Football Celebrates Seniors, Eyes Upset of #24 Dartmouth on Saturday

Dan Swanstrom
The Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Cornell Football

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS
• Cornell will close out its 2024 home schedule and celebrate its seniors when it welcomes No. 24 Dartmouth to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m.
• The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• The Big Red will celebrate the program's 28 seniors while attempting to earn a signature win as it looks to keep its hopes alive for a winning Ivy League season.
• Cornell will meet a ranked Dartmouth team eyeing an Ivy League title for the third time in the past five seasons, pulling the upset on the road in 2019 and handing the Big Green their only loss that season.
• The Cornell-Dartmouth series is one of the most played in all of college football, dating back to the first-ever meeting between the teams in 1900.
• The 106 meetings between the schools makes it the 19th-most played in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
• Excepting the 2020 season that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cornell and Dartmouth have met on the gridiron every year since 1919.

A LOOK BACKWARDS
• The Big Red finished the 2023 season with a 3-7 overall record (2-5 Ivy) after a hot start. 
• In the second game of the season, Cornell grabbed a road win against a Yale team receiving votes in the national polls, 23-21, when then-senior Jackson Kennedy booted in a last-second 37-yard field goal to take just the second Big Red road victory over the Bulldogs this century.
• The Big Red also bested Ivy foe Brown at a time when the Bears' offense led the league in offense. The Big Red defense stifled the Bears, allowing no points until 5:48 remained in the third quarter. Cornell's defense allowed just two scores all game and forced three turnovers, including a 55-yard pick-six.
• Cornell put six student-athletes on All-Ivy teams, accounting for seven spots with Jackson Kennedy earning the nods for second-team punter and place kicker.
• The Big Red returns just six of the 22 starters from last season. Two-time All-Ivy quarterback Jameson Wang is the lone true starter back on the offense.
• Wang is the only returning 2023 All-Ivy honoree after the other five student-athletes graduated.

A WIN OVER DARTMOUTH WOULD...
• send the Big Red seniors out with a victory in their final game on Schoellkopf Field.
• make the Big Red 3-3 in Ivy League play for the first time since 2017.
• make the Big Red 15-55-2 all-time against ranked opponents and be the first win for Cornell since topping then No. 11/12 Dartmouth 14-7 on Nov. 16, 2019.
• give the Big Red three wins in its last five games against the Big Green.
• narrow Dartmouth's lead in the all-time series to 63-43-1.
• give Cornell a 232-230-15 (.502) all-time record in the month of November.
• be the 659th in program history (15th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

CLASS OF 2025
• The Cornell football program’s 28 seniors will be playing their final game at Schoellkopf Field this weekend.
• Cornell’s fifth-year seniors are DL Brendan Chestnut, QB Dylan Hale and TE Matthew Pilc. 
• The four-year seniors include CB Mamadou Bah, LB Luke Banbury, S Damon Barnes, WR Matheson Bossick, OL Jackson Bradley, DL Ezekiel Evans, S Trey Harris, LS Gavin Heintschel, P Nathaniel Hillenburg, DL Muhammad-Ali Kobo, S Christian Madison, WR Luke Malaga, DL Devin Malone, WR Eddie Marinaro, WR Chad Martini, PK/P Ayden McCarter, CB Michael O'Keefe, OL Jack Powers, LB Wilson Selzer, DL Hunter Sloan, RB Eddy Tillman, DL Maxwell Van Fleet, QB Jameson Wang, OL Davis Watson, and DL Amon Williams.

CORNELL VS. RANKED FOES
• Cornell enters the matchup with No. 24 Dartmouth sporting a 14-55-2 record all-time against ranked opponents.
• The Big Red is 7-23 on Schoellkopf Field vs. top 25 teams, with its last win coming on Oct. 28, 2006 when it defeated No. 18 Princeton 14-7 — the team's third top 20 win in two seasons at home.
• Cornell has played a ranked Dartmouth team on nine occasions, sporting a 3-5-1 record in those previous matchups.
• Since 2015, Cornell has played 14 games against ranked opponents, going 2-12.
• The Big Red handed the 2019 Big Green their only loss of the season when it topped No. 11/12 Dartmouth 14-7 in Hanover, N.H.

