ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania football team used some nice variety on offense throughout Friday night's game at Cornell, and that paid off in the second half as the Quakers were able to defeat the Big Red, 20-7.
 
With the win, Penn is 6-2 on the season and 3-2 in Ivy League play. Cornell fell to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in Ivy play. The win also was the Quakers' sixth in a row in Ithaca and allowed the Red and Blue to bring the Trustees' Cup back to Philadelphia in the 125th meeting between these longtime rivals.
 
Penn was on its heels to start Friday night's game, as a three-and-out by the offense and a poor punt gave Cornell the ball near midfield. The Big Red moved quickly down the field and had first-and-goal inside the Quakers' 1-yard-line. However, the defense stood tall after that and stopped Cornell on four straight rushes to keep the game scoreless.
 
Instead, it was Penn that got on the board first, early in the second quarter. A 10-play, 88-yard drive that was carried by Abe Willows on the ground and featured a 45-yard pass from Ryan Glover to Steve Farrell ended with Jack Soslow kicking a 20-yard field goal to put the Quakers up 3-0.
 
Cornell came right back to snatch the lead with its first score. The Big Red were methodical, taking nearly eight minutes off the clock while running 16 plays to cover 75 yards. It was 7-3 after QB Dalton Banks found Lars Pedersen for a 13-yard score.
 
Cornell had another chance to put points on the board to end the half, but Farrell intercepted Banks' Hail Mary pass in the end zone and the teams went to the locker rooms with the Big Red up, 7-3.
 
Penn scored the first points in the second half. On their opening drive, the Quakers took advantage of a targeting penalty—one of two on the night against Cornell—which turned a potential fourth-down decision into a first down in Cornell territory. From there, the ground game was on display as Penn used funky formations to cover the drive's final 45 yards. Karekin Brooks had the final 11 yards on direct-snap rushes, the last coming around the left side to paydirt to give the Red and Blue a 10-7 lead.
 
Cornell tried to respond, driving all the way down to Penn's 22-yard line. However, that was as far as the Big Red got, and it was for naught as Zach Mays missed a potential game-tying field goal from 39 yards.
 
Instead, Penn made it a two-score game with another punishing drive, this one covering 78 yards. Glover went 4-of-5 passing for 52 yards on the drive and found Christian Pearson on a skinny post route for the scoring play. Pearson had a nice effort on the play, as the throw was a little high and behind him but he was able to go up and get it before falling into the end zone for a 17-7 lead.
 
Cornell went three-and-out after that, and with Nick Robinson under center and Willows beside him the Quakers did a great job of burning the clock while also marching down the field. Penn used 13 plays and nearly eight minutes of game clock to cover 54 yards, driving to Cornell's 10-yard line before a 27-yard Soslow field goal made the score 20-7.
 
With the clock now a factor, Cornell's next drive looked like it would end quickly. However, a roughing-the-passer call on an incomplete fourth-down pass gave the Big Red life. It looked like they had taken advantage by scoring a touchdown shortly after that, but a holding call nullified a TD pass. That seemed to take the wind out of Cornell's sails, and the Big Red lost the ball on downs at Penn's 17-yard line.
 
Penn went three-and-out and Cornell used all three of its timeouts to keep this game alive, but Conor O'Brien put it to rest with 1:09 left when he intercepted Banks just outside the end zone.

Penn is back at home one final time this season, hosting Harvard on Homecoming Weekend next Saturday at 1 p.m.