Some "D" in Cornell - Penn game

21-21 all in midway through the 2nd quarter.

From just passively listening in the background, sounds like Tasker is having a very good game.

edit: Scoring pace slowed down in the 2nd half and as Ben notes below, some key defensive stops.

Mathews with 218 yards and 3 TDs already. Savage has 98 yards receiving and 2 TD catches. Yardage and touchdown records for both passing and receiving are under threat.

Correction: Mathews has already broken Ricky Rahne '02's passing yardage record and is over 3000 yards for the season.

Penn leads 24-21 at the half.

Red up 34-31 with a few seconds left in the 3rd quarter. Mathews has another passing touchdown (his 24th of the season, one shy of tying the record) and has broken the Ivy record for passing yards in a season. Savage has broken the school record for receiving yards and is tied for the receiving touchdowns record.

Credit to the defense for a couple of big stops, including one on fourth and inches.

Now up 48-38. Mathews with 548 yards passing according to ESPN.

Trotsky
Now up 48-38. Mathews with 548 yards passing according to ESPN.

Add 86 passing yards for Tasker and you get 634 total. Yikes!

Al DeFlorio

Trotsky
Now up 48-38. Mathews with 548 yards passing according to ESPN.

Add 86 passing yards for Tasker and you get 634 total. Yikes!

Now a Final: 48-38. And our QB is only a sophomore?

A Rashad Campbell interception with just over a minute to go wraps it up. 48-38 final.

Mathews: 35 of 45 for 548, five TDs (ties the season record), just one pick.

Savage: 7 catches for 149 and 3 TDs (sets single-season records in both categories).

Ondash had 197 yards receiving, which should be good for third all-time in one game.

Al DeFlorio

Trotsky
Now up 48-38. Mathews with 548 yards passing according to ESPN.

Add 86 passing yards for Tasker and you get 634 total. Yikes!

I think the Tasker yardage might be an error. The play-by-play lists Cornell getting a "91 yard false start penalty" a few plays before Tasker's pass.

48-38 is the final. First victory over Penn since 2006 and first non-losing season since 2007.

kingpin248
The play-by-play lists Cornell getting a "91 yard false start penalty" a few plays before Tasker's pass.

Those false starts can be really costly.

Looks like a pass for no gain. The play started on the Penn 7, not the Cornell 7, and Penn took over on their 7.

I never thought I'd see .500 in my time at Cornell... I've seen it by my sophomore year. Pleasant surprise though. Does this mean we have expectations next year?

css228
I never thought I'd see .500 in my time at Cornell... I've seen it by my sophomore year. Pleasant surprise though. Does this mean we have expectations next year?

FCS National Champions.



If we can improve on defense and pick up one or two more Ivy wins, that would be solid progress. 6-4 and 4-3 in-conference would be good.

css228
I never thought I'd see .500 in my time at Cornell... I've seen it by my sophomore year. Pleasant surprise though. Does this mean we have expectations next year?

Definitely. The thing Austin has harped on is consistency to develop a system so you can recruit to it. This year has given the staff a fantastic recruiting opportunity. They can bring in the kind of talent that will keep Cornell competitive even after Mathews graduates.

This was easily the most fun Cornell football team to root for since I became a fan. I hope they're on the road tomorrow looking for the next Mathews, Tasker, Gellaltly, Savage, Houska, etc.

Fun season! Thank you seniors.

I think my favorite stat for the day is the team rushing: 18 carries for -7 yards... and two TDs. Matthews "ran" for -20 yards. Even without having seen the game, I'm going to guess that some of his carries should be sacks, not negative rushes.

Deveolping a consistent running game to with Cornell's offense will really make them a tough team to stop next season.

Rita

Al DeFlorio

Trotsky
Now up 48-38. Mathews with 548 yards passing according to ESPN.

Add 86 passing yards for Tasker and you get 634 total. Yikes!

Now a Final: 48-38. And our QB is only a sophomore?

Savage is a senior, but fifth-year eligible, so conceivably his top three receivers could be back, too.

George64

Rita

Al DeFlorio

Trotsky
Now up 48-38. Mathews with 548 yards passing according to ESPN.

Add 86 passing yards for Tasker and you get 634 total. Yikes!

Now a Final: 48-38. And our QB is only a sophomore?

Savage is a senior, but fifth-year eligible, so conceivably his top three receivers could be back, too.

Savage is coming back for a 5th year

I drove down to Philadelphia hoping Cornell would keep it decent, no more than a 10-point spread. What we experienced was more like the future of Cornell football: an attitude and some players who might give Cornell its first outright Ivy title by Cornell's 150th birthday. Here's the explosive second half as Cornell shook off a 24-21 deficit for a 48-38 victory.

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Fifteen bucks to park and $8 for a ticket. This is what a 52,00-seat stadium feels like with 7609 seats filled.


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Penn's first series to open the second half couldn't get to midfield, Cornell went to the Penn 29 and stalled, Penn got to the Cornell 44 and couldn't pick up a 4th-and-1. Then next play (above) QB Jeff Matthews went 54 yards to Kurt Ondash to the Penn 2. Next play ...


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... Ryank Houska takes the snap ...


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... and Houska scores. But the PAT snap is bobbled and Cornell goes up 27-24 not 28-24. Two plays, 54 yards, 10 minutes into the third. Looks as if Cornell has some momentum although if the two teams trade TDs, Cornell can be tied by a Penn FG but can't catch Penn with a field goal. The botched play will affect Cornell strategy the rest of the game.


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On the following kickoff, Penn doesn't quickly field the ball, Cornell appears on the scene, it takes a big bounce and goes out of bounds with possesion to Penn. One of several odd kicking plays (including the opening kickoff that Cornell fumbled away for Penn's first TD).


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Next Cornell possession does not go well. Shane Savage can't hold on to this pass, and if he had it would have been called back for a personal foul.


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Same series, from bad to worse. Matthews hit from behind, loses ball to Penn's Jared Sholly, he runs 11 yards to Cornell 7 before Dylan Cunningham brings him down. (Penn QB will lose the ball from this area one quarter later.) Next play ...


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... touchdown Penn (Ryan Mittchell) and a 31-27 lead after the PAT. 1:20 to play in the third quarter. Momentum to Penn.



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Momentum to Cornell: three plays, 69 yards (1:12) and a touchdown. Play one, above: Matthews throwns 23 yards ...



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... to Shane Savage to the Penn 46. Rght before this play I was thinking that the Penn D is giving Matthews 5-yard sideline tosses but nothing big, or sustained. Wrong.


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Play two of drive: Matthews to Brant Gellatly 14 yards to the Penn 32.


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Play three: Matthews to Gellatly 32 yards for the TD, bowling over one defender and outrunning another. With Greenway's PAT, Cornell goes up 34-31.


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With 8 seconds to play in the third, I duck into the refreshment area below the stands. Hello? Anyone home?


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Momentum to Penn as the Quakers open the fourth with a 74-yard TD drive in 1:51 to go up 38-34. We don't know it, but Pennsylvania has concluded its scoring for 2011. Then (above) Matthews hits Kurt Ondash for 64 yards to Penn's 16.


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Next play, Cornell gets to the Penn 2 when Kurt Anthony mugs Ondash ... and then does a "who-me" gesture?


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First-and-goal at the 2. Ryan Houska runs for the TD. It's called back on a false start.


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Cornell takes two attempts by air, both incomplete, bringing up fourth down and Penn ahead 38-34.


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Because of a bobbled Cornell PAT earlier, in the second-half back-and-forth, Cornell is either down by 4 or ahead by only a field goal. Cornell runs a fake field goal but holder Luke Tasker's pass is completed for a loss and Penn takes over.


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Penn takes over. QB Billy Ragone rushes a throw under pressure from Zach Imhoff. Bad choice, Billy. You're about to cost Penn the ballgame ...


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... Rashad Campbell picks the ball off and returns it the Penn 27.


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From the Penn 27, three Matthews passes leave Cornell facing fourth-and-two. Down by 4 not 3, Cornell opts to go for it. Matthews (above) hits Ondash for 16 to the Penn 3. Next play ...


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... Ahmad Avery (here just crossing the plane) scores and it's 41-38 with nine minutes to play. Because of the missed earlier PAT, all Penn needs is a FG (if it can keep Cornell off the board).


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It's now time for the Cornell defense to step up. Penn starts on its 30 and marches toward the Cornell goal line. Nick Tandy-Booker is beaten on this play and rather than give up a 41-yard TD, engulfs Penn's Ryan Calvert, which gives Penn a first down at the Cornell 26. Ragone throws three incompletions and goes for a tying field goal on fourth down ...