ABOUT DARTMOUTH
• Dartmouth enters the week 7-1 overall and is tied with Harvard atop the Ancient Eight standings at 4-1.
• The Big Green are looking to close out an unbeaten road campaign, bringing a 4-0 record away from home into the contest. They are chasing their first unbeaten road mark since 2021.
• Dartmouth's wins over Penn (20-17), Yale (44-43 in OT) and Columbia (24-21) have come by a total of seven points.
• The Big Green's formula is tried and true, leading the conference in rushing offense (170.1 ypg.) and rushing defense (103.1 ypg.), dominating time of possession (15th nationally at 32:04) while taking care of the football (second nationally in fewest turnovers with five).
• Q Jones sits second int he Ivy League in rushing (643 yards), while Grayson Saunier has reached the end zone seven times on the ground with five touchdown passes as well.
• Saunier splits snaps behind center with Jackson Proctor, who has completed 68 percent of his passes for 998 yards and eight touchdowns.
• Paxton Scott paces the team in receptions (34) and receiving yards (411), with Chris Corbo pulling down six touchdowns receiving.
• Braden Mullen, Ejike Adele and Josiah Green rank 2-3-4 in the conference in sacks. 
• Dartmouth sports one of the nation's best place-kickers in Owen Zalc, who has made 13-of-15 field goals, including making 11-of-12 from inside of 50 yards and booting two more beyond 50.
• Second-year head coach Sammy McCorkle is 13-5 since taking over the program following the passing of longtime head coach Buddy Teevens.
• Dartmouth was one of three teams that shared the 2023 title with a 5-2 conference record.

THE SERIES
• This will be the 107th meeting between Cornell and Dartmouth, with the Big Green holding a 63-42-1 lead in the series.
• The two teams first met in 1900, a 23-6 Cornell win. 
• The two teams have been fairly evenly matched in the last three decades, with 14 of the past 30 meetings being decided by a touchdown or less (Dartmouth leads 18-12 during that stretch).
• The Big Green had won 10 straight meetings in the series, prior to 2019, when Cornell spoiled its undefeated season with a 20-17 victory in Hanover, N.H. 
• Dartmouth won the 2023 meeting in Hanover, N.H. with a 30-14 victory. 

THE FIFTH-DOWN GAME
• The 2024 meeting between the Big Red and Big Green is also the 84th anniversary of the famed Fifth-Down Game.
• Played on Nov. 16, 1940 in Hanover, N.H., top-ranked Cornell improved to 6-0 with a 7-3 victory over Dartmouth, scoring on the game’s final play.
• After reviewing game film on Monday, Coach Carl Snavely and acting athletic director Robert J. Kane wired Dartmouth officials to tell them Cornell scored on an inadvertent fifth down.
• Though there were no rules compelling the outcome to be changed, in an unprecedented act of sportsmanship, the Big Red relinquished claims to the win. The Big Green accepted the forfeit, winning the contest 3-0.
• It remains the only time a collegiate sporting contest has been decided off the field after the completion of a game. 
 

THE LAST MEETING WITH DARTMOUTH
• Cornell came up short to Dartmouth, 30-14, in the schools’ 106th meeting.
• Dartmouth used the ground and air game to find the endzone four times in the outing.
• Junior Jameson Wang became the program’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with his 19th career score. It was his seventh rushing score this season. 
• Wang is responsible for 15 touchdowns this season, with eight through the air and seven on the ground. He will tie 1962 Gary Wood (17 touchdowns) for 10th on the program’s single-season touchdowns list with two more scores.
• Wang now has 1,307 career rushing yards, the 22nd-most in program history. 
• Junior linebacker Luke Banbury set a career-high with 11 tackles. 
• Senior linebacker Noah Taylor recorded his first sack of the season. 
• Senior wide receiver Nicholas Laboy caught five passes for 51 yards. It was his seventh game this season with at least five catches. 
• Freshman running back Ean Pope recorded his first career rushing touchdown. 
• Two freshmen -- Pope and Samuel Musungu -- have scored touchdowns for the Big Red this season. It’s the first time that has happened since 2012. 
• Jackson Kennedy punted five times for 220 yards, the second-most punting yards he’s had this season. 
• Amon Williams blocked Cornell’s first punt since Jalyx Hunt’s block against Brown in October 2021. 
• Cornell lost the time of possession battle for just the third time this season. The Big Red held the ball for 29:10, while the Big Green possessed it for 30:50. 
• Cornell gained 16 first downs to Dartmouth’s 15. The Big Red has picked up more first downs than its opponent six times this season.

