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Cornell Postgame Press Conference
Penn Postgame Press Conference

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Penn defense did what the Penn defense has done all year long, limiting Cornell to under 200 yards of total offense in capturing its second straight outright Ivy League title with a 31-7 win over the Big Red on Saturday afternoon in the season finale for both teams. The 16th-ranked Quakers end their season with a 9-1 overall record (7-0 Ivy), while the Big Red finished the year at 2-8 (1-6 Ivy).

Cornell had plenty of bright spots in the season ender, with freshman quarterback Jeff Mathews tossing for 145 yards and a touchdown while completing 16-of-31 passes. He ended his rookie campaign with a freshman record 1,723 yards passing and seven touchdowns, along with a pair of rushing scores. Classmate Grant Gellatly had a team-high 73 rushing yards on 13 carries against a stout Quaker rush defense, while junior Shane Savage caught five passes for 47 yards and Cornell's lone touchdown. A pair of senior linebackers, Brandon Lainhart (13 tackles) and Dempsey Quinn (12 tackles) eadch had double figure stops for the Big Red defensively, while junior corner Rashad Campbell registered his first interception of the year, returning it 33 yards in the process. Both Ben Heller and Zack Imhoff posted eight tackles, with Imhoff netting a sack.

The Big Red defense was shackled by poor field position thanks to turnovers. A pair of Cornell miscues led to Penn scoring drives of 22 yards or less, and a third came on a 47-yard drive. Penn totaled 383 yards of offense, including 282 yards on the ground. Brandon Colavita was the recipient of a tremendous amount of the offensive line's surge, rushing for 103 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Quakers. Both Jeff Jack (46 yards on 10 carries) and quarterback Billy Ragone (10 carries, 45 yards) each had more than 40 rushing yards. The Cornell defense limited Penn to 101 total yards passing.

The arrow seemed to be pointed in Penn's direction all day, right from the first play from scrimmage. A Big Red fumble was recovered by the Quakers at the Cornell 15, and despite a solid stand by the Big Red defense, it was plenty enough for Penn's all-time leading scorer, Andrew Samson, to bang home a 29-yard field goal to make it 3-0 just 56 seconds into the contest.

After trading punts for the next seven minutes, Penn took over in excellent field position at the Cornell 47 and methodically moved the ball on the ground. A nine-play scoring drive included seven runs by four different players, culminating in a 2-yard scamper by Colavita to make it 10-0 after Samson's kick with 2:43 remaining in the first.

The Penn lead was extended to 17-0 on a long, 13-play drive that culminated in Colavita's second score, this time from 5 yards out. The 6:06 drive would nearly be the only scoring of the quarter except for a Cornell turnover that would ultimately be converted into points.

Four consecutive three-and-outs, two by each defense, looked to be three. Facing a hard third-and-15, Mathews was sacked from the blindside and lost the football at the Cornell 22 with just over a minute and a half remaining. The 22 yards came in six plays, with Billy Ragone finding Ryan Murray for a 2-yard score with 14 ticks left on the clock, making it 24-0 at the half.

The Big Red avoided another turnover after a muffed punt was returned to the offense after Penn was called for interference on a fair catch, but Cornell faced consecutive sacks and forced Drew Alston to punt the ball away. After a 22-yard run brought the ball out to the Penn 45, Ragone's pass was intercepted by Rashad Campbell. The junior returned the ball 33 yards to the Penn 42, setting up the Big Red's best field position of the day.

A 14-yard run by Gellatly and a 26-yard pass from Mathews to Savage highlighted the drive down to the Penn 2. With first and goal, the Big Red was called for consecutive false start penalties. Facing third-and-goal from the 12, Gellatly ran for six hard yards, but Mathews' fourth down pass was batted away to give Penn the ball back.

The Quakers used the turnover on downs to seal the victory, going 94 yards the other way on 10 plays, with Colavita going the final 26 yards on third-and-2 for his third score of the day.

The Big Red, who were shut out 34-0 in last season's finale against the Quakers for the Trustees' Cup, got on the board in the fourth with a sustained 14-play, 79-yard drive that included 32 yards on four carries by Gellatly and a 6-of-9 effort for Mathews that included his 5-yard score to Savage in the corner of the end zone. The touchdown was the second of the year for Savage.