Cornell-Yale football

The last time a Cornell football game at Yale was on national TV, the TV network had problems with a transformer and ended up not being able to televise most of the game. The way today's game is starting out (Yale 14, Cornell 0 -- midway through the first quarter), we can only hope that history repeats itself.

17-3 at halftime

Cornell offense came alive in the second half but the defense couldn't hold...helped by a couple of 'interesting' calls by Kent Austin.

Here's the game that I saw:

[clear]
It rained like crazy Friday and the forecast was mixed for Saturday which may be why attendance seemed so soft, an announced 14,000 in a place that seats 60,000. Although not all seats in the stadium are in good repair. I brought umbrellas and all manner of rain gear and should have brought shorts. It got pretty warm and humid.


[clear]
Rashad Campbell, #2, had an electrifying 102-yard return of the opening kickoff. Electrifying until it was called back to midfield by a Cornell hold. When QB Jeff Matthews threw a quick interception and Yale scored its first three posessions for a 17-0 lead, I figured we were toast and the lost kickoff-return TD wouldn't matter.


[clear]
Things got a little better for us on the next two Yale possessions, holding Yale to a field goal and then blocking a field goal attempt. (Cornell also blocked a PAT attempt and came close on some others.) Still, 17-0 11 minutes into the game.


[clear]
Cornell got a field goal then a 21-yard TD reception by Luke Tasker (18) with a picturebook block by Kurt Ondash eliminating the final Yale defender. 17-10 Yale midway through the second.


[clear]
Midway through the third, Yale went up 23-10, then 70 seconds later this 31-yard run by Grant Gellatly put Cornell back in the game at 23-17. Cornell seemed like it might be the little red engine that could.


[clear]
Big plays and late big plays seem to have been Cornell's undoing against Yale. This was the crusher, a 58-yard breakaway by Alex Thomas 2 minutes into the fourth for a 37-17 margin that would by the final score. At this point, we were pretty much sunk.


[clear]
Good news: Cornell provided decent protection to QB Jeff Matthews, who shook off that first-possession interception to finish 26x36 for 271 yards, 1 TD, and no more picks. He would been over 300 had a long pass to Shane Savage in the second half, deep into the Yale red zone, not been called back by another Cornell penalty. We don't yet have an offense that's going to win the Ivy League, but it's decent, it's better than last year, and we didnt' give up. Even the second-half onside kick attempt (failed) was a gutsy call and worth the gamble (even if it led to a Yale score).


[clear]
More good news (eventually): PK Brad Greenway was pressed into service as the punter, too. His first punt went just 23 yards to the Cornell 40 (leading to Yale's second TD) but he got way better and ended up nailing 3 of 6 kicks inside the Yale 20. He was impeccable on FGs and PATs again. (Greenway is kicking from midfield; note the density of Yale fans in the most prime seating real estate.)


[clear]
It is always great to see a real marching band at an Ivy League football game. And it's not the Yale Precision Marching Band, whose name is accurate only at the beginning and maybe the end.


[clear]
Yale spent milions recently to stabilize and improve Yale Bowl. There's still some work remaining, such as these end zone seats. For those who've been going to Ivy games for a number of years, it's sad to see how some stadiums aren't wearing their years well.

I wasn't thrilled with the onside kick call that gave them a short field.....but then after we scored later we kicked off and their return man ran it back to midfield anyway, so I guess I understand the roll of the dice there.....

Great report. Agreed on how some of the Ivy stadia are holding up, but sadder still is how empty they are. It's truly depressing to see a great stadium like the Yale Bowl empty. At least for Harvard/Yale it gets a good crowd. Still...just pathetic how far Ivy League football is fallen. I say go 1-A, play 7 ivy games and 1 or 2 against other FBS schools, one against an FCS school. Just being FBS (1-A) would draw people into the stadiums. It's a shame, btu people think that we play minor league football. We don't play many schools except each other. No reason we shouldn't go back to 1-A.

RedDog
I wasn't thrilled with the onside kick call that gave them a short field.....but then after we scored later we kicked off and their return man ran it back to midfield anyway, so I guess I understand the roll of the dice there.....

It's always easy to second-guess an onside kick, a draw play on third and five, and going for it on fourth-and-one when it doesn't work. I liked the short kick because we weren't going to win (weren't supposed to win), so do something audacious. And their return guy Gio Christodoulou has been killing us since 2007 (fifth year senior); last year he had a 67-yard TD catch at Cornell.

CUontheslopes
Still...just pathetic how far Ivy League football is fallen. I say go 1-A, play 7 ivy games and 1 or 2 against other FBS schools, one against an FCS school. Just being FBS (1-A) would draw people into the stadiums. It's a shame, btu people think that we play minor league football. We don't play many schools except each other. No reason we shouldn't go back to 1-A.

There may be a reason many people think the Ivies play minor league football and it's on display every Saturday in the fall.

I can never recall which is which, FBS and FCS. They ought to be called the FAS and FAC divisions: for football athletic scholarship and football actual students. [embarrasssed edit:} How about FAS / football athletic scholarship subdivision or just the NCAA Moneyball Subdivision vs. FAC / football attending classes subdivision. In basketball season the former could be the one-and-done division.

