DEFENSIVE NOTES: The Bombers held Frostburg State to six-of-17 efficiency on third and fourth downs. Junior strong safety David Ahonen (Victor/Farmington), junior linebacker Eric Toporoff (Montville Township/Towaco, N.J.) and senior defensive end Adam Drescher (Christian Brothers Academy/Fayetteville) all recorded seven tackles. Drescher's three tackles for loss included a career-best two sacks. Freshman defensive end Owen Kugler (Highland Park/Highland Park, Ill.) made a career-high six stops and senior defensive tackle Joe Goetz (New Hyde Park Memorial/New Hyde Park) was in on a pair of tackles for loss. Sophomore cornerback Spence White (Sleepy Hollow/Yonkers) made four tackles, broke up a pass and intercepted a pass on the Bobcats' first play after the Bombers' final touchdown. Ahonen broke up a fourth-down pass to end Frostburg State's final possession.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT: Sophomore Andrew Rogowski (Canisius/East Amherst) kicked extra points after two of Ithaca's three touchdowns; his first quarter miss snapped a streak of 32 in a row, dating back to 2008. He also punted five times; none of his kicks were returned. White made a pair of tackles in kick coverage.

NATIONAL LEADERS: Ithaca ranked among the NCAA leaders in three individual and two team categories through games of Oct. 10.

        Junior Dan Ruffrage ranked 16th in punt returns (14.17 yards per return), sophomore linebacker Joe Gilfedder (Governor Livingston/Berkeley Heights, N.J. ranked 23rd in interceptions (0.67 per game) and sophomore kicker Andrew Rogowski was 29th in field goals (1.00 per game).

        As a team Ithaca ranked 20th in punt returns (13.67) and 29th in turnover margin (+ 1.33).

INTERCEPTION INFORMATION: Joe Gilfedder's team-best four interceptions is Division III's second-highest total by a linebacker this year. As a team, Ithaca has picked off 14 passes; only Curry (15), Monmouth (15) and Westfield State (15) have more. The Bombers are on pace for 20 interceptions this fall; Ithaca hasn't had as many as 20 in a year since 1996.

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)

    Senior running back Thomas Bergerstock (Webster Thomas/Webster) raised his career total to 1,690 yards, good into 11th on the program's all-time list. The 29th Bomber to gain 1,000 career yards (and the 10th Ithaca running back to reach that total since 1998); he became the program's 17th 1,500-yard rusher. His 24 career rushing scores are fifth on Ithaca's all-time list. The 27th Bomber with 100 career points, Bergerstock ranks ninth on the all-time scoring list. He is five points away from seventh.

    Junior running back Dan Ruggiero (Pen Argyl/Pen Argyl, Pa.) has raised his career total to 872 rushing yards; he's 128 yards away from becoming the program's 30th 1,000-yard rusher.

    Senior quarterback Brian Grastorf raised his career total to 2,699 yards Saturday. His 26 touchdown passes and 219 completions are both seventh all-time and his .602 completion percentage and 139.4 rating rank third and sixth, respectively.

    With 1,744 yards this fall, Grastorf ranks 12th on the program's single-season list. His 17 touchdown passes and 155 completions are eighth and ninth, respectively. His .625 completion percentage and 137.7 rating would rank second and eighth on Ithaca's single-season lists.

    Junior wide receiver Thomas Vossler is now tied for 16th on Ithaca's career list with 76 receptions. He's 16 catches away from a spot in the top 10. Vossler raised his career total to 1,024 receiving yards, becoming the 18th Bomber to gain 1,000.

    Linebacker Matt Scalice (North Tonawanda/North Tonawanda), a graduate student, raised his total to 291 tackles, good for sixth all-time at Ithaca. The 26th Bomber to reach 200, he's eight away from fifth all-time at Ithaca and needs nine to become the fifth Bomber with 300.

    Sophomore Andrew Rogowski raised his total to 106 points, good for fourth all-time among Ithaca kickers. With 73 extra points he's fifth all-time and his 11 field goals are tied for fifth. Rogowski's 73.3 accuracy rate on field goals is the best ever by an Ithaca kicker with at least 10 attempts and only two Bomber kickers have higher PAT percentages than his 94.8 success rate. Rogowski became the 28th Bomber (and sixth kicker) to reach 100 career points and ranks 22nd all-time on the program's scoring list.

    Junior tight end Dan Higgins has caught 27 passes, good for 10th among tight ends on Ithaca's career list. His 23 catches this fall rank 10th on the single-season tight end list as well.

    Senior defensive tackle Joe Goetz has recorded 11 career sacks, good for 17th all-time at Ithaca. He needs two more to match the Bombers' 10th-highest all-time total.

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS: Award winners for the Frostburg State game, as chosen by the coaching staff, were: Outstanding Back: Ruffrage; Outstanding Lineman: Drescher; Outstanding Specialist: junior linebacker Pat Scott (West Genesee/Syracuse); Hustler of the Week: junior cornerback Tom Eschen (Cazenovia/Cazenovia); Offensive Scout Team Player of the Week: freshman running back Sean Kelley (Frontier Regional/Sunderland, Mass.); Defensive Scout Team Player of the Week: freshman defensive end Ian Kelley (Oneonta/Oneonta); Special Team Scout Team Player of the Week: freshman J.J. Crandall (Herkimer Central/Herkimer); Honorary Offensive Captain: Higgins; and Honorary Defensive Captain:  Ahonen. Play of the game awards were given to Kugler for defense.

ITHACA ITEMS: Ithaca's win over Utica 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 53rd straight winning season).

    With four interceptions this fall, Joe Gilfedder is one short of the school record for most interceptions by a linebacker; he is tied with Chris Colloca (1990), Rich Pasquale (1997), Mark McDonough (2000) and Dustin Ross (2005). John Laper holds the record with five in 1979.

        Matt Scalice's start Saturday was the 36th of his career; with three regular-season games remaining, he's three short of matching the career record held by his brother Joe, an all-American offensive tackle at Ithaca from 2002 to 2005.

        Adam Drescher's blocked extra point try against St. John Fisher marked the eighth block of his career and extended his school record of six blocked PAT attempts. Only Dave Stone (nine blocks: four field goals and five punts) has more blocks.

    Through seven games, four Bomber wide receivers have caught a touchdown pass (Eric Breton, Matt Hannon, Dan Ruffrage and Thomas Vossler); that's one short of the school-record five wideouts who caught scoring passes in 2005 and again last season.

    Ithaca's comeback at Utica marked the fifth time since 2001 that the Bombers have rallied from a third-quarter deficit of at least 10 points. In 2005 Ithaca trailed St. John Fisher by 14 points with nine minutes left before winning 41-35 in overtime; in 2003 the Bombers trailed St. John Fisher 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.

    The Bombers have won four of their last five games on artificial turf; under Mike Welch Ithaca is 28-15.

NEXT WEEK: The Bombers are idle. Ithaca's next game is Saturday, Oct. 31 at Springfield.

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).

2009 Schedule & Results (5-2, 2-1 Empire 8)