The Utica College Football team will play a postseason contest for the third time in school history Saturday as the Pioneers meet former Empire 8 rival Ithaca College in the ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl. Opening kickoff at Schoellkopf Field on the campus of Cornell University is set for 1 p.m.

The Series: This will be the eighteenth all-time meeting between the Pioneers and Bombers. Of the previous seventeen meetings, Ithaca has posted fifteen wins to Utica's two. The Bombers have won the last two meetings, with the Pioneers posting their victories in 2011 and 2015 at home in regionally televised games. Both of the team's wins over Ithaca have come on turf, and the artifical surface at Schoellkopf may be the great equalizer for Utica, who has never won on the grass field at Ithaca's Butterfield Stadium in nine tries.

Schoellkopf Field: The historic home of the Cornell Big Red is 103 years old as it opened in 1915. The 21,500 seat stadium is one of the most scenic venues in all of college football, and features some of the most unique architecture in its seating area. The stadium's seating area, located on the east side of the facility is a massive arched cement structure called the Crescent. The stadium formerly seated over 25,000 spectators but the west stands were torn down due to age and underuse recently. Schoellkopf has played host to five national championship teams for the Big Red.

Follow Along: Fans will have a multitude of coverage options available to follow along if they cannot make it to Ithaca on Saturday. Live video will be available through Ithaca College Athletic Communications at portal.stretchinternet.com/ithaca. In addition, the game will be carried on local radio on WPNR 90.7 FM, Utica College Pioneer Radio. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 returns to the booth on the play-by-play, with Utica College student Adam Ziobrowski on color commentary. The WPNR-FM broadcast is also available online at pioneerradio.org.

Fire Up The Grill: The Pioneers have been red hot to close the season as they've posted three wins in their last four contests. They have outscored opponents 111-17 in their last two wins of the season.
 
What A Fun Trip It's Been: The Pioneers finished with an overall record of 6-4, and were also above .500 in the Empire 8 conference at 4-3. They finished in a three way tie for third in Empire 8 play. The Pioneers started the season 2-0 in non-conference action. They rode a firm defensive effort and a late fourth quarter touchdown to overcome a large amount of penalty yards in a 9-6 win over St. Lawrence, and opened their home schedule the following week with the offense lighting up the Catholic University of America for 45 points in a 45-21 win that marked the debut of freshman quarterback Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor). Utica seemed primed to keep the unbeaten start going against nationally-ranked RPI, taking the Engineers into three overtimes before falling 23-20 at home. RPI went on to win the Liberty League title at 8-1 overall, and will be playing in the NCAA tournament this week. The tough luck against quality opposition continued the following week in a 45-38 setback against Cortland State. Utica rallied out of a 17 point hole in the second half to tie the game at 38 with just over two minutes to go, but a 65 yard drive capped by a touchdown pass to Nick Anderson from Brett Segala was enough to propel Cortland late. The Pioneers fell to the Red Dragons despite setting a school record with 688 yards of total offense, and Wilcox set a new single game passing mark at UC by throwing for 461 yards and four touchdowns. Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) rushed for a then-career high 211 yards, while the Pioneer defense limited the Cortland ground game to just 1.8 yards per carry. That terrific run defense lifted Utica into the win column after the bye week as the Pioneers posted their second-ever win over St. John Fisher by a 33-7 score. Utica erased an early 7 point deficit with 33 unanswered points, and produced a program best performance against the run by capping the Cardinals to -12 rushing yards. The win over Fisher was Blaise Faggiano's 50th win as Utica head coach. The next Saturday, the Pioneers experienced a road letdown against fellow ECAC bowl qualifier Morrisville by a 41-24 score. Linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) posted the most tackles by any Empire 8 player this season and the most by a Pioneer since 2004 with a 20 tackle effort. Against Alfred the next week, the Pioneers held a slim one point lead against the Saxons in the fourth quarter until a clutch fumble return touchdown by Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) sealed the deal as his scoop and score gave Utica a permanent advantage in a 30-23 win. The win was Utica's third in the all time series against Alfred, and all three wins have come at home. The Pioneers put on one of the best showings of the season against No. 3 Brockport in week nine, as the teams were separated by just three points in the third quarter before the Golden Eagles pulled away to a 22-6 win. Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) had a monster day with 14 tackles and 2.5 sacks. The tackle total was the highest by a defensive lineman in the conference this year, and the sacks also set a standard for the position that stood until the final week of the regular season. A blowout was on the menu for week ten as the Pioneer defense held an opponent to the second lowest point total ever allowed by the unit in a 36-3 win over Buffalo State. Antonio Scala (Coram, NY/Longwood) had 15 tackles, a sack, and an interception. Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay). The final week of the regular season brought with it a steamrolling to wrap up conference play as the Pioneers bulldozed Hartwick with the second most points in school history and the largest margin of victory in UC program history in a 75-14 win.

