Gutsy play calls, a dominant first quarter, and a defense that came up huge in the game’s biggest moments pushed Cornell to 4-2 after Saturday’s 24-21 win over Brown at Brown Stadium. The Big Red clinched its first winning road record since 1999 and tied its longest win streak away from home since 1990 with the triumph.
Brown drove the length of the field in the closing minutes and appeared to have scored the go-ahead touchdown with 42 seconds remaining. A video review showed the runner was out at the 1, and after a short loss on first down and a Brown false start penalty pushed the ball back to the 9, fifth-year senior Max Lundeen made the play of the game.
Lundeen came unblocked from the left side and hit the quarterback, separating Jake Wilcox from the football and Brendan Chestnut fell on it to clinch the win with 28 ticks remaining. The senior had five tackles with two for a loss along with the game-changing sack. Paul Lewis and Noah Taylor each had 10 tackles and Jake Stebbins added nine, with Lewis adding a pass breakup. The defense was on the field for 87 plays, but surrendered just 4.4 yards per play.
Sophomore Eddy Tillman ran for 130 of the team’s 195 yards on the ground in a career-best performance, while Jameson Wang accounted for all three Cornell touchdowns – one rushing and two passing. His 10-of-23 day through the air for 136 yards included two scoring strikes to Matt Robbert. One went for 55 yards and proved to be the game-winner with 11:44 remaining. The junior tight end hauled in three passes for 89 yards.
Jackson Kennedy hit his only field goal attempt, a 38-yarder in the first half that also was the difference in the final score, adding four touchbacks on five kickoff attempts.
Brown had 25 first downs to 17 for the Big Red and forced Cornell into a 3-of-14 effort on third down, but the visitors stopped a pair of key fourth-down conversion attempts.
Cornell will be back in action next Saturday when they take on Princeton at 1 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].