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* Alston Named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week

GAME INFORMATION
Game #7: Cornell at Princeton
Kickoff: Saturday, Oct. 31, at 1:00 p.m. ET
Site: Princeton Stradium (28,000), Princeton, N.J.
2009 Records: Cornell (2-4, 1-2 Ivy); Princeton (1-5, 0-3 Ivy)
Series Record: Princeton leads 56-33-2
Last Meeting: Princeton won 31-26, Nov. 1, 2008, in Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: WHCU 870 AM, Barry Leonard (play-by-play), Buck Briggs (color)
Live Stats: Available at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live: Available at www.CornellBigRed.com
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH JIM KNOWLES '87
The Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Football, Jim Knowles, is in his sixth season at the helm of the Big Red (26-30 overall, .464; 16-22 Ivy, .421) ... Knowles, an All-Ivy defensive end and three-year letter winner on the gridiron, was hired by his alma mater as head coach on Jan. 30, 2004.

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ITHACA, N.Y. — Two teams desperately in need of a treat will square off when Cornell meets Princeton on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 1:00 p.m. at Princeton Stadium. The contest can be heard locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard on the call or at www.CornellBigRed.com as part of the RedCast subscription service. The recent history of the Cornell-Princeton series says that those in attendance are likely to see plenty of tricks on Halloween.



Both Cornell and Princeton will be out to snap four-game losing streaks in what has become one of the most fiercely competitive series in the Ivy League. Most of the last decade has seen games decided on freak plays, last-second efforts and crazy story lines. Twelve of the last 14 times the teams have played, the winning margin has been a touchdown or less. The last two seasons have seen Princeton win in games decided in the final seconds. Jim Knowles '87, the Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Cornell Football, sports a 9-2 mark in games decided by three points or less in his career, the best mark in Division I college football. Both of those losses came to the Tigers in the team's last two trips to Princeton Stadium (20-17 in OT in 2005, 34-31 in 2007).

The Big Red is coming off a 34-14 loss to Brown, a game that Cornell led 14-7 with six minutes to play in the third quarter before a pair of Bear touchdowns in a span of 15 seconds changed the momentum and sent the home team to its third straight loss at Schoellkopf Field.

The Big Red offense had its moments, but again could not get its running game on track. Senior quarterbacks Ben Ganter and Stephen Liuzza combined for 225 passing yards, with senior wide receiver Bryan Walters capturing his second straight 100-yard game with his seven-catch, 105-yard afternoon. Walters moved into second place on the Ivy League's all-purpose yardage list and bumped ahead of Big Red great Ed Marinaro for the Cornell record with his game-opening 21-yard kickoff return. He ended the contest with 5,233 all-purpose yards in his four seasons.

The defense scored a pair of touchdowns, the first time is had done that this decade. Juniors Brandon Lainhart (24-yard interception return) and Anthony Ambrosi (26-yard fumble return) each found the end zone. For Ambrosi, it was the second time this year he returned a turnover for six and the fourth time the defense has done it this year. In comparison, the Princeton offense has reached  the end zone just six times in six games this year. To put itself in that position, however, it must shore up a group that has allowed 481.5 yards per game during its losing streak, including more than 500 yards three times.

Special teams were solid, with junior Drew Alston leading the way by pinning four of his seven punts inside Brown's 20-yard line. Senior Chris Costello blocked a field goal prior to the half, his fourth career blocked kick, and held the dangerous Buddy Farnham to nine yards on four punt return attempts and 29 yards on kickoffs.

After opening 1-1 and giving nationally ranked Colgate all it could handle in week four, the Tigers join Cornell in having dropped four straight. The Tigers have been outscored 130-34 during that span. Princeton will be without last year's Ivy League rushing leader, Jordan Culbreath, and All-Ivy linebacker Scott Britton, who both are out for the season. It will be the 92nd meeting between the two teams, both of whom rank among the top 10 in all-time wins at the Football Championship Subdivision level.

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD:
• snap Cornell's four-game losing streak and extend Princeton's skid to five games.
• even Cornell's Ivy record at 2-2 this season.
• cut the Tigers' lead in the all-time series to 56-34-2.
• make head coach Jim Knowles 3-3 against Princeton.
• be the first road win over the Tigers by Cornell since 2001 (10-7 win), snapping a three-game skid.
• be the 617th in program history (10th most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

THE CORNELL-PRINCETON SERIES: (Princeton leads 56-33-2) This will be the 92nd meeting between Cornell and Princeton, with the Tigers holding a commanding 56-33-2 advantage. The two teams first met in 1891, a 6-0 Princeton win. In all, 12 of the last 14 meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Big Red lost 31-26 a season ago at Schoellkopf Field.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
• Senior wide receiver/quarterback Stephen Liuzza has 898 rushing yard and needs 102 yards to become the 29th player in Big Red history to reach 1,000 for his career.
• With 890 career punt return yards, senior wide receiver Bryan Walters is 12 yards away from matching the Ivy League record of 902 set by Penn's Mark Fabish 13 years ago.

SCOUTING PRINCETON:
• Princeton enters the contest with a 1-4 record and, like Cornell, a four-game losing streak. The Tigers are the lone winless team in Ivy play after a 34-3 defeat at Harvard on Oct. 24.
• Harvard piled up 457 yards of offense, held the Tigers to just 157 yards and only allowed a Ben Bologna 19-yard field goal in the first quarter of their matchup.
• Princeton has been held to six offensive touchdowns (seven total) in the team's first six contests. It's 9.7 points per game is the lowest in the Ivy League and ranks 115th out of 118 teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.
• Steven Cody (12.4 tackles per game) and Scott Britton (11.2 tackles per game) rank first and third, respectively, in the Ivy League in tackles. The duo is also four and eight in the nation. Britton is out for the season with an injury, missing his first game of the season against Harvard.
• Princeton's Jordan Culbreath, the Ivy League's lone 1,000-yard back a season ago, will also miss the 2009 campaign after playing in the first three games of the season.
• Head coach Roger Hughes has posted a 44-51 record in nine seasons as head coach at Princeton, including claiming the 2006 Ancient Eight title.
• This will be the 92nd meeting between Cornell and Princeton, with the Tigers holding a commanding 56-33-2 advantage. The two teams first met in 1891, a 6-0 Princeton win. In all, 12 of the last 14 meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Big Red lost 31-26 a season ago at Schoellkopf Field and 34-31 in 2007 at Princeton Stadium.

PLAYER NOTES VS. BROWN:
• Senior wide receiver Bryan Walters piled up 137 all-purpose yards to set a Cornell record and move into second place all-time in Ivy League history with his 5,233 yards.
• His 105 receiving yards gave him two straight 100-yard games, while his 283 receiving yards in consecutive games is the third-highest total in school history (317 by Eric Krawczyk - Dartmouth, 146; Colgate, 171 in 1997 and 287 by Joe Splendorio - Brown, 204; Harvard, 83 in 1999) .
• Sophomore wide receiver Shane Savage matched his career high of eight catches set the previous weekend against Brown.
• Junior punter Drew Alston pinned four of his seven punts in side Brown's 20-yard line.
• The Big Red scored a pair of defensive touchdowns (26-yard fumble return by Anthony Ambrosi and a 24-yard INT return by Brandon Lainhart), the first time the Big Red has had multiple defensive touchdowns in the same game this decade.
• Ben Heller recorded his third interception of the year, becoming the first Big Red player to have at least three in a season since Colin Nash also had three in 2006.

UP NEXT: Cornell remains on the road to face Dartmouth on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 12:30 p.m. in Hanover, N.H.: Video: