Big Red, Raiders Renew CNY Gridiron Rivalry On Saturday

Phazione McClurge and John Fitzgerald celebrate a touchdown in the end zone during Cornell's 35-22 loss at Harvard on Oct. 12, 2019 at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.
Phazione McClurge and John Fitzgerald celebrate McClurge's fourth quarter touchdown in a 35-22 loss to Harvard on Oct. 12, 2019 at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• The Cornell football team begins a pivotal three-game home stand when it welcomes Central New York rival Colgate to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 1:30 p.m. 
• Barry Leonard and Buck Briggs ‘76 will be in the booth broadcasting on ESPN+.  
• The Big Red will be looking to snap a three-game skid when it meets the 2018 Patriot League champions coming off an NCAA FCS quarterfinals appearance. 
• The Big Red defense has been strong over its last five games dating back to last season, surrendering just 286.8 yards per game and 105.0 rushing yards on 2.7 yards per carry (192-525) over that stretch. 
• Senior running back Harold Coles enters the weekend 151 yards from joining the school’s top 10 in career rushing and is 26th nationally on the season at 91.8 yards per game.  
• Cornell’s seventh-ranked defense is allowing 296.0 yards per game, while Colgate is ranked 119th out of 124 in total offense (254.0 ypg.). 
• The Raiders have struggled to an 0-7 record, but the preseason Patriot League favorite holds losses to Air Force out of the FBS and and FCS powers Villanova, William & Mary, Maine and unbeaten Dartmouth.   

LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK 
• This year’s version of the Big Red returns 14 starters (six offense, eight defense), as well as its punter, placekicker, long-snapper and return specialists from a year ago.  
• Cornell went 3-7 in 2018 with a pair of league losses to top-half teams by less than a touchdown (Yale, Columbia).  
• The Big Red defeated Harvard for the second straight season for the first time since 1999 and 2000, and hammered previously unbeaten Sacred Heart at home, 43-24.  
• Cornell rallied from a double-digit deficit at Brown for a 34-16 victory, the Big Red’s first win in Providence, R.I. since 2002 and its first consecutive victories over the Bears since 1993 - before any current member of the team was born.  
• Cornell’s seven losses came against teams that sported a cumulative 53-21 record, including four to nationally ranked opponents (Colgate, Delaware, Princeton and Dartmouth).  
• Colgate reached the national quarterfinals and Delaware earned a spot in the FCS Playoffs, while Princeton went undefeated (10-0) and joined fellow Ivy rival Dartmouth (9-1) in the final top 25 poll.  
• Cornell also faced seven of the nation’s top 20 defenses, but still had its most successful season running the ball since 2006 (156.1 yards per game).  
• Six Big Red players earned All-Ivy honors, with Harold Coles (RB) and David Jones (CB) both finding a spot on the second team.  
• The Cornell football team was picked to finish seventh in the Ivy League’s annual preseason poll.  
• For the fourth times in five seasons, the Big Red will look to surpass the prediction from the poll.  
• After being picked to place eighth in 2017, the Big Red finished tied for fifth and entered November in the thick of the Ivy race for the first time since 2000.  
• The Big Red was chosen to finish eighth in 2016, then started the year 3-0 and took sixth in the final league standings.  
• The year before it was eighth in the poll and didn’t end there either.  
• The 2017 season saw Cornell climb to fifth in the Ivy standings at 3-4 and was in contention for the Ivy title in November for the first time since 2000.  
• The team’s three Ivy wins were the most since 2011 and tied for the best Ivy record by the program in more than a decade.  
• With seven more wins, Cornell would reach 650 all-time (13th all-time in FCS history).  
• With four consecutive wins at Schoellkopf Field to end its season, the Big Red would close out 300 all-time victories at the historic facility, the fourth-oldest FCS stadium (opened in 1915). Only Penn’s Franklin Field (1895), Harvard Stadium (1903) and the Yale Bowl (1914) are older.  

David Archer '05 

The Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Football

• Seventh season directing the Big Red football program. 
• Became youngest Division I head football coach in the country when he was named the Roger J. Weiss ‘61 Head Coach of Football on Jan. 3, 2013. 
• The 2017 season saw Cornell in contention for the Ivy title in November for the first time since 2000. 
• That team’s three Ivy wins were the most since 2011 and tied for the best Ivy record by the program in more than a decade. 
• Led team to three-game improvement in 2016, tied for program’s biggest turnaround since 1986. 
• Spent six seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, including the last four seasons as the recruiting coordinator. 
• Coached the fullbacks, tight ends, running backs, offensive linemen and linebackers during his tenure as an assistant. 
• Has developed 36 All-Ivy selections, two Ivy league Rookies of the Year, two Academic All-Americans and four FCS All-Americans in six years as head coach.

