Princeton scored on its first five possessions and allowed a heavy downpour in the second half hep hold its lead as the 15th-ranked Tigers remained unbeaten with a 34-16 victory over Cornell on Friday evening at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red dropped to 1-6 (0-4 Ivy) with the loss.
Princeton built a 21-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter, taking advantage of a lost Big Red fumble and an interception to put two of the touchdowns on the board. The Big Red outgained the Tigers 357-328 in a game televised nationally on ESPNU and heavily affected by torrential rain throughout, but especially in the second half.
Facing a stiff Tiger defense and the weather, Cornell rushed for 80 yards overall and passed for 276 more with two touchdowns. Princeton snapped a streak of 11 consecutive Big Red games with a rushing touchdown , its longest stretch in more than a quarter-century.
Richie Kenney completed 20-of-40 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown, while Jameson Wang ran 12 times for 51 yards and threw for a score. Thomas Glover posted his third 100-yard game of the season with eight catches for 133 yards and a 28-yard touchdown strike in the second half, with Alex Kuzy adding five receptions for 65 yards and a 19-yard score.
The defense limited the Tigers to 137 rushing yards on a hefty 47 carries, less than three yards per rush. Jake Stebbins was a one-man wrecking crew, notching 13 tackles with three for a loss, two sacks, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry to pace the effort. The Big Red was helped by the special teams, with Koby Kiefer averaging 42.5 yards on four punts with two downed inside the 20 and Scott Lees putting all three kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks along with a 36-yard field goal.
Niko Vangarelli had two touchdowns in just three carries in the red zone for Princeton, while Cole Smith was efficient at quarterback with 15-of-22 passing for 191 yards and a 10-yard pass for a score to Carson Bobo. Dylan Classi caught four of those passes for 9 yards, including a 67-yard reception that set up the second of Vangarelli’s scores. Colin Eaddy grinded out 63 yards on 16 carries on the ground.
James Johnson made 10 tackles and Jeremiah Tyler notched five stops with a pass breakup and returned a fumble 36 yards for a game-changing touchdown in the first quarter. Jeffrey Sexton connected on a pair of field goals in the second quarter, a 32- and 39-yard kick.
Read more about the game from CornellBigRed.com
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].