QUICK HITS
• Cornell will close out its non-conference season when the Big Red visits Sacred Heart on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. at Campus Field in Fairfield, Conn.
• The game can be viewed on NEC Front Row free of charge, with live audio of the broadcast on WHCU 95.9 FM/870 AM and the Ivy League Digital Network with Barry Leonard and Phil Mahoney on the call.
• It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs on the gridiron.
• The Big Red is out to snap a seven-game skid against non-Ivy League opponents dating back to the 2013 season opener, a 45-13 triumph over Bucknell.
• There have been plenty of bright spots despite the team's 0-4 start, as the Big Red has played on the toughest schedules in the country, as its first five opponents (including Sacred Heart) went 40-15 a year ago.
• The Big Red's losses have come against two-time defending Ivy League champion and nationally ranked Harvard, a pair of teams that won eight games and finished second in their conferences a season ago (Bucknell and Yale) and perennial Patriot League contender Colgate.
• The first three of those games came down to the final two minutes, with both Bucknell and Yale scoring late to pull ahead and Colgate holding off a furious Cornell rally.
• Last weekend's 40-3 loss to the Crimson turned south just 17 seconds after the Big Red took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, undefeated Harvard's first deficit of the year.
• Harvard, who has won 18 consecutive games overall and 13 straight Ivy League contests, controlled the final three quarters.
• The Crimson allowed just 192 total yards defensively and piled up 499 of their own in a near-perfect run-pass balance (249 yards rushing, 250 yards passing).
• Senior tailback Luke Hagy enters the weekend just two yards shy of becoming the seventh player in Cornell history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards.
• Hagy paces the Ivy League in rushing (94.0 per game - 27th nationally) and has hit the 100-yard mark in six of his last seven games.
• Junior punter Chris Fraser, the 2013 Ivy Rookie of the Year, continues to showcase himself as the conference's top punter. He ranks first in the FCS and fourth among all college football players nationally with his 48.0 yard punting average, nearly six yards better than the second-best mark in the Ivy League.
• Fraser averaged 52.4 yards on seven punts against Harvard, a single-game school record for punting average. Three of his punts traveled greater than 60 yards, including one that went a season-long 67 yards.
• In his last two seasons, senior Ben Rogers has piled up 429 all-purpose yards (214.5 yards per game). Over a full season, that mark would lead the country (Kade Harrington, Lamar — 197.6 yards per game).
 • David Archer '05, the Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Cornell Football, is in his third season at the helm of the Big Red (4-20 overall, .167; 3-13, Ivy, .188).
• Archer is the second 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.

THE SERIES
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
 
ABOUT SACRED HEART
• Sacred Heart brings a 3-2 record into Saturday's contest after snapping a two-game losing streak with a commanding 26-13 victory at Robert Morris in its Northeast Conference opener last weekend.
• The Pioneers opened the season with wins over Saint Anselm (43-19) and Valparaiso (56-3) before suffering consecutive defeats at Marist (34-27) and Dartmouth (49-7).
• Six Pioneers were selected to the 2015 Preseason All-NEC Football Team.
• Sacred Heart's passing connection of quarterback RJ Noel and wide receiver Tyler Dube are off to an outstanding start, with Noel passing for 849 yards and seven touchdowns, with Dube hauling in 23 passes for 414 yards and five scores.
• Punter Jamie Ross ranks seventh nationally in punting at 43.8 yards per kick with six downed inside the 20.
• Kellen Sperduto leads the team with 32 tackles, while Dylan Acherson has 15 tackles with seven tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks.
• Connor Caveney has two interceptions to pace the Pioneers defense, which has forced 18 turnovers, including eight in last weekend's victory over Robert Morris.
• Picked third in the preseason NEC poll, the two-time defending league champs finished last season nationally ranked for the first time in program history.
• Sacred Heart is coming off a 9-3 season and its second straight FCS Playoff appearance a season ago.
• Fourth-year head coach Mark Nofri has posted a 24-17 record with two NEC crowns

A WIN OVER SACRED HEART WOULD ...
• give Cornell its first win of the season, making it 1-4.
• snap a five-game losing streak dating back to last season.
• end a three-game non-conference road skid dating back to 2012.
• give Cornell a win over Sacred Heart in their first-ever meeting.
• improve to 3-1 all-time against teams from the Northeast Conference.
• be the 632nd in program history (12th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).
 
