Some say home is where the heart is. For the football team (2-5, 2-2 Ivy), home is also where the wins have been.
Both of the Red”s two victories — a 19-7 upset of Yale and last week”s 21-20 thriller over Princeton — have come within the confines of Schoellkopf Field. This week the Red hopes to continue that trend as it welcomes Dartmouth (0-7, 0-4 Ivy) to Cornell.
A win for the Red Saturday would not only propel the team to 2-1 at home this season, it would also put the team above .500 in Ivy play for the first time since the 2002 season.
The Red, which will also be looking for its first back-to-back wins since that same 2002 campaign, is hoping to ride its momentum from last week”s win over Princeton.
The Red offense exploded against the Tigers, coming up with three scoring plays of over 50 yards and 382 yards of total offense. Senior quarterback D.J. Busch came off the bench to throw a 79-yard strike to classmate Chad Nice, who accumulated a career-high 142 yards.
The play was the fourth longest in Cornell history.
Yet, it was junior Brian Romney who took home Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors after a 114-yard performance with two touchdowns. Both touchdown passes, which went for 54 and 24 yards respectively, were thrown by junior quarterback Ryan Kuhn. The touchdowns marked the first and second of each player”s Cornell career.
Despite the offensive display, the play of the game for the Red came on special teams, as junior Matt Pollock preserved a one-point lead when he blocked Princeton”s extra-point attempt late in the fourth quarter. The play earned Pollock Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
On the flip side, Dartmouth comes into the game winless, having lost its last two games by a combined four-point margin. Last week, the Green fell victim to undefeated Harvard, 13-12, in arguably its best performance of the season.
Junior Dan Shula, making his first career start at quarterback for Dartmouth, went 19-for-37 with a touchdown. Dartmouth head coach John Lyons has already announced that Shula will start tomorrow against the Red.
The Red will be watching for Dartmouth freshman Chad Gaudet, a talented rookie who rushed for 102 yards in last weekend”s defeat. Yet, this week Gaudet will meet a defense which hasn”t allowed a running back to surpass the 100-yard barrier all season. The Red”s ability to stop the run is evident in the tackles for a loss category, where the the team boasts 11 players with at least two on the season.
Archived article by Chris Mascaro
Sun Assistant Sports Editor