Cornell hosts Penn at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, seeking a second straight Trustees' Cup victory and its first home win over the Quakers since 2006.
Both teams enter 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Ivy League. ESPN+ will stream the game, the 132nd meeting between the schools, according to Cornell Athletics.
The Big Red begins a two-game homestand after three consecutive one-score games, including a 21-20 loss at Princeton and a 38-31 overtime loss at Brown. A win would bring Cornell to .500 with two games remaining and keep alive its chance for a first winning season since 2005.
Cornell's offense faces a strong Penn defense
Cornell leads the Ivy League in scoring at 29.7 points per game. Its 410.6 yards per game rank second in the league and 25th in the Football Championship Subdivision, while its 171.1 rushing yards per game rank second in the Ivy League and 38th nationally.
The rushing average would be Cornell's best since 2006. Its 4.7 yards per carry would be its highest since 1990.
The Big Red has 19 rushing touchdowns through seven games, already exceeding last season's 18. Two more would match its 2007 total. Seventeen of Cornell's 21 red-zone touchdowns have come on the ground, while opponents have eight rushing touchdowns all season.
Cornell has lost one fumble, tied for third-fewest in the FCS, and allowed six sacks, tied for the Ivy League's best rate at 0.86 per game. It has scored on 27 of 30 red-zone trips and converted all 25 extra-point attempts.
Penn counters with a defense allowing 285.9 yards per game, sixth nationally, and 160.9 passing yards per game, eighth. The Quakers rank seventh nationally in pass efficiency defense, third in first downs allowed and 17th in scoring defense at 20.9 points per game.
Linebacker Zach Darche has 67 tackles, averaging 9.6 per game. Connor Martin leads the Ivy League with nine tackles for loss and also has two sacks, seven quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. Joey Holliday has four sacks and two forced fumbles.
Bass-Sulpizio leads balanced rushing attack
Senior quarterback Garrett Bass-Sulpizio leads the Ivy League and ranks 18th nationally with 274 yards of total offense per game. His nine rushing touchdowns lead the league and are the most by a Cornell player since Ryan Kuhn's 12 in 2005.
Bass-Sulpizio has completed 62% of his passes and accounted for 96 points, ranking third and second in the league, respectively. His 3,474 career passing yards place him eighth at Cornell, 205 behind Richie Kenney. His 331 completions are three behind Mike Hood, and his 17 career rushing touchdowns tie Pete Larson for 12th. Another rushing score would tie Gary Wood and Joe Holland for 10th.
Junior Jordan Triplett leads Cornell with 393 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns after a season-high 21 carries at Princeton. Bass-Sulpizio has 304 rushing yards, followed by Ean Pope with 189, Josiah Allen with 90, Ty Doughty with 86, John McAuliffe with 80 and Brendan Lee with 77.
Pope averages 8.2 yards per carry, with a season-long 61-yard run against Harvard. Cornell has generated 65 rushing first downs to opponents' 51.
Lee leads the team with 486 all-purpose yards and has five touchdowns, three rushing and two receiving. He is also 2-for-2 passing for 62 yards and a touchdown, including a 29-yard completion at Princeton. Lee is 93 receiving yards from 1,000 for his career and was named a Campbell Trophy semifinalist among a record 206 nominees.
Senior Samuel Musungu, coming off a season-high 92 receiving yards at Princeton, has 136 career catches, 10th in school history and five behind Zac Canty. His 1,463 receiving yards rank 12th, two behind Jesse Baker and 50 behind 10th-place John Kellner. His 14 touchdown catches rank sixth; another would tie Grant Gellatly and Shaun Hawkins for fourth.
Senior tight end Ryder Kurtz needs four catches to reach 100 for his career. His 1,115 receiving yards are 16 short of Lucas Shapiro for 25th in program history.
Defense, special teams provide support
Senior safety Tommy MacPherson leads Cornell with 49 tackles and six tackles for loss. His four interceptions rank second nationally at 0.57 per game and match David Jones' 2017 total. Another would be Cornell's most in a season since Nick Gesualdi had six in 2016.
The Big Red leads the Ivy League with 18 sacks, averaging 2.57 per game, 14th nationally. Cornell allows 118.9 rushing yards per game, 20th in the FCS, and 3.5 yards per carry.
Cornell controlled possession for a season-high 39:09 at Princeton and converted eight of 17 third downs, including five of six in the second quarter. It also ranks sixth nationally in fewest penalties, with 37, and 10th in penalty yards, with 355.
Caden Lesiewicz averages 43.2 yards per punt, with eight inside the 20 and a long of 75. Cornell ranks 25th in net punting at 39 yards. Pope averages 25.2 yards on 10 kickoff returns and 91.4 all-purpose yards per game.
Quakers arrive after loss to Brown
Penn lost 36-17 to Brown last week under first-year coach Rick Santos. Its wins have come against Bucknell, Howard and Yale.
The Quakers average 18.4 points and 328.4 yards per game. Their 98.3 rushing yards per game rank last in the Ivy League, and they have scored on 19 of 27 red-zone trips. Penn has outscored opponents 52-33 in fourth quarters.
Quarterbacks Miles Teodecki and Karson Siqueiros-Lasky have thrown for 812 and 793 yards, respectively, with four and six touchdown passes. Teodecki also leads Penn with 225 rushing yards. Isaac Lee has 32 catches for 405 yards, Mason Page has 29 for 386 yards and three touchdowns, and Ronan Johannson has 21 for 275 yards.
Jayden Drayton leads the Ivy League with 496 combined return yards, eighth nationally, averaging 23.9 yards on kickoffs and 7.6 on punts. He also has 11 pass breakups. Kicker Mason Walters is 6-for-11 on field goals, with a long of 53 and two makes in three attempts from at least 50 yards.
Big Red seeks to end home skid in series
Penn leads the series 79-47-5. Cornell is 12-17-1 at home against the Quakers and has lost the past eight home meetings, dating to its 28-27 victory in 2006.
Cornell won last year's game 39-17 at Franklin Field, producing 448 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Bass-Sulpizio completed 24 of 31 passes for 265 yards, threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score. Triplett rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown, TJ Hamilton caught five passes for 123 yards, and Gannon Carothers scored twice on the ground. Cornell is seeking consecutive wins over Penn for the first time since 2005-06.
Cornell coach Dan Swanstrom previously coached Penn's quarterbacks from 2014-16 and returned as offensive coordinator in 2022-23. Cornell quarterbacks coach Trey Flowers is a former Penn running back who graduated in 2022.
The Big Red's season has included a 48-38 victory over then-No. 4 Lehigh on Oct. 17, its first win over a top-five opponent since 1939. Cornell amassed 600 yards, including 234 rushing, against a defense that entered allowing 80.3 rushing yards per game. Bass-Sulpizio accounted for 469 yards, sixth-most in school history. Wins over Lehigh and Yale gave Cornell two victories over ranked opponents for the first time since 2006.
Cornell's home finale is Nov. 14 against Dartmouth, with kickoff at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
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