105th Meeting Between Big Red and Tigers Approaches

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

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS
• Cornell is chasing its first win over Princeton since the 2017 season when it hosts the Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. for the teams 105th meeting all-time.
• The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Nick DeLuca and Matthew Miller on the call.
• The Tigers enter the contest searching for their third Ivy League win after opening the conference slate at 1-1 with a low scoring victory over Columbia and an overtime loss to Brown. The Tigers got back above .500 in league play with a 21-14 win over the Crimson last weekend.
• A win this weekend would mark the most conference wins since 2019, when the Big Red went 3-4.
• The Big Red notched a rare achievement last weekend when brothers Paul and Jeremiah Lewis each caught an interception. It was the second time in Cornell’s history this has happened.
• Picked to finish seventh in the Ivy League preseason media poll, Cornell seeks to again surpass expectations after turning a last-place preseason selection in 2022 into a sixth-place finish and .500 record.
• Cornell’s captainship is held by two this year, seniors Micah Sahakian and Jake Stebbins. Each game will have a third game captain. The game captain for Lehigh and Yale was senior Holt Fletcher. Jackson Kennedy served as game captain against Colgate. Manny Adebi was the game captain at Harvard and vs. Bucknell. Connor Morgan was captain against Brown.
• Stebbins is a three-time All-Ivy honoree including a first-team selection in 2021. Sahakian earned an honorable mention All-Ivy nod.
• The Big Red returns 18 starters, boasting one of the most experienced line-ups in the Ivy. 

A LOOK BACKWARDS
• The Big Red finished the 2022 season with a 5-5 overall record (2-5 Ivy). 
• Two of the five losses were by a single touchdown.
• The five-win season marked the best record for the Big Red since 2011, when the team also went 5-5.
• The 2022 season saw a 3-2 road record, the best for the Big Red since the 2016 season.
• Cornell put 12 student-athletes on All-Ivy teams, a mark matching the 2005 total, which was the most since 1995 when the team boasted 14.
• The Big Red return 18 of the 28 starters from last season, including a three-time All-Ivy honoree in Jake Stebbins, who is back for his fifth season in the Carnellian and White.
• Stebbins will serve as a two-time captian for the team after being one of four last season.
• Another returner to note is junior quarterback Jameson Wang, who passed for over 1,600 yard in 2022, while also scoring eight rushing touchdowns.
• Other All-Ivy returners include Jackson Kennedy (PK), Davon Kiser (Ret.), Paul Lewis III (DB), Connor Henderson (LB), Matt Robbert (TE), and co-captain Micah Sahakian (OL).

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD...
• improve the conference mark to three wins for the first time since the 2019 season.
• improve the all-time mark against Ivy League opponents to 111-112-5 when playing in Ithaca.
• up Cornell’s record in the all-time series to 38-65-2.
• give Cornell a 315-253-14 (.553) record all-time in the
month of October.
• mark the first time since the 2013 season that the Big Red beat both Yale and Princeton.
• start the second two-game win streak of the season.
• be the 657th in program history (15th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

ABOUT PRINCETON
• The Tigers evened their record at 3-3 this past weekend with a 21-14 home victory over Harvard, which entered the game in sole possession of first place in the Ivy League.  
• Princeton’s defense ranks first in the FCS in total defense (257.5 yards per game) and fourth in scoring defense (14.8 points per game). The Tigers have allowed more than 20 points once this season (28 against Brown). 
• The Tigers have allowed 72.2 rushing yards per game, the fewest in the FCS. 
• The Tigers held Harvard’s high-powered offense to season lows in rushing yards (68) and points (14). Harvard leads the Ivy League in scoring and rushing. 
• Princeton’s 16 sacks are tied for first in the Ivy League. 
• Tigers linebacker Ozzie Nicholas leads the Ivy League with 63 tackles and he is the reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week.
• Princeton’s offense ranks seventh in the Ivy League in scoring (17.2 points per game) and total offense (321.2 yards per game). The unit enters the week sixth in rushing and fourth in passing. 
• The Tigers have scored seven red-zone touchdowns, tied for the fewest in the league. 
• Tigers quarterback Blake Stenstorm has completed 133 of 222 passes for 1,308 yards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions.
• Head coach Bob Surace led the Tigers to Ivy League titles in 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2021.

THE SERIES
• This will mark the 105th meeting between the Big Red and the Tigers. Princton has a 65-37-2 advantage in the series. 
• The Tigers have won eight of the last nine contests, including four straight at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell hasn’t beaten Princeton since its 29-28 win in October 2017. 
• Cornell trails the series 24-21-1 at home against Princeton.

THE LAST MEETING WITH PRINCETON
• 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.

