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ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell threw for more than 400 yards, had two receivers post more than 100 yards and recovered two fumbles, but couldn't do enough to slow down Brown's powerful offense in a 35-24 victory over the Big Red on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf FIeld. The Bears improved to 5-1 (2-1 Ivy), while Cornell slipped to 2-4 (0-3 Ivy).

Cornell sophomore signal caller Jeff Mathews threw for 402 yards, the fifth 400-yard passing game in Big Red history, but it wasn't enough to overcome Browns' big play offense. Mathews connected on 31-of-45 attempts and had two touchdowns without an interception, but was sacked six times, though two came on the final desperation drive. Cornell also had a pair of receivers gain 100 yards for the first time in a game since 2007, as Shane Savage had 12 catches for 163 and a touchdown, while Kurt Ondash hauled in five passes for 110 yards and one score. Big Red tight end Ryan Houska also had a productive day with 13 rushes and three catches for 80 total yards.

In addition to Matthews big day, senior kicker Brad Greenway connected on field goals from 23, 30 and 42 yards to become the school's all-time leading scorer as a kicker. With 157 points, he now ranks fifth all-time at Cornell for all players.

Defensively, Josh Barut collected 15 tackles and forced a fumble, while Andrew Nelson had 10 tackles, including one for a loss of two yards and a pass break-up. Zach Imhoff also recovered a fumble for the Big Red.

Brown was led by quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero's 256 yards. He completed 22-of-33 attempts to eight different receivers and finished the day with two touchdowns through the air and two more on the ground. John Spooney accounted for the other Bears' touchdown as he rushed the ball 20 times for 156 yards and one score. Dan Smithwick led the Brown defense with 14 tackles and one forced fumble.

For the second consecutive week, Rashad Campbell had a huge kickoff return. After posting an 85-yard return for a touchdown in last week's game at Colgate, the senior captain opened the game against Brown by emerging from congestion up the middle with a 55-yard jaunt to the Bears' 33-yard line. Luke Tasker reeled in the first play from scrimmage for a nine-yard gain, then – after an incompletion – made a nice diving catch to his right at the 16 for a first down. A two-yard rush by Houska, set the stage for a 14-yard pass from Mathews to Savage for the opening touchdown. Brown blitzed, leaving Savage on man-to-man coverage on the left side. Savage rolled off the defender's jam attempt, leaving himself wide open in the end zone for an easy grab of Mathews' lob pass. Greenway's kick made it 7-0 just 1:56 seconds into the game.

The team's traded possessions before Brown used a fourth-down conversion to set up the tying score. On fourth down from the Cornell 32, Matthew Sudfield reeled in a pass and extended the ball forward as he was being tackled to gain a first down by inches at the 27. The Big Red applied pressure up the middle on the next play, flushing Newhall-Caballero to the left. He rolled toward the sideline and found Jimmy Saros in the back of the end zone for a 27-yard score. The extra point tied the score at 7.

Cornell answered immediately, stringing together a nine-play drive that resulted in a 23-yard Greenway field goal and a 10-7 score at the end of the first quarter. Mathews hit Savage for 26 yards and Ondash for 24 yards on consecutive plays, setting up the Big Red on the Bears' 22. A fade to Alex Johnson in the end zone resulted in a pass interference penalty, advancing the ball to the 2. But the next three plays yielded negative yardage, resulting in Greenway's kick.

The teams combined for zero yards on seven rushes in the first quarter, but Mathews and Newhall-Caballero were a combined 18-of-26 for 197 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air.

The first play of the second quarter proved to be Brown's second fourth-down conversion. It set up the Bears' in the Big Red's end zone and led to another score. Newhall-Caballero executed a perfect read option from the 2-yard line, faking to Mark Kachmer before cruising off-tackle to the left for an easy score. The rush wrapped up a 12-play drive and, with Alex Norocea's extra point, a 14-10 lead with 11:32 left in the half.

The defenses stood tall on the next two possessions, forcing a pair of punts. Cornell then marched back into the Bears' red zone before stalling again. Greenway punched through a 30-yard field goal from the left hash to cut the hosts' deficit to 14-13 with 4:40 remaining before the break.

Brown made the most of its final drive of the quarter despite a penalty on the kickoff return that set up a 91-yard field. But Newhall-Caballero scrambled for 19 yards up the middle for the third first down of the drive. Then on a big third-and-9, Sudfeld scampered for 42 yards up the left side to the Cornell 2. A holding penalty negated a would-be rushing touchdown on the ensuing play, but Newhall-Caballero struck again with a 14-yard scrambling run up the right sideline for a touchdown with 45.9 seconds left. Norocea's PAT left the halftime score at 21-13.

Brown didn't need much time to strike early in the second half, either. A huge kickoff return from Jordan Evans would have gone for a touchdown if not for Greenway's tackle on the Cornell 45. A pair of misfired passes from Newhall-Caballero were remedied when a third-and-10 square-out to Sudfeld turned into a 45-yard touchdown reception. He broke free of his defender at the 30 and had an easy path to the end zone just 38 seconds into the half, helping Brown lead became a game-high 15 points.
 
Mathews had the Big Red marching on the next drive, but a fumble at the Brown 26 was recovered by the Bears for the game's first turnover. The game's second turnover was just a handful of plays later, when Tre' Minor ripped the ball free from John Spooney and Cody Roberts recovered on the Brown 49.

Cornell's red zone touchdown struggles continued though, as the team got to the 13 before a shoestring tackle for a sack led to a 12-yard loss. Greenway was true again, though, splitting the uprights from 42 yards to make the score 28-16.

The Big Red defense forced a three-and-out on Brown's next possession. Cornell's next possession featured Ryan Houska having four consecutive carries for eight yards apiece to move the ball back inside the Brown 40. But a false start, incompletion and sack on a jail-break blitz put the Big Red back in its own territory. A modest gain on a Houska rush led to Greenway's punt to the Brown 19, but the ball came back the other way in a hurry.

The first play of the next drive was also the last, as Spooney broke through the left side of the line for a 81-yard touchdown dash up the sideline, helping Brown up its lead to 35-16.

The Big Red scored first in the fourth quarter, with Ondash hauling in a pair of key passes. The first was good for 33 yards to the Brown 19, then the second was a 17-yard touchdown grab over the middle. Mathews then hit Luke Tasker on a hitch on the right hash for the two-point conversion. That cut Cornell's deficit to 11 points with just over seven minutes remaining.

The Bears made a good showing to try and run out the clock, converting three third-down conversions to run 5:42 on the clock before the defense was able to make one last play. Barut, who was a defensive missile all game long, separated Spooney from the ball and Imhoff was able to recover at the Cornell 14 with 1:28 left. But unlike last weekend, the Big Red didn't have any magic left. Intermediate passes to Savage and Houska brought the ball to midfield, but the Bears had consecutive sacks to all but end the contest. Mathews scrambled for a career-long 28-yard rush on the game's final play before being brought down at the Brown 39 to end the contest.

Cornell returns to action next weekend when it visits Princeton on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.