FOLLOW THE BIG RED
Cornell Game Notes I Yale Game Notes I Purchase Tickets
Live Video (not available due to TV blackout) I Live Stats I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube I InsideCornellFootball
Sign up to receive text messages I Sign up for weekly newsletters

CORNELL INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics I History

YALE INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

GAME INFORMATION
Game #2: Cornell at Yale
Kickoff: Saturday, Sept. 24, at 12:00 p.m. ET
Site: The Yale Bowl (61,446), New Haven, Conn.
2011 Records: Cornell (1-0, 0-0 Ivy); Yale (1-0, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Yale leads 43-28-2
Last Meeting: Yale won 21-7, Sept. 25, 2010, in Ithaca, N.Y.
Television: VERSUS Network, Randy Moss (PxP), Ross Tucker (color), Carolyn Manno (sidelines)
Radio: WHCU 870 AM, Barry Leonard (play-by-play), Phil Mahoney (color)
Live Stats: Available at www.YaleBulldogs.com
Live Video: Available at www.YaleBulldogs.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 (3-8 overall, .273; 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.

---

ITHACA, N.Y. — After opening the season with big-time plays in a big-time college football atmosphere, the 2011 Big Red football team will open Ivy League play at Yale on Saturday, Sept. 24 at noon in a game that will be televised nationally on the VERUS Network. You can also listen to the game locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard and Phil Mahoney on the call, as well as through the RedCast subscription service at www.CornellBigRed.com.

Cornell got out of the gates quickly against Bucknell in front of more than 14,000 fans on Homecoming last Saturday. The anticipation of being the last Division I football team to kick off served the Big Red well, as the offense got the team on the board less than two minutes in on a 22-yard scoring run by sophomore Grant Gellatly. Classmate Jeff Mathews ended the day by completing 18-of-32 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns, including three passes of 64 yards or more. His final play of the game was an 87-yard scoring strike to Kurt Ondash, the fifth-longest pass play in Cornell history, to seal the win with just over a minute to play. Junior Luke Tasker caught four passes for 102 yards, while senior Shane Savage just missed the 100-yard mark with 99 yards on four receptions.

Cornell's defense was as stingy as the offense was explosive. The Big Red limited the Bison to 59 yards on 33 carries, registered 12 tackles for loss and had three sacks. Bucknell was just 2-of-16 on third down and allowed just six points off three Big Red turnovers despite twice giving the road team the ball inside Cornell's own 35. Junior Hugh Stewart notched a pair of sacks and three total tackles for loss, while Brett Buehler made four of his 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Senior Rashad Campbell recorded a game-high 11 stops.

The special teams, which have been a strength during Cornell's down years, were again excellent. Campbell returned four kicks for 108 yards (27.0 yards per return), including a 41-yard kickoff return to open the game that set the tone for the Big Red. Freshman punter Sam Wood averaged 35.2 yards on six kicks and allowed just seven return yards on those kicks. Senior Brad Greenway booted a 32-yard field goal and all three extra points as he continues to climb the school's career kicking points list.

After allowing most of New York state to witness its improvement with last week's season-opening victory on Time Warner Cable, a national television audience will be able to see Cornell as it challenges one of the preseason Ivy favorites. Led by senior quarterback Patrick Witt, a Rhodes Scholar candidate, the Bulldogs are looking to improve on last season's 7-3 season that included a third-place finish in Ancient Eight play under head coach Tom Williams.

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD:
• make Cornell 2-0 for the third time in the last four seasons.
• be the third victory over Yale in the last four seasons.
• give the Big Red consecutive wins in the Yale Bowl for the first time since winning in New Haven in 1990 (41-31) and 1992 (35-14).
• match the Big Red's win totals from 2010 both overall (2-8) and in Ivy play (1-6).
• give Cornell a 101-55-5 record all-time in the month of September.
• be the 620th in program history (10th most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

THE CORNELL-YALE SERIES: (Yale leads 43-28-2) Cornell and Yale have met 73 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 seven of the last 10 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 in 2009.

REVIEWING LAST YEAR'S GAME VS. YALE (Sept. 25, 2010 in Ithaca, N.Y.): Yale scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter and grinded out a 21-7 victory over Cornell in front of more than 16,000 fans at Schoellkopf Field. Freshman quarterback Jeff Mathews, making his first collegiate start and the first start ever by a freshman in Cornell's storied history, completed 23-of-35 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown of 8 yards to Nick Booker-Tandy late in the first quarter. It was the first college score for both players. Mathews' favorite target was Shane Savage, who hauled in seven passes for 80 yards. Defensively, Cornell hunkered down in the second half, but a big play for Yale and a big play for the Big Red that was called back sent Yale to its second win of the year. Brandon Lainhart had a game-high 14 tackles, while Brian Gee notched 13 for his second straight contest in double figures. Senior Emani Fenton had a pair of interceptions, including one that was returned all the way to the Yale 3, but was later called back on an illegal block. That play, along with an interception on the first play of the second half that ended up resulting in the go-ahead score, was all the Bulldogs would need for the hard-earned win.

