#17 Princeton Rolls To 66-0 Win Over Cornell To Set Up Undefeated Showdown vs. #20 Dartmouth

Saturday, October 27

Princeton, N.J.

1:00 PM

Princeton University

7-0 , 4-0

Cornell

3-4 , 2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cornell

Princeton

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

#17 Princeton Rolls To 66-0 Win Over Cornell To Set Up Undefeated Showdown vs. #20 Dartmouth

October 27, 2018 | Football

Box Score

Eleven different Princeton players combined to rush for 358 yards and seven touchdowns, while their defensive teammates came up with four interceptions and pitched their first shutout of the season, to keep the 17th-ranked Tigers unbeaten with a dominant 66-0 victory over Cornell. That win, combined with Dartmouth's 24-17 home win over Harvard, sets up an all-unbeaten showdown on Powers Field next Saturday at 1 pm.

There is plenty of time to talk about that game — and we will — but there is also plenty to reflect on from another dominant performance from Princeton's first 7-0 team since 1995.

The 66-0 win is Princeton's largest margin of victory in an official Ivy League game — the league formed in 1956 — and the most Princeton has ever scored against Cornell in a series that dates back to Nov. 14, 1891. The scoring outburst matches the most Princeton has scored in a game since 1934 … and also the most Princeton has scored this month; the Tigers defeated Lehigh 66-7 back on Oct. 6.

Senior quarterback John Lovett rushed the ball 19 times for 159 yards and scored the 37th rushing touchdown of his career, and he added a 12-for-16, 133-yard passing performance that included a touchdown pass to Graham Adomitis. Senior running back Charlie Volker moved into a tie for fourth place on Princeton's career rushing touchdown list when he scored on a trio of 1-yard runs during a 45-0 first half. Volker now has 32 scores on the ground, which ties him with Judd Garrett '90; he moved ahead of College Football Hall of Famer Cosmo Iacavazzi on his second touchdown.

The short touchdown runs were symbolic of the short fields that Princeton kept getting, courtesy of a swarming defensive effort. Anthony Siragusa had a team-best seven tackles, but 15 different Tigers had at least three tackles in the shutout. Princeton added four interceptions in the win, including two for team leader TJ Floyd, who now has six on the season. That total is the most since Jay McCareins '06 had nine during his 2005 All-America season. Jeremiah Tyler and Trevor Forbes also had interceptions for Princeton, while Samuel Wright had a sack to go along with his five tackles.

Cornell actually forced a quick punt on Princeton's first drive, but the Tigers followed that by scoring touchdowns on their next six drives, and capped the half with a 37-yard field goal by Nicolas Ramos. After missing on their first third down opportunity of the game, Princeton converted on their next nine and had full control of the game by the time both teams went to halftime. The second half saw three players score their first career touchdowns, including a pair of Smiths (Cody and Cole) and Zachary Keller, who scored on a 24-yard quarterback keeper.

Where Princeton's offense hit maximum efficiency by the middle of the first quarter, the defense never let Cornell get comfortable. Princeton limited the Big Red to only five conversions on 14 third downs, and then they were a perfect 4-for-4 on fourth down stops. The defensive line pressured starter Dalton Banks, who was limited to only 70 passing yards, and Joey DeMarco batted the pass that was ultimately intercepted by Tyler. Cornell was limited to only 139 yards rushing, despite the fact that head coach Bob Surace was able to use most of his reserves throughout the second half. The shutout was Princeton's first since a 53-0 win at Brown last season.

Princeton will now face #20 Dartmouth, which ended a 14-game losing streak to Harvard Saturday with a 24-17 home win, next Saturday at 1 pm on ESPN+, as well as NBC Sports Philadelphia and NBC Sports Boston. This will be the first time Princeton played in an all-undefeated Ivy League November game since Nov. 6, 1993, when Penn defeated Princeton 30-14 at Franklin Field. It will also be the third time time in the last 100 years that both Princeton and Dartmouth have both been unbeaten and untied for a November showdown. The first time came when Princeton earned a 26-6 victory in the 1935 "Snow Game," one of the most famous games in program history; a fan rushed from the stands that game and briefly played on the Big Green defensive line late in the fourth quarter.

Thirty years later, Dartmouth avenged that result in the 1965 season finale, a 28-14 win at Palmer Stadium that clinched the Ivy League title and ended a 17-game Princeton win streak.