Cornell Survives Thriller With Columbia

I will give the Columbia Lions credit, they don’t give up, they just seem to always run out of time. Columbia fell just short against Cornell 42-40 on Saturday, unable to recover an onside kick with 1:58 left in the game. Columbia (2-7, 1-5 Ivy League) plays hard and unfortunately, their record isn’t the best reflection of that.

Columbia quarterback Anders Hill finished 24-for-40 for 284 yards and three touchdowns, including an 11-yard touchdown strike to first-year receiver Ronald Smith II. That score cut the deficit to a mere two points just before the failed onside attempt.

There were five lead changes, and first-years scored all five Columbia touchdowns—three through the air from Hill, and one on the ground from each Hunter Petlansky and Tanner Thomas.

Columbia held a 24-21 lead at halftime, but Dalton Banks found Hayes Nolte from 14 yards out to take the lead and Banks punched over from a yard out to make it 35-27 early in the fourth quarter. Walker, who scored from 27- and 28-yards out in the first half, capped the Cornell scoring effort with a 71-yard run for the clinching touchdown.

Cornell’s Chris Walker rushed for three touchdowns and a career-high 230 yards and quarterback Dalton Banks threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cornell to the victory. Columbia’s defense had no answers all game for the balance Cornell attack. Columbia just couldn’t prevent the home run play in this one. Columbia’s secondary were  getting shredded all game long.

Columbia’s shinning Spotlight

Ronald  Smith II shined the brightest with 195 receiving yards, the fifth-most in program history. The offense compiled a season-high 562 yards and totaled more points in the first half with 24 than in any other contest this season. 

Senior Alan Watson rushed for his second career 100-yard rushing game with 105 yards on 18 carries.

Cornell Owns Columbia In The Empire Stare Bowl

Columbia and Cornell played in the Empire State Bowl for the 104th time in series history. Cornell now leads the series 64-36-3. Cornell has now won four straight games in the series. Columbia plays its final game when it travels to Brown on Saturday, Nov. 19.