With just over 5 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s match-up against Cornell (2-4, 1-2 Ivy), the Brown football team (3-3, 0-3 Ivy) had an 11-point lead, possession of the football and the first conference win of the 2025 campaign seemingly in their pockets.
Then, chaos came knocking.
Suddenly energized, Cornell bounded around their home field, bombarding the Bears on both offense and defense. Bruno attempted to keep pace, but Cornell’s onslaught pushed the contest to overtime — then second overtime — eventually handing the Bears their second defeat in a row.
“We had opportunities to finish the game … and we failed to do that,” Head Coach James Perry ’00 said in a post-game interview. “But it doesn’t take away from the fact that there were times, both offensively and defensively, (when) we played really well.”
After the game’s first 3 drives resulted in punts, the Big Red broke through the defensive skirmish. Less than 10 minutes into the first quarter, Cornell stampeded into Brown’s red zone. From there, a forceful 5-yard touchdown rush by running back Jordan Triplett –– his first of 3 that day ––created a 6-0 lead for the Big Red. A shanked point-after kick held Cornell’s advantage at 6.
But on Brown’s next possession, they unveiled their offensive game-plan: the long ball. Quarterback James Murphy ’27 delivered a 18-yard strike to Trevor Foley ’28 and then heaved a 34-yard high-arcing tight spiral to Ty Pezza ’26, bringing the Bears to the Cornell 15.
Just 3 plays later, Murphy returned to Pezza, who found a clean lane between the right hash and numbers and waltzed straight over the goal line. Kicker Drew Crabtree ’29 put the point-after through the uprights to give Brown a 7-6 lead.
After back-to-back scores, the next 3 drives culminated in punts. Brown’s offense floundered into a 3-and-out, and Cornell failed to move the ball 20 yards on either of their attempts.
But when Bruno’s offense took to the field with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter, yards became like burnt-orange leaves in late-October Ithaca –– easy to come by.
Brown collected two first downs in two plays. On the next snap, Murphy launched a deep shot in Pezza’s direction, who was battling a Cornell defensive back 1-on-1. Leaping several feet higher than the disoriented cornerback, Pezza secured the pass, taking Bruno inside Cornell’s 10-yard line.
“We knew we were going to be able to take advantage of (deep passes),” Murphy said. Before the game, Murphy told his receivers that deep balls were their “opportunity to go out there and show what (they) can do.”
But once the Bears created a short field, their vigorous momentum quickly stalled. Cornell’s defensive front stuffed a first-down rush by Matt Childs ’28 and sacked Murphy on third down. On fourth-and-long, Crabtree put a 38-yard field goal attempt just inside the left goal-post, bringing Brown to a 10-6 lead.
With momentum on their side, the defense stone-walled the Big Red at the goal line. On a fourth-and-1 from the 2-yard line, defensive end Jack Middleton ’28 broke through the line. Clearly under pressure, Cornell quarterback Garrett Bass-Sulpizio released an errant pass toward the end zone, which Nevaeh Gattis ’26 effortlessly batted down.
As the first half came to a close, the Bears launched a final offensive sprint. On first down, Murphy turned to the long ball yet again, hurling the football 50 yards to a double-covered Solomon Miller ’26. Reading the ball perfectly, Miller slowed and swiveled, ditching Cornell’s defenders and seizing the pass at the Big Red’s 48-yard line.
Despite advancing into the red zone, the Bears failed to finish the drive. Murphy forced a pass into tight coverage, where a Cornell cornerback tipped it into linebacker Keith Williams Jr.’s waiting gloves, effectively ending the quarter.
The second half started with a nightmare sequence for the Big Red. After earning just 1 first down, Bruno linebacker Sam Smith ’26 swatted a pass attempt on third-and-10. On fourth down, Cornell punter Will Buck slipped while receiving the snap and the ball bounced against his off-balance leg, skidding to the 40-yard line, where Brown defenders recovered it.
In 3 plays, the Bears rushed into the red zone. But there, the drive faltered, and after Crabtree’s 38-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right, the score remained 10-6.
