1940 Cornell Big Red football team

American college football season

1940 Cornell Big Red football
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 15
Record	6–2
Head coach	Carl Snavely (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Single-wing
Captain	Walter Matuszczak
Home stadium	Schoellkopf Field
Seasons← 1939 1941 →

1940 Eastern college football independents records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 5 Boston College		–		11	–	0	–	0
Duquesne		–		7	–	1	–	0
No. 14 Penn		–		6	–	1	–	1
Penn State		–		6	–	1	–	1
No. 12 Fordham		–		7	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Cornell		–		6	–	2	–	0
La Salle		–		6	–	2	–	0
Princeton		–		5	–	2	–	1
Columbia		–		5	–	2	–	2
Brown		–		6	–	3	–	1
Bucknell		–		4	–	2	–	2
Boston University		–		5	–	3	–	0
Colgate		–		5	–	3	–	0
Hofstra		–		4	–	3	–	0
Harvard		–		3	–	2	–	3
Dartmouth		–		5	–	4	–	0
Temple		–		4	–	4	–	1
Tufts		–		4	–	4	–	0
Vermont		–		4	–	4	–	0
Villanova		–		4	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		3	–	4	–	1
Syracuse		–		3	–	4	–	1
Buffalo		–		3	–	5	–	0
Carnegie Tech		–		3	–	5	–	0
Manhattan		–		3	–	6	–	0
Providence		–		3	–	6	–	0
NYU		–		2	–	7	–	0
Yale		–		1	–	7	–	0
Army		–		1	–	7	–	1
CCNY		–		1	–	5	–	1
Massachusetts State		–		1	–	8	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1940 Cornell Big Red football team was an American football team that represented Cornell University during the 1940 college football season. In their fifth season under head coach Carl Snavely, the Big Red compiled a 6–2 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 201 to 38.

Cornell was ranked at No. 7 (out of 697 college football teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score system for 1940.

Dartmouth game controversy

Main article: Fifth Down Game (1940)

Bill Murphy scored a touchdown in the last few seconds of the Dartmouth game, resulting in a 7–3 win for Cornell being officially recorded. However, observers felt that an illegal fifth down had occurred, and therefore the touchdown was invalid. After developing and reviewing filmed footage of the game, the referee agreed. Cornell coach Carl Snavely agreed to give up the win, and thus the official score was revised to 3–0 in favor of Dartmouth. The loss broke Cornell's 18-game winning streak. As of 2024, it is believed to be the "only collegiate sporting contest to be decided off the field after its completion."

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
October 5	Colgate		Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY (rivalry)	W 34–0	15,000
October 12	at Army		Michie Stadium West Point, NY	W 45–0	27,917
October 19	Syracuse	No. 1	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	W 33–6	18,000
October 26	Ohio State	No. 1	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	W 21–7	34,500
November 2	Columbia	No. 1	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY (rivalry)	W 27–0	13,500
November 9	at Yale	No. 1	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 21–0	30,000
November 16	at Dartmouth	No. 2	Memorial Field Hanover, NH (rivalry)	L 0–3	10,000
November 23	at No. 12 Penn	No. 5	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)	L 20–22	80,000
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

"Cornell Yearly Results (1935–1939)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
"1940 Cornell Big Red Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 19, 1940). "Final 1940 Litkenhous Ratings". The Boston Globe. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Wilensky, Joe (November 27, 2024). "How a 1940 Football Game Became an Icon of Good Sportsmanship". Ithaca, New York: Cornell University. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
^ "The 1940 "Fifth Down" game: Cornell vs. Dartmouth" (Video). YouTube. Cornellians Publication. November 16, 1940. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
^ "Cornell Nips Dartmouth, 7-3, With 5 Sec. to Go". New York Daily News. November 17, 1940. p. 96 – via Newspapers.com.
"West Point Game Next for Cornell; Colgate Humbled". The Ithaca Journal. October 7, 1940. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
Gene Ward (October 13, 1940). "Cornell 45, Army 0". New York Daily News. p. 89 – via Newspapers.com.
"Cornell Steamrollers Syracuse, 33-6". New York Daily News. October 20, 1946. p. C42 – via Newspapers.com.
"Cornell's Last Minute Drive Defeats Ohio State in Thrilling Battle". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. October 27, 1940. p. 2B. Retrieved October 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
Jack Smith (November 3, 1940). "Cornell Slashes Columbia, 27-0". New York Daily News. p. 91 – via Newspapers.com.
Jack Mahon (November 10, 1940). "Cornell Batters Yale, 21-0". New York Daily News. p. 97 – via Newspapers.com.
Richardson, William D. (November 17, 1940). "Disputed Cornell Play Tops Dartmouth, 7-3, at Finish; Pass Halts Green". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.
Daley, Arthur J. (November 19, 1940). "Dartmouth 3, Cornell 0, Official Score as Ithacans Refuse Victory". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. 31.
Cy Peterman (November 24, 1940). "80,000 See Penn Beat Cornell, 22 to 20". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. S1, S4 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Cornell Big Red football
Venues	Schoellkopf Field (1915–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Colgate Columbia Dartmouth Penn
Culture & lore	Big Red Bear "Give My Regards to Davy" Fifth Down Game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

Categories: