Lovett x 7 = Dominating 56-7 Win At Cornell

Saturday, October 29

Ithaca, NY

12:30 PM

Princeton University

Cornell

Photo by: Bill Corso

October 29, 2016 | Football

Box Score

John Lovett was getting plenty of attention BEFORE Saturday's 56-7 victory at Cornell.

Safe to say that won't be changing anytime soon.

Lovett, the NCAA FCS leader in touchdown rushes, set a Princeton single-game record by accounting for seven touchdowns (four passing, two rushing, one receiving) to lead the Tigers to a dominant win over Cornell at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca. Lovett was far from the only standout performer in Princeton's wire-to-wire rout of the improved Big Red — Chad Kanoff completed 17 of 23 passes for 198 yards, Isaiah Barnes caught seven passes for 170 yards and a TD, Dorian Williams had five tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recover — but, let's face it, seven touchdowns just doesn't happen every day.

"Thank goodness he's on our team," head coach Bob Surace said afterwards. "The joy that Chad had with John on the touchdown pass he had to him, watching the two of them celebrate is what you want to see. When we play well on offense, the two of them make us tick. We have so many different plays that John affects. It's all over the field. He needs to continue to take care of his body, because we ask a lot of them."

Lovett scored two rushing touchdowns, including a two-yarder early to open the scoring, to move within five of Keith Elias' single-season program record of 19, set in 1993. That was a standard total for Lovett, who has averaged two per game this season to rank atop the nation. It was the passing numbers that looked staggering afterwards; his career-best total before the game was 72 passing yards, but he completed 10 of 11 passes for 194 yards and four touchdowns, all personal bests for the Tiger junior. None was more exciting than a 95-yard strike to Isaiah Barnes early in the third quarter, a play that quickly killed any momentum Cornell may have had following its only scoring drive. Deep in Princeton territory and facing an all-out blitz looking for a turnover, Lovett hit Barnes on a quick inside post; the senior wideout caught it around the 22 and took off untouched for the score (see play below). It was the second-longest touchdown pass in Princeton history, trailing only a 99-yard connection between Matt Verbit and Clinton Wu in a 2003 win at Brown.

3rd Quarter 10:06 | Unbelievable! Barnes' 95-yard TD grab is tied for the second longest in program history! 42-7 Tigers pic.twitter.com/pXVhHpLgOT
— Princeton Football (@PUTigerFootball) October 29, 2016

Lovett also completed touchdown passes to Trevor Osborne (35 yards), James Frusciante (two) and Graham Adomitis (six), the latter of which came on a spectacular roll-and-throw, and an even more spectacular back-corner grab by Adomitis, who somehow kept a foot inbounds while stretching for the catch.

As for the touchdown reception, that was the play Surace mentioned earlier. It was the first touchdown connection between Kanoff, who faked the run before throwing a laser outside, and Lovett, who got to the sideline and then dove just inside the pylon for his second career receiving touchdown.

Lovett and the offense kept getting opportunities because the Tiger defense was as dominant as it has been all season. Princeton held an much-improved Cornell offense to only 263 total yards and a 2 of 13 performance on third downs.

"We had a couple series — the first of both halves — that I would have liked to see us tackle and play our assignments better, but other than that we were really sharp," Surace said. "That's a good offense. This wasn't a team struggling coming into the game, and I thought we were really aggressive all game long. Our motto all week was attack, attack, attack."

Both reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week Kurt Holuba and Birk Olson had a sack, while James Gales added his second interception in as many games. Senior linebacker Luke Catarius had a team-best six tackles, while Williams and Rohan Hylton had five apiece. Princeton had four pass breakups in the game and it forced nearly as many punts (nine) as it allowed first downs (13).

The win marks only the third time since 1960 that Princeton has won back-to-back games at Schoellkopf Field, and the Class of 2016 becomes only the third in the last 100 years to go undefeated against Cornell. More importantly, the win keeps Princeton alive in the Ivy League chase, a race that will gain much more clarity next Saturday on Powers Field. Princeton (5-2, 3-1 Ivy) will host Penn (5-2, 4-0 Ivy) at noon Saturday on the American Sports Network/Ivy League Digital Network. It is Community & Military Heroes Day at Princeton, and you can purchase tickets either online or by calling 609-258-4TIX.

NOTES: Princeton's 645 total yards is the second-most ever allowed by a Cornell team … freshman Ryan Quigley scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 50-yard run in the final minute of the game; it was the longest touchdown run for a Tiger since Volker scored on a 62-yard run against Colgate last season … Barnes' 95-yard touchdown catch is the first TD reception of more than 50 yards since Barnes' scored on a 53-yard catch against Yale last season … the last Princeton quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in a game was Connor Michelsen, who did it at Schoellkopf Field in 2014.