ABOUT PENN
• Penn’s record stands at 6-1 (3-1 Ivy) after a 34-31 loss at Brown last weekend in Providence, handing the Quakers their first loss of the season.
• The Quakers got off to a 6-0 start after being picked sixth in the Ancient Eight’s preseason poll.
• Impressive conference wins over Dartmouth on the road (23-17 in double overtime) and Columbia (34-14) and Yale (20-13) at home have the Quakers just one game out of first place.
• The Penn offense is scoring 29.1 points per game thanks in large part to the strong arm of Aidan Sayin (1,734 yards, 13 touchdowns on 63 percent passing) and the sure hands of its receiving corps, led by Joshua Casilli (45 catches, 412 yards, three touchdowns) this season.
• Seven different receivers have caught touchdown passes.
• Trey Flowers (336 yards, five touchdowns) and Jonathan Mulatu (314 yards, three touchdowns) lead the rushing attack as the Penn offense hasn’t lost a fumble this season.
• Place-kicker Graham Gotlieb is 9-of-11 on field goals and 21-of-22 on PATs, with Ben rimm averaging a healthy 42.1 yards on 30 punts with 11 downed inside the 20.
• The Penn defense has been on the attack all season, ranking second nationally in sacks (3.71 per game) and ninth in tackles for loss (7.7 per game), while also sitting seventh in scoring defense (17.1 ppg.) and 13th in total defense (302.6 ypg.).
• Six different players have at least 30 tackles this season, led by Jack Fairman’s 48 and 43 from Garrett Morris.
• Jake Heimlicher has posted 11.0 tackles for loss with 7.0 sacks and nine quarterback hurries along with 40 total stops and ranks fifth nationally and first in the Ancient Eight in sacks per game (1.0).
• Eighth-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 128th meeting between Cornell and Penn, with the Quakers holding a 75-47-5 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.
• Seventeen years ago, Cornell claimed a 16-7 win at Franklin Field for the 600th victory in program history.
• The Big Red claimed the 2021 meeting at Franklin Field 15-12, as Jameson Wang ran for two touchdowns.
• The two teams will be playing in Ithaca for the first time since 2018.
THE TRUSTEES' 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 18-8 after the Big Red snapped the Quakers’ six-game win streak in 2021 with a 15-12 victory.
THE LAST MEETING WITH PENN
• The Big Red brought the Trustees’ Cup back to its Ithaca campus by bus, but it rode a fantastic defensive effort all day in a 15-12 triumph over Penn at Franklin Field.
• Cornell limited the Quakers to 325 yards, including just 78 on the ground, had nine pass breakups and intercepted a pass and never allowed a double figure play drive or any that gained more than 55 yards.
• Its bend-but-not-break effort kept Penn’s offense out of the end zone and limited it to just two field goals.
• The Big Red did all that despite having to be on the field for nearly 33 minutes as the home team controlled possession over the final three quarters.
• Max Lundeen had a big night on the defensive line, batting down three passes with an additional quarterback hurry and a tackle for loss, while Kenan Clarke also posted a pair of pass breakups.
• Eric Diggs had a takeaway with an interception and Jake Stebbins posted a game-best 12 stops - his third straight contest with at least 12 tackles.
• While the defense was fantastic, so was the offensive line. Cornell rushed for 125 yards and pair of touchdowns by Jameson Wang and didn’t allow a sack for the third time this season.
• SK Howard had a game-high 65 yards on the ground in his return from injury, while Wang ran 10 times for 55 yards and two scores.
• He joined with Richie Kenney to complete 12-of-27 passes for 183 yards.
• Alex Kuzy caught five passes for 70 yards, Thomas Glover had three catches for 59 and Curtis Raymond III hauled in three for 58 more.
• Penn freshman quarterback Aidan Sayin completed 26-of-45 passes for 247 yards and led the team with 32 rushing yards.
• Defensively, Jason McCleod had four tackles, an interception and three pass breakups in the loss.
• Daniel Karrash booted a pair of field goals - one from 40 and another from 24 yards.
• Cornell faced plenty of adversity during the week and the game - from an illness passing through the team, to having two touchdowns wiped off the board due to penalties, a punt blocked for a touchdown to surrender the lead for the first time and the general expectation of a team looking for its first conference win to be down on itself.
• It never looked anything other than confident, and the end result was its “bowl” victory.
LAST TIME OUT
RECAP I BOX SCORE I HIGHLIGHTS I GALLERY I POSTGAME NOTES
• The Cornell defense limited an explosive Princeton team to 288 total yards, but five Big Red turnovers allowed the Tigers to remain unbeaten and claim sole possession of first place in the Ivy standings after a 35-9 triumph at Princeton Stadium.
• The Cornell defense allowed just 59 rushing yards on 25 carries and limited the Tigers to a season-low 229 passing yards, with sophomore Muhammad-Ali Kobo registering a pair of sacks and Anthony Chideme-Alfaro breaking up a pair of passes.
• Reserve tight end Manny Adebi blocked two kicks.
• The offense also moved the ball efficiently against a Princeton defense that entered the contest allowing just 271.2 yards per game by posting 433 yards, including 148 rushing against the second-ranked defense on the ground (57.0 ypg.).
• Cornell piled up 26 first downs and held the ball for 36:50, was 5-for-11 on third down and controlled the tempo of the game.
• Four interceptions and a lost fumble gave the home team short fields or led directly to scores - only one Princeton scoring drive covered more than 53 yards and the Tigers scored on an interception return as well as on an intercepted two-point conversion that was returned for two points.
• Princeton found points after drives of 49, 9 and 29 yards and the home team outscored the visitors 29-0 off miscues.
• Robert Tucker III ran 12 times for 67 yards and Jameson Wang added 48 more on eight carries.
• Wang ended the afternoon 22-of-34 passing for 200 yards and a touchdown to Nicholas Laboy, who hauled in 82 yards on seven catches.
• Matt Robbert had 116 yards on seven catches and Thomas Glover caught six balls for 42 yards.
• Jackson Kennedy’s 42-yard field goal on the final play of the first half got Cornell on the scoreboard.
• Kobo’s five tackles tied with Brody Kidwell for the team lead on defense.
• Princeton’s Blake Stenstrom threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns, both to Andrei Iosivas, who caught 10 passes for 155 yards.
• Stenstrom and Ryan Butler also found the end zone on the ground.
• Liam Johnson led the defense with eight tackles and an 89-yard interception return for a touchdown.