It would be a start of legitmacy for Ivy sports if the Ivy presidents treated Ivy football equally with all other Ivy sports and let them compete in the NCAA postseason playoffs.

Which starts with a c - students or scholarship?

Did anyone happen to record the game on Versus? I'd be interested in seeing the broadcast if anyone has it ... Thanks!

The current state of affairs certainly is depressing
It seems that change should be a priority, but if we are moving away from the several decades of the status quo, I dont know as if shifting investing the resources for a competitive I-A program is the correct direction.

While I know it might upset alumni (and maybe more importantly donors) from the 1970s and earlier and former players, there is an argument to be made for eliminating the football program (both of the actually) and focusing on other athletics where we can compete on the national stage with regularity. With everything happening on the national level with the likelihood of 4 super-conferences, the general difficulties in recruiting, and the lack of potential for the Cornell program to break even on the financial side there isnt a ton of upside to pumping more support in to the football program. If we shut things down, it would have an immediate impact in how Cornell could address Title IX compliance and there are other programs that I think the university could focus on where we could make some noise in post season play with sustained support (expand on hockey/lacrosse/wrestling and try to add at least 2 more sports where we were perennial contenders).

I am not saying that it would be an easy choice to make, or a popular one necessarily. But if we are looking at the 3 basic options of no-change, major investment to move up to I-A, or disband... I have no question which one I would choose and which I think would benefit both the university and the rest of the athletics department the most.

Kevin Masters '95

Another option is for the Ivy presidents to end discrimination against Ivy football and let football, like all other Ivy sports, be eligible for post-season play. Within Division One-Dash-Little-League the best Ivy team could be competitive and perhaps a bit more so if players knew they had a chance to playing for the national title, not just the Ivy title.

NCAA Division One-Dash-Wink-at-the-Rules continues out of control (in the sense of it being a sport played by students getting a degree). I don't think we want to be there. Okay, Stanford seems to manage it.

wont disagree with that Bill
but if you look at the programs that are really driving the decision making in NCAA Football, most if not all of them are profit generating enterprises, even with the large amount of support required.

Outside of whether this a cultural shift we want to make, I dont think the demographics are in place for Cornell to structure themselves to be balance sheet neutral and competitive... independently or even if we rolled in to a mid-level league with a basic TV deal of some sort.
If a central NY team was going to make a big move, it would be SU returning to national competitiveness... I dont think the demographics are in place for them to do it and there certainly isnt enough upstate population or alumni numbers to make it work for 2 teams. Cornell is if anything at a distinct advantage over the other Ivy League schools because of our enrollment and lack of competing pro teams like Harvard/Penn/Princeton, so if we cant do it the league as a group has absolutely no chance.

When there are 1,000 channels there'll be an Ivy League channel, maybe with the Patriot League and Univ. of Chicago. We just need to bide our time until that many channels hit cable, or until WebTV is high-def. Imagine how much better the dropouts, lost signals, and heads-in-the-way-at-Lynah will look at 1080p.

Syracuse returning to the big time in football will help us. Just as having many lax powers in upstate (DI II III) helps the region. So far Syracuse seems to resist the big time. Last week vs. Rutgers (NY Times): "Both Teams Play Poorly Enough to Lose. Syracuse Does."

But right now I'd be happy with a winning record this year and an Ivy football title by the sesquicentennial. Maybe our first non-shared title?

The ACC is the big time for football? Somebody should tell Duke.

billhoward
When there are 1,000 channels there'll be an Ivy League channel, maybe with the Patriot League and Univ. of Chicago.

Case Western Reserve and the Carlisle Indians will round out the broadcast schedule.

The ACC is weak at present for football... but based on the moves so far I think they will be one of the conferences left standing and at the table when the 64 BCS really solidifies (likely Pac-10, Big 10, SEC and ACC each with 16 teams).

It seems the SEC is way ahead in football right now, I dont think the ACC is that far behind the Big10 and Pac10 presently and depending on where the rest of the chips land (Notre Dame and Pittsburgh for example) they could be in a much stronger position not only in terms of top talent but the ability to improve the top to bottom strength.

If those four conferences keep the other - how many, another 64 or so? - teams with aspirations to the big time from ever reaching the big time, it's restraint of trade, or un-American, or something. Better it's done like British soccer where the bottom couple teams drop down to a B-division and somebody else takes their place. Boise State was on no one's radar 15 years ago, was it?

Maybe the group of 64 should pay the players, allow them to carry 8 credits to stay eligible, replace the cheerleaders with lap dancers in the luxury boxes, sell alcohol, have an American Idol segment at halftime, and reverse reporting lines so the president or chancellor reports to the football coach, or if Coach is busy, they report to the athletic director. Show big time college football's true colors in the vein of the joke where the punchline goes: "What, you think I'm a whore?" "We already establishd that and now we need to establish the price." I don't think those schools have issues with the webcasts fading out.

billhoward
Maybe the group of 64 should pay the players, allow them to carry 8 credits to stay eligible, replace the cheerleaders with lap dancers in the luxury boxes, sell alcohol, have an American Idol segment at halftime, and reverse reporting lines so the president or chancellor reports to the football coach, or if Coach is busy, they report to the athletic director.

I don't think the SEC would be willing to replace cocaine with alcohol.