Penn took advantage of short fields and Cornell mistakes to race out to a 28-7 lead, then held off a Big Red comeback to capture a 28-21 victory over the Big Red on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The Quakers improved to 7-1 (4-1 Ivy), remained in control of its destiny for the Ivy League title, and regained possession of the Trustees’ Cup. The Big Red slipped to 4-4 (1-4 Ivy) with the loss.
Cornell limited Penn to 272 yards of offense and 10 first downs and dominated time of possession (35:29-24:31), but two turnovers, two blocked punts, and penalties at key junctures allowed the Quakers to put together three touchdown drives that totaled 80 yards. None took more than 62 seconds. Otherwise, the Cornell defense forced eight three-and-outs or fourth-down stops.
Penn’s Trey Flowers gained 124 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries and Aidan Savin threw a pair of touchdown passes, a 47-yard pass to Sterling Stokes, and another for 38 yards to Joshua Casili. The Quakers were credited with 11.0 tackles for loss and three sacks, with Garrett Morris adding 10 tackles, an interception, and a pass breakup. Jonathan Melvin made 3.5 tackles for loss and broke up a pass.
Jake Stebbins and Connor Morgan each were credited with seven tackles, while Trey Harris had six stops, forced a fumble, and had an interception wiped out due to a penalty. Anthony Chideme-Alfaro intercepted a pass and Manny Adebi, the reigning Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week blocked his school-record fourth kick of the season and third in two weeks. Both Paul Lewis III and Noah Taylor broke up two passes apiece.
Sophomore Jameson Wang accounted for three touchdowns, including throwing two scoring passes to fifth-year senior Thomas Glover. Wang gained 84 rushing yards on 25 carries and scored once against the nation’s fourth-ranked rushing defense. Penn entered the day surrendering just 54.0 rushing yards per game, though the Big Red piled up 134 yards without two of its top three running backs.
UP NEXT
• Cornell will celebrate its seniors and close out the 2022 home slate when it welcomes Dartmouth to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, November 12, at 1 p.m.
• The Big Green leads the all-time series 62-41-1 and has won 11 of the past 12 meetings between the programs.
• The Big Red’s last home win over the Big Green came in 2008, a 37-14 triumph.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].