David Archer, 2017
Head coach David Archer '05

ABOUT COLGATE
• After opening the season 9-0 and ultimately making an appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals a year ago, Colgate is 0-7 this year (0-2 Patriot). 
• Colgate was picked to three-peat in the Patriot League in the preseason poll. 
• The Raiders have losses to FCS powers Villanova, William & Mary and Maine, FBS’s Air Force and unbeaten Dartmouth. 
• Quarterback Grant Brenneman, the Preseason Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, is completing 62 percent of his passes for 699 yards and a pair of touchdowns while running for another. 
• Malik Twyman (270 yards, four touchdowns) and Alex Mathews (215 yards, one touchdown) have earned the majority of carries for the Raiders, while Garrett Oakley has been the big target with 31 receptions for 433 yards. 
• Preseason Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Nick Wheeler has 12 tackles for loss and six sacks along with a forced fumble over seven games this season. 
• Collin Heard has a pair of interceptions and Nicholas Ioanilli has been credited with 56 tackles. 
• Punter Barney Amor is averaging 42.7 yards with nine punts inside the 20 and William Gruber is posting 22.5 yards per kickoff return to pace the special teams. 
• Under sixth-year head coach Dan Hunt, a longtime Colgate assistant, the Raiders have gone 36-30 (24-8 in Patriot League play) and won the 2015, 2017 and 2018 conference titles. 
• Hunt is a three-time Patriot League Coach of the Year.  

THE SERIES 
• Cornell and Colgate will be meeting for the 101st time dating back to the first contest in 1896 with the Big Red holding a narrow 49-48-3 lead.  
• The Big Red owned the early series, going 13-0-1 in the first 14 games (1896-1911), while also posting nine and seven-game win streaks before 1951.  
• Colgate has had the better of the series since 1975, capturing 31 of the last 40 meetings, including 10 straight (1993-2005) before the Big Red commenced on a two-game win streak.  
• The Raiders had won seven consecutive contests prior to the Big Red’s epic 39-38 comeback in Hamilton, N.Y. in 2016, the Big Red’s first road win at Colgate since 1992. 
• The Raiders have won two straight, including last year’s 31-0 victory in Hamilton, N.Y.  

CORNELL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE 
• Cornell has a 132-84-7 record against the seven current members of the Patriot League football conference, including a 49-48-3 edge over Colgate. 
• The Big Red has advantages over six of the other seven conference schools: Bucknell (43-14), Fordham (4-3-0), Holy Cross (5-0-0), Lafayette (14-8-2) and Lehigh (15-9-2). 
• The series with Georgetown is even at 2-2. 
• The Big Red dropped a 14-8 contest to Georgetown at home on Oct. 5. 

A WIN OVER COLGATE WOULD ... 
• make Cornell 2-3 to start the season. 
• snap a three-game skid. 
• guarantee the Big Red a winning non-conference slate. 
• be the 50th all-time against the Raiders (49-48-3) in the 101st all-time meeting. 
• give Cornell a 310-242-14 (.560) record all-time in the month of October. 
• be the 644th in program history (13th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).  

The Cornell football team celebrates after senior Nickolas Null hits a 49-yard field goal against Harvard on Oct. 12, 2019 at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.
Cornell comes off the field celebrating after Nickolas Null's 49-yard field goal at Harvard on Oct. 12, 2019 at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.

LAST TIME OUT: Harvard 35 Cornell 22
Oct. 12, 2019 I Ithaca, N.Y.
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I BEYOND THE BOX SCORE I GALLERY

• Harvard used a three-touchdown surge in the final 12 minutes of the first half to pull away from Cornell for a 35-22 victory at Harvard Stadium.  
• Jake Smith tossed for 217 yards and three scores, while Devin Darrington carried 21 times for 94 yards and a score.  
• Defensively, Harvard had 16 tackles for loss and six sacks, intercepted a pass and broke up seven passes in the win.  
• In all, the Crimson limited the Big Red to 287 yards - just 36 coming on the ground on 38 carries. 
• Big Red co-captain Jelani Taylor made a game-high 12 tackles and added an interception, three pass breakups and a half-tackle for loss to spearhead a defense that limited Harvard to 336 yards, including 94 after halftime.  
• Cornell had six tackles for loss and four sacks of their own, forced a pair of fumbles and recovered two.  
• Mo Breadford chipped in seven tackles and forced a fumble with sack and Jake Stebbins added seven tackles with 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.  
• Both Lance Blass and Demetrius Harris recovered fumbles. 
• Phazione McClurge had a breakout game at receiver, hauling in five passes for 137 yards and a third-quarter touchdown from Richie Kenney.  
• Kenney ended the day 15-of-32 for 251 yards and two scores.  
• Harold Coles ran for a score, while Eric Gallman II pulled in a 10-yard touchdown pass.  
• On special teams, Nickolas Null connected on a career-long 49-yard field goal, tied for the sixth-longest kick in school history. 

