ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior Luke Banbury (defense) and sophomore Alan Zhao (special teams) have been named Ivy League Players of the Week after playing key roles in the Cornell football team's 39-22 win over No. 24 Dartmouth this past weekend. The two bring the total of Big Red players honored with weekly awards this year to five. 

Banbury was in the middle of Cornell's outstanding defensive effort, posting a game-high 11 tackles with a sack, a forced fumble, an interception and pass breakup. His strip-sack in the fourth quarter put the game on ice, as it was recovered and returned for a 22-yard touchdown by teammate Hunter Sloan. Banbury's interception late in the third quarter at the Dartmouth 24 led to the go-ahead touchdown after the Big Red scored three plays later. Two of his tackles came on third down and forced Dartmouth punts. Banbury became the second player in school history to have a game with double digit tackles that included a sack, forced fumble, interception and pass break, joining Bryan Draga in a 1994 contest with Princeton. He is the first Big Red player to record multiple Defensive Player of the Week honors in the same season since Graham Rihn in 2007.

Zhao set school record for field goals (four) and kicking points (15) in a game in the win. Zhao hit all four of his field goal attempts, including a 48-yard effort in the first quarter to open the scoring - the longest by a Big Red kicker in more than a decade. For the season, Zhao is now 10-for-10 on field goals, the longest stretch without a miss to begin a career in school history. Zhao also booted field goals of 36, 31 and 38 yards to match the single-game record of four set twice previously. He kicked off nine times with five touchbacks, matching the third-most touchbacks in a game in school history. Zhao's 15 kicking points broke the previous single-game mark of 14.

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.