Cortaca Jug

Cortaca Jug

Sport	Football
Teams	Cortland Red Dragons Ithaca Bombers
First meeting	1930 Cortland 12, Ithaca 0
Latest meeting	November 16, 2024 Cortland 28, Ithaca 17
Next meeting	November 2025
Trophy	Cortaca Jug
Statistics
Meetings total	82
All-time series	Ithaca leads, 43–36–3
Trophy series	Ithaca leads, 38–27
Largest victory	Ithaca, 42–0 (1981)
Longest win streak	Ithaca, 9 (1973–1981)
Current win streak	Cortland, 2 (2023–present)
Ithaca Cortland Locations in New York

50km
30miles

SUNY Cortland

Ithaca College

  

Locations of Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland

The Cortaca Jug is the trophy given to the annual college football game played between the Red Dragons of the State University of New York College at Cortland and the Bombers of Ithaca College. The match-up is one of the most prominent in NCAA Division III football. The Cortaca game typically sells out, with thousands of fans packed into the stadium.

In 2019, the game set a Division III attendance record when it was held at MetLife Stadium. The 2022 matchup was played at Yankee Stadium and was the second all-time attendance record of Division III football. ^[1]

History of the game

The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two schools, the "cort" coming from SUNY Cortland and the "aca" part coming from Ithaca College. The schools are located 21 miles apart in the eastern end of the Finger Lakes region of New York. The schools have rich football histories. Ithaca has won three NCAA Division III Football Championships and Cortland has nine playoff and 15 bowl game appearances since 1988.

The night before the Jug, it is customary for the staff of Cortland's radio station WSUC to play the staff of Ithaca's radio station 92 WICB in a game called "The Cortaca Mic" which takes place at Cortland.

Since 2006, Ithaca College students and alumni residing in Los Angeles have gathered to watch the game in an event dubbed CortaCal. The event originally began in an apartment in Sherman Oaks, California. It was held from 2008 to 2010 at The Casting Office in Studio City, California, and since 2011 has been held at its current home, 33 Taps (formerly Dillon's Irish Pub) in Hollywood, California. Between 300 and 400 Ithaca College alumni attend every year.

Ithaca College alumni in New York City have begun watching the game at their own annual event, NYCortaca. The event was started in 2009 by Ithaca alumni living in NYC and was first held at George Keeley Pub on the Upper West Side. In 2010, it was held at Berry Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and in 2011 it took place at Irving Plaza in Union Square. NYCortaca 2012 was held at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, and in 2013 NYCortaca returned to Irving Plaza. NYCortaca 2013 was attended by over 800 Cortaca fans and was the biggest off-campus alumni gathering in Ithaca College history.

More localized Cortland and Ithaca graduates come together to attend the game, or showings of it at the Lynne Parks Hoffmann Alumni House, in Cortland, NY. Examples include an annual gathering from Slabtown, NY.

In 2019, the game was held at MetLife Stadium in the New York City area, as part of commemorations of the 150th anniversary of college football. The game had an attendance of 45,161, the highest in NCAA Division III history. ^[2]

On November 12, 2022, the game was played at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.

History of the trophy

The original Cortaca Jug trophy (left) along with the new trophy (right).

The Cortaca Jug was introduced to the already competitive rivalry in 1959 by the captains of the two teams. While driving in nearby Homer in 1959, Cortland football captain Tom Decker stopped at a yard sale and purchased a $2 jug from a local farmer, named Freddy Testa, that he thought could be used as a trophy during the annual game between the two teams. After meeting up with friend and Ithaca football captain Dick Carmean, the two painted the jug blue, gold, red, and white in honor of both schools’ colors. The first Jug ran out of room for scores in the mid-1980s, necessitating a second Jug that sports the most recent results. After 2015, Jug II was also full.

2013 riot

The Cortaca Jug is usually associated with an assortment of pre- and post-game parties and drinking. Following their 2013 win, SUNY Cortland revelers rioted on the streets of Cortland, throwing beer and other items, flipping cars, and committing other destructive acts that resulted in the arrests of around 30 people. ^{[3] [4]} New York State police assisted the crowd control, and a "command post" was set up at the local fire station. ^[5] SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum issued a formal apology for the students' behavior. ^[6]

In 2014, Students in SUNY Cortland's Student Government Association started a campaign to "Take Cortaca Back", partnering with Mayor Brian Tobin and local authorities to change the outlook on the college after the riot. Their campaign centered around community service initiatives before and after the game.

