The first play of the game was a historic one, as Walters took the opening kickoff 18 yards to set at new Ivy League record for career kickoff return yards. The Big Red moved the ball to its 44-yard line before its drive stalled and Maxwell punted the ball away.

The Quaker offense wasn't able to fair much better on its first possession, going three-and-out . The punt got caught up in the wind and Walter returned it 10 yards to the Cornell 46-yard line. After a six-yard rush by Siwula and a five-yard reception by Canty, the Big Red benefitted from a 15-yard personal foul against the Quakers to move the ball to the Penn 28-yard line. After a six-yard rush by Kilcoyne off a reverse, Cornell faced third-and-four, but Ford found Canty over the middle for the first down at the Quaker 14. That was as far as the Big Red would get, however, as Brad Greenway converted the 32-yard field goal to put Cornell up, 3-0 with 8:50 remaining in the first quarter.

Penn took to the ground on the en suing drive with seven straight rushes and picked up a crucial fourth down before a Cornell personal foul gave the Quakers a first down on the Big Red 12-yard line. Penn picked up a fresh set of downs on Cornell's one-yard line and DeLuca barreled up the middle for the score. Andrew Samson added the extra-point to take the 7-3 lead with 2:44 left in the quarter.

The Big Red went three-and-out on its next possession and the wind wreaked havoc with a Maxwell punt, giving Penn outstanding field position on the Cornell 28-yard line. The Cornell defense was excellent and surrendered just five yards before Samson connected on a 40-yard field goal to give the visitors a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarters.

Cornell's next possession was stalled when a Quaker blitz resulted in a sack of Ford for a loss of 16 yards to set up a third-and-26 on its own nine-yard line. The Big Red was unable to convert, but a 57-yard punt by Michael Bolling caught the Penn returner off guard and pinned the Quakers back on their 28-yard line.

The Quakers moved the ball to near midfield before punting it away to Cornell, but a Big Red interception gave the ball back to the visitors on its 37-yard line. McNally carried the ball three times for 18 yards, before connecting with Matt Tuten over the middle to move the ball to the Cornell 39-yard line. McNally carried once more for just two yards before handing the ball off to DiMaggio on the next play. DiMaggio busted untouched through the middle of the line and sprinted 37-yards to pay dirt. Samson tacked on the extra point and Penn took a 17-3 lead with 8:00 to go before the half.

The Big Red benefitted from an errant Quaker kickoff and started its next drive on the 40-yard line after a free kick penalty. Cornell immediately gave five-yards back with a false start penalty, but Ford connected with Canty over the middle for a 15-yard gain. The drive ended with a Big Red fumble, giving the Quakers the ball on their 47-yard line. Penn could only manage seven yards, but an outstanding punt by Scooter Belasco backed the Big Red up to its 12-yard line.

Ford completed four straight passes, three of which went to Canty, to move to near midfield, but from there the drive stalled and Cornell punted away.

The Big Red defense clamped down on Penn's next possession and managed to get the ball back with just over two minutes to play in the first half. After three straight complete passes moved the ball in to Penn territory an errant pass landed in the hands of Jordan Manning, who returned it 55 yards to the Big Red 14-yard line. Junior right guard Andrew Bohl made the touchdown-saving tackle. Following the play, the Quakers were flagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct and backed up to the 29-yard line. McNally hit Lawrence for a 13-yard gain and DiMaggio rushed for five, but that is as far as the visitors got before Samson connected on the 28-yard field goal to send Penn into the intermission with the 20-3 lead. 

It didn't get any better for the Big Red after halftime, After forcing the Quakers to punt on the first possession of the second half and getting the ball with good field position at its own 42, Cornell converted on a third-and-14 with a 20-yard strike from Ford to Horatio Blackman. After Ford was sacked, Barbour broke off a game-long 13-yard scamper to the Penn 30. After Siwula picked up the lone needed yard for a first down, Ford threw two incomplete passes and a short gainer to Baker to set uo Greenway for a 45-yard field goal attempt with the win. The sophomore didn't get all of the ball and what would have been a career-long kick fell short. The Quakers took over, but the offense sputtered after a seven-yard gain on first down and Scooter Belasco again punted the ball away. After Walters returned the kick 13 yards, the Big Red had another chance. This time the home team put some points on the board. Consecutive passes from Ford to Blackman brough the ball into the red zone, but another short pass to Baker and two incomplete passes again set up the sophomore kicker, this time for a 32-yard attempt. Greenway split the uprights to cut the deficit to two touchdowns (20-6) with plenty of time left (2:27 in the third).

That's when Penn's running game took over. The ensuing drive covered just 32 yards but lasted 12 plays, ate 6:19 off the clock and nullified the Big Red's field goal when Samso booted a season-long 44-yard kick to push the lead back to 23-6.

The Big Red would get the ball back two more times with a chance to get its first touchdown on the board, but the first play from scrimmage would be the best last-ditch effort to get in the game. On the first play, Ford went up top and connected with Canty down the sideline for a 54-yard bomb to the Penn 8, but a flag for holding nullified the gain and three plays and one yard gained later, Michael Bolling came back out to punt the ball away with 9:35 to play. Two final Penn drives would take off more than eight minutes off the clock, as a Ford interception on a ball that went through the receivers' hands all but ended the game with 4:31 to play. The Quakers put the rest of the game on the back of DiMaggio and the sophomore was up for the challenge, taking the ball five straight times before Matt Hamscher and Kelms Amoo-Achampong each toted the ball once as the clock ran out.