Cornell football players line up for practice during the 1938 season, a moment to remember during college football's 150th season.
Members of the 1938 Big Red team practice for an upcoming game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL AT 150 (#CFB150) 
• This is the 133rd year since the start of Cornell football, but it will be the 132nd 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 collected five national titles (1915, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1939), won more than 600 games and  has  had  legendary  players  and  coaches  perform  on  historic Schoellkopf Field.  
• 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.  
• 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.  
• Names such as Glenn “Pop” Warner and Heisman Trophy finalist and NCAA record breaker Ed Marinaro have suited up for  Cornell,  while  seven  College  Football  Hall  of  Famers  (including Warner,  Gil  Dobie  and  Carl  Snavely)  and  multiple-time  Super  Bowl  winner  George  Seifert  have  set  the  strategy  as  head  coaches.  
• The Big Red is involved in three of the top 20 most-played rivalries in the FCS.  
• The Cornell-Penn series ranks fifth in most games played, a total that will reach 126 this season.  
• The 106 meetings between Cornell and Columbia ranks 14th, while the Cornell-Dartmouth rivalries stand 19th with 102 games played.  
• Right behind that is the series with Princeton (101 meetings) and Colgate (100 meetings), which sit right outside the top 20.  
• 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 99 years.  
• They trail only the Lafayette-Lehigh series, which has been played every year since 1897.  
• Cornell was ranked as one of the top 100 football programs of all-time according to the Associated Press in a ranking released in August 2016.
• At No. 72, the Big Red ranked ahead of a number of Bowl Championship Subdivision (BCS) schools and second among Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) programs.
• Only Penn (No. 66) placed higher among current FCS schools, while other Ivy League teams on the list included Dartmouth (No. 87), Yale (No. 90), Princeton (No. 81) and Columbia (No. 99). 
• Cornell was involved in one of the most historic games in college football history, the “Fifth Down Game.” 
• Played on Nov. 16, 1940 in Hanover, N.H., the top-ranked Big Red improved to 6-0 with a 7-3 victory over Dartmouth, scoring on the game’s final play. 
• After reviewing game film on Monday, Coach Carl Snavely and acting athletic director Robert J. Kane wired Dartmouth officials to tell them Cornell scored on an inadvertent fifth down. 
• Though there were no rules compelling the outcome to be changed, in an unprecedented act of sportsmanship, the Big Red relinquished claims to the win.  
• The Big Green accepted the forfeit, winning the contest 3-0. 
• It remains the only time a collegiate sporting contest has been decided off the field after the completion of a game.  

CORNELL FOOTBALL AT 132 (#CFB150) 
• The Big Red has an overall record of 643-531-34 (.547) in its 132 years of football.  
• The program’s 643 wins rank 13th among all FCS schools.  
• Over the years, Cornell has taken on 91 different opponents, with its most frequent opponent being Penn (125 meetings).  

BIG RED 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.

Longtime assistant coach Pete DeStefano roams the sidelines in a game against Harvard on Oct., 7, 2017 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. The Big Red defeated the Crimson 17-14.
Pete DeStefano is in his 30th year on the sidelines for Cornell football.

DeSTEFANO ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT 
• Pete DeStefano, the longest tenured assistant football coach in Cornell history, has announced that he will retire after the completion of the 2019 season, his 30th on the Big Red sidelines.
• A constant on the sidelines for the Big Red since 1990 on the defensive side of the ball, he coached or recruited 36 All-Ivy League players during his tenure. 
• He is currently in the seventh year as the program's first Director of Player Personnel, Alumni, Community and Career Programs. 
• His role is instrumental in the off-field development of Cornell's student-athletes from the time they reach campus until long after they graduate as alumni and fans of the Big Red.  

HOLM, TAYLOR NAMED CO-CAPTAINS 
• Seniors George L. Holm III and Jelani Taylor will serve as team captains for the 2019 season. 
• The duo will provide steadying leadership as college football celebrates its 150th season this fall.
• Holm, a 6-4 offensive lineman from Richmond, Va., emerged as a starter late in the 2018 season and saw action in each of the team's 10 contests to earn his first varsity letter. 
• Holm helped the Big Red rush for 1,561 yards and 13 touchdowns, the most rushing yards in a season since 2006 (1,821). 
• Taylor, a 5-11 safety from Beecher, Mich., was a first-team academic all-district selection after leading the team in tackles (72) and passes defended (nine) a year ago. 

The Cornell Big Red football captains George Holm (67) and Jelani Taylor (23) pose for portraits on Aug. 19, 2019 on Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, NY.
George L. Holm III and Jelani Taylor are the 2019 Big Red football captains.

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 in 13 of the 14 seasons since 2004-05, when the scores were first tabulated.  
• Cornell’s score of 987 (out of 1,000) this past year was tied for the fourth-highest in school history (the seven highest scores in program history have come over the last seven years - 987, 987, 986, 991, 988, 992, 987), but was just outside the top 10 percent. 
• The 992 APR score this year is also the 25th-highest among all Division I football schools. 
• 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. 

ACADEMIC SUCCESS 
• Cornell football had two players named to the 2018 CoSIDA Academic All-District 1 team. 
• Harold Coles ‘20 (3.48 GPA, Applied Economics & Management) and Jelani Taylor ‘20 (3.85 GPA, Hotel Administration) were both selected to represent the Big Red. 
• Cornell’s 10 members on the District 2 team over the last three years are the most of any school. 
• The Big Red has had 13 football players earn a total of 18 appearances on the CoSIDA Academic All-America team dating back to 1977. 

CORNELLIANS IN THE NFL 
• Seventh-year offensive lineman JC Tretter ‘13 will be beginning his third season with the Cleveland Browns after spending his first four pro seasons with the Green Bay Packers. 
• The FCS All-American was taken in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Packers in 2013. 
• He was named the Packers’ starting center in 2016 and played in 31 contests with 10 starts. 
• Has seen action at both tackle spots and left guard as well as at center during his career. 

CORNELLIANS IN PRO FOOTBALL 
• Kevin Boothe ‘05 – TitleDirector, Football Development and Strategy, NFL. 
• Buck Briggs ‘76 – Vice President for Arbitration and Litigation, NFL (Retired). 
• Zac Canty ‘09 – Northeast Area Scout, Arizona Cardinals 
• Andrew Johnson ‘15 – Scout, Cincinnati Bengals 
• Jeff Mathews ‘14 – QB, Toronto Argonauts, CFL 
• Ty Siam ‘11 – Football Operations Analyst, New York Giants 
• Luke Tasker ‘13 – WR, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, CFL 

CORNELL, IVY LEAGUE FOOTBALL FEATURED ON ESPN+ 
• ESPN+ is ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer offering.
• Similar to Netflix and Hulu, fans are able to buy a subscription to ESPN+, which will be completely separate from their cable/satellite bill.
• The cost for ESPN+ is $4.99/month and $49.95/year.
• ESPN+ is available on all of ESPN’s existing platforms: Website, mobile app, OTT (Apple TV/Roku) app.

ESPN+ Ad Sidearm 2019

CORNELL ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME ADDS FORD '09 
• Nathan Ford ‘09 was among 10 new members that were inducted into the Cornell University Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 5.  
• Ford captained both the football and baseball teams, earning All-Ivy League honors in both sports.  
• He was an honorable mention All-Ivy pick as a senior.  
• The three-year starter at quarterback led the Ivy League in both passing (281.5 yards per game) and total offense (284.9 yards per game), ranking 12th and eighth nationally in those categories, respectively, in his final season.  
• Set school records for completion percentage in a career (.607), consecutive completions (17) and single-game completion percentage (.833, 25-of-30 vs. Dartmouth).  
• Ford had four career 300-yard games and two 400-yard efforts, including a 39-of-63 passing day for 438 yards and two scores in the comeback win at Lehigh, finding teammate Jesse Baker in the end zone from 20 yards out as time expired to win the game.  
• His 6,266 passing yards ranked eighth in Ivy history and second at Cornell, while his 6,707 yards of offense places him ninth in the Ancient Eight.  
• Ford accounted for 37 career touchdowns (26 passing, 11 rushing). 

NEXT UP 
• The Big Red continues with its three-game home stand when it welcomes Brown to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1:30 p.m. 
• The Bears lead the all-time series 37-28-1 dating back to the first matchup in 1895, though Cornell has won two straight. 
• Cornell hasn’t won three or more consecutive games in the series since embarking on a four-game streak from 1990-93. 
• The Big Red won last season’s meeting 34-16 in Providence, R.I., it’s first win in the Ocean State since 2002

Photos by Colgate Athletics, Madison Epperson, Eldon Lindsay, Patrick Shanahan and Darl Zehr

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