Last Time Out: A dazzling offensive performance that began before the first play from scrimmage was the story for Utica as they hammered Empire 8 rival Hartwick by a lopsided 75-14 score at Wright Stadium. The Pioneers posted the second most points in school history and the largest margin of victory in UC program history, and also posted a new program best against the run for a second time this season by limiting the Hawks to -19 rushing yards. The team also set a new single game record for sacks with ten, four of which came from defensive lineman Michael Curcurito (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) on just five tackles. The team opened the game with an 81 yard kickoff return touchdown by running back Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove), which would spark a string of four touchdowns in the opening quarter, and another four before halftime as the Pioneers led 55-0 at halftime. Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) had four rushing touchdowns in the first half, while Wilcox connected with Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) on a touchdown pass and Andrew Genier (Whitehall, NY/Whitehall) returned an interception for a touchdown to help boost Utica to the big lead. After a third quarter passing touchdown from Wilcox to Vincent made it 62-0, the Pioneers pulled many of their starters and backup quarterback Ryan VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenedehowa) engineered two more touchdown drives capped off with passes to two different receivers to cap off the 75-14 score while the Hawks managed a pair of second half scores. Utica compiled 492 yards of offense, did not punt the entire day, and were a simply brilliant 8-of-10 on third downs. While rushing for 228 yards and four touchdowns in a career performance, Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) rushed his way into the record books as Utica's leading single season and career rushing yards leader, and also set a new school single game mark for yards per carry at 19.1 as he accomplished his afternoon's work on just 12 carries. The Pioneers posted the fifth best team rushing performance in school history with 288 yards. Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) completed nine passes for 151 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay). Utica scored five times in seven trips to the red zone, all of them touchdowns, and the Pioneers did not allow Hartwick to take a single snap inside the Utica 20 yard line all afternoon.

Have Wins, Will Travel: The Pioneers were just 3-3 in their six home dates, but had a great knack for playing well away from home that could be advantageous to their cause come Saturday. Utica was 3-1 when playing away from Charles A. Gaetano Stadium this season.
 
Bowl History: The Pioneers have played in three ECAC bowl games in their history, all of which have taken place in the last five years. The Pioneers have made the postseason in two year increments. They first appeared in a bowl game in 2014 when they met eventual Empire 8 foe Morrisville in the ECAC North Central bowl at Drake Field. Utica's first ever bowl appearance featured explosive offensive performances as they fell to the Mustangs 52-41. The Pioneers rushed for 262 yards and five touchdowns, but had no answer defensively for all-region quarterback Lemar Johnson, who rushed for over 200 yards and five touchdowns and threw for another. In 2016, the Pioneers played in a neutral site bowl game for the first time as they met Westminster (Pa.) in the ECAC James Lynah Bowl at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field, home of the Penn Quakers, the Penn Relays, and former home of the Philadelphia Eagles. Utica led 6-3 after one quarter of action on a touchdown pass from Teddy VanGalen to Jerred Beniquez, but the Titans scored the next 30 points to seal the win over Utica by a 33-6 score. Former Pioneer running back Ryan Burnett rushed for 75 yards to become Utica's career and single season rushing record holder at the time, a record that stood until last Saturday.

Player of the Week: Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) was named the Empire 8 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week after his game-opening 81 yard kickoff return for a touchdown sparked the Pioneers to their win at Hartwick. Hogan is just one of 61 players in Division III to return a kickoff for a touchdown this season.

Pulling Even: This year's bowl selection marks the first time the Pioneers have advanced to a bowl game with just six victories, as they held seven wins at the time of each of their previous selections. A win on Saturday would tie the school record for victories alongside Utica's other postseason qualifiers.
 
Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner: The Pioneers have won six or more games in three of the last five seasons as they improved to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the E8.

