QUICK HITS
• Cornell will attempt to close out its 2015 campaign with consecutive wins in back-to-back trophy games while spoiling Penn's bid for an Ivy title when the two teams meet on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. at Franklin Field.
• The game can be viewed on the Ivy League Digital Network, while Barry Leonard and Tom Malone will be on the radio call on WHCU 95.9 FM/870 AM.
• The teams will be meeting for the Trustees' Cup for the 21st time, with the Quakers holding a 13-7 edge in the series since 1995.
• Cornell will say goodbye to 22 playing seniors who have helped the program start the long climb back to the top of the Ivy League standings.
• The Quakers will have much to play for besides the Trustees' Cup, as a win on Senior Day would also give the team at least a share of the Ivy League title.
• Cornell and Penn have met eight times in the season's final weekend since 1972 with one of the teams vying for at least a share of the Ivy title. The Quakers won five times (three for titles, two as spoiler) and Cornell won three (three for titles, none as spoiler).
• Record-breaking senior running back Luke Hagy will play his final game in a Cornell uniform after becoming the first Ivy League player to reach 2,000 rushing and 1,500 receiving yards in a career.
• The Big Red is 4-1 in trophy series games under head coach David Archer '05, including 1-1 against the Quakers.
• The last time they met in Philadelphia, Cornell used a blocked extra point in the final minute to clinch a 42-41 victory over Penn at Franklin Field in the final collegiate game for Jeff Mathews '14.
• A win over Penn would send Cornell into the offseason with a two-game win streak and set the Big Red up for bigger things in 2016.
• All the motivation they need rests on the other sidelines, as Penn is playing for an Ivy title after going just 2-8 a year ago.
 • David Archer '05, the Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Cornell Football, is in his third season at the helm of the Big Red (5-24 overall, .172; 4-16, Ivy, .200).
• Archer is the second youngest Division I head football coach in the country.
• He had been an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at his alma mater for six years.
• Archer was hired as head coach on Jan. 3, 2013.

THE SERIES
• This will be the 122nd meeting between Cornell and Penn, with the Quakers holding a 70-46-5 lead in the series.
• The series is the fifth-most played in college football history.
• The two teams first met in 1893, a 50-0 Penn win.
• Ten years ago, Cornell claimed a 16-7 win at Franklin Field for the 600th victory in program history.
• Last season, the Quakers regained possession of the Trustees' Cup with a 34-26 win in Ithaca in Al Bagnoli's final game as head coach at Penn.
 
ABOUT PENN
• Penn will be playing for its first Ivy League championship since 2012 after upsetting preseason prognostications en route to a 6-3 overall mark and a 5-1 league record.
• The Quakers snapped Harvard's 22-game win streak with last weekend's 35-25 victory over the 12th-ranked Crimson, saving Penn's Ivy record 24-game win streak.
• Sophomore wide receiver Justin Watson was named national player of the week after piling up 249 all-purpose yards in the win.
• Either Penn and Harvard have claimed a share of the last eight Ivy League titles, a number that will increase to nine with a win for either team.
• Penn defeated No. 4 Villanova earlier this season, marking the first time the Quakers won a pair of games against nationally ranked teams in the same season.
• First year head coach Ray Priore had spent his last 16 seasons as defensive coordinator and secondary coach and nine as the associate head coach under legendary Al Bagnoli.

A WIN OVER PENN WOULD ...
• end Cornell's season with a 2-8 record overall and a 2-5 Ivy mark.
• send the Big Red into the offseason with consecutive wins.
• cut the Quakers' lead in the all-time series to 70-47-5.
• make Cornell 8-13 against the Quakers in the Trustees' Cup series.
• be the third straight over Penn in Philadelphia, Pa.
• be the 633rd in program history (12th-most in the Football Championship Subdivision).
 
THE TRUSTEES' CUP
• Since 1995, the winner of the Cornell-Penn football game has been awarded the Trustees' Cup.
• Alumni from Penn and Cornell gathered at the New York Penn Club on Sept. 6, 1995 for the dedication of the Trustees' Cup, which thereafter has been presented to the winner of the annual football game.
• The idea evolved from a series of discussions between officials and alumni of both universities, focusing on what would be the best way to honor one of college football's most celebrated rivalries.
• The decision was made to establish an award to be presented at an annual luncheon, with the winning team taking the prize home and displaying it for a year.
• Penn leads the Trustees' Cup series 13-7, though the teams have split the last four meetings.
 
