Football falls to Cornell in anticlimactic finale

Defending champ Penn fell to fourth place with a loss to the Big Red. Going into Saturday's game against Cornell, the Penn football team's Ivy title hopes rested on a wing and a prayer. But it was Cornell's prayers that were answered when a Hail Mary landed in the hands of Joe Splendorio, sending the Quakers to a season-ending defeat. A 31-yard desperation heave by Cornell quarterback Ricky Rahne to Splendorio on fourth-and-25 with 14 minutes and 50 seconds remaining gave the Big Red an eight point lead and paved the way to a 20-12 Cornell victory at Franklin Field. The loss dropped the Quakers (5-5, 4-3 Ivy League) to fourth in the Ancient Eight, while the Big Red (7-3, 5-2) finished in third, a game behind co-champions Brown and Yale. Splendorio's miraculous touchdown grab came after Penn appeared to have thwarted Cornell's drive. Rahne had eluded a Fred Plaza tackle to pick up a first down on third-and-six, and on the next play, Cornell receiver Kevin Ferese picked up 23 on a Rahne pass to the sideline to move the Big Red to the Penn 16. But Quakers senior Jason Maehr sacked Rahne two times in three plays to push the Big Red back to the Penn 31 and bring up a fourth-and-25 situation. "I was pretty confident that was far enough," Maehr said of his personal defensive stand. On fourth down, Cornell coach Pete Mangurian had little choice but to run a play. At Penn's 31, Cornell was too close to punt, and with kicker Peter Iverson's longest career field goal just 39 yards, the Big Red were out of their kicker's range. On the pass, Rahne rolled out of the pocket to the right sideline and threw a heave across his body and across the field into double coverage. Somehow, Splendorio managed to grab the pass over Penn defenders D.L. Bouldrick and Anthony DeSalle and land in the end zone. "It was just a throwback play," Splendorio said. "I came across the hash and broke back out. Ricky put the ball where it had to be. There were two guys on me and the ball was just right there." On the ensuing possession, the Quakers drove down to Cornell's 27-yard line, but Penn was stopped twice in a row on short-yardage running plays. Quakers freshman Todd Okolovitch could not convert on a third-and-one fake option and junior Mike Verille lost two yards on an off-tackle play on fourth down. Two possessions later, Cornell extended its lead to 11 with a 28-yard field goal. But Penn countered with a fourth-quarter scoring drive of its own, fueled by a 49-yard pass to sophomore Rob Milanese. The Quakers penetrated as deep as the Cornell three-yard line but an offensive pass interference call forced Penn to settle for a 38-yard Feinberg field goal to bring the Quakers within one score of a tie. Feinberg's ensuing onsides kick went off Splendorio's hands -- but also went out of bounds, and Cornell took over. But Penn's luck held and the Red and Blue got the ball back after the Quakers defense forced a Cornell three-and-out. Now needing a touchdown, and with their season on the line, Penn had too far to go and too little time to do it in. Hoffman's last-second throw to the end zone was knocked down by Cornell cornerback Jason Tisdale. As a result, the Quakers fell to .500 on the season and the Franklin Field goal posts remained intact. The Quakers outgained the Big Red, 379-323, and both teams committed only one turnover, but the game was won on third and fourth downs. Penn converted on only two of 13 third- and fourth-down plays, while Cornell was successful on 12 of 24. Hoffman finished 25-of-34 passing for 244 yards and, in the process, set the Quakers' single-season record for passing yards with 2,328. Rahne passed for 296 yards, including 203 on 31 attempts in the first half. Cornell struck first on Saturday, driving 57 yards in eight plays in its first possession to set up a 25-yard Iverson field goal. The key play in the drive was a 32-yard reception by Splendorio. Penn took the lead in the second quarter when sophomore receiver Colin Smith beat Cornell corner Jimmy Vattes in single coverage down the left sideline. The 24-yard scoring strike gave Penn a 6-3 lead but Feinberg's extra-point attempt hit the right goalpost. Cornell regained the advantage several minutes later. Big Red freshman receiver Keith Ferguson caught a Rahne pass over Penn cornerback Joey Alofaituli in the right corner of the end zone and the visitors took the lead for good at 10-6. This marks only the second time in the eight-year regime of Penn coach Al Bagnoli that the program has not posted an over-.500 record. The Quakers went 5-5 in 1996 and went 1-9 in 1997 after forfeiting five wins. "Some of it is this league is very well balanced," Bagnoli said. "Some of it is we're trying to overcome an abnormal amount of injuries." Most vital among those injuries was running back Kris Ryan's sprained right ankle. The sophomore was only able to carry two times for three yards. Verille filled in admirably, however, gaining 118 yards on 18 carries, although he did drop a pass on a critical third-and-one play over the middle in the first series of the second half. Ryan, despite missing most of the final game, still finished as the league's leading rusher with 1,197 yards. Cornell's running game, meanwhile, struggled, as the Big Red averaged less than a yard on their 28 carries. "Penn has a great defense against the run," Mangurian said. "We kept trying to run it. We just couldn't spring anything and get it out of there, but you don't want to totally abandon the run." The Quakers came into the game needing to win and have both Brown and Yale lose in order to take one third of the Ivy crown, but none of those conditions were met as Penn lost and the Bears and Elis both recorded victories. "I think you have to be disappointed," Maehr said. "But it was different this year. The guys really bonded. It's disappointing to lose the last game. We really would have felt the season was a success if we had won. "I kind of have mixed feelings today about how this season went. But I'm glad to be with the guys I left with."