ITHACA, N.Y. -- It's not often you can do something for the first time in nearly 130 years in college football. For the Big Red to win on a Friday night, grizzled veterans and fresh-faced newcomers alike did their jobs and walked off Schoellkopf Field with a 34-20 victory over Colgate in hand. The win, Cornell's first of the season (1-4), will hope to serve as a launching pad for the final five contests - all against Ivy League opponents. The Raiders, undefeated in Patriot League play, are now 2-5.
The last time Cornell won a game on Friday night was nearly 129 years ago - on Nov. 18, 1892 when it won at the Manhattan Athletic Club. It's the first win on a day other than a Saturday at home since 1916 when the Big Red topped Gettysburg on Monday, Oct.9 by a score of 26-0. That was the seventh game ever played on Schoellkopf Field.
The 513th game in front of the Crescent saw Cornell pile up 479 yards of offense in just about the most balanced way imaginable (241 rushing, 238 passing). It dominated Colgate from beginning to end while using a three-headed quarterback to attack the Raiders offensively. Senior
Richie Kenney completed 12-of-15 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown, while freshman
Jameson Wang threw and ran for a score, both career firsts, while running for 84 yards on 12 carries. Sophomore
Luke Duby was 2-for-3 passing for 56 yards and made his first career rush count - going 34 yards for a touchdown. In all, three three completed 18-of-22 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 14 times for 119 yards and two scores.
The quarterback's favorite target of the day was senior Alex Kuy, who made six grabs for 103 yards. Seven different players hauled in at least one catch, including
Matt Robbert catching a 4-yard touchdown pass for his first career reception.
Curtis Raymond III had three catches for 50 yards, including his second score in as many home games this fall.
It was an offensive line game ... the Big Red senior-laden group didn't allow a sack, averaged better than five yards per rush and possessed the football for 35:28, including 12:02 in the fourth quarter. Seniors
Hunter Nourzad,
Jack Burns,
Robert Fatovic,
Will Swope and sophomore
Micah Sahakian and freshman
Jackson Bradley did yeoman's work while blocking for nine different rushers.
Gallery: (10-15-2021) Football vs. Colgate, 10.15.21
Lost in the shine of the offensive explosion was a defense that allowed just 276 yards and was at less that 200 until the Raiders marched on a late scoring drive against the backups.
Logan Thut had the most explosive play of the day with an 82-yard interception return on a play that was batted by
Jordan Patrick and hurried by
Connor Henderson. Thut ended with the ball in his hands and shot through the offense, outracing the entire squad for the fourth-longest pick-six in school history. Senior
Lance Blass had eight tackles, includng one for a loss,
Jake Stebbins had four stops and both
Demetrius Harris and Paul Lewis made four tackles.
The special teams contributed as well, with
Koby Kiefer averaging 43.5 yards on a pair of punts and
Garrett Patla put three of his six touchbacks through the end zone for touchbacks.
Colgate's Harry Kirk, playing for an injured Grant Breneman, completed 11-of-27 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, while Michael Brescia scored a touchdown and had 35 rushing yards.
There's plenty the Big Red can learn from as it heads into its final Ivy stretch. Cornell surrendered a 100-yard kickoff return, committed 11 penalties for 119 yards, had a field goal blocked and allowed the Raiders to drive 80 yards for a score twice. But that mattered little, as Cornell was able to sing Cornell Victorious with the Big Red Marching Band at the conclusion of the game for the first time in 692 days.
First Quarter
• Cornell quickly went three-and-out after taking the ball to open the game, and Colgate embarked on a 12-play drive on offense that took 6:38 off the clock.
• The Raiders picked up three first downs and got to the Cornell 32, but consecutive incomplete passes on third and fourth downs, the final play hurried when
Jalyx Hunt chased Kirk out of the pocket, forced a turnover on downs.
• With Kenney and Wang taking turns under center, the Big Red went 67 yards on nine plays for the go-ahead score.
• The electric running on Wang, including a 21-yard rush, flipped the field and the freshman converted in the red zone, finding
Matt Robbert from 4 yards out for the first touchdown pass for Wang and the first collegiate score for Robbert.
• Just 11 seconds later, the game was knotted at 7-7.
• Taking the ensuing kickoff in the end zone, William Gruber brought it out, found a seam and beat the Big Red to the end zone for a 100-yard score.
• Undaunted, Cornell went back to work.
• Using a pass interference call on Colgate to gain a first down, Duby hit a big gainer to
Thomas Glover for 47 yards down to the Raider 18 as the period ended.
Second Quarter
• The fireworks began early in the second, with the Big Red going ahead for good on the first play from scrimmage.
• Just four seconds ran off the clock as Wang ran for his first score, going the final 18 yards to cap the four-play, 75-yard drive and
Scott Lees' kick made it 14-7.
• The Big Red defense forced a three-and-out and the Big Red took over at its own 35 with 12:53 left in the quarter.
• A 12-yard run by
Devon Brewer and a 9-yard pass from Duby to Kuzy moved Cornell over midfield.
Eddy Tillman ran for 14 yards around end and two plays later Duby scored on a 34-yard keeper to make it 21-7.
• Another Colgate three-and-out set up Cornell to make it 28-7.
• It took nine plays to find the end zone, and it may have been the unlikeliest of scenarios.
• A pair of 11-yards passes from Kenney to Kuzy, then Raymond, set up the Big Red at Colgate 10.
• Two penalties pushed Cornell back to third-and-goal from the 24, but Kenney calmly hit Raymond on a jump ball in the end zone with 2:35 left before halftime.
• The Raiders came right back in less than two minutes to go 80 yards to try and keep up, ending in a Brescia 1-yard rush to paydirt, but Cornell grabbed the momentum back with a long kickoff return by
Javonni Cunningham, three consecutive quick gainers of more than 10 yards, and a 40-yard pass play from Kenney to Kuzy at the horn, with the senior tackled at the 3.
Third Quarter
• The third proved mostly uneventful, with the exception of one play.
\• Colgate marched down the field after getting the kickoff to begin the half.
• The methodical drive ended at the Cornell 18 when
Jordan Patrick tipped a pass from Kirk after
Connor Henderson put the pressure on and the ball ended in
Logan Thut's hands.
• The senior raced down the sidelines and went 82 yards for Cornell's final score to make it 34-14.
• A 26-yard pass from Kenney to Kuzy and a 6-yard pass to Glover on a third-and-6 highlighted the ensuing drive.
• Colgate had just nine plays of offense in the quarter after the turnover, gaining 28 yards and getting nowhere against the Big Red defense as Cornell was content to take the air out of the ball.
Fourth Quarter
• The Big Red mostly played keep away in the fourth, embarking on an 11-play drive that took more than seven minutes off th clock and a six-play drive that forced Colgate to take all three timeouts.
• Cornell's field goal attempt at the end of that second drive kept the Big Red off the scoreboard, and the Raiders tacked on a touchdown against the Big Red reserves late, with Kirk finding Garrett Oakey from 12 yards out after a 43-yard hoopkup between the two on the play prior.
• Cornell was able to go into victory formation after first down in the final two minutes to seal the big Red's first victory of 2021.
The Schoellkopf March
Next Up
• With non-conference season complete, the Big Red will kick off its five-game Ivy League sprint when it hosts Brown on Saturday, Oct 23 at 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
• The Bears lead the all-time series 37-29-1, though the Big Red has won three straight - its longest against Brown since the 1990-93 seasons.
• Cornell won a wild meeting in 2019, with Nickolas Null kicking a 41-yard field goal with 0:09 on the clock for a 37-35 victory.
