NOTEBOOK: Pruneau Prevails in First Career Start

Two years ago, Harvard football coach Tim Murphy said he believed Cornell quarterback Jeff Mathews, then a sophomore, would be at least a third round NFL draft pick. After Saturday’s game, there was no reason for Murphy to change his mind.

Mathews, now a senior and a legitimate NFL prospect, carried the Big Red offense on his shoulders all day long. He threw for 472 yards, the most a quarterback has ever passed for in a single game against Harvard.

Despite his valiant efforts, the Crimson (4-0, 2-0 Ivy) had the last word at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York, winning by a score of 34-24.

But that doesn’t take anything away from the performance of Mathews. Through his passing and scrambling, Mathews accounted for all but one of Cornell’s (1-3, 0-2) total yards. The senior also threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another.

“If I’m a General Manager, I’d draft that guy in the top couple rounds,” Murphy said. “No question about it. You get to a point where you know they’re passing on every down, but he still completes balls. Just amazing.”

It was a dominant aerial performance by any standard. Mathews showed he could thread the needle over the middle, find a streaking receiver down the sideline, and escape from a collapsing pocket to scramble for a gain.

Both of Mathews’ touchdown passes came out of a shotgun set the Big Red threw at Harvard all game. On the first drive of the second half, Mathews fired a bullet into the middle of the end zone that his sliding receiver reeled in for the score.

On the very next drive, Mathews capped a 12 play, 75-yard drive by finding Lucas Shapiro on a seven-yard in route between a trio of Harvard defenders. The strike brought Cornell within three.

“We believe in our guys, and we believe in our pass protection,” Mathews said. “They’re a team that is more geared to stop the run, and we felt we had matchups in the pass game.”

THE DRIVE THAT CHANGED THE GAME

Mathews wasn’t the only quarterback who showed up to play on Saturday. For the second week in a row, the Crimson offense—this time under the direction of senior quarterback Michael Pruneau—made plays when it mattered most.

With just over six minutes remaining, Harvard found itself clinging to a three-point lead. Mathews and the Big Red offense had just marched down the field for a touchdown that got the crowd on its feet.

But Pruneau, who filled in for injured junior starter Conner Hempel, responded in turn. The senior completed two straight passes to sophomore receiver Andrew Fischer and senior tight end Tyler Ott to move the ball into Cornell territory.

Two plays later on a critical third down, Pruneau rose to the occasion and found a diving Ricky Zorn over the middle to move the chains.

It would take just one more play to cap the drive off. Rolling to his right, Pruneau lofted a pass in the direction of senior tight end Cam Brate, who created enough separation in the front corner of the end zone to haul the touchdown pass in.

Just four minutes earlier, the game hung in the balance. But a series of Pruneau completions late effectively put the game out of reach.

“We called a play that was designed for Cam,” Pruneau said. “It was a little double move. We’re actually roommates, so it was great to connect with him after so much that’s happened in the past couple years.”

Pruneau would finish the game 23-of-29 for a career-high 340 yards in the air, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another.

TEAM DEFENSIVE EFFORT

The game belonged to Mathews, but the win ultimately went to Harvard. Much of the credit for the outcome goes to the Crimson defense.

Cornell made it a one possession game several times, but the Harvard defense held up and got the ball back in the hands of its offense, never surrendering the lead.

With Mathews passing out of the shotgun formation nearly every snap, the Crimson typically elected to keep defenders in pass coverage.

This defensive set paid off the most when the driving Cornell offense had the ball on the Harvard 22 partway through the fourth quarter. After Crimson pressure forced Mathews to scramble out of the pocket, senior defensive back Reynaldo Kirton read the pass over the middle and came up with a crucial interception.

“I shouldn’t have made that throw,” Mathews said. “You kind of get caught up in the game and you want to make every play.”

In the first quarter, sophomore linebacker Eric Medes recorded the first interception of his career with a leaping, fingertip catch.

The Crimson defense also recorded six sacks on the day, with four coming from senior defensive tackle Nnamdi Obukwelu and his brother Obum, a junior.

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at david.steinbach@thecrimson.com.