UTICA, NY - The Utica College football team plays the last game of a three-game road swing on Saturday, October 23rd as it visits No. 16 Cortland for an Empire 8 matchup. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex in Cortland, NY.
Follow Along: Live video will be available at https://www.cortlandreddragons.com/sports/2019/8/15/BlueFramePage.aspx, and live stats for Saturday's game will be parked at https://www.cortlandreddragons.com/sidearmstats/football/summary.
Keep It On The Radar: Utica returns home from their month-long road stint on Saturday, October 30th as they host Morrisville State. The game marks the return of the New York State Tool Believe Bowl. The game helps to benefit the missions of the Believe 271 Foundation and the Thea Bowman House. The Believe 271 Foundation was created in March of 2014 as a means of helping members of the fire service who are affected by cancer. The organization aims to help local firefighters, who are often at increased cancer risk because of their work in the line of duty, with the immense financial and personal burdens that can come with battling cancer. The Thea Bowman house is a non-profit that serves low income children and families throughout the Greater Utica area.
Where it all Sits: Utica is 4-2 overall, and 1-1 in the Empire 8 Conference this season. They currently occupy fourth place in the seven team Empire 8 conference football standings. The Pioneers started 3-0, but have won one of their last three games. Both losses were one-possession games at some point in the second half.
The Series: This will be the ninth matchup between the two programs as part of a series which began in Utica's first varsity season in 2001. After three non-conference contests, the fixture became a conference series in 2015. The Red Dragons have won the last three outings, but the 2017 and 2018 games were decided by a combined eight points.
Last Time Against Cortland: The Red Dragons won by a 44-12 score on October 5th, 2019 at Cortland. Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) kicked two field goals, and Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) added a rushing touchdown for UC that afternoon.
Playing them Tough: Utica is in the midst of a challenging part of the schedule, which is to be expected in the region, and in the Empire 8 Conference. Including Saturday's game, two of their last four contests will have been against nationally-ranked opposition, and the Brockport game was against the defending Empire 8 champions.
Last Time Out: After getting shut out 17-0 in the first half, the Pioneers roared back with two second half touchdowns to get within a field goal, but host Brockport accumulated nine late points off of two special teams miscues to pull away and top Utica by a 26-14 score in an Empire 8 game at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium. UC had just 38 yards of offense in the first half against an extremely tough defense before the unit got on the rails in the second half to finish with a pair of important touchdowns. Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) opened Utica's scoring with an 11 yard touchdown pass to Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) in the third quarter. He would later cap off a 66 yard scoring drive with a two yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Lamont McGriff (Yonkers, NY/Iona Prep) was UC's leading rusher as the veteran back produced 34 net yards. Wide receiver Elijah Parker (New London, CT/New London) (New London, CT/New London) had a team-high 78 receiving yards. Graduate student linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) had a team-leading 15 tackles. Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) (Suffern, NY/Suffern) posted nine tackles, and Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) had seven stops with two pass breakups.
A Quick Study: The Pioneers are fourth in the conference in scoring offense at 17.8 points per game, and third in scoring defense at 17.3 points per game. In terms of yardage, they are averaging 330.8 yards of total offense to rank second in the E8, while conceding 302 yards per game defensively to rank third.
The Passing Game: Utica leads the Empire 8 conference in passing offense at an average of 237.8 yards per game. Quarterback Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) is the conference's leading passer with 1,401 yards, and his ten touchdown passes rank second in the E8. Wide receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) has a conference-best 478 receiving yards, and is one of only three conference receivers over 400 yards this season. Elijah Parker (New London, CT/New London) and Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) have also caught three touchdown passes this season.
Run to Daylight: UC is fifth in the E8 in rushing offense entering Saturday's game. Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) leads all Pioneer backs with 165 net rushing yards this season. Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) has also cracked the century mark with 109 net yards. Badyna leads the team with five rushing touchdowns this year, a figure which is third in the Empire 8 conference.
Watch Your Back: The Utica pass rush has been brilliant this season at a conference-leading 19 sacks, which has the Pioneers sharing the lead with their opponent this week. That mark is sixteenth nationally. Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and Douglas Simmons rank fourth in the conference with three sacks in the first six games of the season. Simmons has amassed his total entirely from the Hartwick game.
Keeping Them Stuck in Neutral: Utica has been especially good at holding opponents to under 100 yards in a phase of their offense this season, which is a feat they've accomplished five times in six games. Utica has held opponents to under 100 yards passing twice, and to under 100 yards rushing three times. The Pioneers held Brockport on Saturday to just 63 passing yards. That marks the lowest total an opponent has recorded against Utica this season. The first time that happened was when Utica held Kean University to 78 passing yards. The Pioneers have held Hartwick, Alfred State, and No. 13 Union under 100 rushing yards, including a -5 yard performance by Hartwick heading into UC's bye week.
On the Move: Graduate student linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) continues to rise through the ranks among the program's great defensive players. His season-high 15 tackles against Brockport are also a team-high for this season. He is fifth all-time with 249 career tackles, and needs just 12 more to tie Eric Kahl for fourth on the program's all-time list. This year, he leads the team with 51 tackles through six games. He is 84th in the nation in total tackles.
Helping Out: In addition to Addo, four other Pioneers have 20 or more tackles this season. Graduate Student safety Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has 37 tackles to go with a team-best three interceptions. Bryant's three interceptions have him tied for third in the E8. Senior linebacker Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) ranks third on the squad with 31 tackles, 23 of which have been solo. He leads the squad with 5.5 tackles for loss. Linebacker Anthony McDonald (Huntington, NY/Huntington) adds 28 stops to the mix, and junior defensive lineman John Stroughn (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity) has been outstanding with 20 tackles from a lineman position and also has four tackles for loss.
A Multi-Faceted Talent: Junior defensive back Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms) is having an outstanding year in multiple areas for UC. Along with 12 tackles, he has a team-best seven pass breakups. He ranks fifth in the E8 and 75th nationally in passes defended. He has also been outstanding in the return game as he occupies the E8 lead in kick return average at 25.7 yards. That average is 32nd in the country.
Gimme That: Junior defensive lineman Josh Powell (Tampa, FL/Sickles) has two forced fumbles during this campaign so far. He is one of 131 players nationally to record more than one forced fumble this year, and one of just two E8 players who can say the same.
Get Your Kicks: Graduate student kicking specialist Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) has found his groove recently. After a 2-for-6 start on field goal kicking this year, he has made six of his last seven, including six in a row heading into the Brockport game. That resurgence has led him to a seventh place ranking nationally in field goals per game at 1.33 per contest. He has a season-long of 45 yards this year. He is also 58th nationally in punting average at 37.6 yards per kick.
About Cortland: The Red Dragons are 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Empire 8 Conference to lead the standings. They occupy the sixteenth spot in the latest D3football.com poll. The Red Dragons are led by head coach Curt Fitzpatrick in his first season replacing longtime head coach Dan MacNeill. Fitzpatrick was Utica's offensive coordinator from 2008 to 2012. Cortland leads the conference in scoring offense and scoring defense. In their most recent game, they defeated Hartwick 48-3. Quarterback Brees Segala threw two touchdown passes and rushed for two more in that win. Cortland was one of many E8 programs to sit out playing games in the 2020-21 academic year.
Up Next: Utica meets Morrisville in the 2021 edition of the New York State Tool Believe Bowl on Saturday, October 30th. Admission is free.