These Guys Keep Coming Back: After several years meeting as Empire 8 opponents, and a non-conference meeting last year, this season was to be the first in Utica's football existence where they were not scheduled to face Ithaca with the Bombers now playing in the Liberty League. This weekend's bowl matchup ensures that the long time opponents will meet for an eighteenth consecutive year.

On the Sidelines: Utica head coach Blaise Faggiano is in his eleventh season with 53 career victories after attaining his 50th win earlier this season. While Saturday's matchup won't take place on South Hill, he is quite familiar with Ithaca as he played football for former head coach Mike Welch and the Bombers from 1989 to 1992 and won the Division III national title in 1991 at the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. Ithaca head coach Dan Swanstrom is in his second year at the helm of the Bombers and led Utica's opponent to eight wins last season. Swanstrom most notably has coached former NFL quarterback prospect Alek Torgersen during his time at the University of Pennsylvania, and was Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck's high school coach at one point.

Counting Chips: The Pioneers stand third in the Empire 8 in scoring offense and defense. They have scored 31.6 points per game, and allowed 20.4 points per game. Their 34 touchdowns scored are the third most in the conference. They have scored 316 points in ten games (fifth all-time).

Yardage Yakety Yak: Utica is third in the Empire 8 conference in total offense and fourth in total defense. The Pioneers have electrified the crowd at times on offense to the tune of 393 yards per game when they have the ball, and they have held opponents to 351.5 yards per game.

Express Shipping: Utica is third in the Empire 8 conference in passing yards with 255.2 yards per game, and seventh in passing defense at 255.8 yards per game.

A Better Ground Game Than Amazon: The Pioneers were fifth in Empire 8 rushing offense at 138 yards per game, and were very strong at defending the run at 95.7 yards against per game to rank third. They allowed just six rushing touchdowns in ten games. UC's 1,387 team rushing yards this season rank fifth on the College's all-time single season list.

Not Now Chief, I'm In The Zone: Opponents are 18 of 34 against Utica's defense this season in the red zone, and have only 10 touchdowns to show for it. The Pioneers are 30-of-44 and have 20 touchdowns to their credit.

Steady on Third Down: The Pioneers are fourth in the Empire 8 in third down conversions and third down defense. The Pioneers are converting at 38 percent this season when they have the ball, and opposing offenses are only staying on the field 34.5 percent of the time when they don't.

Seventy Plus: Utica's 75 point effort marked the third time in program-history the Pioneers have scored 70+ points in a single game. UC posted 78 points in a win over Becker in 2010 and 70 points in a loss to Hartwick back in 2007.

Paging Dr. Malcolm: Stowe's huge day on Saturday helped him become the College's all-time leading rusher and he is now the first back in program history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season (1,011).  He also became the program's all-time leader in career rushing yards (1,899). His 228 rushing yards on Saturday rank third on the College's all-time list and his four rushing TD's are tied for second.  He also set a new school standard with an average of 19.0 rushing yards per attempt Saturday. His 12 career rushing touchdowns now rank seventh all-time. Stowe accomplished his feats in just nine games this year, as he did not play in the win over Alfred.

Rookie of the Year Case at QB: As a freshman, quarterback Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) has had one of the most prolific rookie seasons of any player in program history in just nine games. The rookie signal-caller has thrown for the second most single season passing yards of any freshman quarterback in school history, and the eighth most on the overall school list for one season with 2,258 passing yards. He needs 113 yards to surpass Connor Butkiewicz for seventh, and can become the freshman passing yardage record holder and move up to sixth with just four additional yards after that. He has thrown 21 touchdown passes, which is good enough for the second best total in a single season in school history. Wilcox was third in the Empire 8 this season in passing yards and passing touchdowns, and holds the longest completed pass ever by a Utica quarterback on a 78 yard strike in the Cortland game. Conveniently, the freshman records are all held by the 2009 Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Year, Andrew Benkwitt. He is 48th in the nation in passing yards.

Sir Scores-A-Lot: Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) caught two more touchdown passes on Saturday and now stands in second in a single year in school history with 11 touchdown receptions. His 590 receiving yards are second on the team, and 11 of his 34 catches have been for touchdowns. He has caught at least one touchdown in the last seven games he has appeared in. He is the Empire 8 leader in receiving touchdowns and stands 27th in the nation in that category.

