Football Celebrates Homecoming 2024 When Yale Comes To Town

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

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS
• Cornell football starts a three-game homestand when the team plays host to Ivy foe Yale for a Homecoming celebration at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. The contest will go down on Saturday, September 28 at 2:00 p.m.
• The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Nick DeLuca and Ryan Gregware will be on the call.
• The Bulldogs enter the contest looking to start a win streak after toppling Patriot League opponent, Holy Cross in a road win. Yale's win over the Crusaders was the first in three seasons, and the first road win in the series since the 2007 season.
• Yale is the 2024 favorite to win the Ivy League according to the 2024 Preseason Ivy League Poll.
• 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, the best record for the Big Red since a 5-5 finish in the 2011 season. 
• Cornell will take a different approach to the captainship this season compared to years past. Each week, Cornell will name game captains, rather than having a pair host the duties the whole season. Week one, Jameson Wang, Damon Barnes, Hunter Sloan, and Jack Powers shared the honors at Colgate.

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 YALE WOULD...
• mark the second straight win for the Big Red in the series.
• be the first win at the Division I level for Coach Swanstrom.
• cut Yale's lead in the all-time series to 52-32-2.
• give Cornell a 107-70-5 (.594) all-time record in the month of September.
• mark the first back-to-back in the series for Cornell since the 2008-2009 seasons when the team wins at home and on the road in consecutive years.
• reset a current five-game losing streak, which happened for the Big Red for the first time since the beginning of the end of the 2017 season through the beginning of the 2018 season.
• be the 657th in program history (15th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).

ABOUT YALE
• Yale opened the season 1-0 over the weekend with a 38-31 road win over Holy Cross. Holy Cross was picked to finish second in the 2024 Patriot League preseason poll.
• Senior Grant Jordan was named the Bulldog's starter ahead of the season, but he left the game against Holy Cross with an injury sustained in the opening drive. Junior Brogan McCaughey stepped in and stepped up to help guide the Bulldogs to victory. McCaughey completed 18-of-32 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown in his second career appearance. He also rushed for 14 yards and a touchdown across four attempts.
• Senior Nathan Denney was the primary rusher for the Bulldogs. He took 29 rushes for 80 yards in the opener, including two for touchdowns. Junior Wilhelm Daal had seven runs for 49 yards and a touchdown.
• Senior David Pantelis was the favorite target of the Bulldogs offense, catching six passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Senior Mason Shipp followed with five catches for 74 yards.
• Yale returns 2023 All-Ivy League offensive lineman Michael Bennett and running back Josh Pitsenberger, though Pitsenberger did not see action against Holy Cross.
• Senior captain linebacker Dean Shaffer leads the Bulldogs with nine tackles, more than his season total from 2023. Sophomores Osize Daniyan and Abu Kamara each follow with eight tackles apiece.
• 2023 All-Ivy honorees Alvin Gulley, Jr. and Sean Guyton are back on the defensive side for the ball.
• Freshman Breylan Thompson forced a fumble in the season opener.
• Punter Shamus Florio has punted 4 times for 143 yards for an average of 35.8 yards. He booted a season-high 42-yarder at Holy Cross and has two inside the 20.
• Junior kicker Nick Conforti is 1-for-2 on field goals through one game this season. He's perfect on PATs.


THE SERIES
• Cornell and Yale have met 84 times (Yale leads the series 52-31-2). Yale is the earliest Ivy League contest for Cornell, dating back to 1889.
• Yale has won eight of the last 10 meetings, but the Big Red soured a five-game Bulldog winning streak last year when the team walked off a 23-21 win on a Jackson Kennedy field goal.
• Cornell looks to even the home game record against the Bulldogs this weekend (Yale leads, 18-17-2)
• Cornell has not won a home meeting against the Bulldogs since September 24, 2016, when the team captured a 27-13 win.

