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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
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Kelley Green Overwhelms Big Red; Tiger Offense Powers Football To 38-27 Win
November 01, 2014 | Football
BOX SCORE l VIDEO TO COME
It had been more than 30 years since a Princeton receiver had the kind of game that Connor Kelley had Saturday at Schoellkopf Field, and it couldn't have come at a better time for a Princeton offense looking to get rolling through the final month of the season.
Kelley caught a career-best 13 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns, and classmate Connor Michelsen threw a career-best four touchdowns, to lead the Princeton football team to a 38-27 road win over Cornell Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field.
The win moves Princeton to 4-3 overall, 3-1 in the Ivy League, and keeps the Tigers in a second-place tie with Yale and the loser of Saturday's Harvard-Dartmouth, while the winner will be the lone unbeaten team in Ivy League play.
After struggling to get its offense moving for a span of about seven quarters, the Tigers got rolling in the second quarter at Schoellkopf Field and overwhelmed the winless Big Red. Princeton gained 450 yards in total offense, including 320 through the air, and scored five touchdowns to come back from an early deficit.
The Connor-to-Connor connection was the most dynamic for the Princeton offense, but it wasn't the lone reason for success. Sophomores James Frusciante, Trevor Osborne and Scott Carpenter combined for eight catches for 153 yards and a score (16 yards to Carpenter), while Dré Nelson took a quick flip for three yards to give the Tigers a 10-7 lead, one which it would never relinquish.
Senior Will Powers led the rushing attack with 14 carries for 83 yards, while seven other Princeton players had at least two carries. Junior Kedric Bostic scored his second career touchdown on a one-yard run.
The defense gave up its fair share of yards to the Cornell offense, but it made enough plays to help earn the win. Princeton had four sacks (Rohan Hylton, Andrew Frisby, Marcus Stroud and Garrit Leicht), as well as 10 tackles for loss, including two for Ty Desiré. Senior All-Ivy linebacker Mike Zeuli had eight tackles, while both R.J. Paige and John Hill had seven apiece. Junior All-Ivy cornerback Anthony Gaffney added his third interception of the season.
Nelson's touchdown, which came early in the second quarter, ignited a stretch when Princeton scored touchdowns on five of eight drives, not counting a kneel-down before half. A fake wideout screen left Carpenter wide open down the right sideline for a 16-yard score, and Kelley scored touchdowns of 21 and 28 yards in the third quarter. His second came on a pass to the front left pylon, where he battled for position and caught the high pass to open a 31-14 lead.
Only six players in Princeton history have caught more than 13 passes in a single game, and none has done so since Nov. 5, 1983, when Derek Graham caught 15 against Lafayette.
Cornell showed fight and got to within 10 with 10:01 to go, but Michelsen engineered a crucial 11-play, 78-yard drive that ended with Bostic taking the snap from center and surging through the line for a one-yard score. It was a play often reserved for 2013 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year Quinn Epperly, but he missed the game due to injury.
Cornell scored a late touchdown and recovered an onsides kick, but a tackle for loss by Desiré helped set up a fourth down, which fell incomplete.
Princeton will return home Nov. 8 for a 3:30 showdown against Penn on the NBC Sports Network. The game will mark the final visit to Princeton for retiring Penn head coach Al Bagnoli. The Quakers fell to Brown 21-13 Saturday at Franklin Field.