WAGNER-CORNELL HIGHLIGHTS
COACH HAMELINE'S THOUGHTS ON THE WIN
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Staten Island, NY - Following a 41-7 romp over Cornell, Wagner (1-1; 0-0 NEC) will look to make it two in a row while avenging a 37-10 loss at Robert Morris (2-1; 1-0 NEC) a year ago. The task won't be easy as the Colonials are fresh off a spirited 30-23 upset over nationally ranked Liberty.

One lucky fan will have the chance to win $15,000 at halftime of the game followed by performances by Rhythm Central and the James Smooth Music & Leadership Institute All-Star Marching Band.

All students in attendance will be entered to win a free airline ticket

If you can't catch the game in person, watch the live video cast by clicking HERE and follow the live stats by clicking HERE.

THE SERIES WITH ROBERT MORRIS / LAST YEAR
Robert Morris leads the series by decisive 11-5 margin, including winning four of the last five. The teams have split eight meetings at Wagner College Stadium, with the Colonials taking the last two. Last year, Robert Morris ripped off 27 unanswered points in the second half en route to a decisive 37-10 victory over Wagner.

HOME-OPENERS
The Seahawks, who are now 47-30-3 in home lidlifters, improved 21-8-1 (.717) under the direction of head coach Walt Hameline with the 41-7 win over Cornell.

NEW SCOREBOARD UNVEILED / 1960 TEAM HONORED
Lost in the offensive fireworks against Cornell was the fact that Wagner unveiled its sparkling brand new state-of-the-art video scoreboard that was made possible by the generosity of 1991 alum Marc Lebovitz.

At halftime of the game, the 1960 undefeated Wagner Seahawk football team was honored. The squad went a perfect 9-0 while turning in the first unblemished season in school history. Ten players have been inducted into the school's Hall of Fame: Frank Melos, Neill R. Johnston, Bruce Wilson, Tony Franchina, Frank Spero, Rudy Fusco, Cavalli, Charlie Jopp, Wally Pagan and Al Ferrie.

LAST WEEK
Wagner struck first and often in dismantling Cornell 41-7. Sophomore Nick Doscher led the onslaught, accruing 304 yards of total offense (227 in the air, 77 on the ground) while going 8-for-11 with three touchdowns passing and one running. That set the tone for the offense, which outgained the Big Red by a whopping 552-242, including 325-125 on the ground.

DOSCHER PROFILED BY NEW YORK TIMES ... THEN BACKS IT UP
Doscher sures knows how to play to a crowd. On the day the second-year signal caller was profiled by the New York Times, he went out and led the Green & White to its first win of the year while claiming Honorable Mention Accoades from the College Football Performance Awards.

He had a career-best matching three touchdowns in the air while also rushing for 77 yards on 13 yards and one touchdown. The 227 passing yards are just 33 off his previous high while his 28.4 yard per completion is a career-best. Doscher also had three pass plays of 40 yards or more, including touchdown passes of 88 yards and 41 yards after beginning the day with just four career pass plays of 40 yards or more in 12 games.

On the first touchdown drive, Doscher accounted for all but six yards, rushing for 29 – including a 25 yard dash – and passing for 23 more before capping Wagner's first score with a one-yard plunge. On the next drive he was 3-for-4 for 64 yards, highlighted by a 41-yard touchdown strike to senior Tyrone Collins, making it 14-0. On the Seahawks' next possession the sophomore signal caller found junior David Crawford for a 41-yard gain to get into the Red Zone before converting a third and long with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Collins. Doscher then opened the scoring after halftime, hooking up with senior Justin Matthews on a career-best 88-yard touchdown pass.

On the year, he is 27-for-46 with 429 yards and four touchdowns while completing 58.7 percent of his passes and is third on the team with 110 yards and one touchdown.

COLLINS RETURNS STRONG
After being plagued by injuries a year ago while catching just 15 passes for 232 yards and one score, senior Tyrone Collins has proved last year was a mirage, going off for three touchdowns, among his seven catches, with 100 yards in the first two games while averaging 14.3 yards per catch.

MATTHEWS DEVELOPING INTO BIG-PLAY THREAT
Senior Justin Matthews has developed into one of the big guns in the Wagner offense as a senior after failing to catch a pass in each of his first two seasons. Matthews had a modest 15 catches for 186 yards and a score as a junior before breaking out in 2010 ala MLB's 50 Home Run man Jose Bautista. The Garden State native has a team-best eight catches for 156 yards and one touchdown while averaging 18.5 yards per catch. Matthews paced the squad against Assumption, collecting a team-best seven catches for 68 yards before corralling a career-best 88-yard TD in the win over Cornell.

TODAY'S GAME BROADCAST LIVE ON MSG
Today's game against Robert Morris will be broadcast live on the MSG Network, FCS and PCNC in Pittsburgh at 12:00 pm.

The 2010 season marks the eighth straight that the Northeast Conference (NEC) has broadcast football games as part of its extensive regional sports package. This coming winter, the league will air more than 20 men's and women's basketball games.

“This is a very exciting year for Northeast Conference football as our teams battle to earn the league's first ever AQ to the FCS Championship,” said Noreen Morris, NEC Commissioner. “With the help of our television partners we will showcase our programs with the largest televison package to date, highlighting five games and boasting 13 live windows.”

Paul Dottino enters his eighth season as the play-by-play voice of NEC football. He is also a member of the NEC basketball broadcast team and the New York Giants gameday reporter with the WFAN/Giants Radio Network. Former Cal quarterback and Jeff Tedford disciple Steve Levy is set to make his debut on color commentary. Eric Singer is the Producer of NEC football telecasts.

