Cornell-Penn Varsity Football, November 9, 2024

[ugarte]

I wouldn't be surprised if Coach Swanstrom replaces the defensive coordinator Jared Backus after the season.  He was a holdover from the Archer staff, and over the decade coaching here, his defenses haven't been very noteworthy.  That being said, until Cornell can have starters on the DL that are the equal in size to the rest of the Ivy League, it's going to be an uphill battle.

The first thing Swanstrom said was that the team was lacking in fitness. IMO it shows in the second half defense and not just this week. I'm not worried about the future of the Swanstrom program but would not object to shaking up the D staff anyway.

[rss77]

Agreed that Cornell's defensive line got steamrolled by Penn's o-line but was also by the athleticsm of Penn's QB Riley, wr Richardson, and the running back Hosley. I think Hosley may get some NFL looks.  I say give Backus another couple of years to see  if Swanstrom's recruiting results in a talent upgrade.

[Al DeFlorio]

Noteworthy factoid:  Penn scored on ten straight possessions.

[arugula]

There was a first and 10 for Penn from like the Cornell 25.  They call a pass and receiver is very open. Cornell db recovers and breaks up the pass.   Celebrates like he won the Super Bowl.  Team losing at the time by two touchdowns. Unacceptable behavior.  Get off my lawn.

[David Harding]

There was a first and 10 for Penn from like the Cornell 25.  They call a pass and receiver is very open. Cornell db recovers and breaks up the pass.   Celebrates like he won the Super Bowl.  Team losing at the time by two touchdowns. Unacceptable behavior.  Get off my lawn.

I remember a game oh so many years ago that was not going well for Cornell.  The band started playing Davy for first downs.

[wolcoma]

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.

[mike1960]

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.

49 points is enough for the offense. We have to get some stops on D somehow against Dartmouth. Maybe stack the box, taking at least one thing away from them and forcing them to beat us with the pass.

Edit: If we were a better tackling team, Penn would not have scored 67 points on us.

[wolcoma]

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!