Cornell Claims Empire State Bowl With 42-40 Win Over Columbia

Saturday, November 12

Robert K. Kraft Field

1:00 PM

Columbia University

2-7 , 1-5

Cornell

4-5 , 2-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cornell

Columbia

Cornell Claims Empire State Bowl With 42-40 Win Over Columbia

11/12/2016 5:26:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Columbia University Athletics

Cornell

Columbia

Box Score Final Book Photo Gallery

Post-Game Press Conference With Al Bagnoli Christian Conway Interception

Anders Hill TD Pass to Josh Wainwright Tanner Thomas TD Run Hunter Petlansky TD Run

Oren Milstein 44-Yard Field Goal Lynnard Rose TD Pass from Anders Hill Ronald Smith TD Pass from Anders Hill

NEW YORK—Chris Walker rushed for three touchdowns and a career-high 230 yards and quarterback Dalton Banks threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cornell to a high scoring 42-40 win over Columbia in the 104^th annual Empire State Bowl Saturday at Robert K. Kraft Field.

In a back-and-forth, high-scoring and exciting offensive affair which featured eight lead changes and three ties, the two teams combined for 1,121 total offensive yards, 55 first downs, 697 passing yards, two fumbles that resulted in touchbacks, three interceptions and five touchdowns of 20 yards or more.

Cornell took the lead for good at 28-24 with 4:52 left in the third quarter when Banks found Hayes Nolte for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The Big Red kept its 63-yard, eight play drive alive when it used a fake punt to convert on a fourth and five. On the fake punt play, Jake Jatis took the snap and completed a 33-yard pass to Chris Fraser to set up the score. After a 37-yard field goal by Columbia's Oren Milstein, which cut the deficit to 28-27, Cornell went on a 15-play, 87-yard drive which ended in a one-yard touchdown run by Banks to go up 35-27.

Columbia wasn't finished as it battled back with a 13-yard touchdown pass to freshman Lynnard Rose from quarterback Anders Hill to make the score 35-33. The Lions attempted to tie the game with a two-point conversion, but a flip pass failed to cross the goal line.

On the ensuing possession, Walker found an opening up the middle and rambled for a 71-yard scoring run to give Cornell a commanding 42-33 lead with 4:53 left. It was his third and final touchdown of the day. The Lions then answered with a touchdown pass from Hill to Ronald Smith to cut the deficit to 42-40 with 1:58 to go. Columbia then attempted an on-side kick, which was recovered by Cornell's Collin Shaw.

“We flipped the script today,” Columbia head coach Al Bagnoli said. “Our offense put up really good numbers, made some explosive plays, executed very well and overall gave us a chance to win. For the first time this year, we just didn't play as well on defense. Ultimately, we came out on the short end. I give our players credit for a great effort. They played the whole 60 minutes. We have to shore up some things with ball possessions in critical spots, but I can't ask any more of them in terms of their work ethic. It's unfortunate today. If you score more than 40 points in this league, you should win.”

A career-long 44-yard Oren Milstein field goal with four seconds left in the second quarter gave Columbia a 24-21 halftime lead. Cornell took a 7-0 lead just two minutes into the game when Walker scored his first touchdown of the day on a 27-yard run.

Columbia (2-7, 1-5 Ivy League) tied the game at 7-7 with 11:39 left in the first quarter when Hill found Josh Wainwright open for a 33-yard touchdown pass. The score was setup by a 43-yard pass from Hill to Scooter Hollis. Columbia went up 14-7 on a two-yard touchdown run by freshman Tanner Thomas following a 78-yard, eight play drive. A 32-yard run by Alan Watson and 11-yard quarterback scramble by Hill fueled the drive.

Cornell (4-5, 2-4 Ivy League) tied the game at 14-14 on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Banks to Ben Rogers following a 46-second, 80-yard drive spanning three plays. The Big Red started the drive on their own 20-yard line after a Columbia fumble rolled out of bounds for a touchback.

Columbia went up 21-14 when freshman Hunter Petlansky took the snap and ran 18-yards for his second career touchdown. Senior Christian Conway intercepted a tipped pass at the Cornell 27-yard line.

