Football Eyes Third Straight Win Over Brown On Saturday

Richie Kenney checks the defense at the line prior to a play during practice on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.
Junior quarterback Richie Kenney threw for 268 yards and a touchdown in last weekend's 21-20 loss to Colgate at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.

Brown Bears (1-4, 0-2)
at Cornell Big Red (1-4, 0-2) 
 

Oct. 26, 2019 • 1:30 p.m.
Ithaca, N.Y. • Schoellkopf Field (21,500) 
Brown leads the series 37-28-1
Cornell won last meeting 34-16 on Oct. 20, 2018 in Providence, R.I.

Game Links 
Video Stream • Live Stats • Purchase Tickets
Cornell Game Notes • Brown Game Notes
Cornell Roster • Cornell Schedule & Results • Cornell Stats
Brown Roster • Brown Schedule & Results • Brown Stats

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• Cornell and Brown enter the final Ivy League stretch looking to gain some momentum when the two teams meets on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. 
• Barry Leonard and Buck Briggs ‘76 will be in the booth broadcasting on ESPN+.  
• Cornell is out to snap a four-game skid after closing out non-conference play with a 21-20 loss to 2018 Patriot League champion and FCS quarterfinal squad Colgate. 
• The Central New York rivals went toe-to-toe at Schoellkopf Field, with the Raiders turning the Big Red over on downs at the Raiders’ 35-yard line in the final minute. 
• Cornell brings a two-game win streak over the Bears into the contest and will attempt for its first three-game stretch of success against Brown in more than a quarter-century. 
• The last time Cornell won three or more in a row against Brown was from 1990-93 — ending three years before any current member of the Big Red was born. 
• The Big Red will have work to do against an energized opponent in its first year under head coach James Perry, who has won Ivy League titles at Brown as a player and assistant coach, as well as multiple titles as offensive coordinator in building Princeton into a FCS scoring champ. 

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 will reach 650 all-time (13th all-time in FCS history).  
• With four more wins at Schoellkopf Field, 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 BROWN
• Brown, like Cornell, stands at 1-4 overall and 0-2 in Ivy League play and brings a four-game skid into the contest. 
• Coming off a 1-9 season, the Bears were picked to finish eighth in the conference’s preseason media poll. 
• Since opening the season with a thrilling 35-30 victory at Bryant, Brown has consecutive losses to Harvard, Rhode Island, Holy Cross and Princeton, including being outscored 107-29 in its two conference contests. 
• Featuring one of the most prolific passing attacks in the FCS, Brown ranks 28th nationally in that category. 
• Junior quarterback EJ Perry leads the team in both rushing and passing after transferring in from Boston College to play for his uncle, Brown head coach James Perry. 
• Perry has thrown for 1,298 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 343 more with two scores, with his 328.2 yards of total offense sitting eighth nationally and first in the Ivy. 
• Seven different receivers have at least 100 yards and Allen Smith joins Perry among the league’s rushing leaders with 287 yards and four scores. 
• Five Brown players have between 25 and 28 tackles, with Michael Hoecht making 26 stops with six tackles for loss and a pair of sacks and Jason Medeiros posting 25 tackles and two interceptions. 
• Dawson Goepferich has handled all the kicking chores, averaging 42.3 yards per punt and 60.5 yards per kickoff while making 2-of-5 field goals and 17-of-19 PATs. 
• First year head coach James Perry, who implemented the offense at Princeton that developed three Ivy Players of the Year at quarterback, previously spent two seasons at Bryant after serving as offensive coordinator for the Tigers. 
• Perry is one of Brown and the Ivy League’s all-time leading passers as a quarterback and has won Ivy titles for the Bears as a player and assistant coach. 

THE SERIES 
• This will be the 67th meeting between Cornell and Brown, with the Bears holding a 37-28-1 advantage.  
• The two teams first met in 1895, a 6-4 Cornell win.  
• Brown has won 14 of the last 18 meetings, though Cornell won the last two, including last year’s 34-16 victory in Providence. 
• Prior to that, the Bears had won seven straight against the Big Red in Providence, with Cornell’s last previous win coming in 2002 (10-7). 

A WIN OVER BROWN WOULD ... 
• make Cornell 2-4 to start the season, including 1-2 in Ivy play. 
• snap a four-game skid. 
• extend its win streak over the Bears to three games, its longest in the series since taking four consecutive victories from 1990-93. 
• give Cornell a 310-243-14 (.559) record all-time in the month of October. 
• be the 644th in program history (13th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).  

