ELynah Forum

Attend a Cornell football game!   They are fun and always competitive.   Cornell rushed for over 200 yards and the defense woke up yesterday.   

Unfortunately Schoellkopf Field has become a "recruiting liability".  Top Ivy League football talent plays in front of big high school crowds with stands on both sides.   The old West Stands were basically a set of high school bleachers so we're not talking big money to replace them.  I think when recruits visit and they see an ugly parking garage on the West side it turns them off.   A minor thing but we are the only Ivy with a one sided stadium.   GBR!

The Cornell defense played really well and kept the team in the game.   However, on offense it just seems like the unit is in a constant state of confusion.   For example, first play of the game we fumbled a simple pitch out for a TD.   Where last week we opened with two picks in a row against Colgate.   We rushed for a total of 66 yards and there has been no running game all season, other than our QB running for his life.   This team is on track for 0-10 if they don't turn it around. 

Cornell played better vs. Yale, but once again no running game.  Meanwhile the Bull Dogs RB rushed for 175 yards.  Maybe running the football sounds boring, but it seems like the opposing teams always run the ball and Cornell does not.   Homecoming at Cornell this week and Go Big Red!   

First game and kind of what I expected against Albany.   While our defense played very well, it was pretty much a lackluster offensive effort, with the exception of the TD catch by Kurtz near the end of the game.  

While I like Swanstrom, he pretty much ignores the running game and that was the reason why Albany won and we didn't.  The Albany running back rushed for 126 yards.   In comparison, Cornell's running backs combined for a total of 47 yards on the ground. The other yards came from QB scrambles.    Year after year it's "Rinse and Repeat", whether it's Swanstrom, Archer, Austin, etc.   Cornell will never be competitive in the Ivy League without a strong running game. Ithaca is not Florida where you can spread out your receivers and pass for 300 yards every game.   When I was at the Columbia game last November their running back rushed for  166 yards and our running backs ran for a "combined" 75 yards.   Even though Wang scrambled for 100 yards, we still lost the game.   It ain't rocket science but modern coaches want to pretend they are Clemson or LSU.   Go Big Red!

Every year I buy season football tickets and donate to the program.  Then I sign up for ESPN +.   It just drives me nuts I can't even stream or listen to the game on Saturday night.   Meanwhile Homecoming is just over two weeks away and I have not received any e-mails or snail mail from the athletic department.   Like I said, Cornell does not make it easy to be a Big Red fan.

Cornell does not make it easy to follow our sports with no more WHCU broadcasts and limited streaming coverage this weekend.   The only thing I could find on the Albany website is the CAA streaming service, but since I am already paying for ESPN + I don't want to order another service.   Let me know if any of you posters have any suggestions?   Go Big Red!

Cornell opens their season at Albany this Saturday with kick-off at 7 pm.   I have no idea of what to expect this season and not much has been posted on the Big Red website.   Albany has a nice stadium (Bob Ford Field) and easy commute from the NYC metro area up Route 87 or from Ithaca on Route 88.   Thinking of going to the game, but a late night return.

Any updates on Cornell football from pre-season practices?   Nothing on the Big Red website.   The biggest question is who will replace Jameson Wang (graduated) at QB this season?    Additionally the running game really struggled last year and hopefully someone on this team can carry the ball this fall.

Hurry up and wait I guess as the first game is not until September 20th.   Go Big Red!

Yes 49 points is great, but again we left our defense on the field all day.  Agreed our defense did not play well, but when you lose time of possession by a whopping 10 minutes, that is brutal.   If you have ever played defense being on the field that long is exhausting, which was evident in the second half.   For example, when Jeff Matthews was rewriting the Cornell QB record books, our best season was 5-5, because we didn't run the football and nearly everyone of those games we lost time of possession.   In addition, Saturday's game was three and a half hours long, and you could see our defense with their hands on their hips.  Meanwhile I am sure the Penn offensive line was having fun run blocking in the second half. Let's hope we run the football vs. Dartmouth as that's the best way to keep their offense off the field and at least even out time of possession.   Go Big Red!

I was not surprised by this defeat because Cornell did not run the football and we lost time of possession by a whopping 10 minutes, meaning our defense was exhausted especially in the second half.   The rushing statistics are deceiving as Robert Tucker had 75 yard run on a fake punt for a touchdown.   While that was an awesome play, Tucker only carried the ball two times the entire game.   The other runs were primarily QB scrambles.   Every win Cornell has posted this season has been behind a good running game.   Wang had over 50 passe and football 101 is your QB should never throw that many passes.   Meanwhile Penn rushed for a whopping 286 yards and our defense was exhausted.   Not that complicated folks.

I am a "Walter Mitty" offensive coordinator.   Star QB Wang had another impressive game, but we rushed for nearly 200 yards today and the Big Red led the entire afternoon.   Granted Princeton is probably a little down this year, but great to see Cornell finally win one against the Tigers.  Go Big Red!

Cornell football just did not come to play today.  A very winnable game and we still lose.   Like I said Cornell does not make it easy to be an alum.   My biggest frustration with Big Red football is nobody cares about the program, which is too bad. I am watching the game on TV and they kept showing our lovely parking garage.  Well at least Harvard academics have no problem fielding a winning football program, as the Crimson clobbered Howard and move to 5-0.

I have no problem with Cornell hiring a female AD as long as she is experienced and good at the job.   Where the Board of Trustees screwed up is after Elizabeth Garrett passed away they were in too much of a hurry to hire another female president rather than the best person for the job.   Again I think Martha Pollack is probably a brilliant academic, but does not have the personality or the leadership skills to be president of a major university.

That's my frustration with Martha Pollack is she is the most AWOL president Cornell has ever had.   For example, she has been president for five years and has not once come out to meet alums at our Cornell Club event.   Secondly ask many of the staff in the athletic department and they can't stand her.    My daughter overlapped one year with Martha Pollack at Cornell and never saw or met her, in comparison she met both Elizabeth Garrett and Hunter Rawlings.   I think I have seen Martha Pollack twice at Homecoming and both times she left the game prior to half time.   Come on you're president of a major university and you can't stay for Homecoming?   Meanwhile a buddy of mine who went to Princeton, daughter graduated from Cornell back in 2019 and they had to stand the entire two hours for the ceremony at crumbling Schoellkopf and he still gives me a hard time about it.   Tell me one contribution Martha Pollack has made to Cornell athletics over the past five years?  Oh yeah.............she added a red tarp to the Crescent so fans can no longer sit there.  Anything else?