Box Score Box Score (PDF) I Postgame Press Conference I Video Highlights (to come)

ITHACA, N.Y. -- On Senior Day, wide receiver Grant Gellatly made sure his teammates would always remember their final game on Schoellkopf Field. He had plenty of help, and the Big Red ended its home slate with a 24-9 victory over Columbia on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red improved to 2-7 (1-5 Ivy), while the Lions fell to 0-9 (0-6 Ivy).

With All-American quarterback Jeff Mathews on the sidelines with an injury, Gellatly did everything he could to make sure the Empire State Bowl trophy wouldn't leave Ithaca. The record-breaking wide receiver caught nine passes for 136 yards, ran for 38 more and helped settle down the Big Red's young quarterbacks, who were effective and efficient against a Lion defense built to defend against Mathews and the pass. Instead they got a long look at sophomore James Few and freshman Robert Somborn.

Few was 14-of-17 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He also scampered for a score. Somborn, in his first varsity appearance, connected on all three of his pass attempts for 49 yards and ran twice for 16 more in directing an offense that didn't commit a turnover and calmly converted 6-of-15 third down attempts. Cornell ran the ball a season-high 51 times for 131 yards to help dominate the time of possession and keep a young and inexperienced Columbia defense on the field. The Big Red held a 37:43-22:17 lead in possession.

For Gellatly, it was his ninth career 100-yard game, good for second place on the Big Red's career list. He also became the fourth receiver in school history to surpass 1,000 yards in a season, moving into third on that list with 1,045 entering his final game. He moved into fourth on the school's career receiving yards list with 2,307 yards, moving past Eric Krawczyk (2,285) and getting within 30 yards of matching Joe Splendorio for third (2,337 yards).

Senior Ty Bostain made his first career touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to all but put the game away, while sophomore Ben Rogers also caught his first touchdown, a 16-yarder in the third quarter. Freshman place-kicker Joe Pierik made a 40-yard field goal and all three PAT kicks to close out the scoring.

Defensively, Cornell was strong all day. It limited the Lions to 27 rushing yards on 19 carries, the fewest rushing yardage total by a Big Red defense since the 2008 campaign when they held Yale to zero yards on 28 attempts in a 17-14 victory. Sophomore Twan Terrell had the game's lone takeaway, intercepting a Trevor McDonagh pass early in the fourth quarter to set up the Big Red's final scoring drive of the afternoon.

In his final home game, Ivy League tackle leader Brett Buehler made nine stops with a half-sack, while classmate Brian Gee made five tackles. Kevin Marchand made four tackles and was in on a sack with Buehler, while Justin Harris had three tackles. Junior Taylor Betros made eight tackles and sophomore Debo Sodeke had a pair of sacks to eat up 17 Columbia yards.

With Cornell Hall of Famer Ed Marinaro on the sidelines and a national television audience looking in, the Big Red honored its 22 seniors with its most complete game since week one. It got on the scoreboard first in a game for the first time all season with Pierik's 40-yard kick, setting a career-long. That ended a 12-play, 63-yard drive that chewed up more than six minutes. It was nothing compared to the monster drive it would put together late in the half.

After the Lions tied the game 3-3 on a 33-yard field goal by Luke Eddy, one of three he had on the day within 33 yards, the teams traded punts. When Cornell took possession of the ball with 12:10 remaining in the second quarter, it embarked on a drive that nearly chewed up the rest of the clock. At the end, Cornell covered 80 yards in 19 plays, including picking up third downs of 13, 7, 8 and 2 yards leading to Few keeping it hemself for the sophomore's first career score to make it 10-3.

Both teams against punted and Columbia got the ball back with 30 seconds left. Two completed passes and a roughing the passer penalty gave the Lions a chance to cut the deficit to 10-6, and they did just that when Eddy cashed in from 32 yards at the horn.

The second half began with consecutive punts before Somborn got Cornell untracked. He hit Gellatly for a 31-yard gainer, then Gelaltly swept around end for nine more yards on the ground. A short run by Luke Hagy, who ended the day with 110 yard - 73 on the ground, set up another pass from Somborn to Gellatly, this time for eight more yards. Two plays later, Few stepped in at quarterback and perfectly hit Rogers in the back right corner for their first career touchdowns through the air. Pierik's kick made it 17-6 with 9:11 left in the third.

For the third time in the game, Columbia reached the red zone and for the third time, the Big Red held for a field goal effort. This time, Eddy converted from 31 yards to make it 17-9 and get the visitors back within one score with nearly 21 minutes left to play.

From there, Columbia gained 135 yards, including a 35-yard pass on the final play of the game against Cornell's prevent defense, only crossing over the Big Red's 40-yard line on that final play.

While the Big Red defense was able to shut down the Lions late, the offense had one more scoring drive in it. After Terrell read a pass and stepped in front for his first career interceptions, which he returned 22 yards to the Columbia 43, the Big Red went back to work. It picked up third down conversions of 12 and 2 yards and ended with Few hitting Bostain from 7 yards out. The senior came down with a 50-50 ball in the right corner of the end zone and then had it ripped away while he was on the ground. Columbia argued that the ball was intercepted, but the officials sided with the Big Red to effectively put down the Lions, making it 24-9 with 8:38 left.

On the ensuing drive, Sodeke had the first of his two fourth quarter sacks to force a third-and-19, and two plays later Buehler and Marchand combined on a stop to give the home team the ball back on downs.

Cornell will close out its season when it visits Penn in a game for the Trustees' Cup on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m.at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa.