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CORNELL INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics I History I Parking and Traffic Info for Homecoming

BUCKNELL INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

GAME INFORMATION
Game #1: Bucknell at Cornell
Kickoff: Saturday, Sept. 17, at 6:00 p.m. ET
Site: Schoellkopf Field (25,597), Ithaca, N.Y.
2011 Records: Bucknell (2-0, 0-0 Patriot); Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads 39-11
Last Meeting: Cornell won 21-12, Oct. 2, 2010, in Lewisburg, Pa.
Television: Time Warner Cable (Central New York), Steve Flamisch, Dale Drypolcher, Danny Liedka
Radio: WHCU 870 AM, Barry Leonard (play-by-play), Buck Briggs (color)
Live Video: Available at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Stats: Available at www.CornellBigRed.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 second season at the helm of the Big Red (2-8 overall, .200; 1-6, Ivy, .143) ... Austin has won CFL Grey Cups as a player, assistant coach and head coach ... previously was offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Ole Miss, Austin was hired as head coach on Jan. 27, 2010.

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ITHACA, N.Y. — Year two of the Kent Austin era begins with high hopes and tremendous excitement when Cornell faces Bucknell in a Homecoming evening showdown on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. The game will be broadcast in most of New York state on Time Warner Cable, or through the RedCast subscription service at www.CornellBigRed.com. You can also listen to the game locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard and Buck Briggs on the call, or follow the action on live stats.

The annual Battle of the 'Nells kicks off what is expected to be an exciting 2011 campaign starting with the unveiling of a brand new Daktronics video board at Schoellkopf Field. The 40x38 scoreboard includes a video screen that measures 18x31 that will broadcast high definition content.

The Big Red is coming off a 2-8 season and has been picked to finish tied for seventh in the Ivy League preseason poll. Cornell returns 40 letter winners and 22 total starters (nine offense, eight defense, five special teams), including reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year Jeff Mathews at quarterback and All-Ivy selections Rashad Campbell (cornerback) and Zack Imhoff (defensive end).

A WIN OVER BUCKNELL WOULD:
• improve Cornell's record in season openers to 90-30-4 and in home openers to 92-28-4.
• make the Big Red 33-29-2 all-time on Homecoming, with wins in five of its last seven games.
• even head coach Kent Austin's record in non-conference games at 2-2.
• give Cornell a 100-55-5 record all-time in the month of September.
• extend the Big Red's win streak over the Bison to five games overall and six games at Schoellkopf Field.
• be the 619th in program history (10th most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

THE CORNELL-BUCKNELL SERIES: (Cornell leads 39-11) This will be the 51st meeting between Cornell and Bucknell, with the Big Red holding a 39-11 lead in the series. The two teams first met in 1888, a 20-3 Cornell win. The Big Red won the first three meetings before Bucknell claimed a 4-0 victory in 1891. It would be 88 years and 24 games before the Bison would win its next contest against Cornell. The Big Red won its fourth-straight game over Bucknell last year with a 21-12 triumph in Lewisburg, Pa.

CORNELL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Cornell has a 127-73-7 record against the seven current members of the Patriot League football conference, including a 39-11-0 edge over Bucknell. Cornell has advantages over Colgate (48-42-3), Fordham (4-3-0), Georgetown (2-1-0), Holy Cross (5-0-0), Lafayette (14-8-2) and Lehigh (15-8-2).

REVIEWING LAST YEAR'S GAME VS. BUCKNELL (Oct. 2, 2010 in Lewisburg, Pa.): Head coach Kent Austin will likely get wins in his career that will be prettier than this one, but few may be as memorable. The Big Red mentor made his first victory as a collegiate head coach one that will be remembered as the building block, overcoming adversity throughout to capture a 21-12 victory at Bucknell on Oct. 2, 2010. Cornell overcame four turnovers and numerous injuries to snap a 10-game losing skid dating back to 2009. Seven different players rushed the ball for the Big Red, with Luke Tasker, Nick Booker-Tandy and Jeff Mathews finding the end zone. Mathews, making his second varsity start at quarterback, completed 15-of-28 passes for 180 yards after a rough 1-of-8 start. He hit six different receivers, including Tasker five times.

LATE START: For the fourth time in the last eight years, Cornell will be the last Division I football team to kick off its season. The 6:07 p.m. kick-off due to television will be the latest of the Ivy League schools to open its season. Penn (vs. Lafayette), Brown (at Stony Brook) and Princeton (vs. Lehigh) are also scheduled for 6 p.m. kickoffs. The Big Red was also the final team to open in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

FOR OPENERS: If the Big Red continues its historical pattern of success in season openers, it could be big trouble for this year's opponent, Bucknell. The Big Red sports an all-time record of 89-30-4 (.740) in season openers, including a 33-9 triumph over the Bison to begin the 2009 campaign.

BIG RED ON HOMECOMING: Cornell football has a 32-29-2 record dating back to 1948 in Homecoming games. The Big Red dropped its 2010 Homecoming contest to Yale, 21-7.

MATHEWS SETS FRESHMAN RECORDS: Sophomore Jeff Mathews had a record-breaking season in 2010 en route to earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year accolades. Since freshmen became eligible for varsity competition in 1993, no Cornell rookie had ever opened a game at quarterback until Mathews lined up for the start against Yale during the home opener a season ago. He responded by setting school freshman records for completions (23), attempts (35) and yardage (248). Mathews, who became the only freshman in Cornell history to throw a touchdown pass, ended the season with 1,723 yards and seven scores in the air. He ranked second among all true freshmen in the Football Championship Subdivision in passing.

SAVAGE WARRIOR: Senior Shane Savage, who will be fifth-year eligible in 2012, enters the season with receptions in 20 consecutive games. Savage could potentially catch a pass in 40 varsity appearances barring injury or being blanked in a contest. If he catches passes in 40 consecutive games, he would break the school record of 39 set by Keith Ferguson '03, Cornell's all-time leading receiver (202 receptions, 2,569 yards). Savage enters the year with 88 receptions for 921 yards and four touchdowns. He is bidding to become the eighth Cornell player to haul in 100 passes and the 15th to post 1,000 career receiving yards. 

GREENWAY A NOMINEE FOR FRED MITCHELL AWARD: Senior place-kicker Brad Greenway has been named to the 2011 Fred Mitchell Award Watch List. He is among 50 kickers on the Watch List for excellence on the field and in the community. Greenway has led the team in scoring in each of his first three varsity seasons and will be attempting to become the first player in school history to lead the team in scoring all four years. Last season, Greenway led the team in scoring with 26 points on 4-of-5 field goals and 14-of-15 extra-point kicks. Off the field, Greenway has been very active serving not only the Ithaca community, but also communities throughout the world. He was part of a program that gathered school supplies, cleats and jerseys to bring to children in Ghana as part of community service initiative. He also visited an Agent Orange community in Vietnam that has disabled children whose parents were impacted during the Vietnam War. There, he visited several schools to play with children. He reads to elementary school students as a volunteer as part of the Big Red Readers program. He also served as a volunteer coach in the Challenger Soccer Camps for special needs children. Greenway has also volunteered at Ithaca's Salvation Army by helping organize clothes and goods throughout the store, as well as volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego.

GREENWAY CLIMBING THE KICKING CHART: Senior Brad Greenway has 114 career kicking points and has 10 games remaining to add to that total, which currently ranks third in program history behind John McCombs '00 with 148 and John Rodin '98 with 146.

RUN, PASS, CATCH: Senior tight end Ryan Houska was named the team's Most Valuable Player a year ago. Houska was third on the team in receiving (27 receptions, 268 yards, 2 touchdowns) and rushing (27 carries, 106 yards, 1 touchdown) in 2010. He became the fourth Cornell player since 1980 to run, pass and catch a touchdown during their varsity careers - Houska did it all in one season. Luke Siwula '08 (20 rush, 1 throw, 4 receptions), John Tagliaferri '86 (8 rush, 1 throw, 2 receptions) and Derrick Harmon '84 (26 rush, 1 throw, 2 receptions) have also hit on that statistical oddity.

BIG RED IN SEPTEMBER: The Big Red football team has had great success in the early fall over the years, particularly in September. The Big Red is 100-56-5 (.637) all-time during the month.

NEW VIDEO BOARD: Cornell will unveil a brand new video board during its Homecoming contest against Bucknell. The 18x31 video board produced by Daktronics is being run by Cornell athletics with assistance from Varsity Media out of Rochester, N.Y. The board will have many exciting interactive features for fans and the multi-camera production will also allow for instant replays and multiple angles of the action.

STATING THE STATES: Cornell's 104-player roster includes student-athletes from 26 different states and the District of Columbia. Leading the way is the talent-rich state of California with 15 student-athletes, one of four states that have produced at least 10 current Big Red players (New York - 12; Ohio - 11; Pennsylvania- 10).