Game results

2002 Cortaca Jug, the first at the new Cortland Athletic Complex – image courtesy of Jamie Malarkey

Ithaca leads the overall series 43–35–3 and the Cortaca Jug series 38–26. ^[7]

Cortland victories

Ithaca victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1930 Cortland Cortland 12–0 2 1931 Ithaca Ithaca 12–6 3 1932 Ithaca Tie 0–0 4 1933 Cortland Tie 6–6 5 1934 Ithaca Ithaca 7–0 6 1948 Cortland Cortland 19–0 7 1949 Ithaca Cortland 32–7 8 1950 Cortland Ithaca 7–6 9 1951 Ithaca Ithaca 13–6 10 1952 Cortland Cortland 39–6 11 1953 Ithaca Cortland 32–0 12 1954 Cortland Tie 13–13 13 1955 Ithaca Cortland 28–0 14 1956 Cortland Cortland 37–0 15 1957 Ithaca Cortland 32–13 16 1958 Cortland Cortland 16–6 17 1959 Ithaca Cortland 13–7 18 1960 Cortland Ithaca 12–6 19 1961 Ithaca Ithaca 34–0 20 1962 Cortland Ithaca 24–12 21 1963 Ithaca Ithaca 22–7 22 1964 Cortland Cortland 16–0 23 1965 Ithaca Ithaca 13–12 24 1966 Cortland Cortland 24–11 25 1967 Ithaca Cortland 11–7 26 1968 Cortland Cortland 34–13 27 1969 Ithaca Ithaca 36–28 28 1970 Cortland Cortland 7–0 29 1971 Ithaca Ithaca 21–13 30 1972 Cortland Cortland 21–16 31 1973 Ithaca Ithaca 41–33 32 1974 Cortland Ithaca 34–33 33 1975 Ithaca Ithaca 21–6 34 1976 Cortland Ithaca 28–12 35 1977 Ithaca Ithaca 38–17 36 1978 Cortland Ithaca 27–13 37 1979 Ithaca Ithaca 42–7 38 1980 Cortland Ithaca 24–7 39 1981 Ithaca Ithaca 42–0 40 1982 Cortland Cortland 21–17 41 1983 Ithaca Ithaca 49–26 42 1984 Cortland Ithaca 42–6 No. Date Location Winner Score 43 1985 Ithaca Ithaca 41–0 44 1986 Cortland Ithaca 40–12 45 1987 Ithaca Ithaca 37–15 46 1988 Cortland Cortland 21–20 47 1988# Ithaca Ithaca 24–17 48 1989 Ithaca Ithaca 28–0 49 1990 Cortland Ithaca 28–14 50 1991 Ithaca Ithaca 23–14 51 1992 Cortland Cortland 22–20 52 1993 Ithaca Ithaca 32–14 53 1994 Cortland Ithaca 15–13 54 1995 Ithaca Ithaca 35–19 55 1996 Cortland Cortland 41–13 56 1997 Ithaca Cortland 33–28 57 1998 Cortland Ithaca 37–29 58 1999 Ithaca Cortland 26–21 59 2000 Cortland Ithaca 19–14 60 2001 Ithaca Ithaca 21–14 61 2002 Cortland Cortland 16–12 62 2003 Ithaca Cortland 16–15 63 2004 Cortland Ithaca 47–22 64 2005 Ithaca Cortland 37–30OT 65 2006 Cortland Cortland 23–20OT 66 2007 Ithaca Ithaca 40–17 67 2008 Cortland Ithaca 35–13 68 2009 Ithaca Ithaca 23–20 69 2010 Cortland Cortland 20–17 70 2011 Ithaca Cortland 27–3 71 2012 Cortland Cortland 16–10 72 2013 Ithaca Cortland 28–24 73 2014 Cortland Cortland 23–20 74 2015 Ithaca Cortland 11–8 75 2016 Cortland Cortland 28–16 76 2017 Ithaca Ithaca 48–20 77 2018 Cortland Ithaca 24–21 78 2019 East Rutherford Ithaca 32–20 79 2021 Cortland Cortland 28–27 80 2022 The Bronx Ithaca 34–17 81 2023 Ithaca Cortland 38–28 82 2024 Cortland Cortland 28–17 Series: Ithaca leads 43–36–3

^#Quarterfinal playoff game. Does not count in Cortaca Jug game count.

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "Yankee Stadium to host 2022 Cortaca Jug game between Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland". MLB.com. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
2. Otis, John (November 15, 2019). "Ithaca-SUNY Cortland Rivalry Leads to Division III Attendance Record". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 30, 2019.
3. Wenerd, Brandon (18 November 2013). "The Most Ratchet College Riot Ever Broke Out at SUNY Cortland This Weekend During Cortaca". BroBible. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
4. Carpenter, Megan. "Cortland commotion aftermath, students pick up the pieces". WBNG. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
5. "More than 30 students arrested at football game "riot"". USA Today .
6. "NY college apologizes for students' rowdy behavior". Wall Street Journal. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
7. "Cortland vs. Ithaca - 50th Annual Cortaca Jug Game - Nov. 15, 12 p.m." (Press release). Cortland State University of New York. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-11-15.

External links

• Cortaca Jug Game
• The Cortaca Jug on Facebook
• Cortaca Jug information from SUNY Cortland
• Ithaca College football history