ITHACA, N.Y. – Colgate Football needed a little bit of somehow and a lot more of some way, and the Raiders got it here Saturday at Schoellkopf Field.
Photo Gallery
Colgate mixed in just enough flashes of brilliance to overcome the demons of an 0-7 season and post its first victory of 2019 in a 21-20 nail-biter over rival Cornell.
Trailing by one, Cornell took over at its own 18-yard line with 2:38 remaining. The Big Red converted a third-and-1 and then a fourth-and-5. A Raiders pass interference moved the ball to the Colgate 42.
Then on fourth-and-3 from the Colgate 35, Cornell quarterback Richie Kenney threw low to Owen Peters and the Raiders were able to take a knee and run off the final 31 seconds.
Colgate (1-7) was in the win-column once again!
This one had the makings of a comfortable Raiders victory – until disaster struck on the last play of the first half. It was just the kind of play that happens to a team down on its luck.
Colgate led 14-3 after scoring twice in a 2½-minute span of late in the second quarter. The Raiders then regained possession and were knocking on the door for the knockout punch.
But out of timeouts with 14 seconds left and facing second-and-goal at the Cornell 1, Raiders quarterback
Grant Breneman was sacked from behind by Cornell's Jake Stebbins. Breneman fumbled and Cornell's Jelani Taylor scooped it up and raced 87 yards untouched for the stunning score.
Instead of 21-3 or 17-3 – or even 14-3! – it was 14-10 and a ballgame.
Cornell (1-4) went ahead 17-14 on its second possession of the third quarter, only to have Colgate answer with a 78-yard march that culminated in
Alex Mathews' 1-yard run that made it 21-17.
Garrett Patla converted a 28-yard field goal with 13:49 remaining to complete the scoring. The teams traded punts until Colgate was able to get the defensive stop when the Raiders needed it most.
Bottom Line
• Colgate 21, Cornell 20
From the Source
•
Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On the victory) "The team is really happy. Obviously, it's been a long time since our last win. There were still mistakes made today that we have to clean up. The nice thing is today, our mistakes weren't fatal. We were playing well enough on both sides of the ball to make a couple of mistakes and still have a chance to win, and ultimately win.
"The defense played well all game. They created turnovers and came up big when they had to. And then offensively, we got our run game going and established our identity a little bit. Our receivers made a bunch of really nice plays and runs after catches.
"The turnover right before halftime – that's as big of a gut-punch as you can give a team. But they were still positive at halftime and came out and fought hard. To have the defense on the field when we won the game is probably right.
"Again, we've got to get a lot better. But it's a lot easier practicing Monday after a win. I'm proud of the effort. They haven't felt sorry for themselves all year and they haven't stopped fighting all year. It's good to see them rewarded.
"Both sides of the ball played to win. They were making plays, playing with energy, playing with passion, and that's the sign of a good locker room, good leadership and good culture that they show up and fight that hard even when the record is obviously not what we want it to be. But our record today is 1-0. That was our goal and that's what we got."
•
Colgate senior nose tackle Jacob Esarco: (On the victory) "We talked Monday about taking it one day at a time. Monday we worried about Monday, Tuesday about Tuesday, and we were hopeful that it would culminate together in a win today. We wanted to stay disciplined with everyone doing their assignments.
"Everyone in this locker room, we've been grinding since August. To get that win in that close of a game is pretty gratifying. I'm just honored to be one of the guys who gets his number called when there are 2 minutes left and they are driving down to try and kick the game-winning field goal."
•
Colgate senior tailback Alex Mathews: (On his game) "We had a lot of confidence and we were able to get a little momentum going. The guys were playing together and rallying around each other. It was great blocking downfield by the receivers and the O-line was staying on their blocks. It made my job pretty easy today."
Stats of the Game
• And we're tied!
• Colgate in this 101st meeting against Cornell finally pulled into a 49-49-3 tie.
• The Raiders have won 10 of the last 11, 20 of the last 23 and 32 of the last 40.
• Cornell after winning five straight from 1970-74 led this series 41-17-3.
•
Nick Gill on a 10-yard catch and
Malik Twyman on a 1-yard run scored Colgate's first-half touchdowns.
•
Jacob Esarco finished the game with a 6-yard sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. The Raiders turned that recovery into seven points.
•
Prince Ekwughalu contributed the first solo sack of his career and
Aidan Gaertner his first interception of the season in the opening quarter.
• Colgate's 10 penalties (75 yards) were a season-high.
• The Raiders matched their season high with 21 points. They also had season bests with 23 first downs, 174 rushing yards, 224 passing yards and 398 yards of total offense.
• Cornell was 3-of-3 on fourth down before that last failure in the final minute.
• Colgate had not won since defeating James Madison 23-20 in the second round of last year's NCAA playoffs – a span of 322 days.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Schoellkopf Field was 2,970.
Up Next
• Colgate returns to Patriot League competition next Saturday at Holy Cross.
• The Crusaders dropped a 31-21 home decision to Harvard this week, falling to 3-4 overall. Holy Cross is 1-0 in Patriot League play with a win at Bucknell.
• Kickoff from Worcester is 1 p.m., with PLN carrying the livestream. Catch the home play-by-play call from 94 WKXZ-FM.