THE IVY OPENER: Cornell opens the 56th official season of Ivy League play with a 26-27-2 record in the previous 55 conference starters. The Big Red has faced Yale 11 times (each of the last 11 seasons) in Ivy openers previously with a 4-7 mark. Included was last year's 21-7 Bulldog victory in New Haven, Conn.

NOTING THE WIN OVER BUCKNELL
• Sophomore Grant Gellatly scored his first career touchdown with a 22-yard run in the first quarter.
• Freshman Lucas Shapiro had his first two career receptions.
• The win was Cornell's first when it was -2 or worse in the turnover battle since finishing -3 against the Bison in 2010.
• Freshman Sam Wood earned the start at punter, with the young quarterback kicking six times for a 35.2 yard average.
• Junior Hugh Stewart had his first career multiple sack day with two and added another tackle for loss for three total stops behind the line of scrimmage.
• Brett Buehler posted four tackles for loss among his 10 total stops.
• The Big Red defense limited Bucknell to 59 yards rushing (33 carries), the fewest by a Cornell opponent since surrendering 58 yards on 20 carries to Dartmouth during the 2008 season.
• Junior DeMarr Moulton recorded his first career interception on the final play of the contest.
• Making their first varsity starts were juniors JC Tretter (LT) and DeMarr Moulton (CB), sophomore Tre' Minor (DE), Brad Wagner (LG) and freshman Shane McManamon (DT).
• Making their first career varsity appearances for the Big Red were senior Beau Sweeney, juniors Sidney Balman and John Begley,sophomores Josh Barut, Dustin Dillard, Taylor Engstrom and Brad Wagner, freshman Taylor Betros, Aaron Hancock, Dylan Ledet, Shane McManamon, Rush Miller, Andrew Nelson, Lucas Shapiro, Fiaalii Togiaso, Michael Turner and Sam Wood.

BIG PASS PLAYS HIGHLIGHT WIN OVER BUCKNELL: Cornell used three plays of 64 yards or more in the passing game en route to its 24-13 victory over Bucknell on Sept. 17. Junior Luke Tasker hauled in a 65-yard pass from Mathews, while senior Shane Savage went 64 yards for a touchdown on a deep ball from the quarterback. Mathews then sealed the win with an 87-yard toss to junior Kurt Ondash, the fifth-longest pass play in school history.

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. 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, became the 15th player in school history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards with his four-catch, 99-yard effort against Bucknell last weekend. He now has 1,020 yards. Savage has a reception in all 21 career contests and 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 weekend with 92 receptions and five touchdowns. He is bidding to become the eighth Cornell player to haul in 100 passes. 

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 120 career kicking points and has nine games remaining to add to that total, which currently ranks third in program history. Next up is John Rodin '97 with 146 points.

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.

THE CORNELL CAPTAINS: The Cornell football team has elected six team captains to lead the Big Red into the 2011 season, including the first-ever sophomore captain in school history.Sophomore quarterback Jeff Mathews joins senior defensive end Zack Imhoff, corner back Rashad Campbell and place-kicker Brad Greenway, junior wide receiver and punt returner Luke Tasker and center Bob Bullington as team captains. The top two vote getters on offense, defense and special teams earned the honor.

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 101-56-5 (.639) all-time during the month.

NEW VIDEO BOARD: Cornell unveiled a brand new video board during its Homecoming contest against Bucknell on Sept. 17. 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 105-player roster includes student-athletes from 27 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 - 13; Ohio - 10; 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 619-472-34 (.565) in its 123 years of football. The program's 619 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 are 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.

LATE START: For the fourth time in the last eight years, Cornell was the last Division I football team to kick off its season. The 6:07 p.m. kick-off against Bucknell on Sept. 17 was the latest of the Ivy League schools to open its season. Penn (vs. Lafayette), Brown (at Stony Brook) and Princeton (vs. Lehigh) were scheduled for 6 p.m. kickoffs. The Big Red was also the final team to open in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

FOR OPENERS: The Big Red continued its historical pattern of success in season openers with a 24-13 victory against Bucknell on Sept. 17. The Big Red sports an all-time record of 90-30-4 (.742) in season openers.

BIG RED ON HOMECOMING: Cornell football improved its record in Homecoming games to 33-29-2 record dating back to 1948 with its 24-13 triumph over Bucknell on Sept. 17.

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: The Big Red returns home for consecutive weekends at Schoellkopf Field beginning with a non-conference tilt with Wagner on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 12:30 p.m. Cornell will be attempting to avenge a 41-7 loss to the Seahawks to open the 2010 campaign.