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GAME INFORMATION
Game #7: Princeton at Cornell
Kickoff: Saturday, Oct. 30, at 12:30 p.m. ET
Site: Schoellkopf Field (25,597), Ithaca, N.Y.
2010 Records: Princeton (1-5, 0-3 Ivy); Cornell (1-5, 0-3 Ivy)
Series Record: Princeton leads 57-33-2
Last Meeting: Princeton won 17-13; Oct. 31, 2009, in Princeton, N.J.
Radio: WHCU 870 AM, Barry Leonard (play-by-play), Buck Briggs (color)
Live Stats: Available at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: Available at www.IBNSports.com
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH KENT AUSTIN
Kent  Austin, the Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Football, is in his first season at the helm of the Big Red (1-5 overall, .167; 0-3 Ivy, .000) ... Austin has won CFL Grey Cups as a player, assistant coach and head coach ... most recently the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Ole Miss, Austin was hired as head coach on Jan. 27, 2010.

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ITHACA, N.Y. — Two teams with first-year coaches will attempt to claim their first Ivy League victories and have their programs take a step toward getting back among the Ivy elite when Cornell faces Princeton on Saturday, Oct. 30, at 12:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. You can listen to the game locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard and Buck Briggs on the call, or watch the game at no charge on IBNSports.com.

Few series between teams have been as competitive over the last two decades as the Cornell-Princeton one. Peppered with last-second finishes, crazy endings and upsets galore, the Big Red and the Tigers are both in desperate need of a win in their annual pre-Halloween contest. The last six contests have been decided by a touchdown or less, with that stretching to nine of the last 10 meetings and 16 of the last 20. Eleven games have been decided by a field goal or less or in overtime during that 20-year span. The 2009 season was no different, as a 78-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Wornham to Trey Peacock late in the fourth quarter gave Princeton a 17-13 win, its third consecutive in the series.

During that two-decade span, an amazing run of exciting games have been played between the teams. In the last decade alone, Cornell blocked a PAT with 11 seconds left to win by one in 2000, a Princeton rally from a 25-10 deficit in the fourth quarter ended with a 32-25 Tiger win in 2002, a blocked Tiger PAT late in the fourth gave the Big Red another win (2004), Derek Javarone of Princeton booted a game-winning field goal in OT to set an Ivy League record for career field goals (2005), Cornell handed Ivy champ Princeton its only league loss in 2006, a Peter Zell 47-yard field goal fell short in a 37-34 Tiger win in 2007 and the Big Red nearly rallied from a 12-point deficit in the final 45 seconds, with a pass into the end zone falling incomplete as time ran out in a 31-26 loss in 2008.

Both Cornell and Princeton enter the game on losing streaks, as the Big Red has dropped three straight and the Tigers have fallen in four consecutive contests heading into Saturday. Both first-year coaches, Kent Austin at Cornell and Bob Surace at Princeton, will be looking for their first Ivy win. For Austin, he will also be out for his first home victory at Schoellkopf Field, while Surace is looking for his Tigers to win on the road for the first time under his tutelage.

Cornell is coming off a 27-13 loss at Brown last Saturday, with the Big Red showing improvement on both sides of the ball. Freshman quarterback Jeff Mathews completed 18-of-34 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown and directed an offense that didn't commit a turnover. Junior wide receiver Shane Savage hauled in eight passes for a career-high 104 yards and junior tight end Ryan Houska scored a pair of touchdowns, one on the ground and one in the air. Defensively, despite playing without five regular starters, Cornell limited Brown's explosive offense to six plays or less on 5-of-6 drives in the second half, forcing three punts and turning the Bears over on downs twice.

Princeton stayed in it most of the afternoon against Harvard, but despite using every trick in the book, couldn't avoid a fifth loss in a 45-28 defeat. The Tigers got touchdown passes from a tight end and running back and a rushing touchdown from a wide receiver to creatively stay in the contest, but eventually couldn't stop the Harvard rushing attack. Two players recorded 100-yard games and Princeton allowed more than 30 points for the fifth time in six contests in the loss. Surace will have plenty of schemes to get the ball in the hands of senior wide receiver Trey Peacock, who ranks among the national leaders with 49 receptions for 678 yards and three touchdowns.

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD:
• be the first Ivy League win for head coach Kent Austin at Cornell (0-3).
• give Austin his first home win at Schoellkopf Field (0-2).
• snap a three-game losing streak overall and against Princeton.
• be the 618th in program history (10th most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

THE CORNELL-PRINCETON SERIES: (Princeton leads 57-33-2) This will be the 93rd meeting between Cornell and Princeton, with the Tigers holding a commanding 57-33-2 advantage. The two teams first met in 1891, a 6-0 Princeton win. In all, 13 of the last 15 meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Big Red dropped a 17-13 decision to the Tigers a season ago at Princeton Stadium.

REVIEWING LAST YEAR'S GAME VS. PRINCETON (Oct. 31, 2009 in Princeton, N.J.): Trey Peacock hauled in a 78-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Wornham with 6:22 left, the second time the duo connected for a score in the game, to lift Princeton to a 17-13 triumph over Cornell at Princeton Stadium. The Big Red held decisive advantages in total yards (400-305), first downs (23-14) and rushing yardage (219-107), but a pair of turnovers, two missed field goals and a pair of failed fourth down conversions sent the visitors to the loss. The Big Red was led by Bryan Walters' three catches for 62 yards and tight end Ryan Houska's career-high six catches for 50 yards, as well as 76 rushing yards on 11 carries by Marcus Hendren. Randy Barbour added 47 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Defensively, Chris Costello and Brandon Lainhart each had 14 tackles and Dempsey Quinn chipped in with 11. Brad Greenway hit a pair of field goals in the loss. Peacock led the Tigers with three catches for 113 yards and a touchdown, while Wornham completed 16-of-27 passes for 198 yards and two scores without turning the ball over. Steven Cody made 15 stops on the defensive side of the ball. Meko McCray led the rushing attack with 44 yards on 12 carries.

INTERESTING NOTES FROM THE 2009 MEETING VS. PRINCETON:
• Senior linebacker Chris Costello had 14 tackles, his fourth double figure tackle game of the season.
• Sophomore tight end Ryan Houska had a career-high six catches for 50 yards.
• Junior running back Marcus Hendren had 76 rushing yards on 11 carries, also a career-best.
• Junior place-kicker Brad Greenway booted a pair of field goals, giving him seven on the year.
• Sophomore Matt MacFarlane had a pair of tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. It was MacFarlane's first TFL since the season-opening Bucknell game.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
• In one of the most exciting series in the Ivy League over the last 20 years, Cornell and Princeton will attempt to pick up their first Ivy victories under first-year coaches.
• Sixteen of the last 20 contests between  the teams have been decided by a touchdown or less, and 11 have been decided by a field goal or less or in overtime.
• The Big Red is out to snap a six-game home losing streak and a nine-game Ivy losing skid overall.

NOTING THE BROWN GAME:
• Junior wide receiver Shane Savage had his first 100-yard receiving game with eight catches for 104 yards.
• Junior tight end Ryan Houska recorded his first career rushing touchdown and added his second career receiving score.
• The Big Red defense did not record a sack for the second straight contest.
• Sophomore linebacker Cody Roberts earned his first career start on the defense, as did freshman defensive end Kevin Marchand.
• Junior safety Adam Albitar and freshman defensive end Justin Harris each earned their first varsity playing time.
• Cornell's offense did not commit a turnover for just the second time in the last three seasons and the first time overall since the 2009 season finale at Penn.

TEAM NOTES THROUGH WEEK 6:
• When you take out sack yardage out of the team's rushing total, the Big Red is averaging a respectable 4.1 yards per carry.
• The Big Red has scored on 93 percent of its chances in the red zone (10-of-12) and has scored eight touchdowns in the 12 trips (67 percent).
• Cornell is a perfect 5-for-5 scoring in the red zone in Ivy play (four touchdowns, one field goal).
• In its last three games, Cornell has been out-rushed 908-176 yards.
• Through four games, Cornell has called 52 percent rushing plays (190) and 48 percent passing plays (177).
• The Big Red has been outscored 108-20 in the middle two quarters (second and third) of games this season.
• The Big Red has already blocked four kicks in 2010 after blocking just three total in 2009 and four in 2008.

PLAYER NOTES THROUGH WEEK 6:
• Senior Emani Fenton has three interceptions in three Ivy League contests.
• Senior linebacker Brandon Lainhart has also been outstanding in Ivy League play with 25 tackles and a pair of sacks in two games.
• Cornell's leading receiver (Shane Savage - 339 yards) has more yards from scrimmage than the team's leading rusher (Nick Booker-Tandy - 199 yards). This would be the fourth straight year that occurrence has happened.
• In Ivy play, junior Shane Savage has 22 receptions for 239 yards, twice as many catches as the second-leading receiver in Ivy play (Luke Tasker with 11 receptions).

IVY PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS (Oct. 4):
• Senior punter Drew Alston continued his All-Ivy season by consistently flipping field position for the Big Red, averaging 40.5 yards on six punts, with one being downed inside the 5 en route to Special Teams Player of the Week. His punt inside of a minute left pinned the Bison at their own 5, allowing Cornell to allow Bucknell to run out the clock and earn the win. It is the second weekly award for Alston in his career.
• Ivy League Rookie of the Week Jeff Mathews made his second consecutive start another good one, completing 15-of-28 passes for 180 yards and running for a score, while directing the Big Red to its first victory of 2010 and snapping a 10-game losing skid. Despite missing the team's top two tailbacks, Mathews led a pair of 10-play scoring drives and posted the second-highest passing yardage total by a freshman in Cornell history.

IVY PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS (Oct. 25):
• Mathews continued his solid play as a rookie signal-caller, completing 18-of-34 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown while directing an offense that didn't turn the ball over in a 27-14 loss at Brown. Already the school's all-time freshman passing leader, Mathews completed passes of at least 20 yards to four different receivers and had a second touchdown pass called back for a penalty away from the play.

UP NEXT: Cornell will remain at home to face Dartmouth on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 12:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.