Pair of wide receivers key to Big Red's turnaround

On a Cornell team that lacks individual stars, its receiving corps has stood out this season.

Both junior Brian Romney and fifth-year senior Chad Nice are new to the Big Red starting lineup, but each has put up big numbers this season.

They are a key reason Cornell is the surprise success story of the Ivy League this season. The Big Red is currently one game behind Penn in the standings.

They present the most balanced receiving attack in the League -- Romney has pulled down 53 catches for 645 yards, while Nice has 41 receptions for 625 yards.

Romney and Nice appear to have come out of nowhere to perform this season.

Nice suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of last season. Romney, also a kick returner, is new to Ithaca, N.Y. -- he transferred from Snow Junior College in Ephraim, Utah, not exactly a prime recruiting spot for Ivy squads.

A devout Mormon, Romney attended Snow after finishing the two-year mission he began immediately after high school.

"Kids typically don't go to junior college after doing well academically, but Brian was different," Cornell coach Jim Knowles said. "Snow was a good place for him to get started."

Knowles saw Romney as an answer to fill Cornell's holes in receiving and special teams.

"We realized we had a lack of skill players when we got here," Knowles said. "We saw his film and knew he would bring a lot of maturity to the team aside from his athletic skills."

Romney has made an immediate impact on the field, forcing defenses to respect the passing game of a team many expected to have a run-heavy offense this season.

Cornell's passing game broke loose against Harvard, when Nice caught a 77-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to give Cornell the lead.

Though the Big Red lost the game, it found what would be the key to its offense for the rest of the season -- the big passing play. This has given Cornell's offense the boost it has needed to be a veritable threat in the Ivies.

The Big Red offense starts with the two-quarterback attack of junior Ryan Kuhn and senior D.J. Busch.

And with the strength of its receiving arsenal, the Cornell passing game worries some on the Penn side.

Romney and Nice "are serious home-run threats out there," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "Those two guys have really opened up that offense."

Usually defenders look for Nice to lead the vertical game.

"Romney makes some good plays underneath and breaks tackles, but Chad goes over the top a lot," Penn senior cornerback Duvol Thompson said. "Overall they are a good receiving crew."

Knowles said Nice catches the long passes because his bigger size makes him an increased threat against tall cornerbacks.

Romney and Nice proved they were no fluke when Princeton came to Schoellkopf Field this season. The duo combined for 256 yards and three touchdowns in Cornell's victory over the Tigers.

"Romney has been making a lot of catches," Thompson said. "He seems like he's the guy they want to get the ball to, and Nice is the big-play receiver."

Both Romney and Nice were probably salivating at the sight of Penn's defensive performance against Harvard last weekend.

The Quakers gave up 204 yards in the air to quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who always seemed to find a way to split coverage and make the defense look foolish by hitting receivers that had been left wide open.

"A lot of it was quarterback caused," Bagnoli said. "[The Cornell quarterbacks] can do it just like anybody, but cannot do it at Fitzpatrick's level."

The Quakers still do not know if they will have tri-captain safety Kevin Stefanski this weekend, who left the Harvard game early with a strained groin.

However, the Red and Blue are deep in the defensive backfield. Second-team All-Ivy safety Bryan Arguello filled in for Stefanski last week and pulled down an interception. The Quakers are also happy that safety Seth Fisher is back to full strength after suffering various injuries this season.

But with the help of its receiving corps, Cornell could pull the rug out from underneath Penn and finish the season tied with the Quakers for second place in the league with a 5-2 record.

"We have to keep them off balance because if we can stop the big play, we have a reasonable chance to contain them," Bagnoli said. "We're going to be challenged in the secondary."

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