LAST TIME OUT
RECAP I BOX SCORE I HIGHLIGHTS I GALLERY I POSTGAME NOTES
• The Big Red righted the ship with a 36-14 win over Brown at Schoellkopf Field.
• The win marked the largest margin of victory for the Big Red since the 2019 season.
• For the first time since 2017, the Carnelian and White tallied three interceptions in a single contest. Cornell (3-3, 2-1 Ivy) pulled back to .500 with the victory and moved into a four-way tie for the Ivy League lead with Harvard, Penn and Dartmouth. Brown fell to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the league
• Cornell led 20-0 at halftime and continued to build on its lead in the third quarter. The Big Red went ahead 33-0 until 5:48 remained in the third quarter when Jake Willcox connected with Soloman Miller for a 61-yard touchdown.
• Brown doubled-down before the end of the third quarter when Willcox found Graham Walker on a 43-yard pass to cut the Cornell lead to 19, but Jackson Kennedy all but secured the win for the Big Red with his third field goal of the day and 13th of the season.
• For the second time in program history, a pair of brothers caught an interception. Paul and Jeremiah Lewis each caught a pick. Paul accounted for a pick-six, while Jeremiah picked off a a deep endzone shot by Willcox.
• The last time the Big Red held the ball in an Ivy game for more than the 39:47 against Brown was in 2017, also at home against the Bears, when it was at 40:20 for the contest.

HALL OF FAME FIGURES
• Over Homecoming weekend, Cornell honored the 2023 Cornell Hall of Fame honorees with an on-field ceremony.
• From football, J.C. Tretter ‘13 was inducted in this years class. During his time at Cornell, the offensive lineman was named a unanimous All-Ivy First Team selection. At the time, he protected Jeff Matthews’ blindside, helping the Big Red to set a new Cornell and Ivy passing record. Tretter’s protection also earned him a second-team All-American recognition. He was the 25th pick of the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft, where he was selected by the Green Bay Packers. He also spent time with the Cleveland Browns. In the spring of 2020, Tretter was named the President of the NFL Players Association.
• A “special category” inductee alongside Tretter is the former Meakem Smith Director of Athletics & Physical Education, Andy Noel. Noel was the head of Cornell athletics for 24 years. Under him, the Big Red won 106 Ivy League team titles and 37 national championships. Nearly, 2,300 athletes earned All-Ivy honors, including 850 first-teamers and 400 All-Americans.
• 13 other inductees were honored alongside Tretter and Noel.
 

BIG RED RANKINGS
• The Big Red ranks number one in all of Division I football (FBS and FCS) in time of possession, averaging over 35 minutes per game.
• Cornell ranks 17th in the FCS in first down defense, allowing 115 across five games.
• The Big Red ranks third in the Ivy in passes intercepted with five.
• Cornell turnovers lost ranks eighth in FCS, losing just five turnovers.
• Cornell ranks fourth in the FCS in passes had intercepted, with just two interception across the season.
• Jackson Kennedy leads the FCS in field goals per game (2.17).
• Kennedy also ranks atop the Ivy League in scoring, averaging 8.5 points per game.
• Manny Adebi ranks second in FCS in blocked kicks (3).
• Jameson Wang has the 12th most total offense in FCS, averaging 280.7 yards per game.
• Hunter Sloan ranks fourth in the FCS and is tied for first in the Ivy League in fumbles recovered, scooping two in just five games.

THE KENNEDY FILE
• Kennedy enters the weekend on the 100-point watchlist, as her begins the match up against Princeton with 97 career points, which ranks 10th all-time in kicking points.
• Should Kennedy break the 100-point-mark, he will be one of just 24 Cornellians to ever tally that many points across their career.
• In the game against Brown, he drilled a 28-yard field goal as time expired to end the first half. The senior has now ended five of the past nine halves of play with a walk-off kick.

RED WEEKLY HONORS
• After week one, Big Red punter and placekicker, Jackson Kennedy, was named the Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week.
• Kennedy earned the nod after booting the second longest punt in school history (81 yards). He also went 2-for-2 in field goals in the fourth quarter, providing the winning points for the Big Red. He was the only player in the Ivy League to kickoff, punt and placekick in the opening weekend.
• In week two, Kennedy repeated with the Special Teams POTW award, and he was joined by Connor Henderson, who was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week.
• Kennedy drilled the winning field goal from 37 yards out as the clock expired to life Cornell over Yale for the first time since 2016. He went 3-for-3 on field goals, while also securing both extra points and punted his first-career I20 punt.
• Henderson matched his career-high in solo tackles with five, and added two assists for a season-high seven. He tallied his second-career interception and returned it for five yards at the perfect time,  preventing Yale from marching down the field, holding the Bulldog lead to 14-3 at halftime. Henderson headlined a Cornell defense that held the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, Nolan Grooms, to his second-lowest completion percentage of his collegiate career (38.9%). The senior linebacker and the rest of the defense held Yale to just 301 yards, over 60 yards less than what the Bulldogs put up against #5 Holy Cross.
• Kennedy was the first back-to-back Cornell awardee since 2019.
• Week two marked the first time since 2017 that the Big Red had multiple honorees in the same week since October 30, 2017 when Nick Gesualdi and Nickolas Null were named Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week, respectively.
• In week six, Kennedy earned his third Ivy Special Teams POTW honor following his three-field goal performance against Brown in the team’s 36-14 win.
• Kennedy is the third Cornellian to be a mutli-time special teams honoree, and the first since 2017 when Nolan Null earned the honor four times.

The Class of 2023

• Schoellkopf Field has been an indelible mark of Cornell football since it opened in 1915 and this year will be the 107th season at the home field. 
• 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.

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 over 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.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red begins a road for a two-game road stand when it travels to Philadelphia, Pa. to take on a Penn team that is receiving national attention.
• Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Franklin Field. Fans at home can catch the game on ESPN+.