By SCOTT CHIUSANO
When quarterback Jeff Mathews and his team stepped onto Franklin Field on a cold November day two years ago, they were just a group looking to steal a win from the defending Ivy League champions on Penn’s Senior Day. It was never supposed to be about them. But Mathews, as he has done countless times in his four years calling the signals for Cornell’s football team, stole the show. He completed 35-of-45 passes for 548 yards and five touchdowns, breaking the Ivy League’s record for passing yards in a single game. It was a game that catapulted him into the Ivy League record books and onto the National scene. Mathews was only a sophomore.
Two years later, he is one day away from an NFL draft that could change the course of his football career, but looking back, the game against Penn is still his fondest memory. And it has nothing to do with the records.
“They were the defending Ivy champs and we went down to Franklin Field and ruined their senior day,” Mathews said. “It was a back and forth game and we finally pulled away with a touchdown in the final minutes. It was a great win and it felt good to send our seniors out with a win.”
After four years at the helm of the football team’s offense, Mathews has come to be known for his selfless attitude, a team-first mentality that is evident in the way he conducts himself on the field and the way he speaks off of it.
MICHELLE FELDMAN / SUN SENIOR EDITOR