Cornell Big Red football 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 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 soon - to - be legendary Carlisle Indians football team . 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 down s . 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 : Television . Cornell football currently has a deal with iBN Sports to host live and on - demand home games with their Cornell football channel .