YALE at CORNELL
Sat., Sept. 28 – 2 p.m.
Schoellkopf Field
Ithaca, N.Y.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Team 151 opened the season with a thrilling, last-second victory at Holy Cross last week. Now, the Bulldogs turn their attention to the Ivy League opener Saturday at Cornell. Kickoff at Schoellkopf Field is slated for 2 p.m., and the game can be viewed on ESPN+ with Nick DeLuca and Ryan Gregware on the call.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
 
• Yale has opened Ivy League play against Cornell in every season since 2000. The Bulldogs are 16-7 in those 23 games.
 
• Yale is seeking its first 2-0 start since the 2019 Ivy League championship team won its first three games of the season.
 
• The Bulldogs faced some early adversity in last Saturday's win over Holy Cross. On the opening drive of the game, starting quarterback Grant Jordan suffered an injury. He was replaced by Brogan McCaughey, who went on to complete 18-of-32 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown. McCaughey also rushed for a touchdown – on the opening drive – and orchestrated a game-winning, nine-play, 64-yard drive that was capped by Nathan Denney's 3-yard touchdown run with 12 seconds left that snapped a 31-31 tie. Entering the game, McCaughey, a junior, had not thrown a pass at Yale.
 
• Jordan, who completed both of his pass attempts at Holy Cross after being named Yale's starting quarterback in the week leading up to the game, also had not thrown a pass at Yale entering the season. He made a brief appearance against Brown in 2022 and also played in the Morgan State game last year.
 
• McCaughey, Denney (80 rushing yards, 81 kick return yards), David Pantelis (95 receiving yards, 1 touchdown) and Sean Guyton (three pass breakups) were all named to the Ivy League Honor Roll on Monday.
 
• Mason Shipp had a career-high 74 receiving yards against the Crusaders. His five receptions matched his career high.
 
• The Bulldogs are coming off a memorable 2023 season. After dropping its first two games – to Holy Cross and Cornell - Yale won seven of its final eight games, including a 23-18 victory over Harvard in the finale that secured an Ivy championship. The Bulldogs, who finished 7-3 overall and 5-2 in Ivy play, shared the crown with Harvard and Dartmouth.
 
• Yale is the preseason favorite to earn a third straight Ivy title but by a narrow margin. In the official league preseason media poll, the Bulldogs received six of the 16 first-place votes and finished with 114 points, six more than second-place Harvard, which got seven first-place votes. Penn (2 first-place votes, 88 points) is picked third, while Princeton (1 first-place vote) and Dartmouth both had 80 points. Brown (56 points), Cornell (26) and Columbia (24) round out the poll.
 
• Yale is looking to win three straight Ivy titles for the first time since 1979-81.
 
• The Bulldogs return four All-Ivy selections from a year ago. Running back Josh Pitsenberger was a second team selection, while offensive lineman Michael Bennett, defensive lineman Alvin Gulley, Jr. and defensive back Sean Guyton were honorable mention selections. Pitsenberger, Gulley, Guyton, kick returner Joey Felton, tight end Ry Yates, and defensive lineman Dylan Yang were named preseason All-Ivy by college football analyst Phil Steele.
 
• Tony Reno, The Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of the Bulldogs who is in his 12th season at the helm, earned his 68th win at Yale last Saturday, moving him past Walter Camp for the third most coaching victories in school history.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale had its six-game winning streak against Cornell snapped last year at Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field when Jackson Kennedy's third field goal of the afternoon, a 37-yarder as time expired, lifted the Big Red to a 23-21 victory. The Bulldogs had a 14-3 halftime lead thanks to touchdowns from Tre Peterson (2-yard run) and Chase Nenad (48-yard reception on a flea flicker). Yale has won three straight games over the Big Red in Ithaca. Josh Pitsenberger rushed for three touchdowns in the victory at Schoellkopf Field in 2022. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 52-31-2. The first meeting between the teams came in 1889.
 
SCOUTING CORNELL
 
The Big Red opened the season with a hard-fought 41-24 loss at Colgate. Cornell features one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the league in Jameson Wang, who was named to analyst Phil Steele's Ivy League preseason first team. Wang threw for 313 yards and rushed for 41 last week against Colgate. It was his fourth career game with 350 or more yards of total offense. Sophomore Brendan Lee led the Cornell receiving core with 89 yards on 4 receptions. Wang's favorite target was Samuel Musungu, who had seven grabs for 77 yards and a touchdown. Dan Swanstrom is in his first season as the head coach of the Big Red. Swanstrom spent five seasons as head coach at Ithaca College, compiling a 32-11 record and winning at least eight games in all four seasons.