Cornell Varsity Football at Columbia, November 23, 2024

[rss77]

Swanstrom and his staff got great production out of the talent available. Watching Wang this year was a roller coaster ride-great plays at times and maddenly inconsistent at other times. Wish all 28 seniors well!

[Trotsky]

if we get a competent QB to replace Wang we should be able to compete year-in-year out.

I do not follow the team closely but my impression was Wang was a black swan, like Jeff Foote.  Some bizarre concatenation of circumstances resulted in him slipping past the notice of better programs and becoming available to an Ivy.

Was he really that much of a rarity, or do we stand a decent chance of getting a replacement level or better QB in the next class? (Do we already know the commits?)

[Ken711]

if we get a competent QB to replace Wang we should be able to compete year-in-year out.

I do not follow the team closely but my impression was Wang was a black swan, like Jeff Foote.  Some bizarre concatenation of circumstances resulted in him slipping past the notice of better programs and becoming available to an Ivy.

Was he really that much of a rarity, or do we stand a decent chance of getting a replacement level or better QB in the next class? (Do we already know the commits?)

There's a thread on the commits '29 commits in the forum.  As far as next year's QB as Wang's replacement, I'm not sure what player will win the job. With Swanstrom being a former QB himself, I'm hopeful he'll develop one.  I'm just as hopeful that Cornell can field a bigger DL next season to match up with the rest of the Ivy League.

[David Harding]

if we get a competent QB to replace Wang we should be able to compete year-in-year out.

I do not follow the team closely but my impression was Wang was a black swan, like Jeff Foote.  Some bizarre concatenation of circumstances resulted in him slipping past the notice of better programs and becoming available to an Ivy.

Was he really that much of a rarity, or do we stand a decent chance of getting a replacement level or better QB in the next class? (Do we already know the commits?)

There's a thread on the commits '29 commits in the forum.  As far as next year's QB as Wang's replacement, I'm not sure what player will win the job. With Swanstrom being a former QB himself, I'm hopeful he'll develop one.  I'm just as hopeful that Cornell can field a bigger DL next season to match up with the rest of the Ivy League.

Class of 2029 Commits thread:  https://elf.elynah.com/read.php?7,255838

[rss77]

Wang transferred in from Air Force Academy

[Ken711]

Wang transferred in from Air Force Academy

Only wish they'd fired Archer years earlier to Swanstrom would have had more years developing him.

[Local Motion]

I was at the Columbia game yesterday and it was a fun Cornell crowd.  I am pleased with some of the things Swanstrom did this year as our new head football coach.   The defensive line was short-handed much of the season with injuries and that is one area that needs to be addressed for next year.  

My primary concern is Cornell's style of offense that has never had much success on the East Hill with a no-huddle spread attack.   There were some splashes of excitement but the running game once again struggled for the Big Red.   Ian Pope had a pretty good season rushing for just over 500 yards, but in reality Cornell football has not had a 1000 yard rusher since Luke Siwula back in 2005 when we finished 6-4, which is our last winning team.  Our two best running backs had a combined four rushing touchdowns all season.   The reason I bring this up is Ithaca is not Florida or Texas, with often inclimate weather and that's why our best teams over the years have featured a strong running game.  As I previously mentioned, Jeff Matthews broke all the passing records at Cornell but he never had a consistent running game to keep the other team's offense off the field.  Sadly he did not have a winning season throughout his four year career on the East Hill.   Meanwhile, Columbia's Joey Giorgi rushed 29 times for 165 yards, thus wearing down our defense.   The Ivy team with the best running attack usually wins the Ivy League title.   Go Big Red!