OPPONENT SPOTLIGHT: Levitt still remembers how it ended last year

Fourth and two. Down by three. Just more than one minute remaining. Cornell had driven to the Penn 21 before being held on third and 10. Big Red coach Jim Hofher decided to look away from starting tailback Pete Fitzpatrick and gave the ball to a bigger tailback, freshman Chad Levitt. Levitt took the ball, ran forward -- hit by Andy Berlin. He had only gained one yard. Cornell's season was over, and the Quakers were the undefeated Ivy League champions. "I thought about that all summer," Levitt said. "There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't thought about it. It was a very disappointing way to end the season." Things have been slightly different for the sophomore from Meadow Brook, Pa., this season. After alternating with the since-graduated Fitzpatrick for the second half of last season, Levitt is the featured back for the Big Red this year. Probably only Levitt had any idea of what he would accomplish. In the process of leading Cornell to a 6-0 start, Levitt piled up enough yards to lead the Ivy League in rushing, and rank third in Division I-AA. Despite the lack of success the Big Red has had recently, Levitt has maintained those numbers, with 1,162 yards on the season, for an average of 4.7 yards per carry. He currently is ranked seventh nationally. His running, it is safe to say, has not been the problem in Cornell's three losses. His performance this year has left no doubt Levitt will be the basis of the Cornell offense for the next two seasons. Against Harvard, he rushed for 227 yards on 30 carries, and rushed for 143 yards and three touchdowns against Lehigh. Along with freshman Terry Smith, who has rushed for 625 yards, the Big Red has a powerful one-two punch in the backfield. "I don't think you ever go into a season expecting a running back to be a 1,000-yard rusher," Hofher said. "Do we expect Chad to be a fine, productive running back for us? Absolutely. We've got two fine underclassmen and we've looked at what their strengths are and tried to play them as much as possible." Levitt downplayed notions he will carry the lion's share of the Cornell offense. "I know I'm going to get my number called a lot the next couple seasons," he said. "But I worry about this season, and the next game." Levitt wasn't always the back of the future. After graduating from Cheltenham, he wasn't recruited by Penn for football even though his father and all three of his father's brothers had gone to the University. His uncle had even played for the Quakers. But only the wrestling coach called from Penn, and Levitt went north to try a different Ivy League school. Perhaps it would have ended up that way regardless. "I really wanted to get away from home," Levitt said. "Besides, I didn't want to be in the city, in West Philadelphia. I really just looked elsewhere." Even after arriving at Cornell, Levitt did not see much time in the backfield. He spent the first three games on special teams before being given the chance to run the ball. And run he did. In his first game as a running back, he rushed for almost 100 yards against Lehigh. After that, in addition to rotating in for Fitzpatrick every third series, Levitt became the first Ivy freshman to rush for 100 yards in a game. "Chad showed a lot of promise last year," Hofher said. "He was a guy you wanted to get on the field and get some game experience as soon as possible." As Levitt's sophomore season winds down, he has a distinct motivating factor in Saturday's otherwise meaningless game against Penn. His cousin Ross Levitt attends Penn, and the two families will be together for Thanksgiving. "He sent me some e-mail where he says he wants to beat us so he'll have something to hold over me," Ross Levitt said. "There's nothing else I'd rather do than end this season on a good note," Chad Levitt said. It may be an interesting Thanksgiving at the Levitt household.