Box Score Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Penn football team used a dominating defense all season to enter its season finale unbeaten in Ivy League play, and it sealed the outright 2009 title with a performance worthy of a champion, limiting Cornell to 110 yards of offense in a 34-0 shutout win on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field. Cornell closes its season with a 2-8 mark (1-6 Ivy League), while No. 24 Penn finished with an 8-2 record (7-0 Ivy League).
Cornell was shut out for the first time since Harvard topped the Big Red 27-0 during the 2003 campaign. Senior Bryan Walters posted 105 all-purpose yards to finish his outstanding four-year career with 5,791, good for second all-time in Ivy League history. He also closed his career with Ivy records of 972 punt return and 2,790 kickoff yards.
Freshman Ben Moody recorded 31 rushing yards on six carries, while sophomore Rashad Campbell had a tackle, broke up a pass and returned a kickoff 82 yards in one of the big highlights of the game for the Big Red. Both Dempsey Quinn and Jack Campbell had 11 tackles apiece, while four other players had nine, including All-Ivy middle linebacker Chris Costello, who ended the season with 104 tackles. Junior Brandon Lainhart was one of those with nine tackles and also had an interception.
The Quaker defense didn't force a turnover, but didn't need to. The Big Red had just 49 yards of offense and one first down before taking the ball over with 5:50 left and trailing 34-0. Penn had nine tackles for loss and four sacks and blocked a punt, leading to the team's first touchdown and getting the Quakers over.
Playing for an undefeated Ivy League season and with eyes on guaranteeing itself an outright conference crown regardless of the Harvard-Yale result, Penn jumped out to a 10-0 after 15 minutes and a 20-0 edge by halftime. The Penn defense allowed Cornell just 32 yards of offense in the first 15 minutes, with 21 coming on a run by freshman Ben Moody, and controlled the ball for more than nine minutes in the first quarter. The total at halftime against Penn's No. 1 ranked defense ended up at 28 yards, and it was 31 yards heading into the fourth.
The big run by Moody on the Big Red's first possession got the team out of the shadow of its own end zone, but when the drive stalled, Drew Alston's punt was blocked and recovered by Erik Rasik all the way back at the 3-yard line. Penn's first play went for a score as Lyle Marsh campered in to put the Quakers up 7-0 at the 10:32 mark of the quarter.
The lead grew to 10-0 when 2008 All-American Andrew Samson was true on a 23-yard chip shot to put the Quakers up 10-0 with 3:49 left in the first. Cornell's defense did yeoman's work keeping the score at 10-0 until Keiffer Garton's 8-uyard run with under two minutes to play before halftime made it 17-0. After a three-and-pout by the Quaker defense, Samson hit from 45 yards out with two ticks left on the clock to go into the break up 20-0.
Sophomore Rashad Campbell broke a long kickoff return of 92 yards all the way to the 6-yard line, but a rushing loss on first down and a penalty pushed the Big Red into fourth-and-goal at the 24. A sack of Ganter at the 27 turned the ball over on downs. The Big Red would have one more opportunity to ruin the shutout, but a 15-play, 61-yard drive ended with a fourth-and-2 in the red zone, but a rushing attempt lost four yards and the Quakers were able to kneel down to run out the clock.
