Cornell Big Red football

Cornell Big Red
2015 Cornell Big Red football team
First season	1887
Head coach	David Archer 3rd year, 5–25 (.167)
Stadium	Schoellkopf Field
Seating capacity	25,597
Field surface	Artificial turf
Location	Ithaca, New York
Conference	Ivy League
All-time record	623–477–34 (.564)
Claimed nat'l titles	5
Conference titles	3
Consensus All-Americans	16
Colors	Carnelian red and White
Fight song	Give My Regards to Davy
Rivals	Penn Quakers Dartmouth Big Green
Website	web.insidecornellfootball.com/bigred

The Cornell Big Red football team represents Cornell University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) college football competition as a member of the Ivy League. It is one of the oldest and most storied football programs in the nation. The team has attained five national championships and has had seven players inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

History

In 1869, the first intermural football on the Cornell campus took place, although it did not resemble the modern sport and there were 40 players per side. In 1874, the university president and founder, Andrew Dickson White, disallowed a team of Cornell students from traveling to Cleveland, Ohio to play a Michigan team. White said, "I refuse to let 40 of our boys travel 400 miles merely to agitate a bag of wind." On November 12, 1887, Cornell played its first intercollegiate game against Union College, losing 24–10. The following year, the Cornellians record their first win by beating Palmyra, 26–0, and went on to finish the season with a 4–2 record. In 1889, Cornell played the University of Michigan in Buffalo, NY and beat Michigan 66-0.

In 1892, Glenn "Pop" Warner first played the game and the Cornellians finished the season having posted a 10–1 mark. Two years later Warner rose to become the team captain. After college, Warner began his coaching career and returned to Cornell in 1897. That year, he led the team to a 5–3–1 record. The following season, Cornell compiled a 10–2 record. Warner then moved on to coach the Carlisle Indians football team.

The 1904 team coached by Warner (not pictured).

In 1901, under first-year coach Ray Starbuck, the Cornellians outscored their opponents 324–38 and won 11 games for the only time in school history. Pop Warner returned as head coach from 1904 to 1906, during which time his teams posted a 21–8 record.

In 1915, Cornell won all nine of its games. They handed Harvard their first loss in 50 consecutive games, 10–0. Gil Dobie took over as head coach in 1920. In his first season, the Cornellians posted a 6–2 record, but in each of the subsequent three years they finished 8–0. Cornell was awarded the national championship for each of those three seasons by at least one selector. In those seasons, Cornell outscored its opponents, 1,051 points to 71.

Cornell defeated Penn State, 21–6, in 1938 to begin a school record unbeaten streak of 16 games. The Big Red compiled an 8–0 record in 1939 for its fifth national championship. The possibility of a Rose Bowl invitation that season was rebuffed by the university administration. The unbeaten streak came to an end in 1940 with the infamous Fifth Down Game. After the game, Cornell voluntarily forfeited to Dartmouth when review of film showed the Big Red had inadvertently used five downs. The ESPN College Football Encyclopedia named the game, and Cornell's honorable concession, the second greatest moment in college football history.

In 1951, Cornell beat defending Big Ten and Rose Bowl champion Michigan, 20–7. Between 1969 and 1971, running back Ed Marinaro broke numerous NCAA records with a career total of 1,881 yards and 24 touchdowns. His senior year, he finished as runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Pat Sullivan of Auburn. That same season, Cornell finished 6–1 to secure a share of the Ivy League conference championship for the first time. Cornell twice more attained the title, shared in 1988 with Penn and shared with Dartmouth in 1990.

