Cornell at Princeton: Pregame

The Cornell football team will travel to New Jersey to play Ivy League rival Princeton on Halloween this Saturday at 3:30 pm. Cornell is coming into the game with an 0-6 overall record and an 0-3 record in the Ivy League. Princeton is 4-2 on the season and 1-2 in the conference but has lost two straight, both to Ivy League opponents. A win for Cornell would even the two teams conference record at 1-3.

Cornell is coming off a 22-44 loss to Brown last week but the offense played relatively well, rushing for 260 yards without starting running back Luke Hagy. Hagy was hurt in the prior game against Sacred Heart and the Big Red is hoping to have their best offensive player back on the field this week. Quarterback Robert Somborn also played well throwing three touchdowns and no interceptions. However, the defense struggled and had almost no answer for Brown’s rushing or passing attack. This unit has struggled as of late giving up 115 points in their last three games. They are now giving up 439.5 yards a game, which ranks seventh in the Ivy League. Interestingly, the only team ranked lower than them is Princeton who is forfeiting 440.3 yards a game.

Princeton struggled badly against Ivy League powerhouse Harvard last week, losing 7-42. The Tigers only points came in garbage time on a pass attempt from the backup quarterback. That said, Princeton still has the second best rushing attack in the Ivy League using several different rushers in a running back by committee scheme. Princeton’s quarterback Chad Kanoff has not been as dynamic this season throwing just four touchdown passes. Cornell’s defense will likely be stacking up against the run to try to make Princeton deviate from their game plan of playing ground and pound football.

Cornell-Princeton matchups have historically been some of the most exciting games to watch. 18 of the last 25 games have been decided by a touchdown or less with 13 of those games being decided by a field goal or less or in overtime. Cornell has struggled against Princeton in their 98 total meetings going 59-36-2 in those games including losses in the last two. In their first four games of the season, all of which were victories, Princeton outscored its opponents 146-58 but Cornell will look to take advantage of their recent two game slump and try and pick up their first win of the season.