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... Shane Savage comes through from the left to get a hand on Connor Loftus' 43-yard FG. No good. 5:23 to play.


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Luck is with Cornell. One play after the blocked Penn FGA, Matthews (throwing right to left in the photo) underthrows Shane Savage and Erik Rasek lets the ball and (it turns out) the game slip through his fingers.


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Cornell goes on a clock-eating 15-play drive, mixing runs and passes, culminating in this 16-yard pass for Shane Savage's third TD. With the PAT, it's 48-38 with 1:21 to play. Ragone throws a pick on the first play ...


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Cornell runs out the clock and it's the Big Red not Penn with smiles on their faces and for Cornell .500 record. Matthews goes 35 of 45 for 548 yards and 5 TDs.


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The Big Red Climbing Band roved the stadium. Penn's band was little heard from. At halftime, a loooong salute to Penn alum Chuck Bednarik left the Cornell band with only 4-1/2 minutes to play a couple numbers. The Penn band then came on for quick follow-up, which was mostly the gravel-voiced announcer rambling on and on. It was one of those embarassing moments where you wonder if the guy's doing drugs because if not, it's all the more embarrassing. I seldom get what the Cornell band announcer has to say but at least it's short and then the band plays. But, hey, the Penn band was the least of Penn's problems yesterday.


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Cornell cheerleaders pose by the Penn goalpost. Several thousand Cornell fans walk out of Franklin Field feeling a lot better than they suspected they might at kickoff. The story out of the Ivy League this weekend could have been Cornell's chances for the future or the Harvard football juggernaut. Instead it will be the manners of the Columbia band and the beer truck tragedy at the Yale tailgate.


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The memory I'm walking out with is Nick Booker-Tandy (25) and [edit] Josh Barut [not Sam Wood] (12) celebrating. LGR!

Great stuff, thank you Bill!

Great pix, Bill. Thanks. I heard there's a Penn tradition where several hundred students imitate Cuisinart toasters. Get any pictures of that?

Bill great photos! BTW, I think #12 in the photo is Josh Barut the safety not Sam Wood the freshman QB.

What an absurd couple of weeks Jeff Mathews has had! As if rewriting the single-game record book last week wasn't enough, Mathews is now the only Ivy quarterback with two games with over 500 passing yards. While we're at it, Mathews set some league records yesterday:

Most passing yards in a season, 3412 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 3255)
Most passing yards in an Ivy season, 2555 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 2439)
Most passing yards in a game, 548 (526, Michael Dougherty, Brown vs. Holy Cross, 10/11/08)
Most passing yards in an Ivy game, 548 (501, Bob Holly, Princeton vs. Yale, 11/14/81)
Most 400-yard passing games in a season, 3 (tied with 4others, most recently Michael Dougherty, Brown, 2007)
Best passing accuracy in a season, 67.9%

Josh '99
What an absurd couple of weeks Jeff Mathews has had! As if rewriting the single-game record book last week wasn't enough, Mathews is now the only Ivy quarterback with two games with over 500 passing yards. While we're at it, Mathews set some league records yesterday:

Most passing yards in a season, 3412 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 3255)
Most passing yards in an Ivy season, 2555 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 2439)
Most passing yards in a game, 548 (526, Michael Dougherty, Brown vs. Holy Cross, 10/11/08)
Most passing yards in an Ivy game, 548 (501, Bob Holly, Princeton vs. Yale, 11/14/81)
Most 400-yard passing games in a season, 3 (tied with 4others, most recently Michael Dougherty, Brown, 2007)
Best passing accuracy in a season, 67.9%

I read that the Harvard QB might be named Ivy Offensive Player of the Year. If that happens, it would be the equivalent of Justin Verlander not winning the AL Cy Young this season.

dbilmes

Josh '99
What an absurd couple of weeks Jeff Mathews has had! As if rewriting the single-game record book last week wasn't enough, Mathews is now the only Ivy quarterback with two games with over 500 passing yards. While we're at it, Mathews set some league records yesterday:

Most passing yards in a season, 3412 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 3255)
Most passing yards in an Ivy season, 2555 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 2439)
Most passing yards in a game, 548 (526, Michael Dougherty, Brown vs. Holy Cross, 10/11/08)
Most passing yards in an Ivy game, 548 (501, Bob Holly, Princeton vs. Yale, 11/14/81)
Most 400-yard passing games in a season, 3 (tied with 4others, most recently Michael Dougherty, Brown, 2007)
Best passing accuracy in a season, 67.9%

I read that the Harvard QB might be named Ivy Offensive Player of the Year. If that happens, it would be the equivalent of Justin Verlander not winning the AL Cy Young this season.