Achievements

The Cornell Big Red have compiled the following team and individual achievements:

National championships

Year	Selectors	Coach	Record
1915	Helms, Houlgate, NCF, Parke H. Davis	Al Sharpe	9–0
1921	Helms, Houlgate, NCF, Parke H. Davis	Gil Dobie	8–0
1922	Helms, Parke H. Davis	Gil Dobie	8–0
1923	Sagarin Ratings	Gil Dobie	8–0
1939	Litkenhous, Sagarin	Carl Snavely	8–0

Conference championships

Year	Conference	Coach	Overall record	Conference record
1971	Ivy League	Jack Musick	8–1	6–1
1988	Ivy League	Maxie Baughan	7–2–1	6–1
1990	Ivy League	Jim Hofher	7–3	6–1

Notable players

Consensus All-Americans

• 1895 Clinton Wyckoff, B
• 1900 Raymond Starbuck, B
• 1901 William Warner, G
• 1901 Sanford Hunt, G
• 1902 William Warner, G
• 1906 Elmer Thompson, G
• 1906 William Newman, C
• 1908 Bernard O'Rourke, C
• 1914 John O'Hearn, E
• 1914 Charles Barrett, B
• 1915 Murray Shelton, E
• 1915 Charles Barrett, B
• 1921 Edgar Kaw, B
• 1922 Edgar Kaw, B
• 1923 George Pfann, B
• 1932 Jose Martinez Zorrilla, E
• 1938 Brud Holland, E
• 1939 Nick Drahos, T
• 1940 Nick Drahos, T
• 1971 Ed Marinaro, RB (unanimous selection)

Players in the NFL Draft

Key

B	Back	K	Kicker	NT	Nose tackle
C	Center	LB	Linebacker	FB	Fullback
DB	Defensive back	P	Punter	HB	Halfback
DE	Defensive end	QB	Quarterback	WR	Wide receiver
DT	Defensive tackle	RB	Running back	G	Guard
E	End	T	Offensive tackle	TE	Tight end

Year	Round	Pick in round	Overall pick	Player	Team	Position
2013	4	25	122	J.C. Tretter	Packers	T
2006	6	7	176	Kevin Boothe	Raiders	T
1997	4	18	114	Seth Payne	Jaguars	DT
1997	4	27	123	Chad Levitt	Raiders	RB
1984	9	24	248	Derrick Harmon	49ers	RB
1974	9	26	234	Bob Lally	Dolphins	LB
1974	14	22	360	Mike Phillips	Bengals	T
1972	2	24	50	Ed Marinaro	Vikings	RB
1969	10	23	257	John Sponheimer	Chiefs	DT
1967	9	11	222	Pete Larsen	Redskins	RB
1964	8	11	109	Gary Wood	Giants	QB
1956	18	7	212	Stan Intihar	Packers	E
1956	28	2	327	Bill DeGraaf	Steelers	B
1955	13	3	148	Len Oniskey	Redskins	T
1954	28	8	333	John Gerdes	Eagles	T
1951	26	4	307	Jeff Fleischmann	Cardinals	B
1949	8	10	81	Bob Dean	Eagles	B
1949	18	6	177	Hillary Chollet	Rams	B
1949	25	3	244	Paul Girolamo	Yanks	B
1947	5	4	29	Frank Wydo	Steelers	T
1946	9	2	72	Al Dekdebrun	Yanks	B
1946	25	6	236	Chick Davidson	Packers	T
1945	22	4	223	Walt Kretz	Yanks	B
1945	22	7	226	Chick Davidson	Redskins	T
1944	25	7	259	Joe Martin	Redskins	B
1944	30	2	309	Howard Blose	Dodgers	B
1941	10	7	87	Walt Matuszczak	Giants	B
1941	11	4	94	Mick Drahos	Rams	T
1941	17	4	154	Kirk Hershey	Rams	E
1941	22	2	204	Mort Landsbert	Steelers	B
1940	21	4	194	Vince Eichler	Packers	B
1939	10	4	84	Bill McKeever	Eagles	T
1939	11	3	93	Sid Roth	Rams	G

Television

Cornell football currently has a deal with iBN Sports to host live and on-demand home games with their Cornell football channel.

External links

• Official website