CORNELL LOOKING TO PLAY SPOILER
• Cornell and Penn will be meeting in a season finale for the ninth time since 1972 with one or both playing for at least a share of the Ivy League title.
• The teams have also played numerous times with a sole share of the title on the line, but a share had already been clinched.
• The Quakers have played spoiler twice, beating the Big Red in both 1995 and 1999 to keep Cornell from a title.
• Penn is 3-1 when it plays Cornell for at least a share of the title, winning in 1986, 1998 and 2000 and losing in 1988.
• The two teams have played each other for the title three times, with Cornell winning in 1988 and Penn winning in 1986 and 2000.
 
FINAL GAME FOR BIG RED SENIORS
• The Cornell football program's 22 seniors will be playing their final game this weekend.
• Cornell's seniors are CB Del Barnes, OL Daniel Cunningham, TE Matt Doneth, QB James Few, WR VJ Fitzpatrick, OLB JJ Fives, OLB Jonathan Ford, FB Julian Gallo, RB Luke Hagy, S Rush Imhotep, TE Andrew Johnson, DL Brett Jones, WR Chris Lenz, OLB Bobby Marani, WR Ben Rogers, P/PK Ardian Sahinovic, OLB Debo Sodeke, S/OLB Twan Terrell, LS Matt Testani, CB Jarrod Watson-Lewis, OLB James White, OL Zach Wilk.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Big Red defense posted its first shutout in 22 years, special teams contributed the only points of the day and the Cornell offense ran out the clock when it needed to in ensuring the Empire State Bowl stays in the trophy case on East Hill.
• In a game full of emotion, the home team earned a hard-fought 3-0 win over Columbia at Schoellkopf Field, sending the Big Red's seniors out with a win in their final home game.
• Freshman Zach Mays' 35-yard field goal in the first quarter was the lone scoring and Cornell's defense did the rest.
• The Big Red forced a season-high three turnovers, limited the Lions to 302 yards of offense and allowed only one drive of more than seven plays or 35 yards - Columbia's final one of the day when a 44-yard field goal into the wind fell well short.
• Needing to eat out the final 5::07 to snap a nine-game skid dating back to last year, Cornell pounded out three first downs, with sophomore Jack Gellatly running for 16 yards for the first and converting a third-and-1 against a stout Lion defense for the second.
• The third came courtesy of sophomore quarterback Jake Jatis, who went around the end for 16 yards on a decisive third-and-5 and then slid in bounds, allowing the Big Red to get into victory formation two plays later.
• The defense made plays all night, with senior JJ Fives recording seven tackles and a sack and fellow captain Rush Imhotep making six stops.
• Junior Miles Norris posted a game-hight eight stops and forced a fumble that was recovered by sophomore Seth Hope.
• Sophomores Sean Scullen and Nick Gesualdi also intercepted passes, as the Cornell defense forced turnovers on the first three Columbia possessions of the second half, turned the Lions over on downs on the fourth and forced the visitors into a missed field goal on the fifth after a Kurt Frimel sack on third down knocked them out of effective field goal range.
• Cornell won despite amassing just 193 yards of offense, including a hard-gained 60 rushing yards on 24 carries by Luke Hagy.
• Junior punter Chris Fraser flipped field position despite primarily kicking into the win, averaging a solid 41.2 yards on his eight punts, including pinning the Lions inside their own 5 prior to the Lions' last possession that ended in the missed field goal.