Winters isn't top-ten in any offensive category. That would be ridiculous.

dbilmes

Josh '99
What an absurd couple of weeks Jeff Mathews has had! As if rewriting the single-game record book last week wasn't enough, Mathews is now the only Ivy quarterback with two games with over 500 passing yards. While we're at it, Mathews set some league records yesterday:

Most passing yards in a season, 3412 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 3255)
Most passing yards in an Ivy season, 2555 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 2439)
Most passing yards in a game, 548 (526, Michael Dougherty, Brown vs. Holy Cross, 10/11/08)
Most passing yards in an Ivy game, 548 (501, Bob Holly, Princeton vs. Yale, 11/14/81)
Most 400-yard passing games in a season, 3 (tied with 4others, most recently Michael Dougherty, Brown, 2007)
Best passing accuracy in a season, 67.9%

I read that the Harvard QB might be named Ivy Offensive Player of the Year. If that happens, it would be the equivalent of Justin Verlander not winning the AL Cy Young this season.

Or Ed Marinaro not winning the Heisman.

dbilmes

Josh '99
What an absurd couple of weeks Jeff Mathews has had! As if rewriting the single-game record book last week wasn't enough, Mathews is now the only Ivy quarterback with two games with over 500 passing yards. While we're at it, Mathews set some league records yesterday:

Most passing yards in a season, 3412 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 3255)
Most passing yards in an Ivy season, 2555 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 2439)
Most passing yards in a game, 548 (526, Michael Dougherty, Brown vs. Holy Cross, 10/11/08)
Most passing yards in an Ivy game, 548 (501, Bob Holly, Princeton vs. Yale, 11/14/81)
Most 400-yard passing games in a season, 3 (tied with 4others, most recently Michael Dougherty, Brown, 2007)
Best passing accuracy in a season, 67.9%

I read that the Harvard QB might be named Ivy Offensive Player of the Year. If that happens, it would be the equivalent of Justin Verlander not winning the AL Cy Young this season.

Dartmouth's tailback Nick Schwieger is the more likely competition for Player of the Year award with Jeff Mathews. Harvard's QB Collier Winters only played in 5 of the 7 Ivy games.

Ken711
Dartmouth's tailback Nick Schwieger is the more likely competition for Player of the Year award with Jeff Mathews. Harvard's QB Collier Winters only played in 5 of the 7 Ivy games.

Winters took two cracks at the Rhodes Scholarship thing.

billhoward

Ken711
Dartmouth's tailback Nick Schwieger is the more likely competition for Player of the Year award with Jeff Mathews. Harvard's QB Collier Winters only played in 5 of the 7 Ivy games.

Winters took two cracks at the Rhodes Scholarship thing.

Yale's QB Witt probably wished he skipped the Harvard game where they got blasted and instead went to the Rhodes Scholarship interview last Saturday.

Ken711

dbilmes

Josh '99
What an absurd couple of weeks Jeff Mathews has had! As if rewriting the single-game record book last week wasn't enough, Mathews is now the only Ivy quarterback with two games with over 500 passing yards. While we're at it, Mathews set some league records yesterday:

Most passing yards in a season, 3412 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 3255)
Most passing yards in an Ivy season, 2555 (James Perry, Brown, 1999, 2439)
Most passing yards in a game, 548 (526, Michael Dougherty, Brown vs. Holy Cross, 10/11/08)
Most passing yards in an Ivy game, 548 (501, Bob Holly, Princeton vs. Yale, 11/14/81)
Most 400-yard passing games in a season, 3 (tied with 4others, most recently Michael Dougherty, Brown, 2007)
Best passing accuracy in a season, 67.9%

I read that the Harvard QB might be named Ivy Offensive Player of the Year. If that happens, it would be the equivalent of Justin Verlander not winning the AL Cy Young this season.

Dartmouth's tailback Nick Schwieger is the more likely competition for Player of the Year award with Jeff Mathews. Harvard's QB Collier Winters only played in 5 of the 7 Ivy games.

Interesting parallel here. Schwieger was the best RB in the league on a team that had no passing attack to speak of, Mathews was the best QB in the league on a team that no rushing attack to speak of.