NEC-OPENERS
Wagner is an impressive 10-4 in NEC Openers, but is just 9-5 in home conference openers. Last year, the Seahawks posted an exciting triple-overtime victory over Saint Francis (PA) by a 56-48 score after overcoming a 17-point fourth-quarter deficict.

HAMELINE SHOOTING FOR 200
Walt Hameline, who is in his 30th season with a record of 196-111-2 (.638), is just four wins shy of 200 for his illustrious career. Hameline registered his 22nd winning season (out of 29) in 2009 by leading the Green & White to a solid 6-5 bounce-back season after going 3-8 in 2008. Hameline also boasts four career .500 campaigns and just three sub-.500 records while leading the school to its only National Championship in 1987 when Wagner went 13-1 while defeating Dayton in the title tilt.

NEW LOOK BACKFIELD PACES WAGNER
With projected starter at running back Dominque Williams falling victim to a knee injury, the onus of the squad's running game will fall upon seniors Eric Foxworth, Javier Martinez and sophomore Torian Phillips.

Martinez posted his second career 100-yard game with 117 yards on 16 carries with one score against Cornell and has a team-best 169 yards on 23 carries (7.3 ypc). Phillips tallied a 133-yard day on 16 carries in his first collegiate start at tailback against the Big Red after tranferring from Syracuse. Foxworth had 40 yards on six carries against the Assumption before missing last week due to an injury.

All told, the trifecta of Phillips, Martinez and sophomore Nick Doscher battered the Cornell defensive front for 319 yards en route to a 325-yard rushing day for the offense (6.4 ypc).

FRANCOIS MAKES THE TRANSITION
Senior DB Greg Francois has found his niche on defense. After seeing minimal time on offense a year ago, the athletic Francois has established himself as one of the top defensive players on the team. Through two games, he is fourth on the squad with 10 tackles while also recording one of two Wagner's interceptions vs. Cornell.

PICK-6
After notching just four interceptions a year ago, Wagner recorded two in the win over Cornell with the second coming via senior Stefen Gage, who promptly took the tipped pass 20 yards to the hosue for his first career INT Touchdown return.

STANFORD LEADS THE LINE
Junior Julian Stanford had a monster game for the Wagner defense, recording 2.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries, one pass break-up and one jarring hit of Cornell's Jeff Matthews that forced a fumbles.

LINE SETS THE TONE IN WIN OVER CORNELL
The Wagner offensive line of seniors Joe Feriozzi, Cleveland Green, Keith Hernandez, Zach Johnson and junior Steve Ciocci did not allow a sack in the win over Cornell while helping the Seahawks outgain the Big Red by a whopping margin of 552-242, including 325-125 on the ground.

“IF YOU AIN'T FIRST YOU'RE LAST!”
The 2009 version of the Wagner Seahawks were a team of absolutes ... Their offense paced the league in scoring, averaging a whopping 30.7 ppg while scoring a league-best 47 touchdowns ... Unfortunately the defense finished last, giving up a league-high 31.1 ppg.

ROLES REVERSED
This year, Wagner leads the league in scoring defense, giving just 15.5 ppg.

NIELSON RATINGS WATCH OUT
Wagner's Parent's Day Weekend football game between Robert Morris and Wagner College on Saturday, September 25 will be televised live at 12:00 pm on MSG-TV as part of the NEC Game of the Week.

“We are thrilled that this important game has been selected by the NEC to be televised live,” said Wagner College Athletic Director/Head Football Coach Walt Hameline. “This will afford many more of our fans to watch the game and will add incredible added exposure to our program.”

DID YOU KNOW???
Many people know sophomore quarterback Nick Doscher was drafted out of Moore Catholic High School in the eighth round of the 2005 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Kansas City Royals and spent four years in the professional ranks before enrolling at Wagner. What most don't know however is that Doscher graduated with former Notre Dame basketball standout Kyle McAlarney, current Minnesota Twins farmhand and former Third-Round pick Bobby Lanigan and former Wagner men's basketball assistant Sean Postiglione. Additionally Doscher used to train in the offseason at the Wagner College weight room during his baseball career and at one time caught Zach Grienke while the 2009 AL Cy Young winner was on a rehab assignment.

INTERESTING #1
With their 41-7 win over Cornell, Wagner avoided starting a season 0-2 for the first time since 2001. In coach Hameline's first 30 years it has happened just twice.

WALTON AND KOTITE IN THE HOUSE
RMU Head coach Joe Walton and former Wagner standout Rich Kotite each served as head coach for the New York Jets. Walton was the head man for New York for seven years from 1983-1989 while Kotite was in charge during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Both will be in attendance today as Walton, the Colonials' only coach, is 97-67-1 over seven years at RMU while Kotite attends almost every game.

INTERESTING #2
Wagner handed Robert Morris its first loss in school history by a 38-21 count back in 1994. The Colonials would go on to a 7-1-1 record in their inaugural campaign.

NEC COACH = LONGEVITY
Walt Hameline and Joe Walton are two of four NEC coaches that have been at their current institutions for at least 17 years. Hameline trails only Albany head coach Bob Ford, who has been on the sidelines for the Great Danes for 41 years, as the longest tenured coach.

UP NEXT
Wagner will play its third-straight game at home when Bryant invades Staten Island. The Seahawks have yet to defeat the Bulldogs, falling 24-14 in 2008 before losing in a 6-2 shootout a year ago in Rhode Island.

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE GAME?
Register for the Wagner video stream. Just $9.95 per game or $29.95 for the year.