The Red makes its long-awaited return to Ithaca this weekend for homecoming, hoping to change its momentum in the wake of two away losses. Its competitor is one of three non-Ivy League opponents for the season: Colgate University.
The debut of Colgate head coach Curt Fitzpatrick has been underwhelming so far; the Raiders had a slow start to the season, taking three consecutive beatings from Monmouth University, Villanova University and Syracuse University. They made a strong showing against Fordham University on Saturday, taking their first victory of 2025 by a resounding 41-21 margin.
Fitzpatrick guided SUNY Cortland to take the Division lll championship in 2023, and he entered his position at Colgate at a dire time for the Raiders. Last year, Colgate went 2-10 on the season—though one of those two wins was over Cornell.
The Raiders were most recently Cornell’s homecoming match in 2023, taking a 35-25 victory in an error-filled competition that saw the Red fumble the possibility for a comeback in the fourth quarter. Last year, Colgate ran away with a 41-24 win over Cornell in the Red’s season opener.
Both Cornell and Colgate began the season with no standout quarterback, and while the Red has seen a decisive trend at the position, Colgate has given several contenders time in the spotlight.
Junior Devin Page has emerged as the Red’s starting quarterback over the first two games, responsible for all four of Cornell’s touchdowns—three passing, one running. He currently averages 45.5 rushing yards, 178.5 passing yards and has earned a 50.79 percent pass completion rate. The other frontrunner for the position, junior Garrett Bass-Sulpizio, split time with Page for the season opener against Albany but only made a brief appearance last week at Yale.
“[With] first-time starters, there’s definitely some growing pains,” Swanstrom said. “Doing two at the same time definitely doubled down on the whole thing.”
Colgate has fielded three different quarterbacks over four games, with Zach Osborne and Jake Stearney taking the bulk of the responsibility. Osborne—who averages 205 passing and 34 rushing yards per game—suffered an injury during the season opener, but he made a return a week later against Villanova.
Though it managed to hold Albany to just 13 points in the season opener, the Red’s defensive struggles reared their head against Yale last weekend. Cornell took an early lead but ultimately relinquished a frustrating 41-24 loss to the team it defeated for homecoming in 2024.
The Red will need to balance the offensive energy it showed early against Yale with the defensive coordination that helped keep it close against Albany in order to put up a strong front at home. The Raiders have averaged much higher scoring output, but only two games into the season, there’s room for Cornell to learn from its early shortcomings.
“Mistakes in this league, with this competition, will get exposed,” Swanstrom said. “I thought the level of detail and effort [against Albany] was much, much better. Even on the offensive side of the ball, there was legitimate fight and competitiveness.”
Gates for the parking lot tailgate outside of Saturday’s homecoming game will open at 11 a.m., with kickoff slated for 2 p.m. Fans can tune in to the match virtually on ESPN+.
Alexis Rogers is the sports editor on the 143rd editorial board. She is in the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts & Sciences, and she can be reached at arogers@cornellsun.com.