Walker tied the game at 21-21 when he ran 28 yards for a touchdown with 1:32 left in the second quarter.

Four Columbia freshmen scored touchdowns in the game: Petlansky, Wainwright, Smith and Thomas. Hill threw for 284 yards and three touchdowns and completed 24 of 40 passes. Watson ran for 105 yards on 18 carries. Smith finished with career-highs of 195 yards and 11 receptions. His 195 yards rank as the fifth most in school history and the most since Terry Brown finished with 207 receiving yards vs. Cornell in 1988. Gianmarco Rea led Columbia with 10 tackles, Landon Baty finished with seven and Keith Brady added six. Columbia honored its 23 seniors in a pre-game ceremony.

Columbia plays its final game when it travels to Brown on Saturday, Nov. 19.

POST GAME NOTES

·Columbia was represented at the coin toss by its three 2016 captains: seniors Scooter Hollis (WR), Skyler Mornhinweg (QB) and Christian Conway (LB).

·Today's weather at kickoff at Robert K. Kraft Stadium was 48 degrees and sunny.

·Columbia honored its 23 seniors in a pre-game ceremony.

·Columbia totaled season-highs for points scored (40), total offensive yards (562), passing yards (397), completions (30), rushing yards (165) and first downs (29).

·Columbia's 40 points were the most it has scored in a game since Nov. 12, 2011 when it scored 41 in a 62-41 loss at Cornell.

·The 562 offensive yards were the most for Columbia since it finished with 528 yards of total offense on Oct. 2, 2010 vs. Princeton (528).

·Freshman Ronald Smith set career-highs for receptions (11) and receiving yards (195). He registered a career-long 44-yard reception in the second quarter. It surpassed his previous long of 39 yards.

·Smith's 195 receiving yards were the most totaled at Columbia since Terry Brown finished with 207 yards vs. Cornell on Nov. 12, 1988. The 195 yards ranks as the fifth all-time best performance in school history. The last time a Columbia player finished with more than 150 yards receiving in a game was on Nov. 12, 2011 when Kurt Williams finished with 191 yards vs. Cornell.

·Senior Alan Watson rushed for his second career 100-yard rushing game with 105 yards on 18 carries. His previous 100-yard performance came on Oct. 8, 2016 at Wagner, where he rushed for career-highs of 23 carries and 107 receiving yards.

·Junior quarterback Anders Hill finished the day with 284 yards passing and three touchdowns. His 284 yards were the second most passing yards in his career (289 vs. Yale) and his three touchdowns tied his performance earlier this year vs. Yale.

·Junior offensive lineman Markham Paukune made his first career start today.

·Senior Scooter Hollis caught a 43-yard pass from Anders Hill in the first quarter. The play represented Columbia's second longest pass play of the year.

·Freshman Josh Wainwright scored his third touchdown of the season on a 33-yard TD reception from Anders Hill.

·Freshman Tanner Thomas scored his first career touchdown in the first quarter on a two-yard run around the end.

·Columbia's 24 scored points in the first half set season-high for team scoring. Previously, Columbia scored 23 points vs. Yale in a 31-23 loss on Oct. 28.

·Columbia's 14 first quarter points were the most it has scored in an opening period this season.

·Columbia's 24 points at halftime tied for the most points scored by the Lions in the first half.

·Sophomore Mike Hinton recovered his first career fumble in the second quarter. The fumble was recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

·Senior linebacker Christian Conway intercepted the first pass of his career in the second quarter when he jumped up and gathered in a tipped pass. The play gave Columbia possession of the ball at the Cornell 27-yard line.

·Freshman Hunter Petlansky scored his second career touchdown in the second quarter on an 18-yard run.

·Freshman Oren Milstein kicked a career-long 44-yard field goal to close out the first half. He converted a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter for his second of the game. Milstein entered the game ranked No. 3 nationally in field goal percentage. He is now 11-12 on the year on field goals.

·Freshman Lynnard Rose caught his first career touchdown pass in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard pass from Anders Hill. It also marked his career-long reception.

·Columbia led at halftime for the second consecutive game.

·Columbia and Cornell played in the Empire State Bowl for the 104^th time in series history. Cornell now leads the series 64-36-3. Cornell has now won four straight games in the series.