Cornell at Sacred Heart: Pregame

Cornell will once again try and win their first game of the season on Saturday, October 17th at 1 pm when they visit Sacred Heart at Campus Field in Fairfield, Connecticut. This will be Cornell’s final non-conference game of the season. The Big Red will be coming into this game at 0-4 while Sacred Heart is 3-2 thus far this season.

Cornell is looking to bounce back after a loss against Ivy League powerhouse Harvard when they lost 3-40. The entire team struggled last week and head coach David Archer needs every unit to improve. This will be the first time all season that running back Luke Hagy will be coming into a game without a streak of 100-yard rushing games after he was stuffed by Harvard for just 33 yards. Hagy will likely rush for his 2,000th yard on Saturday, as he is just two away from the milestone. Only six other players in Cornell history have reached that mark. Quarterback Robert Somborn also struggled last week throwing a season low for yards and touchdowns as well as season high for interceptions. The defense also gave up a season high for points. That said, Cornell cannot dwell on that game as they have played relatively well this season despite being 0-4. The first three games of the season were all one-possession contests and Harvard is considered to be a far superior team.

Sacred Heart is coming off of a 26-13 victory against Robert Morris last week in their Northeast Conference opener. Quarterback Rj Noel is averaging 212 passing yards a game and has thrown seven touchdowns and four interceptions in his first five games. O. Imeokparia is the leading rusher for Sacred Heart and is averaging 72 yards a game and 4.2 a carry. Tyler Dube has been a dominant receiver for the Pioneers averaging 103 receiving yards a game, almost half of Noel’s passing yards. He also has scored five times in as many games.

Five games into the season, Coach Archer cannot accept any more moral victories. While the team has shown improvement this season so far, they are in desperate need of a win as they have lost five straight dating back to last season. Sacred Heart has been inconsistent this season winning their first two then losing two and winning their last. Cornell will hope to catch them on one of their off days. This will be the first ever meeting between these two teams.