MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's football team has its first Midwest Conference game under its belt, and the first victory for head coach Dan Pifer's revamped program.
 
Now the Rams prepare for their first road trip, looking to make it two in a row against an undefeated Ripon squad Saturday afternoon.
 
Cornell (1-1 overall, 1-0 MWC) travels to play the Red Hawks (2-0, 1-0) for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Ingalls Field in Ripon, Wis. Fans can follow the live action on Cornell's Stretch Internet portal.
 
The Rams are fresh off an impressive 38-7 home win over Beloit, outscoring the Buccaneers 35-0 over the final 31 minutes at Van Metre Field at Ash Park. Cornell scored four second-half touchdowns and limited the Bucs to 61 total yards over their final six offensive possessions.
 
Ripon remained perfect on the season with a 20-14 win at Knox last Saturday. The Red Hawks led 20-0 early in the fourth quarter before surrendering two late TDs.
 
The Red Hawks are picked fifth in the MWC Preseason Coaches' Poll, nine points and one spot ahead of the Rams.
 
The series – Saturday marks the 63rd meeting between the two schools and first since 2017. The Rams hold a 33-27-2 advantage in the series and have won six of the past nine matchups.
 
Cornell's last trip to Ripon ended with a 43-24 victory in 2014.
 
Last meeting – The teams ran 146 offensive plays and combined for 776 yards in Ripon's 42-11 road win over the Rams on Nov. 11, 2017.
 
Ripon took advantage of three Cornell interceptions and built a 42-3 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Ripon quarterback Julian Patton accounted for 280 yards of total offense, passing for three TDs and rushing for another.
 
About the Red Hawks – Ripon features the No. 2-ranked rushing attack in the MWC, fueled by freshman Connor Ramage's 316 yards and NCAA-leading seven TDs. Ramage averages an MWC-best 158.0 rushing yards per game. He carried 36 times for 226 yards in the season-opening 46-38 home win over Augsburg.
 
Quarterback Jarrett Zibert has completed 60.0 percent of his passes for 300 yards through two games. Zach Bunders is the team's top tackler with 13 solo stops and 2.5 tackles for loss.
 
Blowout win – Last Saturday's 38-7 rout of Beloit is the largest margin of victory for a Cornell team since the 2017 season opener (62-25 over Iowa Wesleyan). The last time the Rams beat a conference opponent by more points was the 2016 finale, a 52-20 win at Grinnell.
 
The Rams trailed Beloit 7-3 with less than a minute left in the first half before taking control.
 
TD streak – Senior quarterback Isaak Hahn was responsible for the first four TDs of Cornell's 35-0 game-ending flurry against Beloit. His 16-yard scoring run gave Cornell the lead at 10-7 with 53 seconds left in the second quarter.
 
Hahn fired TD strikes of 56 and 18 yards to Mason Davis during an 18-second span in the third quarter and finished off his big day with a 5-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
 
Hahn has recorded a rushing or passing TD in seven consecutive games dating back to the 2019 season. Davis, the 6-foot-4 tight end target, has five receiving TDs in his last four games.
 
Top tackler – Cornell linebacker Colden Clark is off to a stellar start to his senior season. After tying his career high with 10 tackles in the opener against Coe, the Mount Vernon native established a new bench mark with 14 total stops against Beloit.
 
Through two games, Clark is tied for the MWC lead at 12.0 tackles per game. 
 
Century mark – Cornell freshman Tony Gomez topped the 100-yard rushing mark last weekend in his second collegiate game. Gomez ran the ball 17 times for 117 yards with a long of 17.
 
Gomez was the workhorse for a strong ground game that netted 271 yards, the largest rushing total for a Cornell team in 23 contests. The Rams averaged 5.6 yards per rushing play.