The Big Red, which began the day fifth nationally in rushing defense, piled up 414 yards and 20 first downs on offense itself, with
Randy Barbour carrying 12 times for 56 yards and a touchdown to lead the attack.
Nathan Ford completed 25-of-41 passes for 268 yards and a score, a 14-yard toss to senior
Shane Kilcoyne. Kilcoyne added a 73-yard kickoff return that set up the Big Red's lone first half touchdown, a 3-yard pass to
Zach Vredenburgh by senior tailback
Luke Siwula.
Colgate held the ball for more than 36 minutes and piled up 26 first downs, including 18 on the ground. It gained 345 yards rushing against a defense that had surrendered just 253 yards total in the first four games.
Colgate opened its first series with a bang as Sullivan completed a 32-yard pass to Simonds on the second play from scrimmage to move the ball to the Cornell 46. After picking up another first down, the Raiders got another spectacular catch from Simonds, who snatched a tipped ball out of the air to move Colgate to the Big Red 14-yard line. Two plays later, Sullivan got the Raiders on the board after faking the handoff and then rolling off to the right and streaking 19 yards untouched to the end zone. Jacob Stein added the extra point to make it a 7-0 game just under four minutes into the contest.
The Big Red offense was unable to find its rhythm on its first series and after a three-and-out,
Nick Maxwell booted an outstanding 43-yard punt to set Colgate up on its 18-yard line. Back-to-back passes to Doug Rosnick and Simonds for 13 and 40 yards, respectively, quickly put the Raiders on Cornell's 29-yard line. Two rushes by Scott moved Colgate into the red zone, but a rush for no gain and two incomplete passes forced the Raiders to attempt a 35-yard field goal, which Stein converted to put the visitors up, 10-0.
Kilcoyne used a 24-yard kick off return to set the Big Red up at its 34-yard line and a spectacular 31-yard reception by
Horatio Blackman put the home team in Raider territory for the first time at the 35-yard line. After rushes by Siwula and Barbour, the Big Red faced third-and-6, and despite a hard-fought reception by Kilcoyne, Cornell fell one yard short, setting up fourth-and-1 on the Colgate 26-yard line. The Big Red took a risk to go for it, but Ford's pass to Blackman fell incomplete and the Raiders took over on downs.
Colgate wasn't able to move the ball and on third-and-7 a pass to Charles Babb was broken up by a ferocious hit by
Emani Fenton, forcing the Raiders to punt.
With the momentum of the stop fresh, Liuzza opened the next series under center and used two designed runs to move the ball 28 yards to the Cornell 47-yard line. After an incomplete pass and another five-yard rush by Liuzza, Ford returned to the field and promptly connected on three straight passes to Kilcoyne for a total of 17 yards to move to the Colgate 31-yard line. From there, the Big Red offense stalled, but an outstanding 27-yard pooch punt by Maxwell pushed the Raiders back to their own 8-yard line.
Colgate wasted little time before scoring again, using just four plays, capped by a 78-yard reception by Simonds, to run the score to 17-0, with 13:06 remaining in the first half.
With the life going out of the Cornell crowd, Kilcoyne gave the fans something to get excited about, taking the kick-off 73 yards to the Colgate 22. Ford immediately connected with
Tommy Bleymaier for 19 yards, putting the Big Red on the doorstep. Cornell used some trickery on the next play as Siwula took a direct snap and then flicked the ball over the line of the scrimmage to
Zach Vredenburgh at the back of the end zone.
Brad Greenway connected on the extra-point to make it a 17-7 game.
The teams traded possessions and just as it seemed like Colgate would be forced to punt again, Eachus broke off a 21-yard run to move the ball to the Cornell 20-yard line. From there, the Raiders kept it on the ground, steadily moving towards the goal line until the freshman used a 4-yard gain to bulldoze his way into the end zone. Stein added the PAT to make it a 24-7 game with 5:23 remaining in the second quarter.
Cornell used several big plays on its next possession, including a 17-yard rush by Ford, to get the ball to the Colgate 40-yard line, before a Big Red fumble gave the ball back to the visitors with just under four minutes to play in the half.
Facing a quick third-and-10, Sullivan connected with Babb for a 33-yard reception to move the ball to the Cornell 26. The visitors were only able to move the ball six more yards and then fumbled the hold on the en suing field goal attempt to give the ball back to the Big Red on its 29.
Cornell went into its hurry-up offense and Ford connected with Walters on back-to-back passes for 12 yards. On the next play, Ford scrambled away from the Raider pressure and rushed 20 yards to take the ball into Colgate territory, but a late interception as time expired ended the half.
The Big Red received the ball to start the third quarter and used a steady 11-play possession to carry the ball 60 yards to pay dirt. Barbour carried seven times during the series and used a gritty 9-yard rush to push the ball into the end zone. Greenway's extra-point conversion was good and the Big Red cut into the Colgate lead, 24-14.
The Raiders wasted no time to regain its 17-point advantage, as Sullivan and Eachus alternated four carries to move the ball 30 yards to their 49-yard line. From there, Eachus found a huge hole and scampered untouched 51 yards to the end zone. Stein connected on the PAT and made it a 31-14 game.
The teams traded possessions back and forth before two Raider penalties on a punt, kick-catch interference and a personal foul, gave the Big Red the ball on its 46-yard line. Ford used back-to-back passes to Walters for a combined 50 yards to move Cornell to the Raider 3. Barbour pushed the ball to the 1, but a holding call on the next play moved the ball back to the 11-yard line. Two straight incompletions sent out the field goal unit, but the Big Red faked the kick and Bleymaier rushed the ball down to the 4-yard line, just short of the end zone, and Cornell turned the ball over on downs.
A steady, 12-play, 96-yard series by the Raiders put the visitors up, 38-14, with 8:28 remaining in the contest. The 1-yard scoring rush by Eachus was set up by a leaping 25-yard reception by Simonds.
The Big Red answered immediately with a scoring drive of its own. The drive opened with a 41-yard kick off return by Walters. Ford then hit Walters on two straight passes to move the ball down to the Colgate 35-yard line. Kilcoyne caught two passes in a row, including a slant across the middle and then high stepped out of a tackle and scampered 26 yards to the endzone. The Big Red went for the two-point conversion and Ford hit Walters to make it a 38-22 game with 7:21 to play.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Big Red attempted an on-sides kick, which it recovered, but it was ruled by the officials that an inadvertent whistle had ended the play. On its second on-side kick attempt, the ball did not travel the required 10 yards and sailed out of bounds at the Cornell 32-yard line.
Cornell's defense held the Raiders to a three-and-out, giving the Big Red the ball back with just over five minutes to play. Cornell used a series of short passes to move the ball into Colgate territory but a sack pushed the Big Red back near midfield and set up a fourth-and-17, which it could not convert. The Raiders wound down the clock to hand Cornell its second straight loss after opening 3-0.
The Big Red returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 25, when it visits Brown for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff.
