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* Walters Named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week
GAME INFORMATION
Game #4: Harvard at Cornell
Kickoff: Saturday, Oct. 10, at 12:30 p.m. ET
Site: Schoellkopf Field (25,597), Ithaca, N.Y.
2009 Records: Harvard (2-1, 1-0 Ivy); Cornell (2-1, 1-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Harvard leads 39-32-2
Last Meeting: Harvard lost 38-17, Oct. 11, 2008, in Cambridge, Mass.
Radio: WHCU 870 AM, Barry Leonard (play-by-play), Buck Briggs (color)
Live Stats: Available at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: 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 (26-27 overall, .490; 16-20 Ivy, .444) ... 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.
ITHACA, N.Y. — A pair of early Ivy League season frontrunners will match up when Cornell (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) and Harvard (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) meet on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 12:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. 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. Live video of the game is also provided at no charge on IBNSports.com.
The Big Red will have to shake off last weekend's 45-23 loss at No. 25 Colgate in a battle of Central New York unbeatens, but there will be no better way to get motivated than having the preseason Ivy League favorites come to town. The last time that happened was in 2008, when preseason favorite Yale walked into Schoellkopf Field in the conference home opener for the Big Red. Cornell dominated with its defense and celebrated a 17-14 victory at home.
The offense was able to move the ball despite only having possession for 21 minutes, averaging just under six yards per play. Senior quarterback Ben Ganter was able to find classmate Bryan Walters deep twice, as his four catches went for 96 yards. Ganter ended the afternoon 16-of-32 for 217 yards and a 32-yard touchdown pass to Randy Barbour. Barbour's four receptions went for a career-best 72 yards. Freshman Nick Mlady also scored his first career rushing touchdown with a 1-yard plunge in the second quarter and sophomore Abdul Taylor was impressive on two runs, registering 27 yards. The Big Red turned the ball over just once, giving the unit two turnovers in three games in 2009.
The Big Red's defense was on the field for a significant portion of the day against the Raiders, as Colgate was able to pile up 344 yards on the ground and 561 yards total. Despite those numbers, several players put together highlight afternoons, with linebackers Brandon Lainhart (15 tackles) and Chris Costello (13 tackles) each reaching double figures in stops, while junior Josh Gajdos had his first career interception. Junior defensive back Emani Fenton also recovered and returned a fumble 32 yards for a touchdown, Cornell's first on a fumble return since the 2004 campaign. A pair of first-time varsity participants, Andrew Brown (seven tackles) and Travers Schmidt (five tackles), also made their marks.
Special teams made several big plays, with punter Drew Alston pinning Colgate inside its 20-yard line on two of his four kicks. Walters ended the afternoon with 138 yards on six kickoff returns, including a 43-yarder to open the contest. Junior place-kicker Brad Greenway booted a career-long 45-yard field goal, the longest by a Cornell player since Peter Zell's 45-yarder against nationally-ranked Albany in 2006.
Harvard earned a 28-14 victory over Lehigh on Oct. 3 thanks to a ground game featuring Cheng Ho, who posted 132 rushing yards and a touchdown and also hauled in a 13-yard scoring pass. Collier Winters passed for 152 yards and two touchdowns and had another 40 yards on the ground in directing a Crimson offense that had 26 first downs and controlled the ball for more than 34 minutes. The defending Ivy League champions, under the direction of head coach Tim Murphy, have a 39-32-2 lead in the all-time series between the two programs. Cornell will be out for its first victory over the Crimson since 2005, a 27-13 victory over No. 20 Harvard at Schoellkopf Field.
A WIN OVER HARVARD WOULD:
• cut the Crimson's lead in the all-time series to 39-33-2.
• give Cornell a 3-1 start to a season for the first time since 1999 (4-0).
• be the second win in the last three meetings over the Crimson at Schoellkopf Field.
• make it two years in a row the Big Red defeated the preseason Ivy League favorites at Schoellkopf Field in the conference home opener
• be the 617th in program history (10th most in the Football Championship Subdivision).
THE CORNELL-HARVARD SERIES: (Harvard leads 39-32-2) Cornell and Harvard will be meeting for the 74th time dating back to the first meeting in 1890. The Crimson owned the early series, capturing the first 10 games (1890-1913), while Cornell 11 won straight from 1986-1996. Harvard has won seven of the last eight contests, with the Big Red's last win coming during the 2005 campaign, a 27-13 victory at home.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
• Senior running back Randy Barbour needs 33 yards on the ground to become the 28th 1,000-yard rusher in Big Red history.
• With 871 career punt return yards, senior wide receiver Bryan Walters is 31 yards away from matching the Ivy League record of 902 set by Penn's Mark Fabish 13 years ago.
NOTES VS. COLGATE:
• Senior Bryan Walters' 234 all-purpose yards was his third-best single-game total and was his seventh career 200-yard game.
• Emani Fenton's 32-yard fumble return for a touchdown was the first by a Big Red player since Nate Tarsi took a fumble back 50 yards for a score against Dartmouth on Nov. 4, 2004.
• Offensive lineman Matt Green caught a six-yard deflected pass, becoming the first Cornell offensive lineman to record a catch since at least 1977.
• Freshman Nick Mlady became the first Cornell freshman to score a rushing touchdown with his second quarter 1-yard run since Stephen Liuzza's 8-yarder in the 2006 season finale, a 28-27 Big Red victory.
• The 22-point margin of defeat against the Raiders was its biggest spread since falling 42-13 during the 2002 campaign.
• The Big Red had an interception by Josh Gajdos, giving the team five in three games this season. Cornell had just five total interceptions during the 2008 campaign.
• Freshman safety Andrew Brown (seven tackles) and sophomore safety Travers Schmidt (five tackles) each made their first career varsity appearances.
UP NEXT: The Big Red will celebrate Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12:30 p.m. when it meets Fordham at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell leads the all-time series 4-2, and it will be the first meeting between the programs since 1999.
