ITHACA, N.Y. - The Cornell University sprint football team improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1987 when it defeated Princeton 35-0 on Friday night at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red was led by the defensive unit, which combined for six interceptions, recovered one fumble and sacked the Princeton quarterbacks five times for a lost of 54 yards. All three touchdowns in the first half resulted from defensive efforts, with two coming by way of interceptions, while one was set up by a recovered fumble.

The defensive unit was led by junior Jason Remillard with five tackles (three solo), 1.5 tackles for a loss, one interception and two pass breakups. Senior Matt Collin, who set up the Big Red's second touchdown with his fumble recovery, led the team with two sacks for a loss of 22 yards.

As impressive as Cornell's defense was, holding the Tigers' quarterbacks to an 11-of-47 night, with six interceptions, it was even more impressive against the run, holding the Tigers to -37 rushing yards.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Big Red racked up 287 total yards, 161 of which came from quarterbacks Zac Dentes and Brian Kennedy, who threw for 80 and 81 yards, respectively. Dentes completed 6-of-13 attempts, while Kennedy was remarkably efficient, connecting on 7-of-8 attempts. Roman Barinas led the Big Red's rushing attack with 12 carries for 65 yards, while Michael Fullowan recorded nine rushes for 18 yards, but had 126 all-purpose yards, thanks to the 89-yard kickoff return and one reception.

Cornell got on the board first when Remillard intercepted a pass in the flat by Princeton quarterback Alex Kandabarow at the Princeton 10-yard line and ran for the touchdown to give Cornell the 6-0 lead with 2:56 left in the first quarter. The Big Red attempted a two-point conversion, but the pass by Kennedy, intended for Jason Zittel, was incomplete.

The Big Red scored again at 12:42 in the second quarter after Collin recovered a Tiger fumble at the Princeton 1-yard line. Dentes rumbled into the endzone for the touchdown and then connected with Fullowan for the two-point conversion to put the Big Red up 14-0.

Cornell struck again 42 seconds later when senior linebacker Ian Murray intercepted a pass by Kandabarow and streaked, untouched 44 yards for the touchdown. The extra point attempt went wide, as the score remained 20-0.

Cornell started off the third quarter with a bang when Followan made his first kickoff return of the season a memorable one, going 89 yards for the touchdown. Another failed extra-point attempt kept the score at 26-0.

After holding the Tigers' to a three-and-out on their first possession of the second half, the Big Red used 10 plays to go 41-yards for its' first substantial offensive scoring drive. Barinas rushed five times during the drive for 34 yards and Kennedy, who took over quarterback duties midway through the second quarter, scored his first touchdown of the season after he faked a handoff and rolled out for two-yard rush. The extra point by Daren Phillips put Cornell up 33-0 with 8:10 to play in the third quarter.

Fittingly enough, in a game that was dominated by the Big Red defense, Cornell scored its final points of the game when sophomore Scott Lutgen sacked Princeton's backup quarterback Michael Cheng in the endzone for a safety with 2:27 remaining in the game.

The Big Red will host Penn in its final home game of the season on Friday, Oct. 20 at Schoellkopf Field at 7 p.m.