IVY PRESEASON POLL: The Cornell football team, under second-year head coach Kent Austin, was picked to finish tied for seventh in the Ivy League media preseason poll. Overall, there were 17 voters in the poll (two media representatives per school and one national media representative). PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Penn (12 first-place votes) 129 points; 2. Harvard (2 first-place votes) 118 points; 3. Yale (1 first-place vote) 95 points; 4. Brown (2 first-place votes) 90 points; 5. Dartmouth 73 points; 6. Columbia 45 points; 7. Cornell 31 points; 7. Princeton 31 points.

BOOKER-TANDY NAMED TO ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: Senior corner back Nick Booker-Tandy was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I first-team in 2010. He was one of 12 Ivy League players named to the Academic All-District team. In the classroom, Booker-Tandy has posted a 4.0 grade point average in Applied Economics and Management and was an Academic All-Ivy nominee.

CORNELL ALL-TIME: The Big Red has an overall record of 618-472-34 (.565) in its 122 years of football. The program's 618 wins rank 10th among all FCS schools. Over the years, Cornell has taken on 87 different opponents, with its most frequent opponent being Penn (118 meetings).

BOOTHE, WALTERS ON NFL ROSTERS: Former Cornellians Kevin Boothe '06 and Bryan Walters '10 were on opening day NFL rosters this season. Boothe, an All-American offensive lineman for the Big Red, is in his sixth season in the National Football League and fifth with the New York Giants. He joined former star tailback Derrick Harmon '84 as the second Cornell alumnus to earn a Super Bowl ring after playing on special teams during the New York Giants' run to Super Bowl XLII. Boothe and the Giants upset the previously unbeaten New England Patriots, 17-14, on Feb. 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Walters is in his first season as a wide receiver with the San Diego Chargers after setting Ivy League and Cornell records for career kick return and punt return yardage. He ranks first at Cornell and second in Ivy League history in all-purpose yardage.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF GOGOLAK'S HISTORIC KICK: This season marks the 50th anniversary of Pete Gogolak becoming the first soccer-style kicker in football history. His 41-yard field goal at Princeton on Oct. 28, 1961 went into the record books.

AP NO. 1: Cornell is the only Ivy League school to be ranked No. 1 in the weekly Associated Press poll, holding the top ranking for three weeks (10/15-10/29) of the 1940 season. The No. 1 ranking ended with the historic “Fifth Down Game” against Dartmouth. The Big Red ended that campaign with a 6-2 record that included wins over Army, Syracuse and Ohio State.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS: Cornell has won five national titles in its storied football history. The Big Red claimed at least a share of the 1915 (Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, National Championship Foundation and Parke Davis), 1921 (Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation and Parke Davis), 1922 (Helms, Parke Davis), 1923 (Sagarin) and 1939 (Litkenhous, Sagarin) titles. All five teams went undefeated and dominated their opponents. The 1915 team was 9-0 and outscored its opponents 287-50 with four shutouts. The 1921, 1922 and 1923 squads each went 8-0 and outscored their opponents 392-21, 339-27 and 320-33, respectively. The teams allowed more than one touchdown in a game just once during that 24-game span while scoring 40 or more points 14 times. The 1939 team was 8-0 and defeated Syracuse, Penn State and Ohio State.

STORIED RIVALRIES: The Big Red is involved in three of the top 20 most-played rivalries in college football. Heading into the 2011 campaign, the Cornell-Penn series ranks fifth in most games played with 118. The 98 meetings between Cornell and Columbia ranks 12th, while the Cornell-Colgate rivalry stands 17th with 94 games played. 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 91 years. They trail only the Lafayette-Lehigh series, which has been played every year since 1897.

INSIDECORNELLFOOTBALL.COM: Cornell football launched a new web site, www.InsideCornellFootball.com, this spring to provide all the latest information on the Big Red program. Tune in for new, exclusive videos and other information.

WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY?: All of the Big Red's football games in 2011 are carried live on WHCU (870 AM) in the Ithaca area and on the internet at www.CornellBigRed.com. Barry Leonard returns for his 14th season in the booth and 12th season in the play-by-play chair, while Buck Briggs '76 is back to provide the color commentary for a 11th season. Special guests will also make appearances throughout the year.

LIVE STATS: If you can't make it to Schoellkopf Field, you can follow the Big Red live on the internet with Live Stats. Just follow the link on www.CornellBigRed.com for official stats updated in real-time for each of the Big Red's home games.

UP NEXT: Cornell hits the road for the first time in 2011 and will open up Ivy play on the VERSUS Network when it visits Yale on Saturday, Sept. 24 at noon in New Haven, Conn.