Turnovers abound in shutout loss

In an impressive defensive showing, the sprint football team held the Cornell offense to just 13 points in Ithaca, N.Y., on Friday. The Big Red's defense and special teams, however, combined for three touchdowns and a safety in a 35-0 victory over Princeton (0-4).

"The defense only allowed one touchdown," senior defensive back and co-captain Zach McKinney said. "When the offense gives the other team the ball on your one-yard line, you'd have to be nuts to even think about pointing fingers at the defense."

In a game where Princeton posted its best defensive performance of the year, Cornell (4-0) forced five interceptions and one fumble.

"Turnovers suck," senior outside linebacker and co-captain Bennett Graham said. "We must eliminate these in order to sustain drives and to keep the defense fresh. We need to hold onto the ball, and we need to protect [junior quarterback] Alex [Kandabarow] better."

Kandabarow completed 10 of 45 passes for 145 yards. He also threw five interceptions.

Cornell running back Jason Remillard had a 10-yard interception return for a touchdown with two minutes, 56 seconds left in the first quarter, and later Ian Murray had a 44-yard interception return, making the score 20-0 at halftime.

"Kandabarow didn't throw those interceptions," Graham said. "The line didn't keep the pressure off of him, and the receivers didn't get open [quickly] enough."

Cornell running back Micha Fullowan returned the opening kickoff of the second half 89 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Brian Kennedy finished a Big Red 10-play, 41-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run, making the score 33-0 midway through the third quarter.

Both teams were scoreless in the fourth quarter until Cornell tight end Scott Lutgens forced a safety, bringing the final score to 35-0.

Cornell was 13 for 21 in passing for 161 yards and added 126 yards on the ground. The Tigers only allowed Cornell to convert one of six fourth-down conversions.

"The defense had a phenomenal game," Graham said. "In reality, the defense only let up one touchdown since the other was the result of a turnover that put Cornell on our own goal line. Thus, the defense played wonderfully."

Sophomore wide receiver Lon Johnson caught four passes for 56 yards. The Tigers lost 37 yards rushing, mostly because Kandabarow was sacked five times for a loss of 54 yards.

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"One thing I've learned under [head] coach [Tom] Cocuzza is that the quarterback is never the scapegoat," Graham said. "Kandabarow took some big hits and will certainly have to step up this week in order for our offense to succeed, but the blame falls on the rest of us."

On the bright side, Princeton had its best first quarter of the season, holding Cornell to six points.

"The first quarter gave a lot of hope to the team," Graham said.

"Most of our starters are having to play on both sides of the ball," McKinney said. "And when it becomes a chore just to put yourself in the right place (i.e. because you're sucking wind,) it's pretty damn hard to maintain the mental acuity and focus necessary to win football games."

Focus will be crucial in next Friday's game — the seniors' last home game — against Navy, a team with a roster twice the size of Princeton's. Facing the Midshipmen, who defeated the Tigers last season by the eyebrow-raising score of 98-0, emotions are running high on a team that had entered the season with hopes of turning a lackluster program around.

"I'm pretty pissed off at all the guys at this school with the experience and the talent to help us out but who are just plain too lazy to make a small sacrifice in order to be part of something bigger than themselves," McKinney said. "What does it say about Princeton when we have over 120 kids audition for DiSiac but only about 10 [that] come out to play football?"