 
SOME NOTES TO KNOW
• With 2,254 career rushing yards, senior running back Luke Hagy sits sixth all-time at Cornell. He is 147 yards behind Luke Siwula '08 for fifth place.
• Hagy also sits fifth on the school's all-purpose yardage list with 3,871 yards - 129 yards away from becoming the fourth Cornell player to reach 4,000 career all-purpose yards.
• Hagy became the first Ivy League player to reach 2,000 rushing yards and 1,500 receiving yards in a career.
• Hagy is the 29th player in school history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards and the first to hit the century mark in both rushing and receiving at Cornell (second in Ivy history, joining Princeton's Keith Elias).
• Hagy is one of just six players in school history to throw, pass and catch touchdown passes in their career. He joins Derrick Harmon '84, John Tagliaferri '86, Steve Lutz '89, Luke Siwula '08 and Ryan Houska '12 on that exclusive list.
• Senior Ben Rogers' 283 all-purpose yards against Princeton ranks fourth in a single game (dating back to 1994).
• Junior punter Chris Fraser has earned first-team All-Ivy honors in each of his first two seasons. The last Cornellian to earn back-to-back first-team all-league accolades was Kevin Boothe '05.
• Fraser, who ranks tied for third nationally in punting average (45.0 yards per punt), has led the Ivy League in punting average by at least two yards per kick in each of his first two seasons. He's nearly three yards clear of his opposition through nine games.
• Fraser was named to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America third team, joining fellow Ivy Leaguers Seth DeValve (Princeton, wide receiver) and Cole Toner (Harvard, offensive line) on the third team as the lone representatives from the conference.
•Sophomore Jake Jatis earned five starts under center a year ago, becoming the second Cornellian to earn a start at quarterback as a freshman, joining all-time Ivy leading passer Jeff Mathews '13.
• Cornell has had the last two Ivy League Rookies of the Year (Chris Fraser in 2013, Nick Gesualdi in 2014). No Ivy team has ever crowned Rookie of the Year three years in a row.
• The Big Red played its 99th all-time game vs. Dartmouth, its 98th game vs. Princeton and its 97th game against Colgate this year.
• The Big Red offense hasn't been shut out in 58 games, with the last coming against Penn (34-0 to close out 2009).
• The last time Cornell was picked to finish eighth in the preseason media poll (2004), the Big Red became the second Ivy League team ever to go from an 0-7 campaign to a winning league record (4-3) in the span of a year.
• Since taking over the program, head coach David Archer '05 is 4-1 in the trophy series games against Columbia (Empire Bowl, 3-0) and Penn (Trustees' Cup, 1-1).
• Cornell reached 23,000 points in school history in its season opener against Bucknell. The program enters the weekend having scored 23,114 points over 1,173 games — an average of 19.7 points per game.
 
HAGY NOMINATED FOR GOOD WORKS TEAM
• Senior running back Luke Hagy has been nominated for the 2015 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, the most esteemed off the field honor in college football.
• The Good Works Team recognizes college football players from across the country who exemplify a superior commitment to community service and volunteerism.
• Hagy is one of just two Ivy League players nominated, along with Yale's Sebastian Little.
• Comprised of 11 players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and 11 players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III and the NAIA, the final roster of 22 award recipients will be unveiled in September.
• In order to meet the criteria set forth by Allstate and the AFCA, each player must be actively involved with a charitable organization or service group while maintaining a strong academic standing.
 
GOGOLAK BROTHERS EARN NFF HONOR
• Cornell football great Pete Gogolak '64 and his brother, Princeton star Charlie Gogolak, have been named the National Football Foundation's Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award Recipients for 2015.
• The first soccer-style place-kicker in collegiate football history, Pete '64 set a national major college record of 44 consecutive kicking conversions from 1961-63.
• First presented in 1974, the NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award provides national recognition to those whose efforts to support the NFF and its goals have been local in nature or who have made significant contributions to the game of football either to the manner in which it is played and coached or to the manner in which it is enjoyed by spectators.
• The Gogolaks become the 39th and 40th recipients of the award.
• The Gogolaks will be honored at the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
 
THE WILSON PROJECT
• Junior tight end Nick Bland initiated "The Wilson Project" this fall as a way to give other members of the program an experience similar to his after having a ball signed for a family friend whose father passed away suddenly.
• Realizing the power of his simple gift of a football, he arranged to have 150 footballs for his teammates and staff to sign and provide to someone who has had a great effect on their life or someone they thought could use a positive influence.
• The players and staff had the balls signed by everyone in the program and then shipped or hand delivered, along with a note as why the recipient was getting the ball.
READ MORE ABOUT THE WILSON PROJECT HERE


 
FOOTBALL GETS NCAA RECOGNITION (AGAIN)
• Football has been publicly recognized by the NCAA for its Academic Progress Report (APR) score being in the top 10 percent nationally each year since the scores were first tabulated in 2004-05.
• Three Cornell sports (football, men's golf and women's soccer) have been publicly recognized each year since the APR was first released and are among just 129 teams across the country with that accomplishment.
• Cornell's score of 986 (out of 1,000) this past year is tied for its third-highest ever, behind only the 987 it had scored the previous two years.
• Only six FCS schools have been honored each year in football (Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Penn and Yale), with five coming from the Ivy League.
• The APR measures semester-by-semester records for every individual team in Division I with regard to each team members' continuing eligibility, retention and progress toward graduation.

