Football falls to Harvard, tops Cornell

In overtime, playing on a snow-covered field, Princeton led Cornell, 32-25.

Needing a touchdown to force a second overtime, Cornell called a timeout. Princeton countered with a timeout of its own. It was 4th and 7, Cornell's last chance.

In a shotgun and with five wide receivers, Cornell quarterback Mick Razzano dropped back. The Princeton defensive line applied the pressure, and Razzano let the pass go. Incomplete.

The game and the bumpy fall break was over.

The Tigers bounced back from a disheartening loss at the hands of Harvard a week earlier to return for a thrilling win over the Big Red.

At Princeton Stadium on Oct. 26, the Crimson rolled over the Tigers, 24-17.

Princeton was able to keep the game close, but mental mistakes riddled the Tigers, who turned the ball over seven times to Harvard, the defending Ivy League champion.

"You can't win when you turn the ball over against a good team like Harvard," head coach Roger Hughes said. "You can't jump offsides six damn times. Mental errors took us out of our game plan."

Just as Harvard had successfully interchanged Neil Rose and Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback throughout the game, Hughes hoped to do the same with his slingers. After an interception by junior quarterback David Splithoff that led to a Harvard touchdown, Hughes brought in sophomore quarterback Matt Verbit to try to spark the team, but he too quickly threw an interception, which led to a Harvard field goal with only three seconds left in the first half.

Turnovers led to good field position for Harvard, and it capitalized. The Crimson's first three scores came off of Princeton turnovers, causing them never to have to travel more than fifty yards to put points on the board.

Harvard's first possession of the second half made the score 24-7 after a 65-yard drive, and the game looked to be over.

As the third quarter ended and fourth began, Princeton began to mount a comeback, starting with a field goal with 13 minutes, 55 seconds left in the game. Harvard still had a two-touchdown lead, but the Tigers were not content to give away the game, fighting back to score a touchdown with 3:42 left.

They could not recover the onsides kick, and got the ball back deep in their own territory with 1:05 left on the clock. Verbit threw his second interception of the game on the second play of that drive to Harvard lineman Brian Garcia, ending Princeton's hopes for a victory.

After losing to the team that the Tigers wanted to beat more than anybody, a letdown would not have been unexpected the next Saturday in Ithaca. Judging by the first three quarters of play, one would have said that a letdown did occur, but something happened in the fourth quarter. Princeton showed resolve against Cornell that had been missing until then.

With Cornell leading, 25-10, and Princeton barely in the contest, the fourth quarter opened, the snow fell in droves, and the Tigers came alive.

Princeton was on a drive that had started on the Cornell 43-yard line and had already covered 23 yards when the third quarter ended. In eight more plays, the Tigers covered the final 20 yards and came within eight points of the Big Red on a Verbit scramble with 11:58 left in the game.

After three alternating drives that went nowhere, Princeton got the ball back on its own 39-yard line with 8:12 remaining. After the Tigers got a five-yard penalty, senior running back Cameron Atkinson lost a yard on the play, and it looked like momentum had halted completely. On the next two plays, Verbit almost singlehandedly got the first down and proceeded to lead the Tigers down the field. He hit senior wide receiver Blair Morrison, his favorite target on the day, on two passes totaling 22 yards to keep the drive going. Atkinson capped the drive with a three-yard run, and Verbit completed the two-point conversion on a quarterback keeper.

Sophomore punter Joe Nardello sent a deep punt through the snow that would have guaranteed overtime, but a personal foul penalty sent Princeton back and Nardello could not handle a snap that slid through the snow, and Cornell got another chance to end the game in regulation, starting on the Princeton 15-yard line.

"The punt game is why I'm losing hair," Hughes said.

Razzano's third down pass was tipped at the line, however, and sophomore cornerback Jay McCareins intercepted it, making him a hero for the third time in the last four weeks.

In overtime, Verbit overcame a nine-yard sack to lead Princeton to a touchdown on four consecutive passing plays, including the play in which he called an audible so that he could get the ball to Morrison.

"Matt [Verbit] does a real good job of taking what the defense gives him," Morrison said. "He put the ball in a spot where only I could get it."

After that, Cornell threatened but could not convert on fourth and seven, with the field barely visible under its white blanket.

Most of the game between Princeton and Cornell was characterized by poor execution for Princeton and capitalization for Cornell. All three of Princeton's running backs lost fumbles against Cornell before the fourth quarter, and Verbit, who started the game due to a dislocated left shoulder suffered by Splithoff against Harvard, fumbled a snap as well. It seemed like no one could handle the ball, and Cornell took advantage of the short field to punch in early scores.

Early in the second quarter, Cornell was forced to punt, but its punter, Mike Baumgartel, could not handle the snap, so he threw the ball, hoping for an incomplete pass to save the fifteen yards that he would have lost being sacked. However, his wobbling throw fell into the hands of Princeton senior cornerback Paul Simbi, who returned it 13 yards and set up the tying field goal.

Princeton was able to keep the score tied at 10 until another strange play gave Cornell a two-point advantage.

With the Tigers pinned deep near their own goal line, the Big Red pressured Verbit, and would have sacked him for a safety had he not fumbled the ball on the way down. As the ball bounced chaotically on the Astroturf, no one was able to gain possession, and it rolled out of bounds at the three-yard line.

A ball fumbled forwards out-of-bounds is spotted at the point of the fumble with the fumbling team still in possession. Therefore, the play is ruled as if the fumbler had simply been tackled at the point of the fumble, which in this case resulted in a safety. That play made the score 12-10 with 8:13 left in the first half.

Cornell slowly pulled away, building up a 25-10 lead at halftime, which remained until the fourth quarter, when Princeton began its comeback.

"This time we found a way to win," Hughes said. "That's a sign of experience, and hopefully it's a sign of confidence."

Princeton vs. Cornell

First Downs 20 11 Rushes-yards 47-140 35-83 Passing yrds 204 165 Comp-Att 20-34 15-33 Return yards 128 146 Punts-Avg. 5-24 9-31 Fumbles-lost 3-3 0-0 Penalties-Yards 7-53 2-10 Time of Poss. 47:34 27:26