Sept. 21, 2001
ITHACA, N.Y. -
The Cornell sprint football team fell 19-17 tonight to the University of Pennsylvania when James Dangel completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Tim Murphy on the game's final play. The score came on a play that started with one second remaining on the clock, and disappointed an excited crowd of 397 at Schoellkopf Field.
Penn's final drive started at midfield with 41 seconds remaining on the clock. After three completions by Dangel moved the ball to the 18-yard line, Penn took its first shot at the end zone with five seconds remaining, but the pass was broken up. The Cornell sideline celebrated what it believed to be victory, only to see that one second was left to play. On the ensuing snap, Dangel avoided a Cornell rush, scrambled to his left, where three wide receivers sprinted towards the end zone. Instead, Dangel turned his body and floated a pass to Murphy, who ran across the field and found an opening in the Cornell defense. Murphy caught the pass and crossed the goal line untouched for the game winner.
For a while, it didn't seem that Penn would need late heroics. Following a 37-yard field goal by Chris Caputi in the third quarter, the Quakers led 13-3 and appeared in control. Cornell rallied with consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take the lead.
The first touchdown came on a 14-yard pass from Sunil Gupta to Michael Ormsby with 11:05 remaining in the quarter. Gupta threw a perfect pass into the left corner of the end zone, and Ormsby outjumped the defender to secure Cornell's first touchdown of the season. The play was set up by a fake punt, which was run down to the Penn 20-yard line.
After each team punted once, Cornell forced the first turnover of the game, recovering a fumble deep in Penn territory. An attempted third-down pass into the end zone was incomplete, but the officials ruled pass interference on the defense. Instead of lining up for a tying field goal, Cornell found itself three yards away from the end zone. It wasted little time scoring, as Charlie Tam busted through the right side of the line and scored, giving Cornell its only lead of the game, 17-13.
Penn raced out of the gates, as Dangel and Murphy hooked up for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 2:36 remaining in the first quarter. The Quakers added to the lead when Caputi converted on a 29-yard field goal attempt. Cornell cut the deficit to 10-3 when Chris Garnic kicked a 27-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining in the first half.
Cornell will face Princeton next Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will be played at Schoellkopf Field.
Pennsylvania (1-0) 7 3 3 6 - 19
Cornell (0-1) 0 3 0 14 - 17