LAST TIME OUT
RECAP I BOX SCORE I GALLERY I HIGHLIGHTS I POSTGAME NOTES
• In a game that featured nearly 1,200 yards of offense and a complete rewrite of both record books, Penn outscored Cornell 67-49 at Schoellkopf Field. 
• Senior Jameson Wang threw for a career-high 401 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes, three going to sophomore Samuel Musungu to match that single-game mark as well. 
• Musungu was one catch shy of a school record and finished with 14 for 148 yards. 
• Wang accounted for six total touchdowns (five passing, one rushing), breaking the school mark en route to 449 yards of offense (No. 9 all-time) in the contest.
• While Cornell's numbers were exceptional, Penn's were video game-like. 
• Liam O'Brien completed 22-of-30 passes for 341 yards and six touchdowns and ran for another to account for seven scores. 
• Three of his touchdowns were thrown to Jared Richardson, who caught nine passes for 141 yards. 
• Malachi Hosley ran for 192 yards and two scores, his second consecutive huge game against the Big Red. 
• Penn totaled 33 first downs and 627 yards. 
• Three big interceptions by the defense were the difference in a game that saw the visitors score on each of their final 10 possessions, the last six reaching the end zone. 
• There were only two punts - one apiece - in the game.
• Plenty of other players had standout efforts on offense for the Big Red, with Ryder Kurtz posting his first career 100-yard receiving game (101 yards on four catches) and Robert Tucker III scoring twice, including on a 74-yard run on a fake punt that was the longest Big Red rush since 2019. 

HALL OF FAME FIGURES
• This year, Cornell honored a class of 11 inductees during halftime of the Homecoming game against Yale.
• Included in this group is two-time All-American quarterback Jeff Mathews '14, who ended his storied Cornell career as the most prolific quarterback in Ivy League history and one of the top in all of college football. He ranks among the top 20 all-time in career passing yards in the FCS and set the Ivy League's all-time passing record by more than 2,000 yards. Mathews owns 47 Big Red school records and 18 Ivy League marks for passing and total offense. The three-year team captain was named one of 16 finalists for the National Football Foundation's William V. Campbell Trophy which recognizes the top football scholar-athlete in the nation. The three-time All-Ivy selection was a Capital One Academic All-District first-team selection and a two-time finalist for the Bushnell Cup for the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, winning in 2011. Mathews also was a two-time member of the Walter Payton Award Watch List as FCS national player of the year. After the season, Mathews became the fifth Cornellian to accept an invitation to the East-West Shrine game, serving as a team captain for the East team, and also accepted an invitation to the NFL Draft Combine before signing a contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Mathews also spent time on the practice squad with the Indianapolis Colts and the Arizona Cardinals before playing four seasons in the CFL, including winning a Grey Cup in 2017 with the Toronto Argonauts.
• Joining Mathews is special category honoree Bernie DePalma.
• A legendary figure in Big Red athletics, DePalma served generations of student-athletes and shaped one of the nation's most respected sports medicine departments over 42 years. After arriving at Cornell in 1980 as Head of Physical Therapy and Supervisor of Athletic Training and Rehabilitation and taking over as head athletic trainer three years later, DePalma's expertise provided a significant impact on national athletics legislation. He served on numerous NCAA committees, including the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport Safety, which he chaired; the NCAA Special Committee on Student-athlete Welfare, access and equity; and the National Athletic Trainer's task force which developed medical coverage guidelines for all intercollegiate athletic programs. He played an important role in the initial development of the Ivy League's collaboration with the Big Ten on concussion research while developing a return to academics and play protocols in the league and nationwide. DePalma was honored in 2001 by the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) with the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award. That same year he was honored with the Thomas Sheehan Award for character, commitment, and achievement in athletic training by the New York State Athletic Trainers' Association. He presented at numerous national conventions, published dozens of papers and written chapters in textbooks that are used in Athletic Training curriculums, and served on professional committees at the university, state, regional, and national levels as a recognized expert in various topics around health and safety. He has been instrumental in developing and implementing various programs, including strength and conditioning initiatives when he arrived at Cornell, graduate assistant internship programs, and undergraduate athletic training student clinical experiences. One of DePalma's outstanding achievements was his innovative approach to injury prevention and rehabilitation as seen in his many publications and invited national presentations. His enduring commitment to athletic training, dedication to the athlete's health, safety, and welfare, leadership in the profession, and pioneering contributions to sports medicine contributed to his impact on the profession of athletic training.

