BRONX, N.Y. – The Ithaca College football team ended its 2026 season with a 30-23 loss to No. 9/10 Cortland, 30-23, in the 67th Cortaca Jug Game presented by Visions Federal Credit Union at Yankee Stadium on November 14. The storied rivalry drew 31,118 fans to the Bronx for the fourth-highest attended Division III football game.
Cortland receiving the opening kickoff and picked up a couple first downs before punting down to the Ithaca 3-yard line with 10:45 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bombers were sacked in the end zone for a safety to give Cortland a 2-0 lead with 9:15 on the clock. The ensuing free kick went to the 15-yard line, but a 29-yard return gave the Red Dragons their next possession near midfield.
Cortland immediately moved into the red zone on a completion from Mike Rescigno to Jayson Zeva down to the 35-yard line, accompanied by a late hit on the Bombers. A few snaps later, Rescigno scored from nine yards out to make it 9-0 with 6:03 to go.
D'Adj Love returned the kick 30 yards and then
Michael Reed found
Tian Murray for a 59-yard touchdown pass on the first play, but the extra point was missed for a 9-6 score. The momentum was short-lived, as Cortland connected for a long pass down to the IC 12-yard line than then scored on a 9-yard pass from Rescigno to Sam Cotton to make it 16-6.
Cortland racked up 196 yards of offense in the first quarter.
The Red Dragons threatened to start the second quarter, but turned the ball over on downs at the IC 28-yard line.
The Bombers answered off the change of possession with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Reed to Murray to bring IC back to within a field goal at 16-13 with 8:06 left in the half. Cortland regained its 10-point lead on a nearly five-minute drive that was capped off by a 20-yard touchdown strike to Cotton with 3:42 remaining.
Love gave IC great field position with a 48-yard kick return to the Cortland 42, but the Bombers were unable to capitalize and had to punt. The Red Dragons went 3-and-out and gave IC the ball back with just over a minute left in the half.
The half ended with a 23-13 score as Cortland gained 304 yards of offense and Ithaca produced 173 yards.
There was no scoring in the fourth quarter, but the Bombers ended the period on a high note after forcing another turnover on downs and then Reed found
Nicholas Lang for a 42-yard connection down to the Cortland 25-yard line.
On the first snap of the fourth quarter, Reed found
Colin Schumm for down the right sideline for a 22-yard touchdown strike to bring the Bombers back to within a field goal at 23-20 with 14:52 left in the contest.
Cortland responded with a fourth down touchdown run by Rescigno from 19 yards out with 12:42 remaining, making the score 30-20.
On IC's next drive, Reed hit
Antwan Harvey for a 42-yard completion down to the Cortland 13. Facing third down, Ithaca earned an extra set of downs on a pass interference in the end zone to spot the ball at the 2-yard line, but the Bombers settled for a 19-yard field goal with 8:26 to go to bring the contest back to a touchdown at 30-23.
The Bombers got the ball back at their own 25 with 5:33 left. IC moved up to the Cortland 35 by the 2-minute timeout and faced a 4th-and-1. Ithaca was stopped on a run up the middle for no gain.
Cortland punted the ball back and only took 28 seconds off the clock as the Bombers took over at their 21-yard line at the 1:32 mark. Ithaca turned the ball over on downs after a sack on fourth down to end the game.
The Red Dragons outgained Ithaca, 409-340, and controlled the ball for seven more minutes.
