With the Big Red sitting at 3-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play, it’s hard not to call this week’s game a must win. Cornell is now guaranteed to finish below .500 in the Ivy League and, at most, 5-5 overall. Nevertheless, this Saturday, the team will look to beat the struggling Columbia Lions in the Empire State Bowl, as the Big Red hopes to salvage the remainder of its season.
Cornell is coming off another disappointing loss, but this time against Dartmouth. Although the Big Red carried the lead into the fourth quarter, a late fumble by sophomore running back Chris Walker led to a touchdown by the visitors and eventual defeat. Dartmouth continued its dominance in the all-time series between the two schools, as the Big Green won this historical 100th matchup.
However, as seems to be a recent trend across the entire Ivy League, Columbia has not faired much better. Coming off the team’s first conference victory against Dartmouth three weeks ago, the Lions have since suffered losses in consecutive games versus Yale and Harvard.
Considering that the Big Red defeated Columbia 3-0 in last year’s matchup, anything could really happen on Saturday. But, I will make the prediction that one of these teams will record a touchdown and, furthermore, both squads will score, resulting in a final tally of 13-6 in favor of Cornell. The Big Red will win in New York City and keep the Empire State Bowl trophy in Ithaca.
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