Colgate 41 at Cornell 20 football

Not so good, Cornell's early lead reversed, Colgate leads 41-20 late in the game. Jeff Matthews gets picked off a couple times, sacked a couple times. Video is sluggish. I see on the new Cornellcast that there's a Facebook icon in the lower right corner in case you want to Like the game, maybe the video quality? Announcers note this is an "underrated 0-4 Colgate team."

Final 41-20.

This is a not good Cornell team. Two dismal second half performances in a row. Defense falls for every fake. When does hockey start?

Offense is ok, althought pretty one-dimensional, and the play calling is at times bizarre. Defense, on the other hand, is abysmal. Columbia may be our only chance for an Ivy win.

I turned it on at 23-20, Big Red with the ball. A few minutes later, turned it off at 41-20. The video looked fine, and I'm glad we can get true full-screen again. However I saw at least 3 plays where the reception/interception happened way off the screen.

Anyway, this is a Colgate team that got lit-up the past few weeks, allowing 518, 551, and 537 total yards and hadn't allowed fewer than 38 points all year. The vaunted Cornell offense could muster 403 total yards and 20 points today at home.

Same Cornell story for the last 4 years, no defense at all. Undersized and slow on the Dline. No running game for the last 4 years.

Most disturbing to me is the inability to make adjustments at halftime and come out ready for the second half. Yale ran up 28 straight after halftime and now Colgate 24.

Getting tired of these annual beatdowns by Colgate. The defensive line got manhandled all day. I looked down at the line play from the Crescent side and saw the Colgate o-line pushing the Cornell d-line two yards deep as soon as the ball was snapped. Some stupid penalties did not help either. Would like Archer to instill a little more discipline in his team-too much pushing and shoving after whistles.

Jeff Matthews did go 33-for-44 for 351 yards and 2 TDs. (Also 2 interceptions and 4 sacks.) He is now the Ivy League passing leader in passing yards at 9,303 (which includes non-Ivy games, at least for this record). So there is that. 15 games of 300 or more yards.

billhoward
Jeff Matthews did go 33-for-44 for 351 yards and 2 TDs. (Also 2 interceptions and 4 sacks.) He is now the Ivy League passing leader in passing yards at 9,303 (which includes non-Ivy games, at least for this record). So there is that. 15 games of 300 or more yards.

I haven't seen this team very much. But when I have, I've gotten the impression that Matthews' glitzy statistics are largely because he's the only credible weapon on offense, and the defense is so atrocious that Cornell is usually playing catch-up, even if Matthews has passed for 3 or more touchdowns.

Matthews came on in relief at Wagner his freshman year, the opening game, in a lost cause. He made it close at the end (correction, he made it 41-7 and was driving for another when time ran out) but to people in the stands, this freshman, he looked like a leader and somebody who could get things done. His "glitzy" statistics are because he has the skill and poise that would let him play at most any college in the country. Cornell passes a lot because the pass-catch team is better than the run team, but that also means the defense doesn't have to worry much about the run. No question he's made some bad judgment calls that lead to interceptions maybe because he's trying to do too much. (Just like Tony Romo - 500 yards and 4 TDs yesterday, then throws a pick with 2 mins to play and they lose to Peyton and the Broncos on a field goal with :00, 51-48.)

Be nice before I die to see a Cornell Ivy football championship that is not a shared title. The 3 (?) we have are all ties with someone else. This could have been the year. We all thought back in 2010 with this super quarterback and the amazing coach from Mississippi.

I'm not questioning his ability. I'm just saying that his personal statistics are so impressive because (a) the offense is so unbalanced in favor of passing and (b) the defense puts us behind so that even if we had a decent running game, we'd need to rely on the pass in most games.

Imagine what we'll be like after Matthews graduates!

On the bright side, I hope your wish (Bill) is a blessing. Then at least you'll have long, if somewhat depressed, life.