ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell senior co-captain Jelani Taylor has been named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after spearheading Cornell's 20-17 win at No. 12/11 Dartmouth on Saturday. It is the senior's first weekly honor.

Taylor continued his tremendous impact season as a senior captain by posting 11 tackles and arguably the biggest defensive play of the day in a 20-17 win at No. 12/11 Dartmouth this past weekend. Taylor He had a big third down stop on Dartmouth's first possession to set the tone and force a punt, then made a special teams tackle on a punt return on the first possession of the second half for no gain so the Big Green was forced to start at their own 9. His biggest play came with Cornell trailing 14-12 in the second half. With Dartmouth threatening at the Big Red 22, Dartmouth quarterback Derek Kyler appeared to march into the red zone before Taylor separated him from the ball and Cornell recovered to keep it a one-possession game.

In all, Cornell limited the nation's 13th-rated scoring offense to putting just 10 points on the board (also an interception return for a score) and a total of 298 yards. For the season, the Big Red senior ranks among the team leader in tackles (69), passes defended (12), interceptions (three) and forced fumbles (two).

Taylor will take the field for the final time in a Big Red uniform on Senior Day when Cornell plays Columbia in the Empire State Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 1:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.