ITHACA, N.Y. - The script could not have been written more perfectly, as the 18 members of Cornell's senior class were hoisted on the shoulders of their teammates and carried off to the home locker room to ring the Victory Bell. Few would have guessed the reason they were doing so would rest squarely on the shoulders of two wide-eyed freshmen.

The Big Red football team evened its record at 5-5 (3-4 Ivy) and closed out its first five-win season at Schoellkopf Field (5-1) since Ed Marinaro's magical 1971 campaign with a nail-biting 28-27 victory over Penn on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The loss dropped the Quakers to 5-5 (3-4 Ivy) and helped Cornell retain possession of the Trustee Cup.

Freshman backup quarterback Stephen Liuzza played a majority of the contest after an injury to starter Nathan Ford sidelined the sophomore, and Liuzza took full advantage. The Slidell, La., native was 7-of-14 for 114 yards and ran for 22 yards, including an 8-yard scoring run. Classmate Bryan Walters, who earlier in the afternoon broke a 58-year-old Cornell record for punt return yards in a season (274 yards) had an 88-yard kickoff return that proved to be the game winner, part of a 162 total return yards on the afternoon.

Junior Luke Siwula rushed for 52 yards on 21 carries, while sophomore Shane Kilcoyne had 26 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Senior Anthony Jackson caught two passes for 81 yards, including a 74-yard strike in the fourth quarter to pace the offense. Ford gutted it out early and completed 4-of-7 passes for 46 yards and the team's lone first half touchdown, a 15-yard strike to sophomore classmate Zac Canty.

The Big Red defense limited Penn to 43 rushing yards on the afternoon and 27 yards of total offense in the first half. The Big Red ended the day out-gaining Penn 324-281 after a late Quaker surge. Sophomore Tim Bax had 10 tackles, including three for a loss and a pass breakup, while junior linebacker Doug Lempa had seven tackles and two TFL, including one of three Cornell sacks on the afternoon. Cornell had eight total tackles behind the line of scrimmage and limited the visitors to five plays or less on 10 of Penn's first 11 drives of the afternoon.

Penn's Robert Irvin completed 14-of-32 passes for 238 yards, while Joe Sandberg ran for four short touchdowns despite being otherwise bottled up for 58 yards on 19 carries for the Quakers. The visitors couldn't convert on a fake attempt on an extra-point that would have put them ahead with 1:51 left after Sandberg's fourth touchdown. Cornell gave Penn the ball back, but time expired on the visitors after a fourth-down attempt fell short as time expired with the Quakers at their own 47.

Joe Anastasio had a game-high 13 tackles, while Jordan Manning had seven stops and two for a loss while recovering a fumble that led to Penn's only score of the first half.

Cornell received the opening kickoff and quickly marched to midfield in five plays. A diving catch by senior Patrick Blakemore at the Penn 22-yard line gave the Big Red its fourth straight first down, while another run by Kilcoyne brought the home team to the 11. After a short loss on first down, Ford hit Zac Canty on an out route in the end zone from 15 yards out. Peter Zell's extra-point kick made it 7-0 to cap the 13-play drive.

Both teams traded punts until consecutive possessions where the Big Red were forced to start inside their own 10. A fumble inside the 10 by Kilcoyne gave the Quakers a first and goal at the Cornell 8, and two plays later Sandberg found the end zone to tie the game. It also pushed Penn to positive yardage, as the Quakers ended the first quarter with -1 yards of offense on 10 plays. Sandberg's 4-yard scoring run to open the second quarter gave the Quakers three total yards.

A Cornell punt stalled early in the second quarter on its own end of the field, but a perfectly executed fake put turned into a 35-yard sprint by Michael Boyd down to the Penn 21 to give Cornell's offense new life. At the time, the run was five times the Quakers' total yardage. Cornell went to furth-and-2 from the 12, but rather than kick the field goal, Cornell went for it and Siwula was able to pick up a new set of downs. A penalty stalled the offense in the red zone despite a Liuzza third-down completion to Brian FitzPatrick all the way to the 1. Cornell went for it on fourth down for the third time in the half, but Penn's defense held for the first time, holding up Siwula at the 1-yard line to give the Quakers the ball back.

Penn's offense picked up its first first-down not coming on a Big Red penalty with four minutes remaining in the half as Cornell's defense continued to rule the day. A sack by Graham Rihn at the Penn 1-yard line forced a punt. A bad pitch by Liuzza after Walters' record-breaking punt return (setting the school record for punt return yardage in a season, surpassing a 58-year old record by Hillary Chollet) forced Cornell all the way back to the 33-yard line, and three plays later, Peter Zell's 48-yard field goal attempt fell short to give the visitors the ball back with 1:33 to play in the half. The final drive added another first down to the Quakers' tally, with Penn completing its first pass of the game (0-of-7 previously) on the last play of the half, a harmless 11-yard toss to tight end Chris Mizell from Irvin as the clock expired.

