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GAME INFORMATION
Game #4: Cornell at Harvard
Kickoff: Saturday, Oct. 9, at 12:00 p.m. ET
Site: Harvard Stadium (30,323), Cambridge, Mass.
2010 Records: Cornell (1-2, 0-1 Ivy); Harvard (2-1, 0-1 Ivy)
Series Record: Harvard leads 40-32-2
Last Meeting: Harvard won 28-10, Oct. 10, 2009, in Ithaca, N.Y.
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 (1-2 overall, .333; 0-1 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.
ITHACA, N.Y. — The 75th meeting between two longtime rivals, Cornell and Harvard, will take center stage on Saturday, Oct. 9, at 12:00 p.m. at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass. Both teams will be in search of their first Ivy League victory of the season, with the Big Red looking to continue its upward climb against the 2010 preseason Ancient Eight favorite. The game can be heard locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard and Buck Briggs on the call or through Cornell RedCast subscription service at CornellBigRed.com.
The Big Red earned its first victory of 2010 when it stepped out of league play and knocked off Bucknell 21-12 on Saturday in a game that was nationally televised on CBS College Sports. The win gave first-year Big Red mentor Kent Austin his first triumph as a collegiate head coach and gave the program some positive vibes, snapping a 10-game losing skid (tied for the longest in Cornell history) and picking up the team's first victory in more than a calendar year.
The offense was able to get the running game going while dealing with three offensive line injuries, the loss of two top tailbacks and starting a rookie quarterback. Freshman
Jeff Mathews was again up to the task, completing 15-of-28 passes for 180 yards and running for a short score en route to capturing Ivy League Rookie of the Week accolades. Also scoring on the ground were junior tailback
Nick Booker-Tandy and sophomore wide receiver
Luke Tasker. Booker-Tandy ran for a career-high 61 yards, while Tasker hauled in five passes for 35 yards and ran back the opening kickoff 65 yards to set the tone. Junior tight end
Ryan Houska ran for 17 yards and caught four passes for 49 yards and tailback
Troy Lewis piled up 37 rushing yards on four carries on the last drive of the game for his first collegiate carries.
The defense did a nice job stopping the run, limiting the Bison to 105 yards. Senior
Ben Heller intercepted his fourth career pass to end a late Bucknell rally, while classmate
Emani Fenton blocked a first quarter punt that set up Cornell's first offensive score. Senior
Dempsey Quinn made a game-high nine tackles and the linebacking combo of
Brandon Lainhart (eight tackles) and
Zack Imhoff (seven tackles) combined for 15 stops. All-Ivy corner
Rashad Campbell had another strong contest in coverage, breaking up two passes and making six tackles, including one for a loss.
Senior punter
Drew Alston continued his All-Ivy year on special teams, averaging 40.5 yards on his six kicks and allowing -1 yards on returns. His efforts earned him Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time in his career. Senior place-kicker
Brad Greenway booted all three extra-point conversions through the uprights to move into sixth on the school's kicking points list. Special teams continued to come through in the win, as Tasker's long kick return on kickoffs and a 24-yard punt return highlighted.
Harvard is 2-1 on the season, including last weekend's 35-10 bounceback win over Lafayette. The Crimson were picked to win the Ivy League title in the preseason, but dropped a week two 29-14 contest at Brown to slip behind in the early conference chase. The Crimson will be desperate to avoid a second loss, as no team has been able to earn at least a share of the Ivy League title with two losses since 1982.
A WIN OVER HARVARD WOULD:
• give Cornell its first win over Harvard since 2005 and its first win at Harvard Stadium since 2000.
• make Cornell 2-1 on the road in 2010.
• even the team's Ivy League record at 1-1 in 2010 and send Harvard to 0-2 in conference action. The last time a team with two conference losses earned at least a share of the league title was 1982.
• snap a six-game Ivy League losing skid.
• be the 618th in program history (10th most in the Football Championship Subdivision).
THE CORNELL-HARVARD SERIES: (Harvard leads 40-32-2) Cornell and Harvard will be meeting for the 75th 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 eight of the last nine contests, with the Big Red's last win coming during the 2005 campaign, a 27-13 victory at home. The Crimson won last year's meeting 28-10 at Schoellkopf Field.
