ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell football team held Princeton scoreless in the first and fourth quarters, but the 12th-ranked Tigers were able to scratch out a 21-7 victory on Friday evening at Schoellkopf Field, extending its win streak to 17 games. Princeton improved to 7-0 (4-0 Ivy), while the Big Red slipped to 2-5 (1-3 Ivy).
Cornell forced a pair of turnovers and limited the high-octane Princeton offense to 21 points (nearly half of its 41.5 ppg. entering the night) and 353 yards (well shy of its average of 489.7 ypg), but the Tigers put points on the board on a pair of extended scoring drives and took advantage of the first of three Big Red turnovers.
Senior
Jelani Taylor, who was named a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy earlier int he week, posted a team-high nine tackles with a half-tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a highlight reel sideline interception that gave the Big Red new life in the second half.
David Jones chipped in nine tackles and a strip-sack and
Logan Thut had six stops, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery in his return from injury.
Mo Bradford knocked down a pair of passes and had seven total tackles.
Harold Coles had 12 carries for 52 yards on offense and
Richie Kenney completed 17-of-30 passes for 195 yards, including three for 74 yards to
Phazione McClurge.
Garrett Patla had both kickoffs go for touchbacks and
Nickolas Null placed two of his six punts inside the 20.
Gallery: (11/1/2019) Football vs Princeton, 11.01.19
For Princeton, Collin Eaddy scored on runs of 3 and 4 yards and had a game-high 93 rushing yards to pace the offense, while Kevin Davidson completed 20-of-29 passes for 186 yards and a 4-yard score to Andrew Griffin. Jeremiah Tyler posted 11 tackles with 4.5 for a loss, 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup and both Trevor Forbes and Sultaan Shabazz had interceptions. The Tigers, who entered the game ranked 12th nationally in total defense, had nine tackles for loss and forced three Big Red turnovers.
First Quarter
• The Big Red defense set the tone early, stopping the Tigers on their first possession when
Malik Leary snuffed out a Princeton drive just outside the red zone with his tackle at the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-1 from the Cornell 27.
• That handed the ball back on downs after the Tigers opened the game with an eight-play drive.
• Cornell's first drive fizzled after opening with an 18-yard pass play from
Richie Kenney to
Phazione McClurge.
• The Tigers went three-and-out on the other end with a
David Jones strip-sack on third down causing a Tiger punt.
• Princeton regained possession with 6:44 to play in the quarter after a Big Red punt and went to work, taking 5:51 off the clock with a 13-play drive, but • Cornell again came up big with a fourth-and-1 stop, this time with
Justin Bedard and
Lance Blass stopping Zach Keller at the line of scrimmage.
Second Quarter
• Both teams came up empty on their first drives of the second half, but the Tigers got the first turnover of the game and a short field after a fumble by
SK Howard gave the visitors the ball with 10:08 to play in the half at the Cornell 37.
• Four plays later, Princeton was in the end zone.
• Ryan Quigley had a pair of 15-yard runs and chewed up 34 yards on the drive before Eaddy finished it off from 3 yards out with 9:01 to play before halftime.
• The Big Red started the ensuing possession with the hot hand with gains of 17, 12 and 14 yards to cross midfield.
• Cornell would eventually stall out with a pair of missed passing connections and punted with 6:21 left on the clock.
• A settled in Princeton offense methodically marched 80 yards in 15 plays over six minutes, making it 14-0 when Davidson found Griffin from 4-yards out with 22 seconds remaining, and that score would hold up heading into the break.
Third Quarter
• Cornell picked up one first down on the initial second half drive and the Tigers went three-and-out before the third quarter scoring began,
• The Big Red had a much-needed nine-play, 85-yard drive that ended with
Richie Kenney sneaking in from 1-yard out for his first collegiate score.
• Kenney opened the drive with a home run 39-yard pass to McClurge, then hit
Thomas Glover for 23 more yards later in the drive.
• Glover's 10-yard carry to the 1 set up Kenney's touchdown to get the Big Red back within 14-7 with 6:55 left in the third.
• Princeton went right back to work, this time going 75 yards in eight plays to regain a two touchdown lead.
• The big play came on a third-and-5, with Davidson catching the Big Red in a blitz and calling Dylan Classi's number for 49 yards before being pushed out of bounds on the Cornell 21.
• Quigly fumbled the ball on the drive but got a lucky bounce back to him to allow the Tigers to keep the ball.
• Three plays later Eaddy scored on a 4-yard run to go up 21-7 with 3:50 on the clock after a Tavish Rice PAT kick.
• Cornell was intercepted late in the third on a rollout, with Trevor Forbes coming from a safety spot to step in front of an open receiver on the sidelines for the acrobatic turnover.
Fourth Quarter
• The Big Red forced turnovers on consecutive fourth quarter possessions, but couldn't cash in on either.
• Taylor intercepted a pass that was initially ruled out of bounds before the call was overturned for his third straight Ivy game with an pick.
• Four minutes later, Taylor forced a Quigley fumbled and
Logan Thut jumped on it at the Big Red's 34 to keep the home team in the game.
• It was Princeton's first lost fumble of the season.
• Cornell couldn't do much with either possession, punting after a five-play drive, then was intercepted in the end zone with just over four minutes left after the Big Red drove 54 yards.
• Included was an 18-yard reception by
John Fitzgerald and a 23-yard reverse to McClurge to get Cornell inside the red zone.
• The Big Red got one more possession after getting a stop on third-and-2 of the ensuing drive to force a punt, but the Tiger defense was able to pin its ears back and sack Kenney on consecutive snaps to seal the win.
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Next Up
• The Big Red begins its final road swing of the season when it visits Penn on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1:30 p.m. at Franklin Field.
• It will be the 126th all-time meetings between the teams with the Quakers in the lead 74-46-5.
• The series is the fifth-most played in college football history.
• The game will be played for the Trustees' Cup, with Penn leading 17-7 for the trophy.
