Cortaca Jug: 10 things to know about the rivalry game at MetLife Stadium

The coveted Cortaca Jug will boldly go where it has never gone before.

Neither Jim Butterfield Stadium nor SUNY Cortland Stadium will host the annual game between Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland this season.

The Division III football rivals with campuses about 20 miles apart in central New York are hitting the road this year to play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

How'd Cortaca get to MetLife? Two ADs collaborated to secure primetime venue

Kickoff is 1 p.m. Nov. 16.

Here are 10 things to know about the Cortaca Jug:

It’ll be a record

The largest crowd to see a Division III football game is 37,355. That happened Sept. 23, 2017, when Minnesota rivals St. Thomas and St. John’s played at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins.

As of about two weeks ago, more than 42,500 tickets had been sold for the Cortaca Jug, Ithaca College Athletic Director Susan Bassett said.

“We’ve probably expanded a lot of peoples’ imagination at this point,” Bassett said. “For Division III to have this kind of showcase and this type of interest, everyone thinks it’s all about professional sports and Division I sports, but this really sets the bar for interest in Division III athletics.”

Doing the math

Ithaca and Cortland have been playing for the Jug since 1959, with the Bombers holding a 36-24 lead in Jug games.

But their first football game came in 1930, a 12-0 Cortland victory.

They played 16 times before the first Cortaca Jug. Ithaca leads the overall series, 41-33-3.

The teams played twice in 1988, the Red Dragons winning the Cortaca Jug game, 21-20. Three weeks later they met in an NCAA quarterfinal and the Bombers won, 24-17.

It’s more than football

Ithaca will be sending 16 buses to New Jersey, many carrying student spectators as well as others who participate in the event.

The Bombers’ choir will sing the national anthem, cheer teams will accompany both teams, Ithaca’s West African Drumming and Dance Ensemble will perform and students from IC’s school of sports management will organize pre-game events

“It’s beyond this being a football game,” Bassett said. “There are multiple ways people are involved. It’s multi-faceted and comprehensive.”

Media interest

Cortland AD Mike Urtz said he’s done interviews with the New York Times and Forbes Magazine in the lead up to the game.

“Our campus is getting unbelievable exposure,” he said. “This is probably my fourth interview. When you look at the free marketing and free branding for both institutions, it’s been incredible.”

Local talent

Ithaca is in Section 4 boundaries and Cortland is just outside, and both teams’ rosters include players from nearby.

The Bombers’ top receiving threat is Owego graduate Will Gladney, a senior who leads the team with 60 receptions, 811 yards and 12 touchdowns.

On the defensive side, Greene graduate John Hadac, a senior lineman, has a team-best 6½ sacks among his 41 tackles and one forced fumble.

Junior defensive back Khiry Brown, an Ithaca High graduate, has 28 tackles, two interceptions and five pass break-ups.

For Cortland, senior linebacker Dylan Studer, a Chenango Forks graduate, has 21 tackles.

Others from Section 4 are freshman quarterback Joe Mack (Dryden), sophomore linebacker Trey Floyd (Tioga), freshman offensive lineman Dylan Houseknecht (Odessa-Montour), sophomore offensive lineman Daquan Griffin (Ithaca) and junior receiver Ky’Sawn Veale (Norwich).

Cortland’s head coach is Dan MacNeill, a Walton graduate.

Downstate interest

Bassett and Urtz said a major reason ticket sales have been so brisk is the large number of downstate graduates from both schools.

“The alumni gatherings to watch the game down in the city, they were getting larger and larger,” Urtz said. “Within the last two years, there were two bar/restaurants in New York City somewhere, one of them hosted Cortland and the other hosted Ithaca and they were across the street and they each had more than 1,000 people just to watch the game. I knew we were going to have a pretty good draw.”

Tickets

They’re still available, plenty of them. If you’re looking to go and you’re a fan of perusing online ticket sites such as stubhub or ticketmaster, you can find tickets for as low as $20 or as expensive as $500.

Might happen again

Bassett said given the interest this year’s game has drawn, she wouldn’t be surprised if the Cortaca Jug returned to the NYC area in the future.

“We look at this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Bassett said. “At some point is it possible our campus leadership would say, ‘Let’s do this every four years and we’ll alternate who the host team is.’ I just have no idea. We haven’t gotten that far yet. We’re so focused on this experience.

“If you had a couple years to plan, I think this would be so much easier for everybody, but this is all coming together nicely.”

What can you bring

If you’re heading to the game, here’s what you can bring:

Clear bags that are 12-by-6-by-12 inches or less in size (one bag per person); small purses/handbags (clutch-type bags) that are 4½-by-6½ or less in size (one per person); food of any kind that is contained in a clear plastic bag; plastic bottles of water or soft drinks that are 20 ounces or less; cameras with a lens that is 6 inches or less in length; jackets, blankets or other items, which will be patted down or searched; official national flags that can reasonably be hand held by a single person.

What can’t you bring

Don’t bring these items:

Seat cushions of any size except those for medical needs; glass bottles, cans, coolers of any kind, thermoses or ice chests; alcohol of any kind; banners of any size; flags that are not the official flag of a country; umbrellas, strollers, laser pointers and balls of any kind; video cameras or still photography cameras with a lens longer than six inches; selfie sticks; weapons or any item that may be used as a projectile or one that is deemed dangerous by stadium management; any animal aside from service animals; any item deemed inappropriate by stadium management.

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