ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell spring football practice will end with a bang, as the Big Red will play its annual spring game under the lights at Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, April 29 beginning at 7 p.m. Cornell's last of 12 spring practices will conclude with a controlled scrimmage that will feature 50-60 live plays. It will follow a lacrosse doubleheader, as the women will attempt to knock off Harvard for the Ivy League title at noon before the men face longtime rival Princeton at 3 p.m.

Cornell was one of the most improved teams in the FCS a year ago, finishing with a three-game improvement in going 4-6 - with three of its six losses coming by a touchdown or less. The Big Red had its first winning road record since 1994 and posted just the ninth 3-0 start since the formation of the Ivy League in 1956. Included was a 39-38 win at No. 25 Colgate, the program's first road win over a top 25 team since 1950 and its first win over a ranked team anywhere in 10 years. The Big Red rallied from a 23-point deficit against the 2015 Patriot League champion and NCAA quarterfinalist, its largest overcome since 2000.

Safety Nick Gesualdi earned All-America honors, punter Chris Fraser became the school's first four-time, first-team All-Ivy pick on the gridiron. The duo joined running back Chris Walker as All-Ivy first team selections, just the third time in the last 20 seasons Cornell had three first-team picks in the same season. Away from the field, huge gains in the weight room have also been evident with the returners. Add in All-Ivy quarterback Dalton Banks, fifth-year seniors Miles Norris (MLB), Collin Shaw (WR) and Justin Solomon (OLB) and Academic All-American Seth Hope (DE) and the Big Red has plenty of pieces in place heading into the 2017 campaign.

For the second straight year, Cornell entered spring ball with depth and ever-improving talent with nearly 90 players participating in spring practice. The opportunities to evaluate personnel will set the depth chart entering fall camp, when Cornell will also welcome 32 newcomers. All told, four starters return on offense, nine come back on defense and the team's place-kicker, long snapper and both kickoff and punt returners are expected to suit up in the fall.

The Big Red opens the 2017 season at perennial FCS power Delaware on Saturday, Sept. 16 in Newark, Del.