NATIONAL NOTICE
• For his efforts against Bucknell, Luke Banbury became the second defensive player in Cornell history to earn the National Player of the Week honors (he joins Chris Zingo '93), and the first Big Red to be honored nationally since the 2022 season when Jackson Kennedy was named the FedEx Ground National Special Teams Player of the Week.
• Banbury became the second player in single-game recorded history at Cornell (since 1995) to tally a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pick-six. In addition to his turnover prowess, the Pittsburgh, Pa., native posted seven tackles including five solo stops. He also tallied three PBUs, the most by a Cornellian since the 2021 season. The fumble recovery, which came on Bucknell's first drive of the game, stopped a Bucknell touchdown after Jeremiah Lewis forced it at the Cornell two-yard line, and Banbury dove on it at the one. The interception came on the subsequent Bucknell drive, which he returned for 26 yards to the house.
• In addition to the national recognition, Banbury was also named the Ivy League's Defensive Player of the Week.

 BIG RED BY THE NUMBERS
• Cornell's team completion percentage .663 ranks atop the Ivy League and is 12th nationally.
• The Big Red offensive line has held strong this season, allowing just 0.63 sacks per game and 2.75 tackles for loss per game. The sack number is the third-lowest nationally. The TFL mark is fewest in the Ivy and second in the FCS.
• The Big Red has committed the 10th-fewest turnovers in all of FCS, coughing the ball up eight times. 
• The Cornell passing attack ranks 12th nationally and is second in the Ivy League at 279.8 yards per game.

ALL EYES ON JAMESON WANG
• Wang was named the Phil Steele Ivy League Preseason first team coming off the heels of a season where he ranked atop the Ivy (and 21st nationally) in completion percentage, connecting on 64.8 percent of his throws.
• In his junior season, Wang threw for over 2,400 yards, good for third-most in the conference.
• This year, Wang has become the Ivy's top touchdown passer, accumulating 22 in eight games. His passing efficiency of 144.5 ranks third in the conference, and his completion percentage of .660 ranks second. His 2,167 passing yards rank first in the Ivy.
• The El Segundo, Calif., native has etched his name in the Cornell record books in nearly every major passing category, including passing attempts (986, fourth), pass completions (623, third), passing yards (6,593, third), passing touchdowns (49, third), pass completion percentage (.632, first), and pass efficiency (130.5, second).
• He also ranks top 20 in rushing yards (1,678, 13th), and rushing touchdowns (26, fourth).

• Schoellkopf Field has been an indelible mark of Cornell football since it opened in 1915 and this year will be the 108th 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 the 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 be 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. A new era begins in 2024 when Dan Swanstrom takes the helm.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red will close out the 2024 season when it visits Columbia in a battle for the Empire State Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 12 p.m. at Wien Stadium.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• Cornell has a 66-40-3 lead in the all-time series, though the Lions have captured three consecutive victories.