Football Travels to New Haven to Begin Ivy Play

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

PRE-SNAP READ

• After falling to UAlbany by the final score of 13-10 to open the 2025 season, the Big Red will set its eyes on Ivy League foe, Yale, on Saturday, Sep. 27.

• Kickoff between Cornell and Yale is set for 12 p.m. from the Yale Bowl.

• The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN+.

THE SERIES

• Cornell and Yale have met 86 times on the football field dating back to 1889 with Yale leading the all-time series, 52-32-2.

• The Big Red have won each of the last two games against the Bulldogs, including a 47-23 win last season.

• The last time Cornell visited New Haven, the Big Red came out on top 23-21 to improve to 14-34 on the road against the Bulldogs.

• Cornell has won just twice at Yale since 2000 and are 2-8 in its last 10 trips to New Haven.

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD...

• Extend the Big Red's win streak to three over the Bulldogs.

• Give Cornell its first win of the 2025 season.

• Make Cornell 198-274-5 in Ivy League play all-time.

IVY PRESEASON POLL

• After earning a share of the Ivy League crown in each of the past two seasons, Harvard has been selected as the preseason favorite in the 2025 Ivy League Football Preseason Poll. The poll was conducted among 16 media members who regularly cover Ivy League football.

• Harvard, one of three teams to share last season’s title, received 114 points and garnered nine first-place votes. Dartmouth, which also claimed a share of the title the last two seasons, edged out Yale for second place with 105 points and four first-place votes. Yale followed closely with 103 points and three first-place selections.

• Columbia, fresh off its first Ivy League title since 1961, was picked fourth with 72 points.

Rounding out the poll were Princeton (55), Penn (49), Cornell (42), and Brown (32).

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

• Yale is coming off a 28-10 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday, Sep. 20 at home.

• Senior captain Josh Pitsenberger set the tone offensively, rushing for 127 yards and three touchdowns.

• On the defensive side, All-American Abu Kamara picked up right where he left off last season, finishing with 10 tackles (four solo), two tackles for loss totaling 10 yards and a sack.

• Nico Brown emerged as a playmaker in the passing game, hauling in multiple big catches, including his first career touchdown. He jump started Yale's offense with a 37-yard reception that set up the Bulldogs' opening score. In the third quarter, he added a 43-yard grab to put Yale in the red zone before finding the end zone on a 29-yard reception just a drive later.

• Dante Reno, in his Yale debut, completed 13 of 18 passes (72 percent) for 166 yards and a touchdown.

• Pitsenberger's three-touchdown day marked his first since his sophomore season, when he rushed for 131 yards and three scores in a double-overtime game against Princeton on Nov. 11, 2023.

• Nick Conforti went a perfect 4-for-4 on PATs.

PHIL STEELE PRESEASON ALL-IVY

• A total of eight Cornellians were selected to the Phil Steele All-Ivy preseason teams.

• Wideout Samuel Musungu and long snapper Nolan Albright were selected to the first team.

• Ryder Kurtz (TE), Alan Zhao (K), and Caden Lesiewicz (P) made the second team, and Max Van Fleet (DL), Joey Cheshire (LB), and Jeremiah Lewis (RB), were selected to the third team.

• The eight preseason honree's for the Big Red are the most since placing nine on the 2023 Phil Steele Preseason All-Ivy Teams.

OBSERVATIONS FROM WEEK ONE

• The Big Red defense, who came off a season in 2024 allowing the second most points and yards per game in the Ivy League, held UAlbany to 268 yards of total offense and 13 points in week one, marking the second time in the last three years that the Cornell defense allowed less than 275 yards in a season opener and the first time in the Swanstrom Era that the Big Red defense held an opponent under 300 yards of total offense.

• Ryder Kurtz picked up right where he left off in 2024, hauling in six catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. Kurtz has caught at least one pass per game in his collegiate career and is now tied at five with Matt Robbert '24 for the most career touchdowns by a Cornell tight end.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE: UALBANY GAME

• The Big Red's record in season openers is now 94-38-4.

