The Battle For The Trustees' Cup Next Up For Football On Saturday

David Archer '05
The Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Cornell Football

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS
• Two of Cornell’s final three games will be played for a traveling trophy, and that all begins when the Big Red and Penn meet for the Trustees’ Cup on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. at Franklin Field. 
• The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Matt Leon and Hench Murray on the call.
• Both teams are looking to finish the 2021 campaign strong, and a “Bowl” win would propel either team into the final two weeks with plenty of momentum. 
• While Cornell is looking for its elusive first Ivy win of the year, the Quakers will be out for its second consecutive with a winning Ancient Eight season still in play after last weekend’s 45-17 triumph over Brown.
• The Big Red put up a fight against No. 19/15 Princeton last Friday at Schoellkopf Field in a 34-16 loss, but a pair of first half turnovers gave the visitors a 21-0 lead they’d never surrender.
• Senior Thomas Glover continued his big season at receiver, hauling in eight passes for 133 yards and a touchdown, his second consecutive 100-yard game and the third of the season.
• Junior linebacker Jake Stebbins continued his playmaking ways on the defense, making 13 tackles with 3.0 for a loss, 2.0 sacks and a forced fumble recovered by the Big Red. He leads the Ancient Eight in tackles and is posting 10.2 per contest in league games.
• While Princeton remained unbeaten, the Big Red outgained the high-powered Tiger offense (357-328), the first time an opponent had more yards than the Tigers. 
• The Cornell offensive line, led by right tackle and All-America candidate Hunter Nourzad, leads the Ivy League and ranks ninth nationally by allowing just 1.0 sacks per game, including just two over its last three games (106 passing attempts).
• Freshman Jameson Wang leads the team in rushing (249 yards) and has accounted for six touchdowns (four passing, two rushing) in four contests, including helping the offense average 31.7 points per game over its last three when he’s played a large role in the offense.
• The Big Red will be looking to snap a three-game road skid when it visits Franklin Field for the 127th meeting between the programs.

LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK
• The Big Red finished the 2019 season with a 4-6 overall record (3-4 Ivy) and earned an upper division finish for the first time since 2006 with a fourth place finish. 
• Cornell defeated Ivy co-champ and 12th-ranked Dartmouth on the road and trailed the other Ivy champ, Yale, 20-16 with under two minutes to play while two of its losses came by a single point. 
• Cornell played its first football game in 665 days when it met #22 VMI on Sept. 18, its second-longest drought without a game since the introduction of the program in 1887 (674 days from Nov. 29, 1917 - Oct. 4, 1919).
• The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• This year’s version of the Big Red returns 14 starters (six offense, eight defense), as well as its placekicker and long-snapper from 2019. 
• Eight Big Red players earned All-Ivy honors in 2019, including returners Hunter Nourzad (OL) and Jake Stebbins (LB) on the second team. 
• A total of 21 fifth-year seniors return in 2021, combining with 30 four-year seniors to give the program 51 total seniors — the most in any season in school history.
• With three wins, Cornell will reach 650 all-time (13th all-time in FCS history). 

A WIN OVER PENN WOULD...
• move the Big Red’s record to 2-6 on the season and 1-4 in Ivy League play.
• snap a six-game skid against Penn.
• cut the Quakers’ lead in the Trustees’ Cup series to 18-8.
• cut the Big Red’s deficit in the all-time series to 75-47-5.
• give Cornell a 234-224-15 (.511) record all-time in the month of November.
• be the 648th in program history (13th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision). 

