Football Hosts Yale For Homecoming, Welcomes Old and New

9/21/2010 10:10:16 AM

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GAME INFORMATION
Game #2: Yale at Cornell
Kickoff: Saturday, Sept. 25, at 12:30 p.m. ET
Site: Schoellkopf Field (25,597), Ithaca, N.Y.
2010 Records: Yale (1-0, 0-0 Ivy); Cornell (0-1, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Yale leads 42-28-2
Last Meeting: Cornell won 14-12, Sept. 26, 2009, in New Haven, Conn.
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 (0-1 overall, .000; 0-0 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. — A celebration of Cornell football - both old and new - will be on display for the Big Red on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m. against Yale at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell fans will celebrate Homecoming, welcome head coach Kent Austin and honor the 20th anniversary of the 1990 Ivy championship team all in one afternoon. The game can be heard locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard on the call and can be viewed all over the world at no charge on IBNSports.com.

After Falling behind early and never getting on track in the season opener at Wagner last weekend in a 41-7 loss, the Big Red went back to the drawing board for this weekend's Ancient Eight contest. Shaking off a non-league loss is of great importance as the seven-game Ivy League schedule begins.

Every Ivy team dreams to capturing a championship, and the 1990 squad will return to share some of their knowledge. That season, Cornell posted a 6-1 mark in Ivy play. Cornell led the conference in rushing and total offense while outscoring opponents 180-95. Three of the team's five offensive linemen were honored on the first team, as 14 players overall were recognized for their play.

Freshmen made an impact immediately despite the loss to the Seawolves last weekend, as safety Brian Gee was the leading tackler (12), tailback Grant Gellatly was the leading rusher (87 yards), quarterback Jeff Mathews paced the squad in passing (97 yards) and linebacker Brett Buehler had the most tackles for loss (1.5).

Upperclassmen weren't shut out of the contributions, as senior Marcus Hendren scored the lone touchdown, while classmate Drew Alston had a strong day punting, averaging 36.4 yards per kick and placing four of seven attempts inside the 20. Junior Rashad Campbell was electric on kickoff returns, posting an average of 27.4 yards per attempt, including a 49-yarder to open the second half. Linebacker Brandon Lainhart registered 10 tackles as one of the most experienced of Cornell's defenders.

Yale, like Cornell, has recently put a new coach in place to build the program. Tom Williams got his second year off on the right foot with an exciting 40-35 triumph over Georgetown at the Yale Bowl as quarterback Patrick Witt found the end zone from 1-yard out on the game's final play to earn the win. Cornell has won two straight in the series, including a thrilling 14-12 victory in New Haven, Conn. last season. That game ended with the Cornell defense stopping a two-point conversion with no time remaining for the triumph.

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD:
• even first-year head coach Kent Austin's record at 1-1 overall.
• make Austin 1-0 in Ivy League play.
• be the third straight victory over the Bulldogs.
• snap a nine-game losing skid overall dating back to the 1999 season.
• be the 617th in program history (10th most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

THE CORNELL-YALE SERIES: (Yale leads 42-28-2) Cornell and Yale have met 72 times on the gridiron, dating back to the first encounter in the 1889 season. The largest margin of victory in the series was a 70-0 Yale win during the 1889 campaign. Cornell's longest win streak over Yale is four games (1990-93), while the Bulldogs claimed seven straight victories over the Big Red (1973-79). The series has recently tilted toward the Bulldogs, who have won six of the last nine meetings between the squads, though Cornell upset the 2008 preseason Ivy League favorites 17-14 at Schoellkopf Field in 2008 and knocked off the Bulldogs 14-12 at the Yale Bowl a season ago.

THE IVY OPENER: Cornell opens the 55th official season of Ivy League play with a 26-26-2 record in the previous 54 conference starters. The Big Red has faced Yale 10 times (each of the last 10 seasons) in Ivy openers previously with a 4-6 mark. Included was last year's 14-12 Big Red victory at the Yale Bowl.

REVIEWING LAST YEAR'S GAME AT YALE (Sept. 26, 2009 in New Haven, Conn.): In a game of play and punt, it was the first Cornell offensive snap that made all the difference. The Big Red defense made sure of it. Cornell improved to 2-0 for the second straight year, spoiling the home debut of Yale coach Tom Williams with an exciting 14-12 victory over the Bulldogs at the Yale Bowl. Bryan Walters took an 81-yard pass from Stephen Liuzza to the house on the first offensive play of the game for the Big Red and the defense limited Yale to 296 total yards, including breaking up a potential game-tying two-point conversion with no time left to earn the victory. In between, junior safety Anthony Ambrosi returned an interception 20 yards for a score, the first pick six for a Cornell player since Frank Morand returned an interception 71 yards in a win over Colgate in 2007. Junior Drew Alston also starred, punting 15 times, the most by a Cornell player since 1942. He averaged 34.7 yards despite repeatedly kicking into the wind, helping the Big Red maintain field advantage in a game decided by it. Senior Bryan Walters piled up 176 all-purpose yards, including 73 on punt returns to move within 31 yards of the Ivy League record. The Cornell defense got a career-high nine tackles and a pass breakup from Rashad Campbell, while Emani Fenton made four stops and broke up four passes in the victory. Besides Ambrosi's interception, he added two tackles for loss and three pass breakups. Senior linebacker Chris Costello notched seven tackles and a sack.