“We did a really poor job in the red zone today,” Murphy said. “We weren’t able to punch the ball in and settled for field goals too many times.”
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But Cornell’s offense struggled in the red zone as well. On a fourth-and-7 from Brown’s 10-yard line, the 6-minute drive ended with a hasty throw from Bass-Sulpizio that clattered harmlessly off the end zone’s turf.
Taking over, Bruno went right back to work, displaying their dynamic passing attack. An 18-yard throw to Pezza and 44-yard shot to Miller highlighted the Bears’ movement toward the end zone.
Yet again, the red zone tormented Brown, forcing a field goal attempt from Cornell’s 7-yard line. Luckily for the Bears, a running-into-the-kicker penalty granted Bruno a fresh set of downs — an opportunity they did not waste. On the final quarter’s opening play, Childs took a direct snap at Cornell’s 1-yard line and pushed through the line of scrimmage to claim a 17-6 lead.
Down by 11 points, the Big Red began to move with increasing urgency. But after tearing across the field, they found no answer for a dominant Bruno defense.
On second down, Ivy League sack leader Ike Odimegwu ’27 shook his blocker and took Bass-Sulpizio down for a loss of 7. On fourth-and-2, Bruno descended on Bass-Sulpizio, pounding him to the ground and creating a turnover on downs.
If Brown scored again, they could put the game away. But with victory on the horizon, the Bears started playing conservatively, straying from the tactics that had led them this far. This new strategy turned out to be a mistake –– 2 consecutive 3-and-outs set the stage for Cornell to get back in the game.
In only 90 seconds, Cornell moved to Brown’s 10-yard line, where Bass-Sulpizio scrambled downhill and dove into the end zone. After the Big Red converted their 2-point-conversion attempt, Brown’s advantage fell to 3.
Sensing the danger, Brown’s offense kicked into gear. A perfect 45-yard toss to an in-stride Miller sent the Bears to Cornell’s 34-yard line, and for a moment, it seemed as if Bruno would score, thereby dashing any hopes of a Big Red comeback.
But Cornell’s defense buckled up, forcing a fourth-and-6. With the chance to put the game away, Murphy looked to Pezza on a short in-route. But Cornell’s secondary wrapped him up before he could reach the line to gain.
As the final 2 minutes ticked, the Big Red channeled the moment’s electricity, marching 66 yards to set up a game-tying field goal attempt. With the game on the line, first-year kicker Jonathan Roost took the field. Showing no nerves, he drilled the kick, sending the game to overtime.
The rules of overtime give each team the opportunity to score from their opponent’s 25-yard line. Brown’s offense faced the challenge first.
On just the second play, Pezza created magic. Catching a short checkdown at the 25-yard line, he turned upfield, tiptoeing down the right sideline and beating the Big Red to the goal line.
Determined not to be outplayed, Cornell responded. Facing a third-and-long, Bass-Sulpizio found a soft spot in the defense, throwing a bullet to leaping tight end Ryder Kurtz. From the 2-yard line, Triplett punched it in –– tie game.
Headed to second overtime, Cornell’s offense stepped up first. In a repeat of the previous drive, the Big Red handed the ball to Triplett at the goal line. From the 1-yard line, he punched it in.
But Brown’s defense had a small victory: They stopped Cornell’s mandatory 2-point conversion attempt. If Bruno’s offense managed to score a touchdown and convert for 2, they would hold off the Big Red.
Such were the stakes when Brown was facing a fourth-and-1 at Cornell’s 5. Wasting no time, Childs took a direct snap with aspirations of his earlier touchdown. This time, though, the Big Red were ready. The defensive front assailed Bruno’s offensive line, thrusting Childs to the ground behind the line-to-gain to triumph in the contest.
Jubilant at their heroic comeback, the Big Red stormed the field.
Reflecting on the draining loss, Murphy said, “I know that this group of guys will play their best football the last four games of the season. (We have to) learn from what happened today … we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”
Brown will look to shake off their disappointment at Penn (4-2, 2-1) Friday night. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.