POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Marist was limited to two rushing yards, including none in five cracks inside the 1 yard line with goal to go, and Cornell opened its 2019 season with a defensive-minded 21-7 victory at Tenney Stadium. The Big Red improved to 1-0 and the Red Foxes fell to 1-2 as a result.
 The Big Red defense held Marist to 220 yards of offense and eight first downs while controlling the ball for 40:06 as Cornell won its first season opener since 2016 and by its largest margin since topping Bucknell 45-13 - exactly six years to the date in head coach David Archer's coaching debut.
Only some first-game miscues allowed Marist to stay in the game, especially after Cornell jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Big Red turned the ball over three times and gave up a short field on numerous occasions, but the defense bailed them out a number of times.Â
Senior captain
Jelani Taylor had a team-best six tackles and a tackle for loss, while
David Jones had five stops, 1.5 tackles for a loss, three pass breakups and an interception to lead the way.
Nathaniel Weber, a senior making his first collegiate start, notched five tackles and 1.5 sacks in the win.
The offense piled up 419 yards, including 263 on the ground, and moved the chains 21 times while grinding it out on a humid first day out, converting all three fourth down attempts in much the same way the defense stopped all four of Marist's.
Harold Coles recorded his sixth career 100-yard rushing game with 127 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, while
Mike Catanese added 79 yards and two scores. He also completed 15-of-20 passes for 130 yards.
John Fitzgerald led eight receivers with at least a catch with a pair of receptions for 46 yards.
First Quarter
• The teams traded three-and-outs to open the game before Cornell ripped off 60 yards on 12 plays to get on the board with 5:10 left in the half.
• Cornell looked like it was going to have to punt, for the second time in the game, a Red Fox defender ran into the punter, giving Big Red new life on the drive.
• The big play was a 22-yard pass from Catanese to Fitzgerald down to the Marist 4.
• Cornell couldn't get it over on the first three plays, but Catanese went the final yard on fourth down to put the Big Red in the lead.
• The teams traded punts again, giving Marist the ball back with 95 seconds left in the quarter, but the Red Foxes punted it back after three plays.
Second Quarter
• After short runs by
Harold Coles and
Mike Catanese to start the drive and the second quarter, the senior quarterback broke through a hole after looking like he was bottled up initially, and went 41 yards to the house to make it 14-0 36 seconds into quarter.
• Marist answered right away, moving the ball for the first time all night.
• A 16-yard pass from Luke Strnad to Anthony Olivenia and a pass interference call on the Big Red set up the Red Foxes' big play - a 51-yard pass from Strnad to Joe Petro that was batted up in the air by Big Red defensive back
David Jones, only to land in the hands to the Marist receiver who was lying on the ground.
• On the very next play, Hunter Cobb capitalized by going in from 3 yards out on his only carry of the day.
• Neither team could carry the momentum with them, as Cornell shanked a punt on the next possession to give Marist the ball at the Big Red's 35.
• A 28-yard strike from Strnad to Olivencia and a 6-yard run by Darryn Jordan made it second-and-goal from the 1.
• Two plays later, it was still goal-to-go from the 1 after
William Baker made a stop and the defense forced an incomplete pass.
• After a timeout by the home team, Strnad's sneak attempt was snuffed out and stopped to turn the ball over on downs and steal the momentum back.
• Cornell ripped off 79 yards the Marist 20 on 10 plays, including a 24-yard pass from Catanese to Fitzgerald, but a fumble ended the promising drive with Marist's Alex Bergan pouncing on top of the football.
• Twenty seven seconds later, Cornell had the ball back after the Big Red again forced a three-and-out.
• With 1:48 left, the Big Red marched down the field - converting a pair of big third downs completions from Catanese to
Phazione McClurge in the process.
• His third pass to McClurge came a couple seconds too late, however, as the Big Red receiver couldn't get out of bounds after Catanese hit him with a strike with 16 seconds to play at the Marist 12 before time ran out.
Third Quarter
• There wasn't much offense to be seen early in the third as special teams took center stage.
• Cornell's first two drives stalled out, but sophomore punter
Koby Kiefer flipped the field with 55 and 34 yard punts that were both downed inside their own 1.Â
• The second time, Marist had to punt from deep in its own end zone and between a Jones return and an unsportsmanlike penalty on the home team, the Big Red offense took over inside the red zone.
• Within two plays, Cornell was in the end zone, capped by an 11-yard run by Coles.
•
Garrett Patla hit his third consecutive PAT to extend the lead to 21-7.
• Cornell's defense forced its first turnover two plays later, with
Nathaniel Weber and
William Baker combining for a sack before
David Jones earned his eighth career pick on a floater in the center of the field.
• With a short field,
Richie Kenney went 21 yards on the ground, then took a shot at the end zone, but Ryan Webb was able to step in front for the interception on the final play of the third.
Fourth Quarter
• Another Marist punt and a third Big Red turnover made a lot of noise to start the fourth, but neither team was able to take advantage.
• Weber, who was in on 1.5 sacks, forced a quarterback hurry on the ensuing drive on fourth down, giving the Big Red the ball at its own 27 with 11:28 remaining.
• Coles went over the 100 yard mark with a 36-yard jaunt to begin the next drive, which featured seven runs on eight plays.
• Cornell missed a 45-yard field goal wide right with just under seven minutes left, but the Big Red's defense answered again.
• Three connections in the air from Strnad to Jon Kanda (17 yards), Ethan Carpenter (15 yards) and Petro (36 yards) put some excitement into the Homecoming crowd.
• Cornell stole the momentum right back, turning away a first-and-goal from the 5, including two attempts inside the 1.
•
Jelani Taylor and
Justin Bedard were among the players who got in on Dazhon Miller on fourth down to give Cornell the ball back with 3:35 remaining.
• Cornell couldn't run out the clock, putning it right back after a pair of Marist timeouts, but the defense stopped Marist on four straight plays - turning the ball over on downs for the fourth time, including three times in the red zone.
• The Big Red went into victory formation and took a knee three times to earn its season-opening win.
Â
Notes to Know
• Senior running back
Harold Coles posted his sixth career 100-yard rushing game, moved into the school's top 20 in career rushing and ended the day with 1,360 career yards.
• Marist is Cornell's 91st all-time opponent and the first to compete in the Pioneer Football League.
• Cornell is 10-3 when out-rushing its opponent under head coach
David Archer '05.
• When the Big Red scored the first touchdown, it was the first time since 2012 it reached the end zone before its opponent in a season opener.
•
David Jones' eighth career interception moves him within one of reaching the top 10 in school history.
• Cornell last had 40 minutes in time of possession in 2017 when it defeated Brown 34-7 with 40:19 holding the ball.
The two rushing yards allowed is the fewest by a Big Red defense in a game since allowing Yale zero (on 28 carries) on Sept. 27, 2008.
• Making their first career starts on offense were
Robert Fatovic (LG),
Jack Burns (C),
Hunter Nourzad (RT),
Alex Kuzy (WR),
Delonte Harrell (RB) and
Jake Derderian (RB), while first-time defensive starters were
Nathaniel Weber (DL),
Justin Bedard (LB) and
Michael Irons (CB).
Next Up
• The 2019 Ivy League season begins next weekend when the Big Red visits defending conference champ Yale on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. at the Yale Bowl.Â
• The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 49-30-2 dating back to the first encounter in the 1889 season.Â
• Cornell will attempt to win its first game in New Haven since 2009 (a 14-12 Big Red victory).
Â
