CU looks to extend conference rival Cornell’s six-game losing streak

The last time Columbia (2-6, 1-4 Ivy) traveled to Ithaca, the Big Red (2-6, 1-4 Ivy) jumped to an early lead, returning the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, returning a punt for touchdown, and blocking a field goal. All within the first quarter.

After Harvard jumped up to 21-0 lead last week against the Lions, head coach Norries Wilson is looking for a better start from his players against Cornell on Saturday.

Of course, that will partly depend on who is under center. Senior quarterback Millicent Olawale has sat out these past two weeks due to a shoulder injury that Wilson says is still day-to-day. Then there’s freshman Sean Brackett, who got the start in Olawale’s place against Yale and Harvard. And then, of course, there’s sophomore Jerry Bell, who came in when Wilson pulled Brackett in the second quarter against Harvard.

Needless to say, Cornell head coach Jim Knowles has his hands full preparing for whoever is at the helm of the Columbia offense.

“All three quarterbacks bring something different,” Knowles said. “The one guy’s [Olawale] a great runner. The freshman [Brackett] is kind of a hybrid … and the sophomore [Bell] is really a good passer. It’s difficult to prepare for them. You’ve got to focus in on the fundamentals, and come up with things you can do against all three.”

Columbia has its own concerns, though, as Cornell’s offensive line has only surrendered ten sacks on the season, something Wilson attributes to the quarterback’s ability to get the ball out quickly.

“They don’t have a bunch of sacks because they get the ball out quickly,” Wilson said. “It might be a situation where you don’t get a lot of opportunities to hit the quarterback because of how quick the ball is getting out of his hand.”

The Big Red has two quarterbacks in Ben Ganter and Stephen Liuzza. Ganter is more of a passer and Liuzza threatens to take off, as he averages over six yards a carry.

Cornell also has its version of the Lions’ Austin Knowlin: Bryan Walters. Walters leads the league in all-purpose yards, averaging almost 170 yards per game, and is Cornell’s leading receiver. Walters also is the Big Red’s punt- and kickoff-return specialist.

Wilson talks about containing Walters, who has almost 500 yards over the past three meetings of the two teams, including 232 yards in Cornell’s 17-7 loss to Columbia last season.

“You’ve got to stop him,” Wilson said. “You’ve just got to make sure you stop him enough times. It’s really important to stop him in the return game... We’ve talked with our kickoff-cover and punt-cover teams to get that done and try and get him contained.”

Cornell is coming off a heartbreaking 20-17 overtime loss to Dartmouth, and both teams are hoping to come out of a losing streak—Cornell in a six-game slide and the Lions looking to get their first win since Princeton in week three.