Cornell 24 Bucknell 13 football 9/17/11

Nice crowd in the Crescent as the game begins and Cornell opens its season. Seems as if a couple thousand fans had other places to be in the second half.

Cornell looked good to open the game with a 10-0 first quarter lead that evaporated to a 10-10 tie in the third quarter. QB Jeff Matthews has the arm and the poise but he didn't seem real mobile by the second quarter. Cornell's announcers note Bucknell's QB has the mobility of a Michael Vick. I'd like to hear that "Vick-like mobility" description used for white QBs once in a while. Bucknell FG makes it 13-10 late in the third - 13 unanswered points. Momentarily. On the first series following the FG, Matthews goes 64 yards to Shane Savage. 17-10, Cornell.

Replays on the webcast video feed are nice but not the 1980s rotating graphic that precedes the replay ["hey! new technology! instant replay!"]. Geez.

Is anybody sitting in Schoellkopf? The announcers are ecstatic about the new scoreboard.

With a minute to play, Cornell up by 4, after two no-gain runs, on third and six, deep in Cornell territory, Matthews unloads for an 87 yard TD pass to Kurt Ondash for a 24-13 lead. Amazing play. Final, Cornell 24-13. That makes the Ivies 3-2 this weekend against non-Ivies.

Bucknell was better than last year (when a sign of their quality was losing to Cornell) and came in with a 2-0 record, so this was a decent win. Now it's on to Yale (noon start in New Haven, tailgating in Lot D opens 9 a.m., no longer free parking), which beat 2-0 Georgetown 37-27.

According to the box score:

Attendance was 14,000
Jeff Matthews 15x28 passing, 2 int, 2 TDs (64, 87 yards)
Bucknell held possession 34 minutes to 26 minutes (but when you go 87 yards on one play, you give the ball back quickly)
Both teams about 50 yards rushing
Both teans underperformed on third downs, Cornell 4x13, Bucknell 2x16

billhoward
Replays on the webcast video feed are nice but not the 1980s rotating graphic that precedes the replay ["hey! new technology! instant replay!"]. Geez.

The game was broadcast on Time Warner, Bill. I think they're the ones you thank for the replays. And curse for the graphic.

They have a creepy logo. "You are getting SLEEEEEEEEEEEEPY."



Fun game to listen to. Mathews is that rara avis: an FCS QB with an FBS arm. Given that he has legit targets (Savage, Tasker), and that Austin seems to have a sense of humor/adventure (the wildcat, throwing that bomb on a third and grind down the clock in the shadow of your goal posts), this could be an entertaining team.

Props to the unsung heroes: K Brad Greenway bang on as usual, S Harrison Smith who seemed to be in on five or six huge plays, LB Zach Imhoff for good play, Rashad Campbell for setting the tone with a great kick return, and the whole defense for stoning Bucknell on their final drive.

billhoward
Bucknell held possession 34 minutes to 26 minutes (but when you go 87 yards on one play, you give the ball back quickly)

Four scoring drives that took less than five minutes combined -- not exactly the way to build time of possession.

The O and D lines appear markedly improved from last season. So long as those guys can stay healthy, it should give Cornell a chance to be competitive in most of its games. Based on yesterday's results from Ivy teams, the league could have more parity this year than in recent years. Things are definitely looking up for CU football.

Still concerned that we're not getting a lot of push by the O line, but the defense does seem improved.

scoop85
Still concerned that we're not getting a lot of push by the O line...

Agree. Difficult to compete with the stronger Ivy teams without a ground game. Depending on 60- and 80-yard scoring plays is a risky proposition.

Yes, Time Warner deserves credit for the replays and multiple angles and for the time warp twirling replay logo (maybe that's what TW stands for?). Reminds of this tongue-in-cheek piece of royalty free music called Motivator from [incompetech.com] - it's every upbeat corporate presentation you ever had to sit through where the HR department was given full license with Powerpoint fonts, backgrounds, and audio.

But, hey, this one game gives you hope that things are looking up for Cornell football to be on the track to pull in a couple more good recruiting classes and be in a position to win its first outright Ivy championship by the time Cornell celebrates its 150th anniversary. I have high hopes against Yale. Certainly for the tailgate, maybe for the game, too.

billhoward
I have high hopes against Yale. Certainly for the tailgate, maybe for the game, too.

Post-game Pepe's?

Al DeFlorio
Difficult to compete with the stronger Ivy teams without a ground game. Depending on 60- and 80-yard scoring plays is a risky losing proposition.

FYP.

Chris '03

Al DeFlorio
Difficult to compete with the stronger Ivy teams without a ground game. Depending on 60- and 80-yard scoring plays is a risky losing proposition.

FYP.

It worked for Kurt Warner.

Al DeFlorio

scoop85
Still concerned that we're not getting a lot of push by the O line...

Agree. Difficult to compete with the stronger Ivy teams without a ground game. Depending on 60- and 80-yard scoring plays is a risky proposition.

Of course, I wouldn't turn those plays down, either.

Mathews moved the ball well, mixing in a lot of short distance passing. The running game (Gellatly and the occasional Bo wildcat) didn't get much of a chance because we were so effective through the air. I'm worried more about turnovers than lots of three-and-outs.

Bucknell's hard to gauge -- Yale will give us a much better baseline reading. I don't expect the team to suddenly jump above .500. I'm just happy for signs of life.