LAST TIME THEY MET: Colgate 34, Brown 16
Oct. 20, 2018 I Providence, R.I.
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE

• Trailing 10-0 in a place Cornell hadn’t won in since 2002, the Big Red awoke in a big way and all three phases contributed to a 34-16 win at Brown at Brown Stadium.  
• It was a true team effort as the Big Red claimed consecutive wins over the Bears for the first time since 1993 - before any member of the current roster was born.  
• Cornell piled up 498 yards of offense and scored 34 straight points, the defense had four sacks, forced a fumble and broke up five passes while keeping the Bears off the scoreboard on four consecutive pivotal possessions, and special teams blocked a field goal and allowed just 15 total return yards.  
• Senior quarterback Dalton Banks completed 19-of-26 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns, Harold Coles gained 141 yards on the ground and scored once on the ground and another time through the air, and Lars Pedersen had three catches for 100 yards and a touchdown to pace the offense.  
• Owen Peters and J.D. PicKell also reached the end zone.  
• Defensively, Lance Blass had seven tackles, including 2.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks, Jelani Taylor had eight stops and David Jones made a pair of pass breakups and blocked a kick.  
• Cornell dominated time of possession (33:51-26:09), recovering from an early blow with two late touchdowns in the second quarter and a backbreaker to start the second half.  
• Brown’s fortunes turned on a dime, going from up 10-0 to down 21-10 in less than seven minutes of game time. 
• LJ Harriott had 142 all-purpose yards for Brown, including a 65-yard run to make it 10-0 Bears with just 6:44 left in the first half.  

Cornell and Brown football teams come together after the Big Red's 34-16 win over the Bears on Oct. 20, 2018 at Brown Stadium in Providence, R.I.
Cornell and Brown players meet on the field after the Big Red's 34-16 victory on Oct. 20, 2018 at Brown Stadium in Providence, R.I.
Harold Coles rushes up the sideline during the first half of the Cornell football team's non-league game against Colgate on Oct. 19, 2019 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. (Dave Burbank/Cornell Athletics)
Senior Harold Coles ran for 87 yards to move within striking distance of the top 10 all-time Cornell rushers in the Big Red's 21-20 loss to Colgate on Oct. 19, 2019 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.

LAST TIME OUT: Colgate 21, Cornell 20
Oct. 19, 2019 I Ithaca, N.Y.
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I BEYOND THE BOX SCORE I GALLERY I HIGHLIGHTS I FEATURE

• Junior Richie Kenney threw for 268 yards and an 87-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by senior Jelani Taylor at the end of the first half spurred the Cornell football team’s rally, but Colgate forced a turnover on downs in its own territory in the final minute to hold on for a 21-20 victory over the Big Red at Schoellkopf Field.  
• Senior Harold Coles rushed for 89 yards on 17 carries for Cornell, which scored on its first drive of the game on a 39-yard field goal by junior Garrett Patla.  
• Colgate responded with a pair of touchdowns late in the second quarter to take a 14-3 lead, then it was in prime position to push the lead further from the Cornell 3-yard line just before the half.  
• Freshman Jake Stebbins’ sack of Colgate quarterback Grant Breneman forced a fumble and led to Taylor’s dramatic return.  
• The Big Red took the lead in the third quarter on Kenney’s 5-yard touchdown pass to junior SK Howard.  
• The Raiders answered back with a touchdown on their next drive to take a lead into the fourth.  
• Cornell made it a one-point game on Patla’s 28-yard field goal with 13:49 to play, but could get no closer. 
• Senior Jake Watkins led the Cornell defense with nine tackles, and sophomore Eric Stoxstill-Diggs had a first-quarter interception — his first at the collegiate level.  
• Stebbins, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, had six tackles, including two for a loss and a sack, to go along with his forced fumble.  
• Offensively, Kenney completed 22-of-42 passes for a career-high 268 yards in his third career start.  
• He hit eight different receivers, with Phazione McClurge catching a game-high six passes for 87 yards.  
• On special teams, Patla was a perfect 2-of-2 on field goals and hit his only extra-point kick, while Nickolas Null averaged 42.4 yards on five punts with two downed inside the 20.  
• Colgate’s Alex Mathews had 94 yards on nine carries and scored once and Malik Twyman also found the end zone on the ground.  
• Breneman ended the day 19-of-27 passing for 224 yards and a touchdown, while Collin Heard had a team-best seven tackles. 

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 643-532-34 (.546) 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 
• Cornell will have a chance to pull an epic upset to close its three-game home stand when it plays nationally-ranked Princeton under Friday Night Lights on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. 
• The Tigers, who enter the week riding a 15-game win streak and sitting in the top 20 nationally, lead the all-time series 62-37-2. 
• Princeton dominated last season’s matchup in New Jersey, 66-0, after the Big Red had rallied from a 12-point deficit the prior season for a 29-28 road win. 
• Played within a few days of Halloween every year since 2000, the series has become must-see for close finishes, wild story lines and amazing individual performances.

Photos by Brown Athletics, Dave Burbank, Madison Epperson, Eldon Lindsay, Patrick Shanahan and Darl Zehr

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