ITHACA, N.Y. — For many years,
David Archer '05 has brought a simple gift for the women's lacrosse coaching staff on Mondays after a win over Harvard - warm cups of coffee.
After more than a decade,
Jenny Graap and staff will have to return the favor.
The Big Red dominated both lines of scrimmage against the preseason Ivy League favorite Crimson, rallying from a 14-0 deficit to claim a hard-fought 17-14 victory on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The win, the first for Cornell over Harvard since 2005, erased the memories of the Big Red's 0-3 start, while Harvard slipped to 2-2 (1-1 Ivy) with the loss.
Junior
Zach Mays nailed a 27-yard field goal with 9:58 remaining in the fourth and both units made it hold up. The defense allowed 11 yards on 12 plays in the final 10 minutes with four Big Red sacks and a game-saving interception by sophomore
Dylan Otolski with four seconds left. The offense took the air out of the ball effectively, chewing up 5:28 on an 11-play, 45-yard drive that ended with a punt to give the visitors the ball with just 35 seconds left.
Cornell limited Harvard to 223 total yards, the second week in a row the Big Red defense has limited its opponent to under 300 yards, and ran for a season-high 233 itself against a stout Crimson unit. The 233 rushing yards is the most by a Big Red team since posting 257 last season against Sacred Heart and the most it has rung up against the Crimson since 1994 (311 yards). The 233 rushing yards was also the most allowed by Harvard in any contest since Princeton posted 267 yards on the ground in 2011.
The Big Red defense surrendered its lowest yardage total since Yale mustered just 209 in a 17-14 Big Red victory at Schoellkopf in 2008. Junior
Cyrus Nolan had four tackles with 2.5 for a loss, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the win, junior
Reis Seggebruch had six tackles and two sacks, and sophomore
Jordan Landsman notched three tackles, including one for a loss (
watch here). Nolan and Landsman highlighted a defensive line that put pressure on Harvard freshman quarterback Jake Smith all day. Otolski's first career interception sealed the win late, but only after senior corner
Jelani King tipped the pass. It was that type of day for Cornell - a total team effort. The Big Red defense has now allowed just 35 points and 493 total yards in its last two games (17.5 points, 246.5 yards per game) after giving up 90 points and 892 yards in its first two (45.0 points, 446.0 yards).
A week after allowing eight sacks in a 21-7 loss to Central New York rival Colgate, the Big Red didn't surrender any in a game for the first time since its last win - the 2016 victory at Columbia. Junior quarterback
Dalton Banks completed 11-of-14 passes for 117 yards and moved into the school's top five on the career passing yardage list. Senior
Jake Jatis, who came on in short yardage situations, ran for a pair of short touchdowns to supplement the running attack of junior
Chris Walker (19 carries, 93 yards), sophomore
Harold Coles (12 carries, 68 yards) and senior captain
Jack Gellatly (18 carries, 49 yards). Walker also caught six passes for 57 yards, Gellatly had five receptions for 29 yards and
Owen Peters snagged two passes for 34 yards, including a key 30-yard grab on second-and-18 that set up the game-tying touchdown. The offensive line - Cornell's fourth different starting lineup in four games - opened holes all day and kept both Banks' and Jatis' jerseys clean against a Crimson pass rush that has historically been among the best in the FCS.
Harvard's Smith completed 8-of-14 passes for 161 yards and a 36-yard touchdown to Jake Barann. Justice Shelton-Mosley was his favorite receiver, hauling in three passes for 68 yards. Charlie Booker had 56 rushing yards on eight carries, including a 39-yard run.Defensively, Luke Hutton had 12 tackles and Tim Haehl recorded 11.Devin Judd had nine stops and an interception. In all, Cornell kept Harvard's offense off the field (36:50-23.10 advantage in time of possession) and nearly doubled up the Crimson in total plays (77-44).
Junior
Nickolas Null played a key, but hidden role in the win. He averaged 42.5 yards on four punts, including a career-long 59-yard punt that pinned the Crimson at their own 1 on the first play of the fourth quarter. After the Big Red defense forced a three-and-out, Cornell's offense gained the short field at the Crimson 34. A big 33-yard gainer by
Harold Coles set up what would eventually be the go-ahead 27-yard field goal by
Zach Mays.
