Early Deficit No Obstacle As Football Storms Past Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Trailing 10-0 in a place Cornell hadn't won in since 2002, the Big Red awoke in a big way and all three phases contributed to a 34-16 win at Brown on Saturday afternoon at Brown Stadium. The Big Red evened its record at 3-3 (2-1 Ivy), while the Bears fell to 1-5 (0-3 Ivy).

It was a true team effort as the Big Red claimed consecutive wins over the Bears for the first time since 1993 - before any member of the current roster was born. Cornell piled up 498 yards of offense and scored 34 straight points, the defense had four sacks, forced a fumble and broke up five passes while keeping the Bears off the scoreboard on four consecutive pivotal possessions, and special teams blocked a field goal and allowed just 15 total return yards.

Senior quarterback Dalton Banks completed 19-of-26 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns, Harold Coles gained 141 yards on the ground and scored once on the ground and another t ime through the air, and Lars Pedersen had three catches for 100 yards and a touchdown to pace the offense. Owen Peters and J.D. PicKell also reached the end zone. Defensively, Lance Blass had seven tackles, including 2.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks, Jelani Taylor had eight stops and David Jones made a pair of pass breakups and blocked a kick.

Cornell dominated time of possession (33:51-26:09), recovering from an early blow with two late touchdowns in the second quarter and a backbreaker to start the second half. Brown's fortunes turned on a dime, going from up 10-0 to down 21-10 in less than seven minutes of game time.

LJ Harriott had 142 all-purpose yards for Brown, including a 65-yard run to make it 10-0 Bears with just 6:44 left in the first half. Two of his plays - the long run and a 56-yard reception - made up 121 of Brown's 379 yards on the day. From the time Harriott crossed the goal line until the final horn, Cornell dominated.

It started with an eight-play, 74-yard drive that got the visitors on the board. After completing an earlier third down, Cornell went four it on fourth down with the perfect call, with Banks hitting Coles on the jailbreak screen. The junior did the rest of the work, going 27 yards to paydirt. After the defense got a stop, Cornell marched 61 yards in just 67 seconds, with the big play coming on a 27-yard connection from Banks to Pedersen down to the 27. Facing second-and-goal from the 1 and just 12 seconds before halftime, Banks hit a crossing Owen Peters to send the Big Red into the break with a 14-10 edge.

Cornell made it 21-10, then 28-10 and 34-10 before the Bears scored a meaningless touchdown with 2:42 left. The Big Red sniffed out the two-point conversion and got the stop to seal the final score.

Up 21-10 in the third, Cornell made one of the biggest hidden plays of the game. After Brown misplayed a kickoff and started an offensive drive at its own 1, the Bears marched down the field before being slowed in the red zone. Brown settled for a 22-yard field goal attempt that would have cut it to a single-score game, but David Jones was able to block the kick and

Hometown hero Jake Derderian, from nearby Warwick, ran for 71 yards on 11 carries and soft-spoken senior Victory Olapinsin, who gave the senior speech on Friday evening to motivate his teammates, had his first career sack.

First Quarter

• Cornell's defense picked up a three-and-out in just 55 sedonds to begin the game, with Blass picking up a big 10-yard sack on second down to highlight the stand.
• Cornell turned the ball over with an interception after moving the ball over midfield, with a snap going over the quarterback's head for a 13-yard loss puttiing the Big Red in a hole.
• Brown was called for targeting while blocking on the return, with a starting defensive lineman ejected on the play.
• J.D. PicKell with a big hit on a perfect tackle on punt coverage after a Big Red kick.
• The Bears were able to move inside the 40, but a 49-yard field goal attempt by Dylan Brady fell well short to hand the Big Red the ball back with 2:18 left in the first quarter.
• Coles exploded through a pile for a 17-yard run, with Derderian picking up a first down and 9 yards two plays later to end the first quarter.
• A big hit by BJ Ubani forced a Dalton Banks fumble, Cornell's first of the season, but the Big Red recovered.

Second Quarter

• The Bears got on the board on a 37-yard field goal with the wind by Dylan Brady with 9:49 left in the first half.
• The big play was a 56-yard strike from Michael McGovern to LJ Harriott down the right sideline.
• A big 23-yard run by Derderian in his homecoming game brought some energy to a large Cornell crowd gathered in Providence.
• On the ensuing drive, LJ Harriott lined up in the wildcat and burst straight up the middle for a 65-yard scoring run to extend the home team's lead to 10-0.
• Banks answered with a 29-yard laser to Owen Peters to flip the field.
• Facing a third-and-2 from the 27, Banks ran a jailbreak screen to Coles, finding the junior at the last second from the 27. He broke one tackle and raced into the end zone to get Cornell back within 10-7.
• Cornell's defense forced a punt and took over with 1:15 left in the half at its own 39.
• The Big Red took its first lead of the day on a 1-yard pass from Banks to Peters with 12 seconds remaining in the half to go into the break up 14-10.

Third Quarter

• The Big Red methodically marched down the field for 75 yards, most on the ground, with Coles making it 21-10 on a 5-yard run.
• The ensuing kickoff wasn't fielded right away by Brown, but the Bears were able to cover up on their own 1.
• The Bears moved it undaunted, converting a third-and-10 on a 32-yard pass play from McGovern to tight end Anton Casey.
• Another big play to Casey put Brown in the red zone, but the Cornell defense stiffened and forced a 22-yard field goal attempt that David Jones blocked.

Fourth Quarter

• On the very first play of the fourth, Dalton Banks went up top on a free play with Brown's defense offsides and found Lars Pedersen for a 59-yard scoring toss. It was Pedersen's first career touchdown and made it 28-10.
• Consecutive sacks, the first by Mo Bradford and Lance Blass and the second by Victor Olapinsin - forced a Brown punt.
• The Big Red chewed up 6:10 of clock and went 67 yards on 11 plays with J.D. PicKell going the final 4 yards for the score.
• The PAT kick was blocked by Brown's Grant varner, Cornell's first unsuccessful extra-point of the season.
• Brown went 75 yards on eight plays to stop the 34-0 Big Red run, finding the end zone with 2:42 remaining.
• Freshmen running backs Delonte Harrell and Thomas Glover got the carries as the Big Red ran out the clock for the win.

Notes to Know

• The game was the 1,200th in school history, with the Big Red moving its all-time record to 642-524-34 record dating back to 1888.
• With the win, Cornell snapped a seven-game skid at Brown dating back to 2002.
• It was Lars Pedersen's first career 100-yard receiving game and Harold Coles' fourth 100-yard rushing game.
• With his 141 rushing yards, Coles moved to 997 for his career - three away from becoming the 30th 1,000 yard rusher in school history.
• The last time Dalton Banks threw for three touchdowns - Oct. 16, 2016 at Brown.
• Banks now has 30 career passing touchdowns - No. 4 all-time at Cornell.
• The last time Cornell had a 100-yard rusher and receiver in the same game was when Chris Walker (110 rushing) and James Hubbard (105 receiving) hit those milestones at Colgate on Oct. 1, 2016.
• The 59-yard touchdown pass from Banks to Pedersen was the longest pass play by Cornell since Banks and Hubbard connected for a 63-yarder in that 2016 game at Colgate.
• With five tackles, senior Reis Seggebruch moved into the top 50 in school history for his career (166).
• Senior Victor Olapinsin and sophomore Lance Blass each registered their first career sacks.