When Cornell junior quarterback Nathan Ford went down with an injury in the first half at Dartmouth, the Big Red found their answer in the wide receiver corps.
Playing three quarters under center in relief, sophomore wideout Stephen Liuzza managed to pile up the third-highest passing yardage total in program history, with 423.
In the losing effort, Liuzza took the offense into his own hands and got it done through the air and on the ground. He completed 26 of 40 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown, tying Ford for Cornell's biggest total this year. He also doubled as his team's only viable rushing threat, carrying himself 29 times for 131 yards and two scores.
But Liuzza, who was still wearing his receiver gloves when he took his first snap, did not come out of nowhere. Before the Dartmouth game, he had already accounted for the Big Red's longest rushing play (42 yards, at Georgetown) and passing play (44 yards, at Princeton) this year.
Tickets to the air show. On the other side of the ball, senior quarterback Tom Bennewitz and the Big Green had an explosive day of their own.
That's what happens when the Cornell defense comes to town.
Bennewitz locked up Ivy Offensive Player of the Week honors after airing it out for 339 yards and four touchdowns on 16-for-21 passing. He also rushed for an additional score, personally accounting for five of the Big Green's six offensive touchdowns in the 59-31 victory.
In all, Dartmouth's 59 total points represent the program's biggest total since a 59-0 win in 1935 against Bates. The 90 points scored by both teams combined are the most ever in the 107-year-old series.
Bennewitz's career day was good news for his receivers - notably senior Brian Evans and freshman Tim McManus, who each caught two TD passes and racked up 191 and 124 yards receiving, respectively.
And with 339 yards on just 16 completions, those numbers had to come in chunks. Indeed, Bennewitz hooked up with Evans for passes of 49, 60 and 62 yards in the first half alone. The game's longest completion went to McManus, a 75-yard catch-and-scamper up the right sideline for his first score.
Who's counting? In New Haven, junior tailback Mike McLeod continues to make the spectacular look routine.
Having already set program marks for rushing touchdowns, rushing attempts and all-time scoring, McLeod finally got over the hump and broke the school record for total rushing yards; his 185 yards on 32 carries put him at the top of Yale's all-time list with 3,515.
But in the miserable conditions at the Yale Bowl, it looked like another of McLeod's record strings might come to an end. Still needing a score to push his Ivy-record streak of consecutive games with a touchdown to 17, the junior came out in the third quarter with his injured toe bothering him and the Bulldogs trailing, 7-3.
But the junior returned to the game in the fourth quarter and carried two more times. The second was a two-yard touchdown run to secure the 17th game in his streak and put the finishing touches on a 17-7 win that kept undefeated Yale even with Harvard atop the Ancient Eight.
