UTICA, NY -- The Utica College football team hits the road on Saturday to take on Empire 8 Conference newcomer and nationally-ranked No. 25 Cortland State for the first time since 2003.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Broadcast Information: All Utica College football games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by Dave Peroni and UC alum Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com … The Cortland State Athletic Communications Department will provide live stats (http://colfax.cortland.edu/athletics/football/live/xlive.htm) and live video (http://www.cortlandreddragons.com/sports/2013/3/26/GEN_0326130909.aspx?id=186) for Saturday's matchup. 

Last Weekend: The Pioneers cruised past Morrisville State 38-14 in an Empire 8 Conference match up under the lights at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Saturday … Utica avenged a loss to the Mustangs in the 2014 ECAC North Central Bowl … Morrisville was receiving votes in the D3football.com National Poll at the time of their defeat … The Pioneers compiled 526 yards of total offense on the afternoon … The UC defense forced a safety and scored a defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for the home team. 

Where We Stand: UC is currently 2-1 overall with a 1-0 Empire 8 Conference record after defeating Morrisville… Utica won its season opener at home over Misericordia by the score of 42-28 before traveling to Ohio Northern and falling to the Polar Bears 29-22 … Utica has won its Empire 8 Conference opener just three times in the program's history … Utica defeated Frostburg in their conference opener last year and went on to finish the season with a program-best 5-3 record in Empire 8 play. 

Offensive Notes
High Scoring Affair: The Pioneers currently rank third in the Empire 8 with an average of 34.0 points scored per game … Cortland leads the E8 with 40.3 points per game.  

VanGalen's Heating Up: After only three collegiate starts, quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) looks comfortable guiding the Pioneer offense…Last week he completed 25 passes for a career-high 313 yards and two touchdowns, including a touchdown scoring 87 yard, five play drive, that only took 44 seconds as the end of the first half loomed…VanGalen ranks second in the Empire 8 and 14^th nationally with 876 passing yards this season …  His five passing touchdowns are good enough for third in the conference.  

The Big Three: The passing attack is aided by senior receiver Gregory Palmer (Richland, NY/APW) (378 receiving yards, three touchdowns), classmate Alex DeRusso (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) (251 receiving yards), and junior Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) (177 receiving yards, one touchdown)…Against Morrisville the big three accounted for 292 of the 313 receiving yards and both touchdowns… Greg Palmer is ranked second in the Empire 8 and eighth nationally with 378 receiving yards this season … Alex DeRusso (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) ranks fourth in the conference and 52^nd nationally with 251 receiving yards … DeRusso's 161 yards receiving last week ranks seventh on the College's all-time single game list.

Burnett Keeps Going: Junior captain Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) has a team-leading 68 carries for 250 yards…He is third in the conference in total rushing yards …His 88 yard performance against Morrisville State boosted him two spots into sixth on the College's all-time rushing list…Burnett now has 789 career rushing yards.

Gambill Looking for More: Junior running back Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) is averaging 6.6 yards per carry this season and he leads the team with two rushing touchdowns.

On Everyone's Radar: Junior Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) is hard to miss on the scouting report as he ranks third in the Empire 8 and 63^rd nationally with an average of 147.67 all-purpose yards per game … He needs 75 more receiving yards to become the eighth player in program history to catch for 1,000 yards in a career … He also needs 15 catches to become the eighth player in program-history to grab 100 or more receptions in a career.

Special Teams
Nation's Leading Kicker: Senior kicker Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) kicked three field goals and three extra points last week and broke the school-record for most points in a game scored by kicking with 12… For his efforts he was named the Empire 8 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for the second consecutive week … He now only needs 21 more points to break the school-record for most points scored in a career…The senior kicker currently leads the nation with an average of 2.67 field goals made per game.

Defensive Notes
Tackling Machine: Junior linebacker Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) leads the conference with 34 total tackles over the course of three games… His average of 11.3 tackles per game ranks 39^th nationally … Against Morrisville, Wilson had 10 total tackles.

Woodman Keeps Rolling: Senior defensive end Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) added to his career sack total against Morrisville and he now has 20.0… Woodman added a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for a touchdown last week…He is third in the conference in sacks, and fifth in the conference in total tackles for a loss.  

Standout Sophomores: Sophomore linebacker Isaiah Washington (Ozone Park, NY/Fort Hamilton) picked off Cory Benedetto for the first interception of his career Saturday night … Sophomore Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) ranks fourth on the team with 13 tackles and he is tied for the team lead with three pass break ups. 

SUNY Cortland Profile
Meet SUNY Cortland: The Red Dragons are entering their first season in the Empire 8 Conference after spending time as a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference… The Red Dragons are currently 3-0 with a 1-0 conference record…SUNY Cortland is coming off of an impressive 34-17 victory over St. John Fisher…SUNY Cortland is led by quarterback Steven Ferreira who has 42 completions for 452 yards, six touchdowns and one interception on the year … Running back Donny Davis has 43 carries for 204 yards and two touchdowns and Carson Lassiter has 27 total tackles, one interception, and one forced fumble … Cortland is 3-0 all-time against Utica earning victories over the Pioneers in 2001, 2002 and 2003. 

All-Time Series: Cortland and Utica have squared off three times, but they have not met in 12 years … Cortland and Utica played each year in the first three years of Utica's varsity existence back in 2001, 2002 and 2003 … Cortland won all three meetings in convincing fashion … Saturday marks just the second time in program-history that UC football has traveled to Cortland … The last time these two teams met was in 2003 and the Pioneers lost 43-7 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.

Social Media: If you can't make it out to the game make sure to follow live updates on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers… If you are at the game and on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.