CORNELL VS. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
• The Big Red is 2-1 all-time against current members of the Northeast Conference.
• All three games have come against Wagner, with the Big Red winning the last matchup back in 2011 (31-7).
• Along with Sacred Heart, the Big Red has never played Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Duquesne, Robert Morris or Saint Francis.
• Cornell won the first meeting with Wagner back in 1999 (W, 31-14) in Ithaca and lost a road contest in 2010 (L, 41-7) before the 2011 triumph.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Cornell opened the scoring with a first quarter field goal, but the Crimson answered back less than 30 seconds later after going behind on the scoreboard for the first time this season and never looked back.
• In the end, No. 24 Harvard remained unbeaten and headed back to Cambridge with a 40-3 triumph over the Big Red at Schoellkopf Field.
• The Crimson won its 18th straight game overall and its 13th consecutive Ivy contest.
• Harvard quarterback Scott Hosch accounted for four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) and 322 total yards, Paul Stanton had 101 rushing yards and a score and Kenny Smart kicked two field goals.
• Harvard captured its 10th consecutive win in a series that dates back to 1890.
• The Crimson allowed just 192 total yards and piled up 499 of their own in a near-perfect run-pass balance (249 yards rushing, 250 yards passing).
• Ben Rogers had 194 all-purpose yards for the Big Red, while freshman Chris Walker had 47 yards on just nine carries.
• Junior Robert Somborn completed 9-of-16 passes for 107 yards, but was intercepted three times as the Big Red offense turned the ball over four times.
• Senior Luke Hagy had his streak of 100-yard rushing games snapped at six with 33 yards on 15 carries.
• On special teams, senior Chris Fraser excelled, putning seven tiems and averaging a robust 52.4 yards per kick with a long of 67 yards, on of three punts of more than 60 yards.
• Joe Pierik booted a 33-yard field goal in the first quarter for Cornell's lone scoring.


 
SOME NOTES TO KNOW
• Senior running back Luke Hagy boosted his career rushing yards total to 1,997, moving him within three rushing yards to become the seventh rusher to reach 2,000 career yards at Cornell.
• Hagy also sits seventh on the school's all-purpose yardage list with 3,526 yards.
• With one catch against Harvard, Hagy jumped to ninth all-time at Cornell in receptions (132).
• 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.
• Hagy is one of just six players in school history to throw, pass and catch touchdown passes in their career. He joins Derrick Harmon '84, John Tagliaferri '86, Steve Lutz '89, Luke Siwula '08 and Ryan Houska '12 on that exclusive list.
• Hagy has at least one catch in all 33 varsity games. If he makes a catch in all 10 this season, he would tie the school record for consecutive contests with a catch (39), currently held by Keith Ferguson '03.
• Junior punter Chris Fraser has earned first-team All-Ivy honors in each of his first two seasons. The last Cornellian to earn back-to-back first-team all-league accolades was Kevin Boothe '05.
• Fraser, who ranks first nationally in punting average (48.0 yards per punt), has led the Ivy League in punting average by at least two yards per kick in each of his first two seasons. He's nearly SIX yards clear of his opposition through four games.
• Fraser's 48.0 yards per punt ranks fourth in all of college football — he ranks behind only FBS punters Michael Carrizosa of San Jose State (52.1), Drew Kaser of Texas A&M (51.0) and Tom Hackett of Utah (48.4).
• Fraser was named to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America third team, joining fellow Ivy Leaguers Seth DeValve (Princeton, wide receiver) and Cole Toner (Harvard, offensive line) on the third team as the lone representatives from the conference.
• In his last two games, senior Ben Rogers has averaged 214.5 all-purpose yards, including 235 against Colgate.
•Sophomore Jake Jatis earned five starts under center a year ago, becoming the second Cornellian to earn a start at quarterback as a freshman, joining all-time Ivy leading passer Jeff Mathews '13.
• Cornell has had the last two Ivy League Rookies of the Year (Chris Fraser in 2013, Nick Gesualdi in 2014). No Ivy team has ever crowned Rookie of the Year three years in a row.
• Walk-on defensive back Eric Sade played for two seasons on the men's ice hockey team before joining the Big Red on the gridiron.
• When Cornell meets Sacred Heart this week, it will be the 89th opponent all-time. Among active Division I football schools (BCS and FCS), Cornell has also played exactly one game against Albany (1-0), Cincinnati (0-1), Michigan State (1-0), New Hampshire (1-0), Stanford (0-1)and Virginia Tech (1-0).
• The Big Red will play its 99th all-time game vs. Dartmouth this season and its 98th against Princeton and played its 97th vs. Colgate.
• The Big Red offense hasn't been shut out in 53 games, with the last coming against Penn (34-0 to close out 2009).
• The last time Cornell was picked to finish eighth in the preseason media poll (2004), the Big Red became the second Ivy League team ever to go from an 0-7 campaign to a winning league record (4-3) in the span of a year.
• Since taking over the program, head coach David Archer '05 is 3-1 in the trophy series games against Columbia (Empire Bowl, 2-0) and Penn (Trustees' Cup, 1-1).
• Cornell reached 23,000 points in school history in its season opener against Bucknell. The program enters the weekend having scored 23,060 points over 1,168 games — an average of 19.7 points per game.
 
