FOLLOW THE BIG RED
Cornell Game Notes I Yale Game Notes I Purchase Tickets
Live Video (Not available live due to televisionI Live Audio (RedCast subscription) 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 2012 Statistics I History and Records

YALE INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

GAME INFORMATION
Game #2: Yale at Cornell
Date: Saturday, Sept. 22, at 1:00 p.m. ET
Site: Schoellkopf Field (25,597), Ithaca, N.Y.
2012 Records: Yale (1-0, 0-0 Ivy); Cornell (0-1, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Yale leads 44-28-2
Last Meeting: Yale won 37-17, Sept. 24, 2011, in New Haven, Conn.
Television: NBC Sports Network (Todd Harris, Blaine Fowler, Kelli Johnson)
Radio: WHCU 870 AM, Barry Leonard (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 KENT AUSTIN
Kent Austin, the Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Football, is in his third season at the helm of the Big Red (7-14 overall, .333; 4-10, Ivy, .286) ... 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.

STORY LINES
• The Big Red football team will open its home and Ivy League schedule today when it plays host to Yale at Schoellkopf Field.
• The game will serve as Cornell's Homecoming. The Big Red brings a 33-29-2 record all-time in Homecoming games into the weekend.
• Both Cornell and Yale will attempt to get off to a quick start in Ivy League play after opening the 2012 season in different ways.
• The Big Red dropped a 34-27 decision at Fordham in a game where its vaunted passing offense picked up a majority of the team's 518 yards.
• While Cornell dropped a tight road decision, the Bulldogs opened up with a narrow 24-21 road win at Georgetown. Behind freshman quarterback Eric Williams and rookie running back Taylor Varga, Yale extended its win streak in season openers to six.
• Cornell's Jeff Mathews, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, was again fantastic against Fordham, completing 38-of-56 passes for 489 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. In his last three games dating back to last year, Mathews has completed 113-of-147 passes (.769) for 1,558 yards and 13 touchdowns against one interception.
• Junior wide receiver Grant Gellatly had another big day, catching 13 passes (one off the school record) for 181 yards and a touchdown. In his last two games, Gellatly has 21 catches for 287 yards.
• Junior safety Kevin Laird had a pair of interceptions, the first two of his career, and also picked off a two-point conversion pass attempt. It was the second straight game a Cornell player had multiple interceptions in a game, as Rashad Campbell '12 picked off two passes in the 2011 season finale at Penn.
• A couple of freshmen had solid efforts in their first collegiate contests. Corner backs Jarrod Watson-Lewis (nine tackles, sack, pass breakup) and Kendall Brown (seven tackles) each earned the start in the defensive backfield. Jonathan Ford had a pair of special teams tackles, while running backs Luke Hagy (two receptions) and Silas Nacita (nine carries, 26 yards) made a mark on the offense.

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD
• even Cornell's record at 1-1 and make the Big Red 1-0 in Ivy League play in 2012.
• snap a two-game skid against Yale and cut the Bulldogs' lead in the all-time series to 44-29-2.
• make the Big Red 27-28-2 all-time in Ivy League openers and 34-29-2 all-time on Homecoming.
• give Cornell a 101-57-5 record all-time in the month of September.
• be the 624th in program history (11th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

THE CORNELL-YALE SERIES
• Yale leads the all-time series 44-28-2 dating back to the first encounter in the 1889 season.
• 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 eight of the last 11 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.

ABOUT YALE
• First-year head coach Tony Reno directed his Bulldogs to a season-opening 24-21 win over Georgetown last weekend.
• Colin Bibb saved the day for Yale with his game-winning interception in the end zone with 33 seconds to play to seal the win.
• Yale won despite five turnovers and 11 penalties behind first-year starter Eric Williams at quarterback. The freshman threw for 250 yards and a school-record 98-yard touchdown to Cameron Sandquist, the longest play from scrimmage in Yale's storied history.
• Freshman Taylor Varga was outstanding in the backfield with 103 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
• Yale extended its win streak in season openers to six, all coming against Georgetown.
• Yale was the first football team of any type to reach 800 wins when it beat Dayton 42-6 on Sept. 16, 2000. The Bulldogs currently rank second with 869 victories.
• Reno spent nine seasons as an assistant coach in the Ivy League at Harvard before taking over the Yale program this past winter. He is 1-0 in his career and will be facing the Big Red for the first time.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• Fordham's Carlton Koonce ran for 176 yards and two touchdowns as Fordham overcame Cornell's 518 yards of offense in a 34-27 victory over the Big Red on Sept. 15 at Jack Coffey Field.
• Junior Jeff Mathews continued his record-setting play, completing 38-of-56 passes for 489 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
• Junior Grant Gellatly (13 receptions, 181 yards, TD) and senior Luke Tasker (10 receptions, 177 yards, TD) each surpassed 100 yards receiving, setting career highs for yardage in the process.
• Senior Kurt Ondash caught 10 passes for 92 yards, becoming the 18th player in Cornell history to surpass 1,000 career yards receiving.
• Defensively, junior Kevin Laird had two interceptions and picked off a two-point conversion pass with six total tackles.
• Freshman Jarrod Watson-Lewis made nine tackles with a sack and a pass breakup in his first collegiate contest.
• Cornell's 518 yards of offense made for the third straight contest where the Big Red piled up 500+ yards. Cornell had only three 500+ yard games of total offense since 1998.

THE IVY OPENER
• Cornell opens the 57th official season of Ivy League play with a 26-28-2 record in the previous 56 conference starters.
• The Big Red has faced Yale 12 times (each of the last 12 seasons) in Ivy openers previously with a 4-8 mark.
• Included was last year's 37-17 Bulldog victory in New Haven, Conn.

BIG RED ON HOMECOMING
• Cornell football has a 33-29-2 record dating back to 1948 in Homecoming games.
• The Big Red topped Bucknell in last year's Homecoming contest, dropping the Bison 24-13.

NEXT UP
• Cornell will face longtime rival Bucknell on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. at Christy Mathewson Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa.
• The Big Red is in the midst of a five-game win streak over its Patriot foe.