Box Score
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Brown's connection of Michael Dougherty and Bobby Sewall proved deadly, handing the Cornell football team its third consecutive loss in a 27-7 Bears victory on Saturday afternoon at Brown Stadium. Sewall caught 11 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns, while Dougherty threw for 285 yards in remaining unbeaten in Ivy League play at 3-0 (4-2 overall). The Big Red slipped to 3-3 (1-2 Ivy) in defeat.
With the wind playing a big factor in field position, Brown was able to shake off a sluggish start and got an outstanding performance from its defense, forcing just one turnover, but limiting the Big Red to 279 yards of total offense overall.
Senior Nathan Ford completed 29-of-48 passes for 216 yards and a score, with eight passes for 94 yards going to Jesse Baker. Nine different receivers caught a pass with Baker, Shane Kilcoyne, Zac Canty and Stephen Liuzza each collecting at least four catches. Bryan Walters had 56 yards of punt return yardage and 115 all-purpose yards on the day. Defensively, Anthony Sabo had a game-high eight tackles and Emani Fenton had seven. Tim Bax had six tackles and three pass breakups and Gus Krimm had an interception and two pass breakups in the loss.
After a dominant first drive on offense and several great defensive series, the Big Red stalled out and saw a 7-0 lead turn into a 13-7 halftime deficit behind 13 unanswered Brown points. The wind played a big role, as the team against the wind had to fight two opponents. Brown was limited to nine yards on nine plays in the first quarter against the wind, while the Big Red gained seven yards on 19 plays in the second 15 minutes battling the elements.
Cornell's defense forced three-and-outs on all three Brown possessions in the first quarter, harassing Dougherty into a 1-of-6 effort for four yards in the first 15 minutes. The Big Red held the ball for nearly 12 minutes of play, but could only muster seven points.
On the second possession, Walters brought a punt back a season-long 20 yards to set the Big Red offense up at the Brown 34. Using that momentum, Barbour broke off an eight-yard run on first down, and Liuzza took the next snap for a new set of downs after lining up for the direct snap. Two plays later, Ford found Jesse Baker from 16 yards out for the senior's fifth touchdown of the season with 5:01 remaining in the quarter. Brad Greenway's kick made it 7-0 Cornell.
After yet another Brown punt, the Big Red converted a third-down when a batted pass fell into the hands of Luke Siwula for a first down that helped Cornell continue a drive. A big third down pass from Ford to Blackman continued the drive into the second quarter as the Big Red ended the first 15 minutes with 11:35 of possession. Cornell held the powerful Brown offense to just nine plays for nine yards in the quarter. Ford completed the quarter 11-of-13 passing for 86 yards.
With a third-and-2 from the 18, the Big Red fell a yard shy of its seventh straight third-down conversion, being tackled at the 17. The visitors decided to go for it on fourth down rather than attempt a 34-yard field goa, and Ford was stopped on a fake handoff at the 19 to give Brown the ball back.
The Bears took the momentum and started its own march down the field. A 17-yard pass to Buddy Farnham and a 15-yard facemask penalty gave the Bears its first trip past midfield in the contest. The Big Red defense stopped receiver Bobby Sewall short on a third-and-3 and Brown, like Cornell on the previous drive, went for it on fourth down. Sewall got past the line by a half yard to earn a new set of downs. Sewall made a great 26-yard catch from Doughtery as the receiver was drilled by Anthony Sabo but held onto the ball at the Cornell 9.A short run, followed by a great pass breakup by Tim Bax brought up a Bear field goal attempt from 21 yards out. Robert Ranney's kick split the uprights and tightened the score at 7-3 with 9:50 left in the half.
After Cornell punted the ball away on its next possession, Brown's Farnham brought the kick back near midfield at the 48. On the very first play, Dougherty went up top and caught the Big Red defense sleeping as the senior found Sewall behind the coverage for a 52-yard touchdown toss. The kick made it 10-7 with 8:14 remaining..Brown tacked on a 22-yard field goal with 3:19 left before the half to send both teams into the b reak with the Bears leading 13-7.
Neither team could do much on their first two possessions of the second half, with a pair of booming punts by Ranney of more than 60 yards into the wind, including a 76-yarder, helped the Bears win the field position game. Only a pair of good punt returns by Bryan Walters kept Cornell out of the shadow of its own end zone. On the third Cornell possession, the Big Red picked up a big third-and-5 conversion with a pass to Horatio Blackman that picked up 11 yards. The drive ended just outside the Cornell red zone when Liuzza lost a fumble with five minutes to play in the quarter. The ensuing Brown drive moved it into the red zone and was continued by a questionable pass interference call in the end zone and ended with Farnham running in from the 2 to make it 20-7 just eight seconds into the fourth.The Bears scored again with 9:06 to play when Sewall beat a Cornell defender for a 32-yard touchdown pass, breaking a tackle at the 5 and going in for six points.After Cornell turned the ball over on downs, Brown was able to run out the clock behind Dereck Knight, who had 80 yards on 19 carries, including 62 yards on11 carries in the final 15 minutes.
The Big Red returns home to face Princeton on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. The Tigers lead the all-time series 55-33-2, including a 34-31 victory last season at Princeton Stadium.
