CORTLAND, N.Y. — It certainly feels like there's a lot at stake in this year's Cortaca Jug game.
At 12 p.m. Saturday, SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College will face off in the 58th Cortaca Jug game, an age-old rivalry that Sports Illustrated once called "the biggest little game in the nation."
Neither team has performed particularly well this season, each vying for a .500 record. Still, both teams have something to prove come Saturday.
The pressure is on Cortland to continue its winning streak, having won the last six Cortaca contests. The Ithaca Bombers will be equally determined, hoping to send outgoing Ithaca College coach Mike Welch on a positive note.
Welch is retiring after coaching the Bombers for the past 23 years. He leaves the college with an all-time record of 169-77 (.687).
"What makes this rivalry so special in college football, aside from some fan action off the field — which I believe is being rectified and cleaned up — has been the performance of and professionalism of both football programs," Welch said at a press conference Wednesday.
Head coach Dan MacNeill, who has coached the Red Dragons for the past 20 years, noted that almost every game has been a tight contest, with the last 14 of 19 games being decided by 7 points or less.
"This game is simply not for the faint of heart," he said. "This is just a great rivalry."
At the press conference, organizers of the game announced that they'd run out of room on their second jug.
It was time to usher in a third:
The jug was handmade by local artist and college alum Giotto Zampogna '15, who was overseen by Jeremiah Donovan, a professor of ceramics in the Art and Art History Department. It was painted by Dryden artist Denise Meyer, wife of SUNY Cortland athletic trainer Steve Meyer.
Kickoff is at 12 p.m. Saturaday at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. Tickets are sold out.
The game will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel 325 and streamed online live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p27AXvjwf0g
