Platoon: The Story of the Big Red Offense

Cornell comes into tomorrow’s contest with Columbia with a reputation of rotating the most players into its offense of any team in the Ivy League. The Big Red prefers to get as many players into a contest in order to keep opposing defenses guessing. Unfortunately for Cornell, this constant shuffling has not led to the consistency on offense that it was hoping for in 2007.

Cornell is led at quarterback by the two-headed passing attack of Nathan Ford and Stephen Liuzza. Ford is a traditional pocket passer who has recorded nearly 270 more passes than Liuzza, but Liuzza has been used more as a triple threat, playing quarterback, running back, and wide receiver this season. The inclusion of Liuzza allows Cornell to run an option offense, since instead of passing, Liuzza can use his legs to pick up first downs—he leads the Big Red with an average of 4.7 yards per carry. Additionally, Liuzza has caught 23 passes this year and is always a threat to take a ball to the outside.

But as important as the passing game is for Cornell, head coach Jim Knowles has not abandoned the rushing attack. Just as at the quarterback position, the Big Red uses a tailback-by-committee running game that utilizes Liuzza, Randy Barbour, Luke Siwula, and Shane Kilcoyne. Each running back has seen the ball at least 40 times this season, and having so many players to choose from in the backfield increases the difficulty for defenses to get consistent reads on a single rusher.

Cornell’s biggest threats, however, come at the wide receiver position, as nine players have caught at least 10 passes this season. Zac Canty and Bryan Walters are the two biggest playmakers for the Big Red, having combined for 86 receptions and 947 yards on the season, but Cornell has the ability to throw the ball to whoever is downfield at the time.

As deep as the Big Red’s offensive bench is, the biggest problem for Cornell this season has simply been holding on to the football. In only eight games this season, the Big Red has turned the ball over 26 times, for an average of just over three times per contest. The Cornell defense hasn’t given the offense much to work with either, recording only nine takeaways on the year. The Big Red’s -17 turnover ratio is the worst in the Ivy League, so while Cornell is averaging 28.4 points per game, second best in the Ancient Eight, that offensive advantage is almost entirely negated by that propensity to give the ball away.

And as prolific as Cornell’s passing attack is, at nearly 290 yards per game, Ford has thrown 13 interceptions on the year and is a liability when it comes to decision making. Should the Light Blue find a way to stop Cornell from gaining momentum on the ground, the Columbia secondary should have the ability to force turnovers on errant passes from Ford or Liuzza, resulting in strong field position for the offense. Capitalizing on Big Red mistakes will be the best chance for Columbia to get a win in Ithaca.