Football closes with big win

The Penn football team did everything that it could to preserve its Ivy League Championship hopes on Saturday at Franklin Field.

But in the midst of a come-from-behind victory and a record-setting performance, Penn's hopes to share the title with Harvard slipped away.

The Quakers (8-1, 6-1 Ivy League) spotted Cornell (2-7, 2-5) two early touchdowns before recovering and pouring on 38 unanswered points for a 38-14 win.

On the way to the victory, Penn tailback Kris Ryan rushed for 152 yards, blowing past Brian Keys' Penn career rushing record. Ryan's 3,213 career yards make him the fifth most prolific rusher in the history of the Ivy League.

Penn's championship destiny, however, was not in its own hands, and Harvard's win over Yale gave the Crimson an undefeated season and sole possession of the title.

"I can't say that I'm not upset that we didn't win the Ivy Championship because obviously that was the number one goal for all of us," Ryan said. "You never know what is going to happen on that Saturday, so all you can do is go out and play."

The Red and Blue's spirits seemed to be deflated in the first quarter on Saturday, possibly due to last week's loss to the Crimson. Cornell was able to take advantage of this and owned a 14-0 lead after the first quarter of play.

"I was a little bit disappointed about how we came out," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We just didn't have enough fire and emotion."

The Quakers began their turnaround on the first drive of the second half when Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman hooked up with senior wideout Rob Milanese for a 34-yard touchdown.

With his 264 yards, Hoffman passed Princeton's Doug Butler to become the No. 4 passer in Ivy history. Third on the list is Cornell quarterback Ricky Rahne, who passed for 271 yards in the game.

Two drives later, Ryan rumbled seven yards for the first of his two scores, giving Penn a 14-14 halftime tie.

The Penn defense also recovered from its early slump and proved why it finished the season as the number two scoring defense in Division I-AA.

Penn forced two fumbles, including a questionable fumble call that ended Cornell's final drive of the half and held the Big Red to zero rushing yards and 34 passing yards in the second quarter.

"Luckily they didn't get that far ahead of us and the offense kept us in there with a couple of scores to let us rebound and shut them down from there on out," Penn linebacker Travis Belden said.

Belden had a huge day for the Red and Blue, recovering two fumbles and forcing a third.

Belden stripped the ball from Rahne's hands on Cornell's first drive of the second half, and fellow linebacker Dan Morris recovered for the Quakers.

The turnover set up a Hoffman four-yard touchdown strike to senior wideout Colin Smith.

The Red and Blue got a huge boost near the end of the third quarter when a special teams play gave them an insurance touchdown.

Special teams hero Kyle Chaffin, whose extra point block versus Dartmouth preserved a Quakers victory, batted Cornell kicker Peter Iverson's field goal attempt into the hands of defensive back Stephen Faulk.

Faulk, one of the fastest players on the squad, raced 68 yards to give Penn a commanding 28-14 second half lead.

"That was huge because at that point we were only up by seven and the offense had stalled for a couple of drives," Hoffman said. "That was probably the play of the game that got the momentum fully in our favor."

Penn would tack on two more scores in the fourth quarter with a field goal and Ryan's second touchdown run, the 33rd of his career.

"I think in many ways we beat ourselves today," Cornell coach Tim Pendergast said. "I credit Penn because they're an outstanding football team as well. I think two very fine football teams met."

Cornell ultimately contributed to its defeat with penalties and turnovers.

Cornell tailback Evan Simmons rushed 29 yards for what he thought was a game-tying touchdown in the third quarter, but the play was called back for holding. He had bitter sentiments about the play after the game.

"Bottom line is that I don't think Penn could stop us on the run. But the officials could stop us on the run," Simmons said.

The turnovers, however, were deciding factors in the game.

"When they turned the ball over we were able to take advantage of it," Bagnoli said. "They had more turnovers than we did and that was very meaningful in the outcome of the game."

The final three quarters were an exclamation point on the tremendous defensive season the Quakers had.

"This game definitely shows what kind of character our defense has. When the times get tough we come together," Belden said. "It is a great testament to the great players and the great coaches that we've had."

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