The first half numbers pointed to Cornell's dominance, outgaining Penn 151-27 and holding a decisive 20:06-9:54 time of possession advantage in the first 30 minutes. Cornell posted 81 rushing yards, with Siwula (23 yards on 10 carries) posting nearly twice as many rushing yards as the entire Penn squad.

Penn opened up the second half by taking the kickoff and charging 67 down the field in eight plays for the go-ahead touchdown. Sandberg completed the drive with a 4-yard score to make it 14-7 just 3:48 into the second half. The drive was highlighted by a short completion by Irvin to Matt Carre than resulted in a 45-yard gain all the way down to the Cornell 7. Sandberg's second score of the afternoon gave Penn its first lead of the contest.

After three consecutive punts, Cornell took the ball back and was able to start moving the ball. A third-down pickup on a pass from Liuzza to Canty continued the drive, but it would stall out at the 45, forcing a Maxwell punt. The sophomore dropped the ball at the 12. After a three-and-out, Cornell took over as the third quarter closed.

Three quick bursts on the ground, two by Kilcoyne and one by Siwula, brought the ball to the 10. A third-and-four turned into a touchdown, as Kilcoyne was wrapped at the 5 but kept his feet going and pulled the pile into the end zone to tie the contest. Zell's kick made it 14-14 to close out the five-play, 30-yard drive with 13:16 to play in the fourth.

Liuzza opened Cornell's next possession with a bomb to Anthony Jackson. The senior caught the ball at the visitor's 48, broke a tackle and went all the way to the Penn 10 before being dragged down. The 74-yard grab was the longest by a Big Red pitch-and-catch combination since D.J. Busch found Chad Nice for a 79-yard scoring strike against Harvard during the 2004 campaign. Two plays later, Liuzza ran untouched from 8-yards out to give Cornell the lead with 10:03 remaining. Zell's kick made it 21-14.

Penn marched it right back down the field, going 69 yards on eight plays with Sandberg scoring for the third time on a 7-yard run to make it 21-20. Lepisto's kick was good, making it 21-21 ... but not for long. Cornell's Walters returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for his first career touchdown and the Big Red's first kickoff return for a score since 1998. It was the game's third touchdown in a span of 1:38 and came on an untouched run. Walters broke through the wedge and outran three Penn Quakers en route to paydirt.

Penn took the ball back and the Big Red successfully defended three straight pass plays, the last a diving bat-down of a long spiral by Tim Bax to force a punt with 7:18 left.

Cornell looked finished on third-and-10, but Liuzza spun out of a tackle and went for 20 yards to move the chains. With the Big Red milking the clock, Penn's defense cinched down on the Cornell running game, forcing a punt with three minutes remaining. Maxwell's kick was downed at the Quakers' 29, giving Penn 2:44 to go 72 yards for the tying touchdown.

The Quakers answered the call, going those 71 yards on six plays. Sandberg found the end zone from 4-yards out, his fourth score of the game, to make it 28-27 with 1:51 left. The snap was low and bounced, and the holder was never able to handle the ball. Cornell's Colin Nash pounced on the ball at the 4-yard line, preventing Penn from trying to run it into the end zone and keeping the Big Red in the lead.

Penn attempted an on-sides kick, but the ball went out of bounds, giving Cornell the ball with under 1:45 left. The Big Red kept the ball on the ground for the first two plays, with Penn stopping both for losses and using each of their timeouts. The third stopped the clock with 1:12 remaining. Sophomore punter Nick Maxwell's punt sent Penn back to its own 28, giving the visitors 1:05 left to regain the lead.

With three of their scoring drives going 1:12 or less, Penn opened with a short reception, followed by a 10-yard gained out to its own 45. A sack by sophomore Anthony Sabo on a blitz pushed the ball back the 36 with 23 seconds when Penn finally got around to spiking the ball. Facing third-and-21, a long pass to Sandberg was completed for 16 yards, but was short of stopping the clock for a first down. Irvin raced his team to the line to get off a final fourth down play as time expired, but the Big Red defense flushed him out of the pocket and his off-balanced throw was well short of his intended receiver at the Cornell 20-yard line.

The Big Red will open spring practice with an expected 15 starters and all four specialists (punt and kick returner, place-kicker and punter). The 2007 season opens at home on Sept. 17 at home against Bucknell as the Big Red will attempt to continue its current five-game home win streak and avenge a 20-5 loss in the team's 2006 opener.