Cornell football’s 28 seniors walked off Schoellkopf Field for the final time with a memorable win as all three phases of the game shined in a statement 39-22 victory over No. 24 Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon. The Big Red improved to 4-5 (3-3 Ivy) with the win, while the Big Green slipped to 7-2 (4-2 Ivy) and fell a game back of first-place Harvard atop the Ivy standings.
Senior Jameson Wang accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), sophomore place-kicker Alan Zhao tied a single-game school record with four field goals and the defense forced four turnovers with one turning into a Big Red score. The win marked Cornell’s first win over a ranked opponent on Schoellkopf Field since knocking off No. 18 Princeton 14-7 on Oct. 28, 2006. Head coach Dan Swanstrom‘s team was resilient (twice rallying after Dartmouth took the lead) and finishing the game strong (outscoring the Big Green 26-8 over the final 16:17).
Sophomore Samuel Musungu, who reached 1,000 career receiving yards last weekend, hit the 100-catch plateau with his six receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown. The score was his 10th of the season, making him just the fourth player at Cornell to reach double figures in touchdown catches in a season. Parker Woodring hauled in his fifth touchdown catch and matched Musungu with his six catches on the day. The running game was also effective, piling up 175 yards against a stout Dartmouth defense, with Ean Pope recording his second career 100-yard game with 111 yards on 26 carries. The offensive line allowed just one sack and kept Wang clean throughout the afternoon.
The defense made its mark, rebounding the right way after last week’s 67-49 loss to Penn. Cornell surrendered just 327 yards of offense, piled up five sacks and scoring on a Luke Banbury strip-sack that turned into a 22-yard return to paydirt for Hunter Sloan in the fourth quarter to essentially put the game away. Banbury ended the afternoon with 11 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, an interception and a pass breakup. Tyler Gibson and Michael O’Keefe also intercepted passes, with Gibson adding a sack. Muhammad-Ali Kobo made a pair of tackles for loss, including a sack.
Special teams had Zhao, who made all four field goal attempts, including a career-long 48-yarder, and also was 3-for-3 on PAT kicks with five of his nine kickoffs going through the end zone for touchbacks.
NEXT UP
• The Big Red will close out the 2024 season when it visits Columbia in a battle for the Empire State Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 12 p.m. at Wien Stadium.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• Cornell has a 66-40-3 lead in the all-time series, though the Lions have captured three consecutive victories.Â
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.