THE LAST MEETING WITH COLGATE
• For only the second time this century, Cornell football earned the right to sing Cornell Victorious at the Yale Bowl after defeating the Bulldogs, 23-21, on Sept. 23, 2023.
• It marked the first time since the 2016 season the Big Red started 2-0.
• The Big Red showed true grit in the face of adversity. Cornell trailed 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, until the Big Red dominated the latter half of the game and scored 20 consecutive points to go out in front.
• A late conversion on fourth-and-20 for the Bulldogs resulted in a touchdown with 3:14 remaining in the game. 
• The Big Red stayed calm under pressure, marching down the field to set Jackson Kennedy up for a field goal try, which he drilled as the clock hit zero, securing the win.
• Junior quarterback Jameson Wang was sensational, completing 26-of-36 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown and running for 34 more and a score. He directed the offense to 371 yards and 38:41 in time of possession, executing the game plan effectively and efficiently.
• Sophomore running back Gannon Carothers piled up 95 rushing yards on nine carries as the Big Red ran for 174 yards on the ground as a team.
• Kennedy, the reigning Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week, was again a difference maker. He was 3-for-3 on field goals, nailed both PAT kicks, averaged 59.8 yards on kickoffs with two touchbacks and had two punts that yielded zero return yards while placing one inside the 20.
• Rasean Thomas added six tackles and Holt Fletcher was credited with five, with both recording tackles for loss and Thomas adding a pass breakup to his sack. 
• The Cornell defense held the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, Nolan Grooms, to his second-lowest completion percentage of his collegiate career (38.9%)
• The defense held Yale to just 301 yards, over 60 yards less than what the Bulldogs put up against #5 Holy Cross
• The win over Yale is only the fourth since 2000, and the first since the 2016 season.

LAST TIME OUT
RECAP I BOX SCORE I HIGHLIGHTS I GALLERY I POSTGAME NOTES
• Cornell football dropped a 41-24 decision to Colgate on Saturday afternoon at Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium. After cutting it to a 10-point game late, Colgate tacked on one more score with less than two minutes remaining to add to the Big Red deficit.
• With the loss, Cornell drops to 0-1 (0-0 Ivy) and Colgate improves to 1-3 (0-0 Patriot).
• Senior quarterback Jameson Wang completed 29-of-37 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns in the season opener. The El Segundo, Calif., native had no negative yardage plays, taking no sacks and tacking on a team-high 41 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
• Sophomore Brendan Lee led the Cornell receiving core with 101 yards on 5 receptions in his first career appearance on offense.
• Wang's favorite target was Samuel Musungu, who had seven grabs for 77 yards and a touchdown
• Johntu Reed and Parker Woodring each caught a touchdown pass. Johntu's reception score marks the first of his career.
• On defense, Luke Banbury led the charge with eight tackles including 0.5 for loss.
• Trey Harris followed with seven tackles and a pass breakup. Muhammad-Ali Kobo, Braylon Howard, and Damon Barnes all tallied six stops.
• Ben Sahakian had a forced fumble on a strip sack, the first of his career.
• Colgate's quarterback room of Jake Stearney, Michael Brescia, and Zach Osborne all combined for 18-for-29 passing. Stearney led the pack, completing 17-of-27 for 184 yards and a touchdown.
• The favorite target for the Raiders was Brady Hutchison, who caught six passes for 83 yards and was on the receiving end of the touchdown. Treyvon Saunders also caught six balls for 79 yards.
• The Raiders had three players totaling over 70 yards rushing. Chris Gee had 15 carries for 79 yards, and Brescia scampered for 77 yards on 11 attempts for two touchdowns. Marco Maldonado posted 10 rushes for 73 yards and a touchdown. 
• Winston Moore rounded out Raider scorers with two rushes for 31 yards and a touchdown.

HALL OF FAME FIGURES
• Over Homecoming weekend last year, Cornell honored the 2023 Cornell Hall of Fame honorees with an on-field ceremony.
• From football, J.C. Tretter ‘13 was inducted in the 2023 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 in 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.

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 2400 yards, good for third-most in the conference.
• The El Segundo, Calif. native has etched his name in the Cornell record books in nearly every major passing category, including passing attempts (714, 6th), pass completions (448, 6th), passing yards (4739, 6th), passing touchdowns (30, 5th), pass completion percentage (62.7%, 1st), pass efficiency (126.6, 4th), passing yards per game (169.3, 7th).
• He also ranks top-20 in rushing attempts (325, 20th), rushing yards (1357, 20th) and rushing touchdowns (20, 7th).

• 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 remains at home next weekend to host a nationally ranked opponent in UAlbany at Schoellkopf Field.
• The game kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 5. It will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Nick DeLuca on the call.