INTERESTING NOTES FROM THE 2009 MEETING vs. YALE:
• Cornell's 166 yards of offense were the fewest in a win since single-game records were kept beginning in 1974 and the fewest by any Big Red team since registering just 143 yards vs. Yale in 2002 in a 50-23 defeat. The team's three first downs is the fewest in a win in school history.
• The win snapped a 10-game Ivy League road losing streak, the program's longest since losing 10 in a row from 1959-61.
• The victory marked the first time Cornell knocked off Yale in consecutive years since the 1995-97 seasons yielded three straight victories for the Big Red.
• Cornell improved to 2-0 on the season and received votes in the FCS top 25 poll, but wouldn't win a game the rest of the year, going 0-8 the rest of the way.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
• Kent Austin will be on the sidelines for his first game at Schoellkopf Field. Austin led the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Canadian Football League title as a head coach (2007) and spent the last two years as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Mississippi.
• The 1990 Ivy League championship team will be honored on Homecoming Saturday at Schoellkopf Field. The '90 team is the last Cornell squad to earn an Ancient Eight title.
• Cornell will attempt to snap a nine-game losing skid dating back to 2009, the longest since dropping 10 straight over the 2003-04 campaigns (last nine games of 2003 and first game of 2004).
• Freshman Jeff Mathews is expected to get the start behind center, becoming the first freshman to open a contest at quarterback for Cornell. Amazingly, with 97 yards passing in the opener, he needs just 43 yards passing against the Bulldogs to set a freshman season record (139 yards by Stephen Liuzza '10 in 2006). The single-game record is 114 yards by Liuzza vs. Penn in 2006.

NOTING THE WAGNER GAME:
• Earning their first career varsity starts were Bob Bullington (C), Brian Gee (SS), Marcus Hendren (TB), Michael Hernandez (FS), Zack Imhoff (MLB), Drew McGowan (LT) and Luke Tasker (WR).
• Making their first varsity appearances were Nick Booker-Tandy (RB), John Boyle (FB), Brett Buehler (LB), Bob Bullington (C), Brian Gee (SS), Grant Gellatly (TB), Jesse Heon (WR), Michael Hernandez (FS), Mark Key (DL), Kevin Marchand (DL), Jeff Mathews (QB), Chris Murray (LB), Drew McGowan (LT), Cody Roberts (LB) and Emmett Terrell (DL).
• Grant Gellatly's 53-yard run in the second half was the longest by a Cornell tailback since Evan Simmons went for a 69-yard touchdown in a 2001 contest against Columbia.
• Jeff Mathews became the first freshman quarterback to lead the team in passing in a season opener in program history.
• Marcus Hendren's 1-yard touchdown was his first career score.
• Shane Savage caught a pair of passes, giving him a catch in 11 consecutive contests.
• Luke Tasker caught five passes for 56 yards, his first collegiate receptions. Alex Johnson also caught one 5-yard pass, the first catch of his career.
• Nick Booker-Tandy had his first career touches on offense, toting the football six times for 16 yards.
• The 34-point loss was the largest margin of defeat in a season opener in the program's 122-year history.
• The most penalized team in the Ivy League a season ago both in terms of penalties and penalty yards, Cornell was whistled for just three infractions (-15 yards) against the Seawolves.

BIG RED ON HOMECOMING: Cornell football has a 32-28-2 record dating back to 1948 in Homecoming games, winning four of the last five contests against Georgetown (57-7 in 2005) and Colgate (38-14 in 2006 and 17-14 in 2007). The wins came by a combined score of 112-35.

YOUTH IS SERVED: The Big Red got some outstanding contributions from freshmen in the loss to Wagner. Here are some of the top performances.
• Strong safety Brian Gee was the team's leading tackler, posting 12 tackles, including one for a loss, in his first collegiate start.
• Tailback Grant Gellatly was the squad's leading rusher with 87 yards on just seven carries (12.4 yards per carry). He had a 63-yard rush, the longest run by a Cornellian since Stephen Liuzza went 65 yards against Bucknell in the 2009 season opener. Gellatly also returned a kickoff 29 yards.
• Quarterback Jeff Mathews entered the game in the second half and played the final 30 minutes, completing 7-of-15 passes for 97 yards while also rushing for five more yards. He was intercepted once.
• Linebacker Brett Buehler came off the bench to post six tackles and a team-high 1.5 tackles for loss.
• Defensive end Kevin Marchand made a pair of stops.
• Also seeing action was wide receiver Jesse Heon.

UP NEXT: Cornell hits the road for two more games beginning with a non-conference contest against Bucknell on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m. at Christy Matthewson Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa. The game will be televised live by CBS College Sports.

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