Photo by Patrick Shanahan
Sometimes a great success rate in the red zone is not indicative of the outcome of a game.
That was the case for the Cornell Big Red, who scored on five of six opportunities in the red zone, but only came away with two touchdowns inside the 20 in a 35-24 loss to Brown Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field.
According to sophomore quarterback Jeff Mathews, the complexion of the game is changed when getting three points as opposed to seven.
“(Brown) is a good red zone defense and we kicked three field goals (in the red zone) and those hurt us,” Mathews said. “…We’d like to punch it in and help our defense out a little bit.”
The Big Red (2-4, 0-3 Ivy League) started out strong, scoring on their first possession of the game when Mathews connected with Shane Savage for a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Big Red a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
But the Bears (5-1, 2-1) tied the game at seven late in the first quarter on a 27-yard touchdown pass from fifth-year senior Kyle Newhall-Caballero.
And then came the first of missed opportunities. A pass interference call gave the Big Red a first and goal at the two-yard line, but the Big Red was unable to capitalize, forced to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Brad Greenway.
According to head coach Kent Austin, the Big Red can ill-afford to not capitalize that deep in the red zone.
“We’re not good enough right now to give up those types of plays, missed opportunities, and expect to beat a good football team and outscore them,” Austin said.
The Big Red went up against a Bears defense ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense, and sixth in pass defense, yet accumulated more than 400 total yards on offense, including six trips to the red zone. Mathews alone threw for 402 passing yards and two touchdowns.
But it was the plays the Big Red failed to make that ultimately hurt them.
The Bears had the ball on fourth down at the Big Red 32-yard line with the Big Red trailing 14-13. The Bears elected to go for it on fourth down, and converted before eventually scoring a touchdown to take a 21-13 lead with under a minute remaining in the first half.
“We had other opportunities prior to that…the (Brown) touchdown before the half was big and we had a chance to get them off the field and we didn’t do it,” said Austin. “We didn’t make a play.
According to defensive end Zack Imhoff, football comes down to how you overcome obstacles.
“Things aren’t always going to go your way in a football game, and it’s just how you respond,” he said.
Down 35-16 in the fourth quarter, the Big Red looked poised to make a comeback reminiscent of last week’s overtime loss to Colgate when Mathews connected with Kurt Ondash for a 17-yard touchdown pass, and a two-point conversion cut the lead to 35-24 with 7:15 remaining in the fourth.
But once again, on third down, the Bears converted to keep their drive alive, not relinquishing the ball until a fumble gave the Big Red possession with under two minutes to play.
The Big Red hope to snap their six game losing streak in Ivy League play when they travel to Princeton, N.J. to take on the Tigers next Saturday, Oct. 29.
For Austin, the Big Red need to be able to capitalize on opportunities that present themselves throughout the 60 minutes of play.
“It’s always several plays in a game that turn a football game, and we’ve got to learn to turn the game in those situations (and) keep a game within reason,” he said. “
“(Brown) went two for two on fourth-down conversions, they had two or three big plays on us and the next thing you know we’re at a huge deficit. We’ve got to get over the hump in those areas, and when a play is there to be made we have to make the play.”