QUICK HITS
• Cornell will have a huge test against national powerhouse Harvard on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 12 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field in a game that will be televised by the American Sports Network.
• The Big Red and the 24th-ranked Crimson will be meeting for the 80th time dating all the way back to the first meeting in 1890.
• Cornell will be out for its first victory over Harvard since 2005 while snapping a nine-game Crimson win streak in the series.
• After three heartbreaking fourth-quarter defeats to open the season, a much-improved Cornell squad will look for a signature win over a ranked team at home.
• Cornell is coming off a 28-21 defeat at the hands of Central New York rival Colgate in the first-ever Friday night game at Schoellkopf Field.
• The Big Red last beat a ranked Ivy team at home on Oct. 28, 2006 — a 14-7 victory over 15th-ranked Princeton.
• Cornell's last win over Harvard was its first-ever win over a FCS top 25 team, a 27-13 triumph over the Crimson on Oct. 8, 2005.
• Despite its 0-3 start, Cornell has played plenty of good football against two teams that won eight games apiece last year (Bucknell and Yale), as well as perennial Patriot League contender Colgate..
• The Big Red had fourth quarter leads against both the Bison and the Bulldogs and made a fourth-quarter charge at Colgate thanks to a stout defense and a balanced offense.
• Senior tailback Luke Hagy paces the Ivy League in rushing yards (114.3 per game - 11th nationally) and brings a stretch of six consecutive 100-yard games into the weekend dating back to last season.
• The game will feature the Ivy League's top two rushing leaders, both this season and in terms of career yards, in Hagy and Harvard's Paul Stanton, Jr.
• Stanton, Jr. enters the weekend with 2,371 career rushing yards (32nd in Ivy history), while Hagy is just shy of the top 40 with 1,965 yards.
• Junior quarterback Robert Somborn has been efficient in his three starts, completing 60 percent of his passes for 662 yards and five touchdowns against just two interceptions.
• Sophomore Nick Gesualdi, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, leads the Big Red with 26 tackles, a mark that ranks him second in the Ancient Eight (8.7 per game).
• 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 league and fifth nationally with his 45.4 yard punting average, a full three yards better than the second-best mark.
• In Harvard, Cornell will see one of the country's most balanced units.
• The offense is averaging 46.7 points per game and 468.0 yards per game, while the defense is surrendering just 13.3 per contest while allowing just 303.3 yards each time out.
 • 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 (4-19 overall, .174; 3-12, Ivy, .200).
• 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
• Cornell and Harvard will be meeting for the 80th time dating back to the first meeting in 1890.
• Harvard leads the all-time series 45-32-2.
• The Crimson owned the early series, capturing the first 10 games (1890-1913), while Cornell 11 won straight from 1986-1996.
• Harvard has won 13 of the last 14 contests, with the Big Red's last win coming during the 2005 campaign, a 27-13 victory at home.
• The Crimson won last year's meeting 24-7 at Harvard Stadium.
 
ABOUT HARVARD
• Harvard brings in a perfect 3-0 record after last weekend's 45-0 home win over Georgetown.
• The Crimson kicked off the year with a 41-10 victory at Rhode Island, followed by a 53-27 triumph over Brown in its Ivy opener.
• Harvard is averaging 46.3 points per game, third nationally, while piling up 468.0 yards per contest.
• The two-time defending Ivy champions enter the contest with a 17-game win streak, the second-longest active streak in Division I football (Ohio State - 18 games).
• Harvard has also won 12 straight against Ivy foes and 11 straight on the road.
• Quarterback Scott Hosch is completing 64 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and just one interception over three games.
• His favorite target has been Andrew Fischer, who has hauled in 12 passes, while Anthony Firkser has a team-high 182 yards on nine catches.
• All-Ivy running back Paul Stanton, Jr. is averaging 91.3 yards per game on the ground with four touchdowns, while Noah Reimers had scored five times on the ground.
• Defensively, Jacob Lindsey paces the way with 20 tackles with a tackle for loss, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery, while Matt Koran had 14 tackles with three for a loss.
• Harvard has allowed just 303.3 yards per game defensively and just 12.3 points per outing.
• Head coach Tim Murphy is in his 22nd season directing the Harvard program. He has won 150 games on the Crimson sidelines with eight Ivy League titles.
 
