ABOUT BROWN
• Brown enters the contest with a 2-3 record (0-2 Ivy) after last weekend’s 35-19 defeat at the hands of 23rd-ranked Princeton.
• The Bears are averaging 25.6 points per game thanks in large part to a passing game averaging 282.4 yards per game behind the strong arm of Jake Wilcox.
• Wilcox has thrown for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns while completing 64 percent of his passes.
• Six different receivers have at least 10 receptions with Hayes Sutton (31 receptions, 291 yards, two touchdowns) and Wes Rockett (21 receptions, 231 yards, two touchdowns) leading the way.
• Allen Smith ranks among the Ivy League leaders with five rushing touchdowns.
• Christopher Maron has been a top weapon on special teams, hitting 6-of-7 field goals and 12-of-13 extra points with five touchbacks on 23 kickoff attempts.
• Defensively, the Bears are surrendering 33.2 points and 444.8 yards per game — both numbers ranking last in the Ivy League.
• Isaiah Gamble (12-15-27) and Isaiah Reed (22-3-25) pace the team in tackles, with Reed adding an interception and three pass breakups, while Deveau Cooper has four pass breakups with an interception.
• Head coach James Perry, who implemented the offense at Princeton that developed three Ivy Players of the Year at quarterback, is in his third season and fourth year directing the Brown program
• 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 69th meeting between Cornell and Brown, with the Bears holding a 38-29-1 advantage.
• The two teams first met in 1895, a 6-4 Cornell win.
• Brown has won 15 of the last 20 meetings, though Cornell won three of the past four, including a 37-35, last-second win over the Bears in 2019 at Schoellkopf Field.
• 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).
THE LAST MEETING WITH BROWN
• For the second straight meeting, the team that had the ball last between Cornell and Brown seemed destined to win.
• The Bears scored with 29 seconds remaining and didn’t give the Big Red enough time to counter in claiming a 49-45 shootout victory at Schoellkopf Field.
• In a game that featured 94 points, 1,088 yards of offense and dramatic plays on both sides, including touchdowns on five consecutive fourth quarter drives as the lead see-sawed back and forth, Brown senior quarterback EJ Perry was the difference maker.
• The Ivy League Player of the Year candidate tossed for 275 yards and four touchdowns, including two in the final 7:34 to rally the Bears to victory.
• He also ran for 80 yards and a score and shook off three first half interceptions for a Brown offense that piled up 587 yards of offense.
• Freshman Jameson Wang, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, ran for 101 yards and a score and tossed for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
• Cornell threw for 312 yards between four quarterbacks with the top recipient being Thomas Glover with seven catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
• Curtis Raymond added four catches for 77 yards and senior Ryan Fitton had his first career receiving touchdown.
• Freshman Eddy Tillman ran for his first career touchdown, while Wang, Kenney and Ben Mays all threw for scores.
• The defense, which has been Cornell’s calling card all year, forced four turnovers and blocked a punt through the end zone for a safety less than a minute into the game to set the tone for a high-scoring contest.
• Jake Stebbins notched a game-high 12 tackles, while Demetrius Harris had eight stops and recovered a fumble.
• Interceptions were credited to Isiah Hogan, Kenan Clarke and Jack Muench, while Jalyx Hunt blocked a punt.
LAST TIME OUT
RECAP I BOX SCORE I HIGHLIGHTS I GALLERY I POSTGAME NOTES
• The Cornell football team used a late defensive stop to win a wild 19-15 decision over Lehigh to clinch its first unbeaten non-conference season since 2007.
• The Big Red defense held Lehigh out of the end zone on 6-of-7 trips to the red zone and scored on an interception return to overcome two turnovers on offense that led to a pair of Lehigh field goals.
• Connor Henderson returned a pick 31 yards for the only score in the third quarter and added nine tackles and a pass breakup, while Jake Stebbins notched 10 tackled with 1.5 for a loss,, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry in the win.
• Rasean Thomas also forced a fumble and registered the team’s lone sack, with Brody Kidwell and Paul Lewis III each being credited with two of Cornell’s nine pass breakups.
• Manny Adebi blocked a field goal attempt in the second half.
• Offensively, Jameson Wang ran for a touchdown and had 43 yard on the ground, with Robert Tucker III ripping off 54 yards on three carries.
• Wang was 18-of-30 passing for 202 yards, with Thomas Glover hauling in six passes for 48 yards and Nicholas Laboy grabbing three for 60 more.
• Jackson Kennedy made a pair of field goals, including a 41-yarder late in the fourth that pushed Cornell to a four-point lead and forced the Mountain Hawks to search for a touchdown on its final possession.
• Gaige Garcia had 162 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries to lead the Lehigh offense, with Dylan Van Dusen making three field goals.
• Defensively, Mike DeNucci had eight tackles with two for a loss and Nate Norris and Donovan Lassiter each recovered a fumble.
• Lehigh held a narrow 374-357 lead in total yards, with both squads turning it over twice.
• The Big Red held twice on fourth down, including to clinch the win in the final 45 seconds on consecutive pass breakups by Brody Kidwell and Anthony Chideme-Alfaro.
