Out the Ashes

Domres' day vs. Cornell was remembered even during his NFL days

Game of the Day (Day 48)

November 2, 1968

Columbia 34 Cornell 25

After the Lions opening loss to Lafayette, the '68 season took mostly a turn for the worse as Columbia lost five more games to pull into week 7 at 0-6.

But there was one glimmer of hope as quarterback Marty Domres continued to set records with his arm. Because of his good scrambling skills, Domres was also doing a number on the total yards record books at both Columbia and the Ivy League.

But the records really came crashing down in a wild contest with Cornell at Baker Field that drew well over 14,000 fans.

To understand why so many people showed up to watch a couple of teams that had yet to win an Ivy League game, you have to understand that Domres' legend was growing throughout the area. It was obvious he was going to be drafted by an NFL or AFL team, and how well he played in these final three contests of the year would determine just how early he would go.

The people who showed up really got what they paid for. It started with both teams trading 50+ yard drives and settling for field goals, (Cornell scored first), and it was 3-3.

Then both teams started to raise the stakes. The Big Red drove 73 yards for a touchdown, ending in an 11-yard TD pass from Chris Ritter to Bill Robinson. The Lions came right back with a 78-yard drive, that also ended in an 11-yard TD pass from Domres to Bob Werner. 10-10.

After Columbia failed to capitalize on a Cornell fumble at the Lion 4, Cornell got the ball back on the ensuing punt on its 18-yard line and started a time-consuming drive. It ended with 1:16 left in the half with a 2-yard TD pass to make it 17-10.

But 76 seconds was plenty of time for Domres that day. In fact, he needed just 30 seconds to direct a 73-yard drive ending with a 32-yard scoring strike to Bill Wazevich to make it 17-17 at the half.

The Lions came out of the locker room and seemed to grab the momemtun for good after a 16-play drive ended with a one-yard TD run by Domres and a 24-17 lead. But Cornell came back with an eight-play drive and a two-point conversion to take a 25-24 lead.

Defensive plays dominated the game for the next 10 minutes. The best Columbia could do was get in range for a 35-yard field goal attempt that failed. Cornell got as far as the Lion eleven, decided to go for it from there instead of kick a field goal... and didn't make another first down.

Cornell actually lost two yards on the 4th down try, so the Lions took over from their own six with just about five minutes to play. Domres was not flustered. He drove Columbia all the way down to the Big Red 10 and kicker Rick Rose hit the short field goal for the 27-25 lead with just 2:46 to play.

After a huge sack on the ensuing Cornell possession, Columbia got the ball back one more time and Domres gambled with a long pass to Wazevich that ended in a 38-yard TD for the final points.

Domres 396 yards passing set a Columbia and Ivy League record that stood for several years. Bill Wazevich's five catches for 121 yards helped him break the Columbia career receiving yards record that had stood for 17 years.

But the fans were more excited about the Lions first victory since those terrible riots six and a half months earlier. For the first time since then, a large crowd of Columbians was gathering to celebrate something positive.


POST SCRIPT

Nine years later, Domres was starting for the New York Jets at Shea Stadium against the Miami Dolphins. At one point during the game when the Jets were struggling offensively, a few of the fans were overheard yelling: "Hey Marty, make believe it's Cornell!"

Some legends die hard.