ITHACA, N.Y. -- Here are some notes from Saturday's 21-7 season-opening win at Marist.
 

The Season Opener

• It was the first time Cornell has won a season opener on the road by two scores since dropping Princeton 20-3 on Sept. 18. 1999.
• Since the Big Red started its Ivy season with Yale in 2000, Cornell is 3-5 against the Bulldogs in week two after opening week one with a victory. 

 

Win Over Marist

• Marist was Cornell's 91st all-time opponent and the first to compete in the Pioneer Football League.
• With a 1-0 record against the Red Foxes, Cornell now has a perfect record all-time against 45 schools - including against Michigan State (1-0), Ohio State (2-0), Holy Cross (5-0), Virginia Tech (1-0) and Niagara (13-0 - most games played against an opponent without a loss).
• The win was the first time Cornell has won a game where it was -2 in turnover differential since going -4 in the 39-38 win at Colgate during the 2016 campaign.
• Cornell hadn't gone 3-for-3 or better on fourth down conversions since converting all three attempts in a 42-40 road victory over Columbia during the 2016 campaign.

 

The Defense

• The two rushing yards allowed is the fewest by a Big Red defense in a game since allowing Yale zero (on 28 carries) on Sept. 27, 2008.
• It is just the sixth time since 1956 that Cornell held an opponent to two or fewer rushing yards in a game.
• The last time Cornell held an opponent four times on fourth down in the same game was in 2011 when the Big Red stopped Princeton on 4-of-5 opportunities in blizzard conditions as part of a 24-7 win.
• It is the second time since 1979 that Cornell's defense held an opponent without a rushing first down - and the second time in three seasons. The Big Red limited Brown to six first downs and none on the ground during a 2017 home triumph.
• Marist's 220 yards were the fewest allowed by a Cornell defense on the road since Penn had 149 yards in a 16-7 Big Red win at Franklin Field on Nov. 19, 2005.

 

The Offense

• Cornell is 10-3 when out-rushing its opponent under head coach David Archer '05.
• When the Big Red scored the first touchdown, it was the first time since 2012 it reached the end zone before its opponent in a season opener.
• Cornell last had 40 minutes in time of possession in 2017 when it defeated Brown 34-7 with 40:19 holding the ball, the ony game in seven seasons under head coach David Archer '05 when the Big Red secured a longer time of possession edge.
• The last time the Big Red out-gained an opponent on the ground by more than the 261 yards was when Cornell out-rushed Columbia 369-1 on Nov. 12, 2005 at Schoellkopf Field (last time on the road was the week prior at Dartmouth when Cornell had a 282-(-1) edge).

 

Special Teams

• Sophomore punter Koby Kiefer had consecutive punts in the third quarter downed inside the 1 yard line. A year ago, Kiefer had just two of his 33 punts downed inside the 20 for the entire season.
• David Jones returned five punts for 52 yards, the most punts returned in a game by a Big Red player since Nick Gesualdi returned five (for 30 yards) against Colgate in 2017 and for the most yards since Bryan Walters returned seven punts a total of 73 yards in 2009 against Yale.
• Garrett Patla averaged 65.3 yards per kickoff, with two touchbacks. Despite his average, penalties forced Patla to kick off from its own 20 on two occasions.

 

General Notes

• Making their first career starts on offense were Robert Fatovic (LG), Jack Burns (C), Hunter Nourzad (RT), Alex Kuzy (WR), Delonte Harrell (RB) and Jake Derderian (RB), while first-time defensive starters were Nathaniel Weber (DL), Justin Bedard (LB) and Michael Irons (CB).
• The last time Cornell had as many as 11 penalties in a game and won was in 2017 when the Big Red topped Harvard 17-14 despite 13 penalties for 106 yards. The following game, the Big Red had just five the following week against Bucknell.
• Cornell had three players with rushes of at least 20 yards (Harold Coles, Mike Catanese and Richie Kenney) against Marist, the first time with three in a contest since Coles, Catanese and Dalton Banks each had at least one run over 24 yards in last season's 30-24 loss to Yale.

 

Player Notes

• Senior running back Harold Coles posted his sixth career 100-yard rushing game, joining just 13 players in school history to hit that milestone half a dozen times.
• He also moved into the school's top 20 in career rushing and ended the day with 1,360 career yards, good for No. 19 all time (passing Randy Barbour '10 and Bob McAniff '58).
• Next up on the list is Jeff Johnson '87 (1,377), Deon Harris '00 (1,400), Terry Smith '98 (1,401) and Bill Wilson '66 (1,522).
• He posted his 11th career rushing touchdown, two away from joining the top 20.
• David Jones' eighth career interception moves him within one of reaching the top 10 in school history.