UNION GAME NOTES
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College football team is set to host Union College this Saturday, November 4 at 1 p.m. for a crucial Liberty League contest and Senior Day. Saturday's contest has first place implications on the line and is the final conference game of the season for the Bombers. Ithaca brings a 5-3 mark to Butterfield Stadium and a 3-1 ledger in league play, while Union is 7-1 and a perfect 3-0 in the Liberty League.
GAME COVERAGE:
VIDEO | LIVE STATS | RADIO
COLLEGES AGAINST CANCER: Join us in the fight against cancer! Ithaca's Colleges Against Cancer is proud to announce their Football Fights Cancer Game. Head over to their tent on game day to purchase a raffle ticket and you can win two Cortaca Tickets! All proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.
UNITE FOR HER: The football team is dedicating Saturday's game to Unite For HER, an organization that raises money to provide complementary therapies to men and women in the Ithaca community affected by breast cancer. Please show your support by stopping by the pink table during the game.
ONE LOVE: Saturday's game will be dedicated to the One Love Foundation. The One Love Foundation was created in 2010 to honor the memory of Yeardley Love. One Love's mission is to educate, empower and activate young people in a movement to end relationship violence. To learn more and to support the work of the One Love Foundation go to joinonelove.org.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Ithaca and Union have squared off 13 times since 1985 with the Bombers owning a 10-3 advantage. IC has won each of the past seven meetings dating back to 2010, including the season-opener last year by a 14-9 outcome. The new Liberty League foes have crossed paths four times in NCAA postseason play – 2005 (55-41 Union), 1991 (35-23 Ithaca), 1986 (24-17 Ithaca OT) and 1985 (13-12 Ithaca). Union won three consecutive meetings over a 10-year span from 1999 to 2009. Ithaca's largest margin of victory over Union was a 37-18 outcome in 2011, while the Dutchmen earned their largest win in 1999 by a 31-7 score.
SENIOR DAY AND PARENTS WEEKEND: During halftime of Saturday's game, Ithaca College will recognize the 19 seniors and their parents on this year's team –
Austin Barrett,
Jared Bauer,
Geoff Bell,
Kenny Bradley,
Tristan Brown,
Taylor Catz,
Adam Fron,
Brad Helmkamp,
Ben Kumph,
Dan Loizos,
Frank Martino,
Mike Miller,
Ryan Moody,
Josh Riger,
Ryan Rossi,
Jordan Schemm,
Rifton Westby,
Tyler Winslow and
Jack Yule.
Parents from the underclassmen will also be honored prior to the start of the game in the East End Zone.
125TH ANNIVERSARY: This weekend marks the 125th anniversary celebration of Ithaca College. Festivities for the weekend began on Friday and culminate on Sunday. The weekend will be highlighted by the inauguration of Ithaca's ninth president, Shirley M. Collado, on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
For more information on the 125th anniversary celebration,
follow this link.
DEFENSE PITCHES SHUTOUT….: The Ithaca defense put together its best performance of the season last Saturday at Utica as the Bombers posted a 14-0 shutout. IC allowed just 234 yards of offense in the game and forced four turnovers, and blocked a field goal.
…..AND HAS BEEN A MENACE: Over the past four games, Ithaca's defense has allowed an average of 245.8 yards and 9.3 points. IC's opposition has not surpassed 300 yards of offense in any of those four meeting and has turned the ball over a combined eight times.
BROWN RUNS WILD: Senior running back
Tristan Brown led Ithaca's offensive attack last Saturday at Utica with a season-high 144 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Ithaca rushed for 231 yards in the game, which is the highest such rushing output since 2015 when the Bombers ran for 253 yards against Alfred.
APPROACHING MILESTONES: Sophomore
Will Gladney and freshman
Wahid Nabi are knocking on the door of near uncharted territory. Gladney is currently 159 yards away from 1,000 receiving yards, while Nabi needs just 275 yards passing to surpass 2,000 for the season.
Gladney would be just the third receiver all-time to eclipse more than 1,000 yards in a season. In 1993, Joe Palumbo hauled in 74 catches for 1,119 yards and Nick Ismailoff recorded 1,435 yards on 94 receptions in 1991. That 1991 season, Ismailoff notched 599 yards during the team's national championship run over four games.
Nabi would become the 12th quarterback in school history to reach 2,000 passing yards. The last signal caller to pass for more than 2,000 yards was Tom Dempsey in 2014 with 2,390.
SCOUTING UNION: The Dutchmen bring a 7-1 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the Liberty League into Saturday's contest. After a season-opening loss at Husson, 20-7, Union has won seven straight games. Fewer than five points have decided three of those wins for the Dutchmen. In the latest AFCA Top 25 Poll, Union is receiving votes.
Union averages 24.5 points a game at 299.1 yards, while it allows 15.5 points and 311 yards. The defense has forced 23 turnovers this season to go along with 46 tackles for loss and 21 sacks.
Offensively, Connor Kinzelmann leads the rushing attack with 417 yards and four touchdowns, while Nick Cascione has thrown for 1,401 yards and 14 scores. Alex Kaplanovich paces the receiving corps with 491 yards on 37 receptions.
UP NEXT: Ithaca concludes its regular season next Saturday, November 11 at 12 p.m. for the 59th Cortaca Jug Game against Cortland at Butterfield Stadium. Ithaca leads the all-time Cortaca Jug series, 34-24, but the Red Dragons have won the last seven meetings.
STATISTICS:
ITHACA | UNION | LIBERTY LEAGUE