Notes To Know
• Senior
Jake Jatis scored his first two career rushing touchdowns in the win.
• Senior
Nick Gesualdi registered three tackles, moving him into the school's top 20 (215).
• Junior
Dalton Banks had 117 passing yards in the contest, good enough to move into fifth on the school's all-time list with 3,389 yards.
• Junior
Reis Seggebruch had a team-high five tackles, surpassing the 100-tackle mark for his career (104).
• Cornell rallied from a 14-0 deficit with just over three minutes before halftime, its biggest deficit overcome since its comeback from down 28-5 at Colgate a season ago in a 39-38 road victory.
• Sophomore offensive lineman
John Christian Riffle made his first career start, while classmate
Tommy McIntyre earned his first varsity snaps at tight end.
• The Big Red held a dominant 36:50-23:10 advantage in time of possession, winning the battle in each of the four quarters.
• Watching the game from the stands was the 1971 Ivy League championship team, including national Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy runner-up Ed Marinaro, as well as members of the 1948-52 teams.
• A strong Employee Day crowd of 7,313 took in the game while students are on fall break.
Key Moment
• Trailing 14-0 early in the second quarter, Cornell grinded out a 15-play, 87-yard scoring drive to get back in the game.
• The Big Red ran the ball on its first seven plays (gaining 40 yards) before Banks found Walker on a screen pass for 17 yards.
• A personal foul on Harvard brought the ball into the red zone, and five plays later Jatis ran in from the 2-yard line for his first collegiate rushing touchdown.
• The drive ate up 6:34, and after a three-and-out by the Big Red defense, allowed the home team to go into halftime trailing by just a score.
•
Chris Walker was the workhorse, carrying five times for 34 yards and catching a 17-yard pass.
• In all, five different players ran the ball on the scoring drive.
Key Moment, Part 2
• After the Crimson missed a 43-yard field goal to start the second half, Cornell grinded out a second impressive sustained drive that ultimately led to its second touchdown.
• A mix of the run and pass allowed Jatis to end up repeating his 2-yard touchdown run from earlier, this time capping off a 13-play, 74-yard drive that ate up nearly six minutes.
• Walker ran five times for 29 yards, but this time it was a 30-yard Banks completion to sophomore
Owen Peters that set up the score, bringing the ball to the Harvard 6.
• Jatis ran the final four yards, evening the score on third-and-goal from the 2, followed by the successful PAT attempt by Mays.
• Banks was 2-for-2 passing for 34 yards on the drive, all going to Peters.
Run, Baby, Run
• Cornell ran for a season-high 233 yards against a stout Crimson defensive unit.
• The 233 rushing yards was the most by a Big Red team since posting 257 last season against Sacred Heart and the most it has rung up against the Crimson since 1994 (311 yards).
• The 233 rushing yards was also the most allowed by Harvard in any contest since Princeton posted 267 yards on the ground in 2011.
• Junior All-Ivy running back
Chris Walker, who entered the game with 90 yards in his first three games, surpassed that total with 93 against the Crimson.
• Senior
Jake Jatis ran for his first two career touchdowns.
Defense Dominant
• Cornell has been especially outstanding on defense the last two games, allowing just 17.5 points and 246.5 yards per game.
• The last time the Big Red surrendered 270 yards or fewer in consecutive games was over the first two contests of 2008 when it allowed 265 yards in a 21-20 victory at Bucknell and 209 yards in a 17-14 home victory over Yale.
• Cornell has posted nine sacks in its last two games (14 in four games) after registering 18 all of 2016 and 13 in 2015.
• The Big Red has Now posted its fewest yards allowed under head coach
David Archer '05 and defensive coordinator
Jared Backus in consecutive games (270 vs. Colgate, 223 vs. Harvard).
Sights and Sounds
Next Up
• Cornell steps outside of conference play for the final time this season when Bucknell visits Ithaca for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 14.
• The Big Red and the Bison will compete in the 57th "Battle of the 'Nells", with Cornell leading 43-13.
• A year ago, Cornell snapped an eight-game non-conference losing streak with a 24-16 victory in Lewisburg in the team's season opener.
