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GAME INFORMATION
Game #10: Cornell at Penn
Kickoff: Saturday, Nov. 21, at 1:00 p.m. ET
Site: Franklin Field (52,598), Philadelphia, Pa.
2009 Records: Cornell (2-7, 1-5 Ivy); Penn (7-2, 6-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Penn leads 66-44-5
Last Meeting: Penn won 23-6, Nov. 22, 2008, in Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: WHCU 870 AM, Barry Lonard (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 (26-33 overall, .441; 16-25 Ivy, .390) ... 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. — The Cornell football team will close out the 2009 campaign with a chance to play spoiler against one of its fiercest historical rivals on the gridiron when the Big Red faces Penn on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 1 p.m. at Franklin 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.
The 15th Trustee's Cup game is important for both different for much different reasons. A Cornell victory would snap a seven-game skid and send the Big Red into the offseason with some much-needed momentum, while a Quaker win would give it an undefeated, outright Ivy League title.
Cornell has dropped its last three games by a total of 17 points, including last weekend's 30-20 defeat at the hands of Columbia. The loss ruined Cornell's Senior Day efforts and closed out the year with a 1-4 home record. After opening the season with consecutive wins, the Big Red has dropped seven straight, the most since losing 10 consecutive spanning the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
After taking care of the ball throughout the season, the Big Red offense was turnover prone against the Lions in the loss. Cornell quarterbacks were intercepted six times, matching a school record, and completed just 14-of-38 passes. Six of those receptions went to senior
Bryan Walters, who had a game-high 89 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the loss. He ended the day with 260 all-purpose yards. Senior
Randy Barbour had 120 yards on 16 carries, including a career-long 55-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to help Cornell rally from an early 13-0 deficit.
Defensively, the Big Red forced three turnovers and did yeoman's work despite defending a short field multiple times. Cornell allowed touchdown drives of 23, 21 and 19 yards. Senior
Chris Costello had eight tackles, a sack and an interception in the end zone to end a potential Columbia scoring drive, while junior
Dempsey Quinn notched 10 stops. It was Quinn's fifth game this season with double figure tackles, including his third straight.
Walters was named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week for the third time this season after posting 161 total return yards. Junior punter
Drew Alston averaged 42.2 yards on his six kicks and placed a pair inside the Columbia 20, while a third was nearly downed at the 1, but took a bad bounce over the head of two coverage players waiting to down the ball. Again, the coverage teams were outstanding, allowing 10 yards on three punt returns and 37 yards on kickoff returns.
Cornell will face a Penn team riding high after capturing a 17-7 victory at Harvard last weekend to clinch at least a share of the 2009 Ivy League title. The Quakers lead the nation in total defense and scoring defense, putting together a unit that ranks among the best in Ivy League history through nine games.
A WIN OVER PENN WOULD:
• snap Cornell's seven-game losing streak.
• cut Penn's lead in the all-time series to 66-45-5.
• end a two-game skid against the Quakers.
• make head coach Jim Knowles 3-3 against the Quakers.
• be the 617th in program history (10th most in the Football Championship Subdivision).
THE CORNELL-PENN SERIES: (Penn leads 66-44-5) This will be the 116th meeting between Cornell and Penn, with the Quakers holding a 66-44-5 lead in the series. The series is the fifth-most played in college football history. The two teams first met in 1893, a 50-0 Penn win. Four years ago, Cornell claimed a 16-7 win at Franklin Field for the 600th victory in program history. Last year, the Quakers topped the Big Red 17-7 in the season finale at Schoellkopf Field, the third straight victory by the Quakers in the series.
THE TRUSTEES' CUP: Since 1995, the winner of the Cornell-Penn football game has been awarded the Trustees' Cup. Alumni from Penn and Cornell gathered at the New York Penn Club on Sept. 6, 1995 for the dedication of the Trustees' Cup, which thereafter has been presented to the winner of the annual football game. The idea evolved from a series of discussions between officials and alumni of both universities, focusing on what would be the best way to honor one of college football's most celebrated rivalries. The decision was made to establish an award to be presented at an annual luncheon, with the winning team taking the prize home and displaying it for a year. Penn leads the Trustees' Cup series 9-5.
PLAYER NOTES VS. COLUMBIA:
• Sophomore
Mike Spooner made his first career start at defensive end and had tackles for loss on three straight plays on the Lions' third possession of the game.
• Senior
Bryan Walters posted 260 all-purpose yards, his second-highest total of the season. He also had two touchdown receptions, giving him 12 for his career
• Senior
Randy Barbour's 120 rushing yards was a season high.
• Sophomore
Emile Chang started at right guard, giving him starts on both the offensive and defensive lines this season (vs. Fordham at nose guard).
STORIED RIVALRIES: The Big Red is involved in three of the top 20 most-played rivalries in college football. Heading into the 2009 campaign, the Cornell-Penn series ranks fifth in most games played with 116. The 97 meetings between Cornell and Columbia ranks 12th, while the Cornell-Colgate rivalry stands 17th with 92 games played. The Big Red's oldest active rivalry is with Bucknell. Although the teams have met just 49 times, the squads first faced off during the 1888 season, Cornell's second season of football. The Cornell-Dartmouth and the Cornell-Penn series are the second-longest uninterrupted active series, as the teams have met every season since 1919, a span of 89 years. They trail only the Lafayette-Lehigh series, which has been played every year since 1897.
WALTERS NAMED IVY LEAGUE SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THIRD TIME (Nov. 16): For the third time this season, senior wide receiver
Bryan Walters was named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week. Walters continued to add onto his Ivy League kickoff and punt return yardage records on Senior Day for the Big Red, getting the home team back in the game before falling 30-20 to Columbia. He collected 260 more all-purpose yards, catching a game-high six passes for 89 yards and two touchdowns. He also posted 122 kickoff return yards and 49 punt return yards in the contest. His touchdown catches of 12 and 32 yards helped the Big Red rally from a 13-point deficit in the first minute of the game to take the lead.
MILESTONES TO WATCH FOR:
• Senior
Stephen Liuzza needs 19 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for his career.
• Senior
Bryan Walters needs eight receptions to reach 150 for his career.
• Walters is 30 punt return yards shy of becoming the first Ancient Eight player to reach 1,000 yards.
• Walters need 58 receiving yards to climb into the top five on Cornell's single-season chart.
• He also is climbing up the single-season all-purpose chart. He needs 92 yards to hit second, but is 332 yards from Ed Marinaro's record of 1,932 in 1971.
UP NEXT: Cornell will get ready for the 2010 season during spring practice in April.
