FB: Empire 8

[IC798891]

That E8 depth is showing up on Halloween, as Cortland is in a fierce battle with Alfred State, up by a razor thin 52-0 margin with 12:30 left in the third quarter.

Lots of football left, and in a conference like the E8, which is up for grabs each year, you can never count out anyone. Plus, Alfred State has the ball, and you know what they say: a seven-possession lead is the most dangerous in football.

Red Dragons on the ropes, for sure

[jdex]

Cortland scores every which-way in 80-7 decimating of Alfred St. in RDragons senior day. Concludes regular season home slate. Key conference meeting at Brockport next week. E8 finds Corts 6-0, Bport 5-0.
    Running and passing its way to 38-0 halftime bulge, CSt opens final half with R. Dass Jr. 85 yard TD kickoff return. Dass also has 95 yard TD kickoff runback and contest sees M. Ferguson with 20 yard INT score and C. Callard 47 yard FG. Ten rushers, seven receivers, two passing QBs pile up 470 yards.

Brockport 28-3 today over Alfred, surely keeping Golden Eagles No. 1 nationally in total defense.
   And must be added to tale of Alfred St. woe that mainstays N. Currier at rb and C. Stepanski at qb DNP 
   

[XREDDRAGON77]

Alfred State was something like 5-2 before getting pasted yesterday. Not sure who their OOC games were, but it may help with an already solid NPI. Should Cortland win out, they may be headed to the postseason with a favorable seed.

[UfanBill]

Alfred State was something like 5-2 before getting pasted yesterday. Not sure who their OOC games were, but it may help with an already solid NPI. Should Cortland win out, they may be headed to the postseason with a favorable seed.

No "may be" about it...The NCAA Power Index (NPI) is used to determine and seed teams for NCAA tournament play... . https://d3datacast.com/npi/fb/  Their seed is indicated on the far right of this chart as OVR seed. Cortland is presently ranked #3 and will remain as a top seed if they win out. Utica is #14 and has the #3 At Large ranking.

[IC798891]

Alfred State was something like 5-2 before getting pasted yesterday. Not sure who their OOC games were, but it may help with an already solid NPI. Should Cortland win out, they may be headed to the postseason with a favorable seed.

Alfred State arguably the three worst teams in the entire division OOC. 0-8 Hilbert, 1-7 Buffalo State, and 0-8 Thiel. Their other two wins were over 1-7 Morrisville and 2-6 Harwick. They weren't good.

[Patrick Coleman]

Alfred State was something like 5-2 before getting pasted yesterday. Not sure who their OOC games were, but it may help with an already solid NPI. Should Cortland win out, they may be headed to the postseason with a favorable seed.

Alfred State arguably the three worst teams in the entire division OOC. 0-8 Hilbert, 1-7 Buffalo State, and 0-8 Thiel.

This didn't stop people from asking why they weren't getting any Top 25 votes.

[IC798891]

Alfred State was something like 5-2 before getting pasted yesterday. Not sure who their OOC games were, but it may help with an already solid NPI. Should Cortland win out, they may be headed to the postseason with a favorable seed.

Alfred State arguably the three worst teams in the entire division OOC. 0-8 Hilbert, 1-7 Buffalo State, and 0-8 Thiel.

This didn't stop people from asking why they weren't getting any Top 25 votes.

Other people's inability to look at Alfred State's schedule and see that their five wins came over 0-8 Thiel, 0-8 Hilbert, 1-7 Buffalo State, 1-7 Morrisville, and 2-6 Hartwick is a them issue.

I don't think anyone saw them giving up 80 to Cortland, but given that they allowed 58 to Utica, maybe we should have

[jdex]

Didn't see 80 coming by any means, but didn't see anyway Alfred St. would be much of a test for Cortland. Knew AS's 5-2 record was bigtime deceiving .... and on top of that Pioneers without pair of quality players in RB N. Currier and QB C. Stepanski. Major, major losses. Currier has been legitimate A-A player, Stepanski very reliable.
   RDragons took care of business. Some thought 80 was overkill. Down-the-liners were taking the field midway through the third period, and you can't deny those kids a chance to shine, particularly before a Senior Day crowd in CSt regular season home finale. Total of 27 posed in senior pix.
   Nice to see Corts and Bombers with meaningful matches prior to Cortaca. Neither for sure should be caught looking ahead.

[XREDDRAGON77]

Game Day!  It's 1st and 10 and a yard full of leaves! Time to start grinding!  Brockport is good! They boast some good national stats...Scoring defense, rushing defense, passing defense (Which is the case from yard to year).  Line for line, the Golden Eagles may hold higher statistical rankings then the Red Dragons.  Should be another battle!

[Bartman]

Game Day!  It's 1st and 10 and a yard full of leaves! Time to start grinding!  Brockport is good! They boast some good national stats...Scoring defense, rushing defense, passing defense (Which is the case from yard to year).  Line for line, the Golden Eagles may hold higher statistical rankings then the Red Dragons.  Should be another battle!

I watched Hobart scrimmage Cortland and beat Brockport( thanks to 5 InTs).Cortland has the skills but those Brockport lines are very strong . Edge to Cortland but this will be a very physical game.

[XREDDRAGON77]

As long as the Red Dragons don't play like they did against Fisher, I'm confident. Besides the conference championship on the line, this game is also a major factor in the recruiting battle.

[IC798891]

Cortland again just easily handles the Empire 8.

I maintain my Quick Hits stance that they'd prefer Rescigno to pass as little as possible. His 4th quarter interception was a mind-bogglingly bad decision, and he completed just 8-of-17 passes. Of course, Cortland was up 35-17 at that point anyway, and Brockport followed it up with an even worse INT that got returned for six. And the 8 completions went for 190 yards.

There's a reason Cortland hasn't lost a conference game in this decade, though, and it was on display again.

The Red Dragons were down 10-7 and had a 2nd and 20 in their own territory with 2:10 to go in the first half. Three minutes of game time later, they were up 28-10 and the rout was on

It's staggering how, every time there's a play to be made in one of these E8 "showdowns", Cortland makes it.

Utica down 21-7 just before the half with the ball inside Cortland's 5. It's not just that they don't get the seven and make a game out of it, it's not just that they don't get the three and come away with something. It's that *Cortland* gets the 7 with a 100-yard pick 6, and essentially salts the game away.

Brockport by all means should have gone into the half up three, and somehow they go in down 11 and then give up a touchdown two plays into the 3rd quarter, effectively ending the game.

Some teams have a killer instinct. Cortland 100% does. But the rest of the E8 also lacks it.

[jdex]

Cortland finds its mojo just before halftime and rolls past host Brockport behind qb Mike Rescigno 42-24. Sixth straight E8 crown and another NCAA berth. RDragons 40th straight conferene win.
  Rescigno with BIG hand ....er, legs and arm, in first five CSt TDs. But not before Bport INT td provides GEagles quick 7-0 lead. First time Cortland's trailed this season. Rescigno runs in tying Dragon score. Port FG makes it 10-7 closing out first period. THEN with two minutes till half. Rescigno hooks up with long 61yd scoring pitch to J. LaPrarie. AND after Dragon defense stiffens, Rescigno tosses 30yd TD pass to Zeva. Voila ...21-10 intermission.
  Second play of final half sees Rescigno gallop 65 yds up the shoot ....TD. Makes it 35-10 in the third frame on end zone flip to J. Iadevio who makes bigtime grab.
    By the numbers ....Rescigno accounts for 386 of Dragons 497 yards -- 18x196 running, 8x17 190yds, 3TDs, 2int passing.
    Will need to clean up some early problems such as yellow flags.... Cortaca on deck

[XREDDRAGON77]

Didn't start out well....but it ended beautifully!  The Dragons could have been slimy and scored at the end, but took the high road and knelt it out at around the 5 yard line.