On September 5, 2026, the Ithaca College Bombers will travel to Baltimore, Maryland, to open their 2026 football season at 12 p.m. against the nation’s fourth‑ranked Johns Hopkins University, marking the fourth meeting in the series and the first of a 10‑game schedule.
Brandon Maguire, who guided the Bombers to an 8‑2 record in 2025, takes the helm as the program’s new head coach, inheriting a squad that returns more than 40 letterwinners and 22 starters, including a balanced mix of 14 offensive and 19 defensive players.
Coach Maguire’s First Year
The returning roster features senior defensive standout Joe Spirra, the 2025 Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year and a preseason First Team All‑American, alongside a deep receiving corps led by Cole Crotty, Robby Enright and Josh Moore, who combined for 1,790 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. On defense, veterans Browning Trainer, Jack Smith and sack leader Will Seibert provide continuity, while the offensive line returns eight starters to anchor the unit.
Johns Hopkins, a perennial power in Division III, enters the contest with a top‑ten ranking and has reached the national semifinals in each of the past two years, boasting a potent receiving attack that produced 2,700 yards and 27 touchdowns from its three primary pass catchers in 2025.
The season will continue with Ithaca’s first home game under the lights on September 12 against Alfred University, before culminating in the storied Cortaca Jug Game on November 14 at Yankee Stadium, where the Bombers will face No. 23 Cortland in a rivalry that dates back decades.