HAGY NOMINATED FOR GOOD WORKS TEAM
• Senior running back Luke Hagy has been nominated for the 2015 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, the most esteemed off the field honor in college football.
• The Good Works Team recognizes college football players from across the country who exemplify a superior commitment to community service and volunteerism.
• Hagy is one of just two Ivy League players nominated, along with Yale's Sebastian Little.
• Comprised of 11 players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and 11 players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III and the NAIA, the final roster of 22 award recipients will be unveiled in September.
• In order to meet the criteria set forth by Allstate and the AFCA, each player must be actively involved with a charitable organization or service group while maintaining a strong academic standing.
 
THE WILSON PROJECT
• Junior tight end Nick Bland initiated "The Wilson Project" this fall as a way to give other members of the program an experience similar to his after having a ball signed for a family friend whose father passed away suddenly.
• Realizing the power of his simple gift of a football, he arranged to have 150 footballs for his teammates and staff to sign and provide to someone who has had a great effect on their life or someone they thought could use a positive influence.
• The players and staff had the balls signed by everyone in the program and then shipped or hand delivered, along with a note as why the recipient was getting the ball.
READ MORE ABOUT THE WILSON PROJECT HERE


 
FOOTBALL GETS NCAA RECOGNITION (AGAIN)
• Football has been publicly recognized by the NCAA for its Academic Progress Report (APR) score being in the top 10 percent nationally each year since the scores were first tabulated in 2004-05.
• Three Cornell sports (football, men's golf and women's soccer) have been publicly recognized each year since the APR was first released and are among just 129 teams across the country with that accomplishment.
• Cornell's score of 986 (out of 1,000) this past year is tied for its third-highest ever, behind only the 987 it had scored the previous two years.
• Only six FCS schools have been honored each year in football (Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Penn and Yale), with five coming from the Ivy League.
• The APR measures semester-by-semester records for every individual team in Division I with regard to each team members' continuing eligibility, retention and progress toward graduation.
 
STATING THE STATES
• Cornell's 108-player roster is made up of student-athletes from 28 states, as well as Canada, South Africa and two from the District of Columbia.
• A team-high 15 players come to Cornell from California, while another 12 attended school in bordering Pennsylvania, 11 come from the home state of New York and 10 reside in Texas.
• Seven players are from Michigan, six players are from Maryland and five apiece come from Georgia and Virginia.
 
CORNELL FOOTBALL AT 128 YEARS
• This is the 129th year since the start of Cornell football, but it will be the 128th season.
• The first official Big Red football team was formed in 1887, and Cornell has sponsored a squad every year since except 1918 during World War I.
• The Big Red has an overall record of 631-503-34 (.555) in its 128 years of football.
• The program's 631 wins rank 12th among all FCS schools.
• Over the years, Cornell has taken on 88 different opponents, with its most frequent opponent being Penn (121 meetings). Sacred Heart will be its 89th.
 
CORNELLIANS IN THE NFL
• Two Cornellians were on NFL opening day rosters in 2015.
• Bryan Walters '10, one of the Big Red's all-time greats at wide receivers, begins his sixth NFL season overall and first with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• He spent the last three seasons with his hometown Seattle Seahawks with a Super Bowl ring to his name in 2014.
• He previously had spent time with the San Diego Chargers and the Minnesota Vikings.
• Walters has played in 23 career games with one start.
• He has caught 15 passes for 156 yards, returned two kickoffs for 43 yards and returned 35 punts for 252 yards.
• Third-year offensive lineman JC Tretter '13 was an FCS All-American before being drafted in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers in 2013.
• Tretter suffered an injury during official team activities (OTA) and missed his first NFL season, and was slated to be the Packers' starting center in 2014 before a preseason injury.
• He appeared in eight contests as a reserve for the Packers in 2014 once getting healthy, seeing action at both tackle spots and left guard.
 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
• Cornell holds claim to 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.
 
PETE GOGOLAK '64 EARNS NFF HONOR
• Cornell football great Pete Gogolak '64 and his brother, Princeton star Charlie Gogolak, have been named the National Football Foundation's Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award Recipients for 2015.
• The first soccer-style place-kicker in collegiate football history, Pete '64 set a national major college record of 44 consecutive kicking conversions from 1961-63.
• First presented in 1974, the NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award provides national recognition to those whose efforts to support the NFF and its goals have been local in nature or who have made significant contributions to the game of football either to the manner in which it is played and coached or to the manner in which it is enjoyed by spectators.
• The Gogolaks become the 39th and 40th recipients of the award.
• The Gogolaks will be honored at the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
 
60TH SEASON OF IVY LEAGUE ATHLETICS
• Throughout the 2015-16 season, the Ivy League will be celebrating its 60th season with impactful content across IvyLeagueSports.com, The Ivy League Digital Network and the League's social media outlets.
• Be on the lookout for the #IvyAt60 hashtag to keep up the coverage of the League's 60th season.
 
NEXT UP
• Cornell returns home to face Brown on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 12:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
• The Bears lead the all-time series 35-26-1 dating back to the first meeting between the teams in 1895.
• Brown has won 12 of the last 14 meetings, with Cornell's last win coming in 2007, a 38-31 overtime win in Ithaca.
• The Bears topped the Big Red 42-16 last season in Providence, R.I.