ABOUT PENN
• Penn’s record stands at 3-4 (1-3 Ivy) after a 45-17 win over Brown last weekend at Franklin Field.
• The Quakers have won consecutive games at Franklin Field.
• Penn scored its 45 points with just 24:19 of possession and had 296 yards on 48 plays - 115 yards and 45 plays fewer than the Bears.
• Running back Isaiah Malcome paces the Quakers and ranks third in the Ivy League in rushing (626 yards on 6.6 yards per carry, five touchdowns) for a Penn team that is posting more than 152 yards per contest on the ground.
• Quarterbacks John Quinnelly and Aidan Savin have seen a majority of snaps at quarterback, combining to throw for 993 yards and seven touchdowns.
• Ryan Cragun has been the primary target, as his 31 receptions are more than twice of any of his teammates and his 463 yards and two scores also leads the team.
• Jake Heimlicher (36 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, 6.0 sacks) and Prince Emili (34 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, 4.0 sacks) pace a defense surrendering just 333.0 yards per outing. 
• On special teams, Danie Karrash has made 6-of-8 field goals and all 20 PAT attempts, with Ben Krimm averaging 39.0 yards per punt with 10 downed inside the 20.
• Seventh-year head coach Ray Priore had spent 16 seasons as defensive coordinator and secondary coach and nine as the associate head coach under legendary Al Bagnoli, winning two Ivy titles in his first four seasons.

THE SERIES
• This will be the 127th meeting between Cornell and Penn, with the Quakers holding a 75-46-5 lead in the series. 
• The series is the fifth-most played in college football history. 
• The two teams first met in 1893, a 50-0 Penn win. 
• Sixteen years ago, Cornell claimed a 16-7 win at Franklin Field for the 600th victory in program history. 
• When the two teams last met in 2019, Penn broke up Cornell’s potential game-winning two-point conversion attempt in the final minute to earn a 21-20 victory at Franklin Field.

THE TRUSEES' CUP
• Since 1995, the winner of the Cornell-Penn football game has been awarded the Trustees’ Cup. 
• Alumni from Penn and Cornell gathered at the New York Penn Club on Sept. 6, 1995 for the dedication of the Trustees’ Cup, which thereafter has been presented to the winner of the annual football game. 
• The idea evolved from a series of discussions between officials and alumni of both universities, focusing on what would be the best way to honor one of college football’s most celebrated rivalries. 
• The decision was made to establish an award to be presented at an annual luncheon, with the winning team taking the prize home and displaying it for a year. 
• Penn leads the Trustees’ Cup series 18-7 and has won six straight.

• Schoellkopf Field has been an indelible mark of Cornell football since it opened in 1915. 
• Schoellkopf Field is the fourth-oldest FCS stadium, opening in 1915. Only Penn’s Franklin Field (1895), Harvard Stadium (1903) and the Yale Bowl (1914) are older. 
• A gift from Willard Straight ‘01 and the family of Henry (Heinie) Schoellkopf ‘02 made the construction possible for the current stadium. 
• The Big Red’s first year on the field was one of its best, going 9-0 and winning the national championship. 
• In 1915, General Electric Company completed work on a flood searchlight system for the field, and in 1924 a construction project was completed to bring capacity from 9,000 to 21,500 by adding the famed Crescent. 
• In 1947 that capacity was increased to 25,597 and a press box was added. 
• In 1971 a gift was made to put artificial turf on the field, and it was resurfaced three times, the last time in 1999. 
• A new press box was built in 1986.
• The 2008 season saw installation of FieldTurf synthetic grass to replace the artificial turf. 
• In 2016, the West Stands were demolished and the field was moved 15 feet toward the Crescent while replacing the FieldTurf to ready for more construction at the site, lowering the capacity to 21,500 in the process.
• The Big Red’s all-time record at Schoellkopf Field is 304-196-15 (.605).

Few collegiate football programs have the storied history of Cornell University. With more than 130 seasons of football in the books, the Big Red has collected five national titles, won nearly 650 games and has had legendary players and coaches perform on historic Schoellkopf Field. 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. Now, with David Archer '05 leading the program, there’s little doubt that history will continue to be made.

• After a three-game home stand, Cornell returns to the road to face Penn at Franklin Field on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.
• It will be the 127th all-time meetings between the teams with the Quakers in the lead 75-46-5. 
• The series is the fifth-most played in college football history.
• The game will be played for the Trustees’ Cup, with Penn leading 18-7 for the trophy.