REVIEWING LAST YEAR'S GAME VS. HARVARD (Oct. 10, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.): Defending Ivy League champion Harvard controlled the running game on both sides of the ball to knock off Cornell 28-10 at Schoellkopf Field. The Crimson piled up 251 rushing yards and scored four times on the ground in, while the Big Red was limited to just 62 yards in dropping its second straight contest. The Crimson got 137 rushing yards and a touchdown from Gino Gordon, while Treavor Scales notched 92 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Collier Winters chipped in with 29 rushing yards and a score, but completed just 9-of-25 passes for 104 yards against one of the Football Championship Subdivision's top passing defenses. Collin Zych had a team-high eight tackles and freshman Brian Owusu had his first two collegiate interceptions in the victory.
Bryan Walters posted 132 all-purpose yards, including six catches for 50 yards, while
Shane Savage scored his second career touchdown with a 17-yard reception in the third quarter.
Brad Greenway booted a career-long 47-yard field goal, the eighth-longest in Big Red football history. Defensively,
Dempsey Quinn (12 tackles) and
Aaron Levine (10 tackles) each reached double figures in hits, while
Chris Costello (nine tackles, two TFL) and
Ben Heller (nine tackles, interception) also had strong efforts.
INTERESTING NOTES FROM THE 2009 MEETING VS. HARVARD:
• Place-kicker
Brad Greenway's 47-yard field goal was the longest by a Big Red kicker since A.J. Weitsman booted a 47-yarder against Colgate in 2005. Those two kicks are tied for the eighth-longest in Cornell history.
•
Shane Savage scored on a 17-yard pass from
Ben Ganter, giving him touchdowns in each of his first two collegiate home games.
•
Ben Heller recorded his second career interception.
• With his 134 yards,
Bryan Walters '10 moved past Keith Elias of Princeton for seventh on the Ivy League's all-time all-purpose yardage list with 4,758.
•
Drew Alston had a 62-yard punt, the longest by a Cornell kicker since the 2003 season (Michael Baumgartel, 61 yards vs. Harvard).
•
Ben Moody had his first two varsity carries, registering two total yards.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
• The Big Red will attempt to snap a four-game losing skid overall against Harvard and win in Cambridge for the first time since 2000.
• Cornell will look to avoid an 0-2 start in Ancient Eight play for the first time since 2007.
NOTING THE BUCKNELL GAME:
• Freshman offensive lineman
Josh Grider opened his first career game at left tackle.
• Making their first varsity appearances were freshmen
Kevin Laird (S),
A.J. Okereke (CB) and
Matthew Simmonds (OL).
• The win snapped a 10-game losing streak, tied for the longest streak in Cornell football history and the third-longest active stretch in the FCS.
• Sophomore wide receiver
Luke Tasker scored his first career touchdown with a 14-yard run.
• Freshman quarterback
Jeff Mathews also scored his first career TD on a QB sneak.
• Tasker's 65-yard kickoff return to open the game was a career-long.
• Junior
Troy Lewis rushed for 37 yards on four carries on the team's final possession to run out the clock, including a 24-yard rush. Lewis did not have a varsity carry prior to that series.
• Junior tight end
Ryan Houska had 17 rushing yards on four carries and caught four passes for 49 yards.
• A week after intercepting two passes, senior cornerback
Emani Fenton blocked a punt to lead to Cornell's first score.
• Senior safety
Ben Heller had his fourth career interception to end a possible Bucknell scoring drive late in the fourth quarter.
DE JA VU?: Head coach Kent Austin will be looking to become the first Cornell football coach to earn a win in his Ivy League road opener since Jim Hofher's 1990 squad dropped Harvard 20-17 en route to a share of the Ivy League title. That also came in the fourth game of the season for both teams.
IVY PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS: A pair of Big Red players earned weekly honors on 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.
WINNING THE LOSING TURNOVER BATTLE: The Big Red knocked off Bucknell last weekend 21-12 despite being -3 in the turnover battle. It is the first time Cornell has been -3 or worse and still won a game since dropping Brown 10-7 in double overtime despite a -4 turnover margin. The Big Red committed eight turnovers that day while forcing four. Ironically, that contest was also on the road.
UP NEXT: Cornell returns home to face Central New York rival Colgate on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 12:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