• After a two-game win streak in season openers on the road, the Big Red has now lost consecutive contests away from home to open a season.

• The Great Danes lead the all-time series 2-1.

• The contest was the first played by a Big Red team in Albany since Nov. 10, 1894 when it tied Williams College 0-0.

• Cornell is now 1-1-2 in four games in the state capital with all three previous meetings coming in the 1890s against Williams.

• The Big Red now sports a 4-4 record all-time against current members of the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference, formerly the Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference.

• Besides its 1-2 mark against UAlbany, Cornell has also played Monmouth (1-1), New Hampshire (1-0) and Towson (1-1). The Big Red has never faced Bryant, Campbell, Elon, Hampton, Maine, North Carolina A&T, Rhode Island, Stony Brook, Villanova or William & Mary on the gridiron.

• Cornell's all-time record in September is 111-74-5 (.597).

• Cornell did not lose a fumble for a seventh consecutive game, its longest stretch without one since 2018 (eight games).

• The 268 yards allowed marked the second time in three years that the Big Red allowed 275 yards or fewer in the season opener (Lehigh with 239 yards in 2023).

• Cornell was 2-for-2 scoring in red zone chances, making the Big Red 43-of-51 (.843) in two seasons under head coach Dan Swanstrom - including 31 touchdowns (.608).

• The Big Red allowed UAlbany to complete just 13-of-30 passing attempts, its fewest number of completions in more than 30 attempts since Brown was 11-of-31 against the Big Red on Oct. 21, 2017 in Ithaca.

• Cornell is now 6-16 in night games played at 7 p.m. or later all-time (first night game at Navy in 1943).

• Cornell was the last college football team in the country to kick off the 2025 season when kickoff came at 7:02 p.m.

• Junior All-American tight end Ryder Kurtz now has a reception in all 11 career varsity contests after catching six passes for 68 yards at UAlbany.

• His five career touchdowns match the school record for tight ends held by Matt Robbert '24.

• Senior safety Damon Barnes became the 140th player in school history to surpass 100 career tackles with his five stops against UAlbany (now up to 101).

• Freshman Ja'Von Broussard had a pair of catches for 19 yards in his collegiate debut, becoming the first Big Red freshman with multiple catches in a season opener since Eric Gallman III hauled in three passes for 36 yards and a touchdown at Delaware on Sept. 16, 2017.

• Senior linebacker Joey Cheshire tied a career-best 10 tackles and added two quarterback hurries.

• Fifth-year senior Michael O'Keefe posted eight tackles and his second career interception.

• Sophomore Keith Williams Jr. posted career highs of seven tackles and posted his first two tackles for loss.

• Sophomore Cooper Cameron had his first four career tackles, including a pair for a loss.

• Junior Devin Page's 57 rushing yards were the most by a Big Red quarterback making his starting debut since Mike Catanese ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-7 win at Marist in 2019.

• Junior place-kicker Alan Zhao has made 14 career field goals and his 14-of-15 career percentage is easily the best in school history.

• Zhao's 14 career field goals is tied for 11th all-time at Cornell and is two shy from reaching the top 10 (Nickolas Null '20 with 16).

• Senior wide receiver Doryn Smith has opened 21 consecutive games in the starting lineup - the longest stretch on the team (Dylan Page second with 12).

• The Big Red offensive line that featured Jackson Bradley, Tyler Dunn, Kevin Ma, Dylan Page and Ty Short in the starting lineup did not allow a sack. It was the 12th time in the past 16 games it has surrendered one or fewer and the seventh time over that span it allowed zero.

• Schoellkopf Field has been an indelible mark of Cornell football since it opened in 1915 and this year will be the 109th 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
• Cornell will open Ivy League play on Saturday, Sep. 27 when it travels to Yale for the 87th all-time meeting with the Bulldogs. 

• Kickoff is set for noon from New Haven, Conn.