Field Goal Defense Comes Through To Force Overtime

Not surprisingly given the bad weather conditions, special teams play was an important aspect of Saturday’s game. The Big Red field goal defensive unit forced Brown into three missed goal attempts, including the key miss with six seconds left in regulation that resulted in overtime.

Brown had driven to the Cornell 21-yard line when it lined up for a field goal to win the game. Big Red coach David Archer used his final two timeouts to ice freshman reserve placekicker Jake Hall, who was given the nod because the Bears’ regular kicker, Jacob Wilner, had missed two fields of 28 yards or less in the first half. The strategy worked to perfection. On the game-winning attempt, the Red field goal defense unit got a good push off the ball and Hall shanked the kick fell short and to the right.

Cornell’s field goal team had a missed attempt of its own in the fourth quarter that would have been the deciding points in regulation. The Big Red got ball at midfield with 8:04 to play and a 15-yard pass from quarterback Dalton Banks to senior receiver Collin Shaw advanced the ball to the Brown 21-yard line. But a penalty stalled the drive, and freshman kicker Nickolas Null’s 33-yard field goal attempt with 3:50 to play was blocked by the Bears.

Senior Chris Fraser was his usual steady self, averaging 41.7 yards per kick with two of his seven downed inside the 20. Fraser had a pair of punts longer than 50 yards, giving him a school-record 42 (closest to him is Mike Baumgartel with 11).