A WIN OVER HARVARD WOULD ...
• give Cornell its first win of the season, making it 1-3.
• even the Big Red's Ivy League record at 1-1.
• snap a four-game losing streak overall, as well as a nine-game skid against Harvard.
• be the first over a ranked team since knocking off No. 15 Princeton 14-7 on Oct. 28, 2006.
• narrow the Crimson's lead in the all-time series to 45-33-2.
• be the 632nd in program history (12th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Cornell rallied for 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and had four plays inside the 10 to tie the game, but Colgate's defense held on to send the Big Red to its third consecutive heartbreaking loss, this time 28-21 at Schoellkopf Field.
• After not making the plays they needed in weeks one and two to hold on to wins, this time Cornell made plenty in the fourth quarter, again showing continued growth.
• Senior Luke Hagy posted his sixth consecutive 100-yard game with 121 yards on just 11 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
• Included was a 79-yard run, a career-long and the 10th-longest run in school history.
• Hagy's 1-yard piledriving run into the end zone with 4:03 left in the fourth quarter got the Big Red back within 28-21, setting up a third consecutive exciting ending for Cornell.
• Senior wide receiver Ben Rogers caught six passes for 127 yards and sophomore James Hubbard has four catches for 62 yards and a 27-yard touchdown catch on a fourth quarter flea-flicker pass from junior Robert Somborn.
• Somborn ended the night 18-of-31 passing for 272 yards and one touchdown while leading an offense that didn't turn the ball over.
• Cornell's defense, which struggled to contain electric Colgate quarterback Jake Melville for long stretches, settled in during the fourth quarter, forcing two punts and a fumble on Colgate's final three possessions to get back in the game.
• Sophomore Nick Gesualdi had a game-high 10 tackles and broke up two passes and senior JJ Fives had nine tackles, including one for a loss.
• Seth Hope recovered a fumble to set up Hagy's second touchdown.
• Melville led Colgate by completing 18-of-28 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns while running for 97 more yards on 14 carries with a touchdown.
• John Wilkins had a 100-yard day on the ground with 19 carries for 106 yards and a score.


 
SOME NOTES TO KNOW
• Senior running back Luke Hagy enters the weekend with a streak of six consecutive 100-yard rushing games. The school record is 10 games set by Ed Marinaro '72 over the final 10 games of his storied career.
• Hagy boosted his career rushing yards total to 1,965, passing Scott Malaga '89 (1,925) to move into seventh place all-time at Cornell.
• He's 35 rushing yards away from becoming the seventh rusher to reach 2,000 career yards at Cornell.
• Hagy also sits seventh on the school's all-purpose yardage list with 3,483 yards.
• With two catches against Colgate, Hagy jumped to 10th all-time at Cornell in receptions (131).
• 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 32 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 fifth nationally in punting average (45.4 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 three yards clear of his opposition through three games.
• 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.
•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.
• The Big Red will play its 99th all-time game vs. Dartmouth this season, its 98th against Princeton and its 97th vs. Colgate.
• The Big Red offense hasn't been shut out in 52 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.
• 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.
• 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 will meet Sacred Heart in non-conference action, its 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).
• Cornell reached 23,000 points in school history in its season opener against Bucknell. The program enters the weekend having scored 23,057 points over 1,167 games — an average of 19.8 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.
 
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 631-502-34 (.555) in its 127 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).
 
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 will close out its non-conference schedule when it visits Sacred Heart on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. in Fairfield, Conn.
• The Big Red and the Pioneers will be meeting for the first time on the gridiron.