BIG RED INVOLVED IN STORIED RIVALRIES
• The Big Red is involved in three of the top 20 most-played rivalries in college football.
• The Cornell-Penn series ranks fifth in most games played, a total that will reach 122 this season.
• The 102 meetings between Cornell and Columbia ranks 12th, while the Cornell-Colgate rivalry stands 17th with 97 games played.
• The Cornell-Dartmouth and the Cornell-Penn series are the second-longest uninterrupted active series, as the teams have met every season since 1919, a span of 96 years. They trail only the Lafayette-Lehigh series, which has been played every year since 1897.
 
STATING THE STATES
• Cornell's 108-player roster is made up of student-athletes from 28 states, as well as Canada, South Africa and two from the District of Columbia.
• A team-high 15 players come to Cornell from California, while another 12 attended school in bordering Pennsylvania, 11 come from the home state of New York and 10 reside in Texas.
• Seven players are from Michigan, six players are from Maryland and five apiece come from Georgia and Virginia.
 
CORNELL FOOTBALL AT 128 YEARS
• This is the 129th year since the start of Cornell football, but it will be the 128th season.
• The first official Big Red football team was formed in 1887, and Cornell has sponsored a squad every year since except 1918 during World War I.
• The Big Red has an overall record of 632-507-34 (.553) in its 128 years of football.
• The program's 632 wins rank 12th among all FCS schools.
• Over the years, Cornell has taken on 89 different opponents, with its most frequent opponent being Penn (121 meetings).
 
CORNELLIANS IN THE PROS
• Cornell currently has four active players in professional football — two in the NFL (Bryan Walters, Jacksonville Jaguars; JC Tretter, Green Bay Packers) and two in the CFL (Jeff Mathews and Luke Tasker, Hamilton Tiger-Cats).
• Walters is having a career year with 27 catches for 311 yards and a touchdown in eight contests (one start) for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• See his 20-yard touchdown catch agains the Jets last week (his first career regular season score) by clicking here.
• In 29 career games, Walters has 39 catches for 395 yards and a touchdown for San Diego, Seattle and Jacksonville and has also returned kicks (six for 123 yards - 20.5 yards per return) and punts (42 for 278 yards - 6.6 yards per return).
• Tretter has played in 17 career contests with the Green Bay Packers on the offensive line.
• He is also on the hands-team on special teams, recovering a pop-up kick in the 27-20 win over the San Diego Chargers earlier this season.
• Mathews is starting at quarterback for former head coach Kent Austin in Hamilton and has completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,456 yards and six touchdowns with eight interceptions and has scored six times on the ground.
• Tasker, in his third season with Hamilton, has caught 70 passes for 978 yards and six touchdowns.
 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
• Cornell holds claim to five national titles in its storied football history.
• The Big Red claimed at least a share of the 1915 (Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, National Championship Foundation and Parke Davis), 1921 (Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation and Parke Davis), 1922 (Helms, Parke Davis), 1923 (Sagarin) and 1939 (Litkenhous, Sagarin) titles.
• All five teams went undefeated and dominated their opponents.
• The 1915 team was 9-0 and outscored its opponents 287-50 with four shutouts.
• The 1921, 1922 and 1923 squads each went 8-0 and outscored their opponents 392-21, 339-27 and 320-33, respectively.
• The teams allowed more than one touchdown in a game just once during that 24-game span while scoring 40 or more points 14 times.
• The 1939 team was 8-0 and defeated Syracuse, Penn State and Ohio State.
 
60TH SEASON OF IVY LEAGUE ATHLETICS
• Throughout the 2015-16 season, the Ivy League will be celebrating its 60th season with impactful content across IvyLeagueSports.com, The Ivy League Digital Network and the League's social media outlets.
• Be on the lookout for the #IvyAt60 hashtag to keep up the coverage of the League's 60th season.
 
NEXT UP
• The 2015 season is complete. The Big Red will kick off 2016 with a road contest at Bucknell on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016.