ITHACA, N.Y. – There's a lot riding on Saturday's Liberty League showdown at Butterfield Stadium as the No. 23/24 Ithaca College football team battles No. 11/13 Union College at 1 p.m. A win for the Bombers locks up a share of the Liberty League title, while a victory for Union puts the Dutchmen in the driver's seat to clinch next weekend in the regular season finale against RPI. The Bombers are 7-1 on the season and Union is 8-0.

COVERAGE

WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES

STATISTICS

ITHACA | UNION | LIBERTY LEAGUE

ALL-TIME SERIES: Saturday marks the 17th meeting between Ithaca and Union dating back to 1985 – the Bombers lead the series, 12-4. Union won the most recent matchup, a 31-21 outcome in 2019, to snap a nine-game losing streak to IC.

Ithaca won each game from 2010 to 2018, and prior to that, Union took three straight – 1999, 2005 and 2009. IC was victorious in the first three meetings of the rivalry in 1985, 1986 and 1991.

TO OUR SENIORS: At halftime of Saturday's game, Ithaca College will honor the football senior class, along with their families. More than 30 student-athletes and their families will be recognized Saturday for their hard work and dedication to the football program. Since 2018, IC has 23 games and has been nationally ranked for a majority of the past two seasons.

WHAT'S RIDING ON SATURDAY'S GAME: It's simple – the Bombers need to win on Saturday to keep their Liberty League title and NCAA playoff hopes alive. Saturday's game is the final Liberty League contest for Ithaca as the Bombers finish with a non-conference showdown at Cortland next weekend.

A win for the Bombers will give them a 5-1 conference mark and the tiebreaker of Union should the Dutchmen defeat RPI next Saturday.

LIBERTY LEAGUE SATURDAY: This weekend, RPI plays at St. Lawrence and Buffalo State is at Hobart. Rochester has a non-conference game at Hartwick.

RPI controls its own destiny as well after defeating IC last Saturday. The Engineers need to win out (SLU and Union) to become the 2021 Liberty League champions.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Bombers dropped to No. 23 and No. 24 in this week's top 25 poll released by D3football.com and the AFCA. The Bombers were ranked No. 13 in the AFCA poll last week and 15th by D3football.

Union moved up slightly after an overtime win against Hobart last week to No. 11 in the AFCA poll, but dropped a spot to No. 13 in D3football.com.

LAST TIME OUT: The Bombers suffered their first loss of the season at RPI last weekend, 14-11. RPI has now won five straight games against Ithaca.

IC had an opportunity to send the game to overtime, but a missed 35-yard field goal attempt gave the Engineers the win with 30 seconds left in regulation.

SCOUTING UNION: The Dutchmen are 8-0 this season and have dominated their opposition, outscoring their foes by an average of 23.4 points per game. Union averages 37.4 points with a balanced attack of 186.4 yards rushing and 199.6 yards passing, while allowing 14.0 points and 266.0 yards on defense.

Ike Irabor makes the offense go with 620 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. Jonathan Anderson is a solid second option with 386 yards and six touchdowns.

William Bellamy is the veteran quarterback for the Dutchmen and has put together a solid final season thus far. Bellamy has thrown for 1,524 yards and 17 touchdowns, to just six interceptions, and has completed 60.3-percent of his passes.

On the receiving end of Bellamy's passes is Andre Ross, who has 577 yards and eight touchdowns on 34 receptions. Robbie Tolbert has hauled in 25 catches for 372 yards and six touchdowns.

Defensively, Colin Lama anchors the stingy unit with 64 total tackles. Thomas Cavallo has 42 tackles on the season with 8.5 for loss, while Jimaar Edwards has 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks as part of his 37 total tackles.

The Dutchmen also possess a weapon on special teams with kicker/punter Andrew Lau, who has made four field goals on the season with 10 touchbacks in 51 kickoffs. Lau also averages 38.2 yards per punt, with a long of 71 yards, and 10 punts have landed inside the 20-yard line.

2022 CORTACA TICKETS: On November 16, tickets to the 2022 Cortaca Jug Game at Yankee Stadium will go on sale via ticketmaster.com. More information will be provided on athletics.ithaca.edu, as well as cortacajug.com.

UP NEXT: The Bombers close out their regular season on November 13 at No. 15 Cortland for the 62nd Cortaca Jug Game, which kickoffs off at 12 p.m. Cortland is undefeated this season and has already clinched an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Championship.