ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell football's 28 seniors walked off Schoellkopf Field for the final time with a memorable win as all three phases of the game shined in a statement 39-22 victory over No. 24 Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon. The Big Red improved to 4-5 (3-3 Ivy) with the win, while the Big Green slipped to 7-2 (4-2 Ivy) and fell a game back of first-place Harvard atop the Ivy standings.

Senior Jameson Wang accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), sophomore place-kicker Alan Zhao tied a single-game school record with four field goals and the defense forced four turnovers with one turning into a Big Red score. The win marked Cornell's first win over a ranked opponent on Schoellkopf Field since knocking off No. 18 Princeton 14-7 on Oct. 28, 2006. Head coach Dan Swanstrom's team was resilient (twice rallying after Dartmouth took the lead) and finishing the game strong (outscoring the Big Green 26-8 over the final 16:17).

Sophomore Samuel Musungu, who reached 1,000 career receiving yards last weekend, hit the 100-catch plateau with his seven receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown. The score was his 10th of the season, making him just the fourth player at Cornell to reach double figures in touchdown catches in a season. Parker Woodring hauled in his fifth touchdown catch and hauled in six total receptions. The running game was also effective, piling up 166 yards against a stout Dartmouth defense, with Ean Pope posting 97 yards on 24 carries. The offensive line allowed just one sack and kept Wang clean throughout the afternoon.

The defense made its mark, rebounding the right way after last week's 67-49 loss to Penn. Cornell surrendered just 327 yards of offense, piled up five sacks and scoring on a Luke Banbury strip-sack that turned into a 22-yard return to paydirt for Hunter Sloan in the fourth quarter to essentially put the game away. Banbury ended the afternoon with 11 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, an interception and a pass breakup. Tyler Gibson and Michael O'Keefe also intercepted passes, with Gibson adding a sack. Muhammad-Ali Kobo made a pair of tackles for loss, including a sack. 

Special teams had Zhao, who made all four field goal attempts, including a career-long 48-yarder, and also was 3-for-3 on PAT kicks with five of his nine kickoffs going through the end zone for touchbacks.



First Quarter
• The Big Red opened the game with a 12-play drive that covered just 39 yards, but ate up 5:04 of the clock and ended with an Alan Zhao 48-yard field goal to put the home team up 3-0.
• Cornell picked up three third-down conversions to set the tone.
• The Big Red defense forced a pair of three-and-outs on Dartmouth's first two possessions, sandwiched around one of its own.
• The offense took over with 4:51 left in the quarter and ate up the rest of the time, ending the quarter with nearly 11 minutes in possession while running 26 plays to just six for the Big Green.

Second Quarter
• Two plays into the second quarter, Zhao connected on his second field goal of the afternoon, a 36-yarder, to make it 6-0 on the end of a 14-play drive.
• Dartmouth answered back, taking its first lead of the night at 7-6 thanks to a 10-yard touchdown run by Jackson Proctor.
• The big play came on a 36-yard pass from Proctor to Chris Corbo to get the Big Green to the edge of the red zone.
• Cornell wouldn't be down long, with a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive putting the Big Red back up 13-7.
• The Big Red needed every effort to find the end zone, running eight plays inside the 10 before Wang found Parker Woodring scored from 4 yards out, their fifth scoring connection of the season.
• A Big Red penalty on the kickoff and a 34-yard pass play from Proctor to Haughton set the Big Green up for a scoring opportunity, but freshman All-America Owen Zalc missed on a 49-yard attempt to keep the score right where it was.
• A punt on the ensuing drive by the Big Red set up a wild end to the half.
• On the fourth play of the Dartmouth drive, Gibson intercepted his second pass of the season to set up Cornell in the red zone. 
• Two plays later, Wang gave it back when his pass into the end zone was picked off by Micah Green.
• Dartmouth made it to its own 45 before time ran out on the half.

Third Quarter
• Dartmouth took the ball to start the second half, but quickly punted back to the Big Red.
• Cornell converted on third-and-14 to keep its ensuing drive going, but Wang's pass over the middle was picked off by Campbell and returned to Cornell's 19.
• Four plays later, Dartmouth was in the end zone and had the lead back at 14-13.
• Grayson Saunier went the final 8 yards as the clock hit 8:50.
• Cornell took over at its own 25 and marched 52 yards to the Dartmouth 23 before Wang was picked off for the second straight drive at the Big Green's 2.
• On its heels a bit, the Big Red defense turned the tide.
• The visitors picked up a pair of first downs before Luke Banbury intercepted a 2nd-and-10 pass at the Dartmouth 24 and Cornell was back in business.
• After a 10-yard run by Pope, Wang carried the final 14 yards to put Cornell back in the lead - for good it turned out.
• The Big Red failed to convert for two points, leaving the score 19-14.

Fourth Quarter
• Dartmouth punted the ball back to Cornell on the next drive and the Big Red took over with 14:48 remaining.
• Pope picked up a fourth-and-1 from midfield, and Robert Tucker III carried 20 yards for the Dartmouth 28.
• Three plays later, Wang scrambled around pressure and found Musungu in the front of the end zone for a touchdown.
• After Zhao's PAT make it 26-14 with just over 10 minutes remaining, the defense took center stage.
• A Jeremiah Lewis sack on second down made it third-and-long, allowing Michael O'Keefe to step in front of a Saunier pass for the interception at the Big Green 36.
• After five plays, Zhao booted a 31-yard field goal to make the Big Red lead 15.
• Dartmouth needed something big trailing by 15 with 5:53 left, but instead it was a high-impact play by the Big Red defense.
• Banbury sacked Saunier at the 22, separating him from the football.
• Hunter Sloan picked up the bouncing football, ran through a tackle and found the end zone 22 yards later for the touchdown.
• The PAT put Cornell up 36-14 and thrilled the partisan Schoellkopf Crowd.
• Dartmouth found the end zone with 2:28 left to cut the deficit to 14 after a successful two-point try, but the onside kickoff try was unsuccessful.
• Taking over with 2:25, Cornell looked to kill time.
• Ean Pope turned what looked to be a 3- or 4-yard carry into a 23-yard gain, as the pile kept going and going until it reached the Dartmouth 21.
• The Big Green called its three timeouts and also had the 2:00 stoppage, but Cornell was able to bring the clock under a minute, and Zhao ended the scoring with a 38-yard field goal.
• Dartmouth reached the Cornell 44 before time ran out and the Big Red seniors led the post-game celebration.
 

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.