Gators fall short in upset bid of No. 19 Wittenberg

Box Score

Springfield, Ohio - September 29, 2001 - The Allegheny College football team took No. 19-ranked Wittenberg University down to the wire, before losing 21-17 today at Edwards-Maurer Field. The Gators led 17-7 in the fourth quarter, only to have the Tigers rally for two scores late for their fifth straight victory over Allegheny.

The Tigers went ahead to stay with just 16 seconds left to play when Greg Cornett and Michael Aljancic hooked up for their second touchdown of the afternoon on a 6-yard touch pass to the corner of the end zone. The Gator's two desperation pass attempts fell incomplete in the game's waning seconds.

In what proved to be a defensive struggle throughout, the Gators played without All-America running back Shane Ream, who was lost for the day on the game's second play. The Gators had 219 yards of total offense, while Wittenberg had 317 yards, 126 of which came on the game's final two drives.

Wittenberg opened the scoring on a 12-play, 86-yard drive that culminated with a 4-yard TD pass from Cornett to Adrian Crane to take the 7-0 lead at the 4:25 mark of the first quarter. From there, the teams traded punts for the remainder of the first half, with each team having drives end on downs deep in opposition territory. The Gators drove to the Wittenberg 5-yard line early in the second quarter, only to be stopped on downs. Wittenberg missed an opportunity late in the first half when Conrad Hindert missed a 37-yard field goal 24 seconds before the half.

Allegheny opened the second half knotting the score at 7-7 at the 7:22 mark of the third quarter. Bubba Smith rolled left, sucking the Wittenberg defense toward him, before hitting Jared McNeilly on a 40-yard pass after McNeilly got open in the end zone behind the Tiger defenders. The Gators took their first lead of the game midway through the third quarter after Jamie Sye partially-blocked a punt. On the seventh play of the drive, Smith optioned right and kept diving to break the plain of the goal line for a 14-7 Allegheny lead.

Allegheny stretched its lead to 17-7 at the 8:20 mark of the fourth quarter as Aaron Smith converted his first field goal of the year from 18 yards. The Gators missed an opportunity to make the lead even bigger as Sye was pulled down inches from the end zone on 3rd-and-goal. Wittenberg answered, cutting the lead to 17-14 at the 6:37 mark of the fourth quarter when Cornett connected with Aljancic on a 3-yard scoring strike, before completing the comeback on its next possession.

For the game, Smith was 12-of-20 passing for the Gators, for 103 yards and one touchdown. Cornett was 25-of-42 for 254 yards and three scores for the Tigers. Brian Woods finished as Allegheny's leading rusher with 59 yards on seven carries, while Daniel Grove had 19 carries for 69 yards.

The loss drops the Gators to 1-3 (1-1 NCAC), while Wittenberg improved to 4-1 (2-0 NCAC). Allegheny is next in action on Saturday, October 6, when it hosts Hiram College at 1:00 p.m.