FOLLOW THE BIG RED
Cornell Notes I Lehigh Notes I Ivy League Notes
Live Video I Purchase Tickets I Live Stats
Facebook I Twitter I YouTube I InsideCornellFootball I CornellFootballAssociation
Sign up to receive text messages I Sign up for weekly newsletters

CORNELL INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics I History and Records

LEHIGH INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

GAME INFORMATION
Game #5: Lehigh at Cornell
Date: Saturday, Oct. 18, at 3:00 p.m.
Site: Schoellkopf Field (25,597), Ithaca, N.Y.
2014 Records: Lehigh (0-5, 0-1 Patriot); Cornell (0-4, 0-2 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads the series 15-8-2
Last Meeting: Cornell won 25-24, Oct. 4, 2008, in Bethlehem, Pa.
Television: None
Radio: WHCU 870 AM, Barry Leonard (play-by-play), Buck Briggs (color)
Live Video: www.IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com
Live Stats: www.CornellBigRed.com
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR or online here

HEAD COACH DAVID ARCHER '05
David Archer '05, the Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Cornell Football, is in his second season at the helm of the Big Red (3-11 overall,.214; 2-7, Ivy, .222) ... Archer is the youngest Division I head football coach in the country ... he had been an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at his alma mater for six years ... Archer was hired as head coach on Jan. 3, 2013.

---

STORY LINES
• The Big Red football team will be at the center of the 2014 Cornell Homecoming celebration when it kicks off against longtime rival Lehigh on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
• The game will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network, while Barry Leonard and Buck Briggs '76 will have the radio call on WHCU 870 AM.
• Cornell is coming off a 24-7 loss at defending Ivy champion Harvard, a game that was 17-7 heading into the final minute and was scoreless at the half.
• The Big Red forced five Crimson turnovers, including four in the first half. It was the first time Harvard had failed to score in a half since 2010.
• Senior captains Rush Imhotep and Justin Harris led the way for the unit. Imhotep was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after he intercepted a pass and recovered two fumbles, while Harris picked off his first career pass on the first play from scrimmage and forced a fumble.
• Freshman quarterback Jake Jatis was solid, completing 14-of-22 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown against consistent Harvard pressure. His late 26-yard scoring strike to Collin Shaw brought the visitors back to within 17-7 late in the fourth. Jatis was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for a second time this season after the contest.
• Jatis, the second Cornell freshman to start a game at quarterback, has opened each of the last three games under center. He joins Jeff Mathews '14 as the lone Big Red rookies to start at quarterback.
• Special teams saw sophomore punter Chris Fraser again come up with a solid effort, averaging 36.8 yards on eight punts with three downed inside the 20, while classmate Luis Uceta averaged 24.0 yards on four kick returns.
• Cornell brings a three-game win streak in Homecoming games into the matchup, including last season's 45-13 victory over Bucknell.
• The matchup will be a fitting kickoff for Cornell's Sesquicentennial celebration, as the Big Red played Lehigh in its second varsity game ever on Nov. 24, 1887. Lehigh won that contest 38-10.
• The Big Red holds a 15-8-2 edge in the all-time series, including a 25-24 last-second triumph in Bethlehem, Pa. in the last meeting, back in 2008.
• The game features a pair of teams desperate for their first win of the season, with the Big Red entering the weekend with an 0-4 record and Lehigh sporting an 0-5 mark.
• The Mountain Hawks, picked to finish second in the Patriot League's preseason poll, has lost to teams with a combined 22-7 record (.759). Cornell's opponents have been even better, as its four losses have come to teams with a combined 16-4 mark (.800).

ABOUT LEHIGH
• Lehigh dropped to 0-5 on the season when it dropped its Patriot League opener to Bucknell, 45-24, on Saturday.
• The team's 0-5 start is a bit misleading, as its five opponents have a combined record of 22-7, giving Lehigh one of the nation's toughest schedules to date.
• Lehigh was picked second in the Patriot League preseason media poll, behind only unanimous favorite Fordham.
• The Mountain Hawks have allowed opponents to score 40.6 points per game during its 0-5 start, but its offense has generated nearly 30 points per game itself (28.6).
• Lehigh has posted over 400 yards of total offense on average (404.4), but are surrendering 576.6.
• Lehigh ranks among the top rushing attacks in the country, averaging 186.4 yards per game on the ground with 11 touchdowns.
• Opponents are converting 56 percent on third down this year and have successfully attempted all three fourth down conversions.
• Dual-threat quarterback Nick Shafnisky has accounted for 11 touchdowns so far this season (four rushing, seven passing).
• Ninth-year head coach Andy Coen has guided Lehigh to three Patriot League titles and has twice been named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award as national coach of the year (2010, 2011).

THE CORNELL-LEHIGH SERIES
• Cornell and Lehigh have met 25 times on the gridiron (Cornell leads 15-8-2).
• The two programs first played in 1887, the Big Red's second game in program history.
• The Big Red snapped the Mountain Hawks' three-game win streak in the last meeting in a 25-24 last-second triumph during the 2008 season in Bethlehem, Pa.

A WIN OVER LEHIGH WOULD ...
• give the Big Red its first win of 2014.
• snap a season-opening four-game skid.
• improve the team's record on Homecoming to 36-29-2 all-time and extend its win streak in Homecoming games to four.
• extend Cornell's lead in the all-time series to 16-8-2 and its record all-time against Patriot League opponents to 131-77-7.
• be the second straight against Lehigh after suffering three consecutive losses to the Mountain Hawks.
• be the 631st in program history (12th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

CORNELL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
• Cornell has a 130-77-7 record against the seven current members of the Patriot League football conference, including a 15-8-2 edge over Lehigh.
• The Big Red has advantages over Bucknell (42-12), Colgate (48-45-3), Fordham (4-3-0), Georgetown (2-1-0), Holy Cross (5-0-0), and Lafayette (14-8-2).
• This will be the last of three games Cornell will play against Patriot League opponents, the first time since 2009 that has happened. Cornell has already dropped contests to both Colgate (27-12) and Bucknell (20-7) on the road.

