Grinnell College and Cornell College collide in the season opener for both this Saturday in Grinnell. The Pioneers were 3-7 in 2008 and second year coach Max Hawsey feels his team is vastly improved. He says the team will be hungry and they worked on getting more speed on the field.

Hawsey says pre-season workout have been much smoother during the second year for the staff. A key will be improvement of a defense that gave up nearly 36 points per game last season. he says they will be more aggressive and he expects them to be improved despite losing some good linebackers.

Cornell is looking to bounce back from an 0-10 mark in 2008. This will be the 90th meeting in the series. Both schools were part of the Midwest Conference before Cornell joined the Iowa Conference.