Mid-Monday Mix: Jeff Matthews is the real deal

DP Sports was lucky enough to get a visit from esteemed alum Zachary Levine, one of the founding fathers of The Buzz. Levine has since moved to Houston where he's the Astros beat writer for the Houston Chronicle. He got to cover multiple trips to the NCAA tournament while at Penn, so he's now paying his dues with the worst team in the MLB. Nonetheless, it's great to see our alums doing big things!

Rundown:

If you haven't heard of Cornell QB Jeff Matthews, consider yourself served. The Big Red gunslinger shattered the single-game passing record with 548 yards Saturday, leading Cornell to a 48-38 win over Penn. It was not how Penn wanted to end the season.
Regardless of the outcome Saturday, Penn did make one positive stride when they dedicated a massive statue of Quakers and Eagles legend Chuck Bednarik. Penn put on a nice half-time ceremony to honor a Philadelphia sports great.
The Penn basketball team continues to play some spectacular defense, and with it, the Quakers are winning ballgames. Most recently, the Red and Blue recovered from a 10-0 deficit to beat Robert Morris 66-60 Saturday night. It was also RMU coach Andy Toole's return to the Palestra.
Zack Rosen once again led the Quakers with 19 points. My co-editor Kevin Esteves says that Zack Rosen 4.0 is the best version we've seen yet.
Penn swimming hosted Cornell and Princeton this weekend. As expected, the Quakers topped the Big Red but lost to the defending champion Tigers. C'est la vie.
Women's hoops is 2-0 for the first time since 2006-07. Last year it took three games to get two wins. The year before that it took 27 games. Baby steps. The Red and Blue beat Rider Saturday, 66-57.
Fencing advanced nine Quakers to the round of 16 at the Penn State Open, a decent pre-season predictor for NCAA qualifying.
Two Penn wrestlers won their weightclasses at the Keystone Classic. Senior Bryan Ortenzio did it for the second time.

Weekend win: The best weekend award goes to M. Hoops senior guard (forward?) Rob Belcore, who put in a tremendous defensive effort against Robert Morris. For the second week in a row, Jerome Allen used the same "he can't jump over a piece of paper" line, but this time he added that Belcore is playing harder than anyone he's seen in his 25 years of basketball. "He’s just been awesome."

Multimedia: This picture says it all. Concrete Charlie meets Bronze Bednarik.

Extra Extra: Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! We put out one more hard copy of the DP tomorrow but you can get sports updates here (including liveblogs of all the men's basketball action) and at TheDP.com/Sports. Stay safe out there.