BIG RED ON HOMECOMING
• Cornell football has a 35-29-2 record dating back to 1948 in Homecoming games.
• The Big Red topped Bucknell in last season's Homecoming matchup, 45-13.

THE LAST TIME OUT (Harvard 24, Cornell 7 - Oct. 11, 2014 at Harvard Stadium, Cambridge, Mass.)
• For more than 30 minutes, the Cornell football team went toe-to-toe with the defending Ivy League champions at their home stadium, but the Crimson was able to pull away after halftime for a 24-7 victory.
• The Big Red defense forced five Crimson turnovers, held the high-scoring Harvard offense scoreless in the first half and cut the lead to 17-7 late in the game before the home team scored an insurance touchdown in the final minute.
• Cornell's defense was the story of the first half. The Big Red forced three turnovers and allowed just 71 total yards to the powerful Harvard offense in the first quarter and kept the Crimson off the scoreboard.
• Senior Justin Harris forced a pair of turnovers himself, intercepting a pass on the first play from scrimmage and later forcing a fumble that was scooped up by freshman Jeremiah Shaw.
• Fellow seniors Rush Imhotep intercepted a pass, while Michael Turner forced a fumble. Late in the game, junior JJ Fives forced a fumble that Imhotep pounced on it.
• Miles Norris had a game-high 15 tackles with two for a loss and a sack, while freshman Nick Gesualdi, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, made eight stops.
• Fives had seven tackles, two for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble and Imhotep posted seven tackles, a tackle for loss, two fumble recoveries and an interception. Jarrod Watson-Lewis broke up two passes and had six tackles.
• Offensively, the Big Red was able to post just 175 yards of offense, though freshman Jake Jatis found sophomore Collin Shaw for a 26-yard touchdown with 3:18 left to put Cornell on the board and get the visitors back in the game at 17-7.
• Jatis ended the day 14-of-22 passing for 140 yards and a touchdown while also being intercepted once.
• In all, eight different pass receivers were recipients of Jatis' throws.
• Sophomore punter Chris Fraser punted eight times for a 36.8 yard average with three kicks downed inside the Harvard 20.

NOTES TO KNOW
• The Big Red defense held Harvard scoreless in the first half, the first time the high-powered Crimson offense was held scoreless in a half since 2010.
• Cornell forced five turnovers against Harvard, the most by a Big Red defense since forcing six against Bucknell in the 2013 opener.
• Senior Rush Imhotep surpassed 100 career tackles with seven against the Crimson, giving him 105 in his four seasons. He ranks third among active players on the team behind junior Jarrod Watson-Lewis (126) and senior Taylor Betros (123).
• Sophomore Miles Norris had a career-high 15 tackles against Harvard, the most by a Big Red player since Brett Buehler notched 18 last season in a game against Princeton. Norris had 15 total tackles during his freshman campaign.
• Cornell has had five Ivy League performers of the week in the first four weekends of the season, including three of four Rookie of the Week picks. Jake Jatis (Sept. 29, Oct. 13) and Nick Gesualdi (Oct. 6) have each captured Rookie of the Week honors, while Chris Fraser (Oct. 6) has taken home Special Teams Player of the Week once. Rush Imhotep was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 13.
• Junior Luke Hagy is the 29th player in school history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards and the first to hit the century mark in both rushing and receiving at Cornell.
• Freshman quarterback Jake Jatis earned the start at Bucknell, becoming just the second rookie to start a game under center. He joins good company, as two-time All-American Jeff Mathews '14 - the Ivy League's all-time leading passer - started the final nine games of the 2010 campaign to become the first. Jatis has opened each of the last three games.
• Jatis was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week after his performance against the Bison, the first Cornell player honored with the award since Luke Hagy did it twice in 2012. Since then, Jatis won the award a second time and Nick Gesualdi has also taken home the honor.
• Senior receiver Lucas Shapiro caught three passes for 32 yards against Harvard, moving him within 133 yards of becoming the 21st player at Cornell to surpass 1,000 career receiving yards.
• Cornell has at least one passing touchdown in 20 consecutive games and 36 of its last 37 contests.
• The Big Red offense hasn't been shut out in 44 games, with the last coming against Penn (34-0 to close out 2009).
• The Big Red has been one of the least penalized teams in the country this year, ranking fourth nationally in both fewest penalties called against (17) and fewest penalty yards against (132).
• After having his first career punt returned for a 59-yard touchdown in 2013, Fraser's next 72 punts have been returned a total of 174 yards (28 return attempts, 6.2 yards per return).
• Cornell led the Ancient Eight in punting average (42.9) and net punting average (38.1) in 2013. The team's net punting average ranked 13th nationally.
• Senior John Wells has been outstanding on kickoffs in each of his last three seasons, averaging 61.2 yards with 50 touchbacks in 112 kickoffs (45 percent), not including on-sides kicks. He put 52 percent of his kickoffs through the back of the end zone (26-of-50) a season ago and started out strong this year with seven of his 11 kickoffs resulting in touchbacks.
• Wells booted a pair of 27-yard field goals in the opener against Colgate and a PAT Bucknell, Yale and Harvard. With 74 career points, he needs nine to join the top 10 for career kicking points.

NEXT UP
• Cornell returns to the road to visit Brown on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 12:30 p.m. at Brown Stadium in Providence, R.I.
• The Bears lead the all-time series 34-26-1, including last season's 42-35 victory over the Big Red in Ithaca.