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ITHACA – The Cornell defense forced four turnovers, blocked two punts, sacked Wagner quarterbacks eight times and held the Seahawks' offense to under 300 yards to propel the home team to a 31-7 triumph on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The win moved Cornell to 2-1 on the young season, while Wagner fell to 1-4. 

After entering the game having caused just one turnover in the first two contests of 2011, the Big Red defense flew around all afternoon, swarming to the ball and making big play after big play. Senior Zack Imhoff was nearly unblockable all day, tallying 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and blocking a kick in one of the best individual defensive efforts in a Cornell uniform in many years. He was part of half of the team's eight sacks, the most by a Big Red team since posting a school-record 10 at Harvard in 1992 and the second-highest total in school history.

Imhoff wasn't alone in putting up big numbers for the defense. Brandon Lainhart had 11 tackles and a sack, as well as recovering a fumble, while Brett Buehler notched 10 tackles, including three for a loss with a sack, and broke up a pass. Tre' Minor had a pair of tackles for a loss, a sack and a fumble recovery and rookie Shane McManamon recorded his first career sack. Seniors Chris Murray blocked a punt and Rashad Campbell had an interception and junior Cody Roberts notched a half-sack and a fumble recovery.

With all the turnovers, Cornell's offense was able to be opportunistic. All five of the Big Red's scoring plays started in Seahawks territory, ranging from 20 to 44 yards.

Sophomore quarterback Jeff Mathews accounted for four touchdowns, including three in the air, en route to an 18-of-26 passing day for 197 yards and three touchdowns. He hit junior Shane Savage for a pair of scores in the second quarter as the Big Red built a 24-0 halftime edge. In the game, Savage became the eighth player in Cornell history to surpass 100 career receptions. Kurt Ondash had a game-high six catches for 80 yards, while Nick Mlady caught two passes, including the game's opening score. Ryan Houska had a team-best 46 rushing yards out of the Housecat formation.

Wagner's lone bright spot came with sophomore running back Dominique Williams, who had 137 rushing yards on 26 carries for Wagner, including a 1-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to break the Big Red's shutout bid.

The first three possessions of the game were plagued by penalties, leading to a pair of Wagner punts. The Seahawks' first possession showed promise after a 38-yard rush around the right side by Williams penetrated Cornell territory. But the drive stalled after Campbell made a tackle for a loss on third down on a corner blitz, and then Seahawks quarterback Nick Doscher's  fourth-and-long pass up the middle fell to the turf to give the ball to the Big Red.
 
Wagner's second possession yielded the first big play of the game – just not for the Seahawks. On a third-and-5, Imhoff got around the right edge for a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by Lainhart at the visitors' 20.

Beau Sweeney entered the game and ran a pair of option plays down to the Wagner 8, then Houska orchestrated a similar play out of the wildcat formation for four more yards. That set up Mathews' 4-yard play-action touchdown pass to the right to fullback Nick Mlady for his first career touchdown reception and a 7-0 Cornell lead.

Imhoff then had a large role in thwarting the next Wagner possession, drawing a holding penalty on second down. After a modest Seahawks' gain on the ensuing play, Imhoff and Minor teamed up for another sack to set up fourth down and Nick Linehan's first attempted punt. The boot never made it far, though, finding the arms of Cornell's Chris Murray, who charged around the left side of the line. That set up another short Cornell scoring drive – this one spanning 21 yards. Mathews completed an 8-yard pass to Alex Johnson, followed by Grant Gellatly's first-down rush up the middle. Ben Moody's carry to the Wagner 5 ended the quarter. Gellatly made two bids for the end zone that gained minimal ground before Brad Greenway's chip-shot field goal from 20 yards pushed the score to 10-0 with 13:36 to play in the half.

The onslaught was just beginning.

Cody Roberts broke up the middle on a delayed blitz to sack Doscher on third down on Wagner's next possession, forcing a punt into the wind that gave Cornell the ball at the Seahawks' 37-yard line.

The Big Red offense needed just 62 seconds to capitalize this time. Mathews found Ondash for an 11-yard reception on first down, then extended the next play by rolling out to the right before calmly finding Luke Tasker down the middle for another 19 yards to the Wagner 7. Savage reeled in a perfect pass on the next play for the touchdown, pushing the advantage to 17-0 after Greenway's extra point.

The Seahawks showed life on the ensuing drive, spurred by a 22-yard reception to hulking tight end Joe Sidaras up the middle and into Big Red territory. Yet the momentum was short-lived with Wagner lining up for another punt. The snap slipped through the hands of punter A.J. Firestone, who retreated to pick up the ball only to have his desperate kick hit Imhoff and set off a scramble on the wet turf. The ball squirted free deeper into Wagner territory before being recovered by Nick Linehan. Trying to find free space by retreating even further, Linehan absorbed a blistering hit from Michael Hernandez all the way back at the 5-yard line. All told, the play lost 60 and resulted in a turnover on downs, but the Big Red fumbled on the next play to give Wagner the ball back. 



A three-and-out followed, and Tasker's punt return gave the Big Red the ball back at the Seahawks' 44. After a pair of short gains, Mathews hit Ondash for a 34-yard catch-and-run up the middle into the red zone. Savage then hauled in a 6-yard square-out to the left for his second touchdown catch of the quarter. It marked the first time a Big Red player had multiple TD receptions in a game since Bryan Walters accomplished the feat in November 2009 at Columbia. The play was also Mathews' third touchdown pass of the day, a first for a Cornell quarterback since Nathan Ford did it in October 2008 against Princeton. He has already thrown for sveen touchdowns in three games, matching his 10-game total as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2010.

The Seahawks converted a fourth-and-1 on its final drive of the half, but Imhoff and McManamon teamed up for the Big Red's fourth sack of the opening 30 minutes before Campbell picked off a Hail Mary in the waning seconds, leaving the score 24-0 heading into intermission.

The second half picked up right where the opener left off. Buehler forced a fumble 3:38 into the third, which Roberts recovered at the Wagner 25. Four plays later, Mathews kept the ball for a 1-yard touchdown rush by stretching his arms over the pile and across the plane of the end zone. Greenway's kick capped the Big Red's 31-point outburst in 35:10.

Wagner snapped the shutout bid with a 10-play drive capped by Dominique Williams' 1-yard touchdown run. Williams rushed for 137 yards on the day – exactly half of his team's total offense.

The Big Red held the ball for more than 10 minutes of the final quarter to breeze to the victory.

Cornell returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 8 when it plays host to Harvard.