Football
Columbia Defeats Football, Clinches Share of Ivy Title for First Time in 63 Years
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With the loss, Cornell’s streak of finishing Ivy play with a .500 record or below continued for an 18th straight season.
The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/football-2024/)
With the loss, Cornell’s streak of finishing Ivy play with a .500 record or below continued for an 18th straight season.
“Just great. Great performance by everybody. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t clean, but we fought [and] we played hard and competitive,” said head coach Dan Swanstrom.
Penn led the series 77-47-5, and Saturday’s 67-49 win tacked on another point in favor of the Quakers.
“So those are the things I focus on, to make sure that I’m always in the moment and staying one step ahead, and trying to prepare our guys in the moment in the game to go compete and hopefully set the example for them on how to continue to compete play after play.”
Cornell failed to get on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, allowing Brown’s offense –– particularly its kicker –– to tack points down the stretch to hand Cornell its second Ivy League loss.
This game exemplified the potential synergy between offense and defense, with key defensive plays setting up successful offensive conversions.
Despite the occasional flashes of offensive promise, Cornell’s defense struggled, plagued by missed tackles and costly penalties.
“I’m not measuring [this year] by outcomes. I’m measuring it by growth and how we compete. I think the way we came out of practice this week and are working through a bunch of things shows a lot about where we are going as a program,” Swanstrom said. “This week’s game will look similar to last week. With the size, the speed, and the strength of Harvard, it will be tough.”
While passing yards were nearly identical between the two quarterbacks — 225 for Burkett and 213 for Wang — the real difference came in the rushing game. Cornell managed only 97 yards on the ground compared to UAlbany’s 273.
With the weather looking much more favorable than last week, the Red are optimistic about igniting a winning streak that could defy the Ivy League preseason polls, which predicted a seventh-place finish.