Making A Grand: Junior wide receiver Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) now has a team best 71 catches for 892 receiving yards, good for the fourth most in a single campaign in school history. 24 more yards would move him past Jerred Beniquez and into third for yardage, 63 yards would move him into second, and 108 yards would make him the second 1,000 yard receiver in school history.

Pass Protection Progress: The Pioneers needed to be better at protecting the quarterback after the first two weeks of the season where they allowed quarterbacks Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) and Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) to be sacked ten times. That need was filled by the offensive line as they got better as the season progressed. The Pioneers went on to allow just five sacks in their remaining eight games, and held opponents without one five different times.

He Just Hit The Moon: Sophomore Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) added punting duties to his role with the Pioneers this season, and he has not disappointed. The first year punter for the Pioneers has led the Empire 8 conference in punting average at 37.1 yards per game, and he has the longest punt in the conference this season at 65 yards. His punting efforts have limited opponents to a grand total of nine return yards for the whole season.  As the team's field goal kicker, he is 6-of-11 with a long of 31 yards this year.

Turnover Battle: The Pioneers rank 42nd in the nation in turnover margin this season. The team has 15 interceptions and 13 fumbles recovered, three of which belong to Xyier Woodard (Albany, NY/LaSalle).

We Will Find You: Antonio Scala (Coram, NY/Longwood) leads all Pioneer tacklers with 84 total stops this season. Fellow linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) follows close behind with 76 stops, and Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) has posted 60 total tackles for the year. Addo leads the team with 10 tackles for loss this season.

Business on the Front, Party in the Backfield: On Saturday, the Utica defense put up a single game record 10 sacks for a new season total of 33. That total is second on the college's all-time list for the team in a single year, is second in the Empire 8 conference, and 21st in the nation on a per-game basis. Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) leads a balanced effort getting after the quarterback for the season with 6.5 sacks, two of which came on Saturday. Michael Curcurito (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) led Utica on Saturday with four to stand second on the college's single game list. Shane Walpole (Mechanicville, NY/Shenendehowa), Kevin Chisari (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills), and Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) each added one apiece in Saturday's win. 

Making Everyone Look Like Peterman: Utica's 15 team interceptions stand second for one season in the 18 year history of the program. Antonio Scala (Coram, NY/Longwood), Anthony Beaubrun (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead), Mark Taylor (Buffalo, NY/Kenmore West), Matt McCoy, Elijah Belle (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield), and Matt Stone (Rochester, NY/Brighton) each have two interceptions each to lead the team. Andrew Genier (Whitehall, NY/Whitehall) had the team's lone pick on Saturday, which he returned for a score. They are 29th in the nation in passes intercepted.

Last Year Against the Bombers: Ithaca blanked Utica by a 14-0 score at Gaetano Stadium last season. Tristan Brown and Isaiah D'Haiti added rushing scores for the Bombers. Derrick Sekuterski led Utica with 13 tackles, while returning defensive back Ben Vargas (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) had 10 stops and added a fumble recovery.

About The Bombers: Ithaca enters Saturday's matchup at 8-2, and the Bombers posted a 4-1 finish in the Liberty League to fall just shy of the NCAA Tournament. They are 5-0 when away from Butterfield Stadium this season. They have won their last five games since a 10-9 loss to RPI that cost them the Liberty League title. They sport the tenth best scoring defense in the nation at 9.7 points allowed per game. No opponent of the Bombers has scored more than 21 points, but the season-worst performance in points allowed did happen last week as Ithaca held off a late comeback attempt in a 24-21 triumph over Cortland in the 60th edition of the Cortaca Jug Game. Liberty League defensive player of the year Pat Minogue is the leader of the defense at linebacker with 80 total tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss to go with eight pass breakups. He is also the team's punter and uncorked a school record 67 yard boot, while blocking two Cortland kicks at the Cortaca Jug game. He was named to the D3Football.com Team of the Week for the third time in his career at either position. Ithaca's entire starting defense was named to the All-Liberty League teams. Junior preseason All-American Will Gladney is the Liberty League offensive player of the year at receiver after making 54 catches for 634 yards and six touchdowns in just eight games and has nineteen career touchdown receptions. Quarterback Waheed Nabi has thrown for 1,725 yards and ten touchdowns and eight interceptions in nine games and was the winning quarterback in Ithaca's win at Gaetano Stadium last year. Kendall Anderson rushed for 610 yards and five touchdowns and was named an all-conference selection. Six members of the Bomber offense were named all-conference.