Cornell University’s football team will travel to Philadelphia to face the University of Pennsylvania in their 131st all-time meeting on Saturday, November 8. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Franklin Field and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Cornell enters the matchup with a 3-4 overall record and a 2-2 mark in Ivy League play, following a recent win over Princeton. Penn holds a 5-2 overall record and is 3-1 in conference games, having defeated Brown in their last outing.
This rivalry, one of the oldest in college football, includes the Trustees’ Cup and has traditionally alternated between home fields. Penn leads the series 78-47-5 and won last year’s meeting 67-49. Cornell last won at Franklin Field in November 2021.
Head Coach Dan Swanstrom is leading Cornell for his second season. He was appointed as The Roger J. Weiss ’61 Head Coach of Cornell Football by Dr. Nicki Moore, the Meakem Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education, in December of 2023. Swanstrom is the program’s 28th head coach.
“Under Swanstrom’s leadership, Cornell posted a 4-6 overall record and 3-4 Ivy League mark in 2024, but the numbers that truly tell the story lie in the team’s offensive transformation. The offensive-minded coach orchestrated a remarkable turnaround, elevating the Big Red from averaging just over 18 points per game in 2023 to more than 30 points per game in 2024. This explosive improvement propelled Cornell to third place in the Ivy League in total yards per game, passing yards per game, and scoring, while the rushing attack also cracked the conference’s top five. Swanstrom saw seven players recieve All-Ivy honors in year one, including Seniors Luke Banbury ’25 and Jameson Wang ’25 who were chosen to the All-Ivy League first team. Samuel Musungu and Jack Powers ’25 were selected to the second team, while Damon Barnes, Ryder Kurtz, and Alan Zhao were honorable mentions. Wang was also a finalist for Asa S. Bushnell Cup Offensive Player of the Year and Walter Peyton Awards and Kurtz was an Ap All-American honorable mention.”
Before joining Cornell, Swanstrom coached at Ithaca College for five seasons with notable success including three Liberty League titles.
A win against Penn would give Cornell its first four-game winning streak since 1999 and mark its 200th Ivy League victory.
Last week against Princeton, Cornell gained over 200 rushing yards with contributions from several players including Jordan Triplett (72 yards), John McAuliffe (56 yards), and quarterback Garrett Bass-Sulpizio (41 yards). The defense forced key turnovers that contributed to their comeback after trailing early.
Junior tight end Ryder Kurtz stands out as one of the top performers this season among Ivy League tight ends with an average of over fifty-three receiving yards per game.
Defensively, Cornell ranks fourth within the Ivy League by allowing just over three hundred sixty-one total yards per game. The run defense is also among league leaders.
Penn’s offense features quarterback Liam O’Brien who has thrown for more than seventeen hundred yards this season along with fourteen touchdowns; his primary targets are receivers Jared Richardson and Bisi Owens.
Looking ahead, Cornell will play its final road game against Dartmouth after facing Penn.
Schoellkopf Field remains central to Big Red football history since opening in 1915; it has undergone multiple renovations including turf upgrades and capacity changes over its more than century-long existence.
The upcoming contest represents another chapter between two long-standing rivals as both teams continue their pursuit within Ivy League competition.
