ITHACA, N.Y. -- A 14-0 deficit to the No. 4 team in the country on the road seemed daunting enough, but Cornell had a secret weapon against Ohio State. Walt Scholl, all 5-8 and 159 pounds, accounted for two touchdowns in the span of a minute to rally the big Red to a 23-14 upset over the Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon at Ohio Stadium in a result that shocked the world of college football.
Outweighed by 13 pounds per man, but even in taking the early lead, there were bad omens for the home team. On the second scoring drive, inside the 10-yard line, Ohio State fumbled only to recover. The second time, facing fourth-and-goal from the 7, Scott put the ball on the turf when back to pass, scooped up the pigskin and went around end to make it 14-0.
After the Buckeyes gashed the Big Red for the game's first 18 minutes, Scholl picked up three key blocks in an electric 79-yard scoring run that momentarily woke up the crowd. Seven plays later, Scholl went up top for 23 yards to Jack Bohrman and swifty raced the rest of the 63 yards to paydirt.
Scholl's long run was set up by a number of pancake blocks - Nick Drahos, Howie Dunbar, Mort Landsberg and Al Kelley each giving Scholl room to run. His pass to Bohrman necessitated two more big blocks to spring the fast junior.
Even so, after Ohio State blocked the first PAT attempt, the Buckeyes still led 14-13 at the break.
Kenny Brown's 21-yard punt return to the Ohio State 34 in the third quarter set up a short field for Cornell to take its first lead. Six plays and three first downs later, Hal McCullough crashed through the line for 2 yards and a 20-14 lead after Drahos' kick. Midway through the third, Cornell had the advantage.
The Buckeyes smashed through Cornell for scoring drives of 87 and 72 yards and looked every bit the part of a dominant team through the first 18 minutes. Once it found itself down, it marched 52 yards into the red zone looking to regain the lead. The Big Red defense stiffened and turned it over on downs. Another OSU drive was ended when Howie Dunbar intercepted a pass at the end of the third. Dunbar was one of three Cornell two-way, 60-minute men. He joined Drahos and Bud Finneran.
McCullough, who scored the go-ahead touchdown, intercepted a Buckeye pass in the fourth that set up the insurance score - an 18-yard field goal by Drahos to extend it to a two-score lead.
When the final horn sounded at 4:20 p.m., a shocked crowd of 49,583 shuffled out of the stadium still shell-shocked. An Ohio State player picked up the game ball and ran to the locker room, chased by Big Red players who wanted to take the trophy home. A minor skirmish was eventually broken up - with Cornell taking the ball home.
Ohio State doubled up Cornell in first downs (16-8) though the yardage was nearly identical (273 for OSU, 272 for Cornell). Turnovers played a big role, with the Big Red not coughing up the football on offense while picking off three Buckeye passes to give them extra possessions.
The only negative of the weekend came Saturday night, when Touchdown IV was arrested in a Cleveland, Ohio nightclub during the Big Red's return to Ithaca by train. It is unclear when Cornell's mascot will rejoin the team.
Now 4-0 with consecutive wins over Penn State and Ohio State, the nationally-ranked Big Red will face Columbia on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
