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PRINCETON, N.J. -- Surrounded by snow, wind and cold, the Cornell football team was able to battle through adversity and made more signature plays in earning a 24-7 victory on Saturday afternoon over Princeton at Princeton Stadium. Cornell improved to 3-4 (1-3 Ivy), while Princeton slipped to 1-6 (1-3 Ivy) in a game played in a Nor'easter.

The win snapped a six-game Ivy League skid overall and a seven-game streak on the road and served as just another indication of how head coach Kent Austin is turning the Big Red program around.

With the team's vaunted passing game, which entered the contest pacing the Ivy League, slowed down due to the conditions, defense, special teams and the run game picked it up. A +3 in turnover margin, big hits and special teams playmakers made all the difference for the Big Red.

Senior Ryan Houska did a lion's share of the work on the ground, pounding out 108 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, the Big Red's first 100-yard individual rushing game since Randy Barbour ran for 120 yards against Columbia in 2009. Sophomore quarterback Jeff Mathews and his corps of productive receivers was slowed, but not shut down. He was an efficient 19-of-28 passing for 224 yards and a touchdown. Senior Shane Savage and juniors Kurt Ondash and Luke Tasker each had at least five catches and Ondash hauled in a touchdown.

Defensively, Zack Imhoff had 13 stops, including three tackles for loss and a sack, Josh Barut had 12 tackles, Brandon Lainhart forced a fumble and both Andrew Nelson and Nick Booker-Tandy recorded interceptions. The Big Red defense forced three fumbles and stopped four fourth down attempts.

Special teams momentum was critical, as senior Brad Greenway got Cornell off with a 28-yard field goal into the win and Rashad Campbell answered a go-ahead Tiger score with a 78-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Princeton got plenty of rushing out of a pair of freshmen, as Chuck Dibilio ran for 158 yards and caught a touchdown pass, while rookie quarterback Quinn Epperly was also over 100 yards until taking a sack late in the game to push him just under. He finished the contest with 96 yards on 16 carries. Andrew Starks had 11 tackles to lead the defense. The Tigers had a slim 309-303 edge in total yards.

The first half could best be called a slog. The two teams combined for just 220 yards of offense, and much of it seemed to be happening on third-and-forever after a botched snap or a slip due to bad footing. After 30 minutes, a strong field goal into a stiff wind and a record-breaking kickoff return for a touchdown put the visitors up 10-7.

Greenway, who became the school's career scoring leader for kickers, took advantage of a Princeton miscue to give the Big Red a 3-0 lead with 4:04 left in the first. After a Princeton punter went down to his knees to receive a snap, Cornell was given a short field with which to work. The Big Red gained just six yards on three plays, but that was enough to line up a 28-yarder, which Greenway converted to put Cornell in the lead.

With the Big Red clinging to a 3-0 lead, the biggest plays of the day may have come early in the second quarter. The Tigers chipped away at Cornell's defense, used a 12-play drive to march down to the goal line. Facing first-and-goal from the 4, the Big Red stiffened. Eppely ran four straight times, going for 2 and 1 yards down to the 1 on third down. Josh Barut got inside to hit the freshman at the line of scrimmage to force fourth down, and junior linebacker Cody Roberts was able to get into the backfield on fourth down to hit the quarterback for a 7-yard loss back to the 8. It was one of three fourth-down conversions the Big Red stopped on the day inside their own 30-yard line.

Princeton used a short field situation of its own after a blocked punt and capitalized with a three-play scoring drive that covered just 20 yards later in the quarter. Starting quarterback Tommy Wornham, who later left the game with a hand injury, ran a misdirection play that ended with him throwing back acorss the field to a wide open Dibilio at the 3-yard line. The freshman danced into the end zone to give the Tigers the lead at 7-3 after the extra point.

But not for long.

Campbell caught the ball at roughly the 22 and cut through the defenders with a full head of steam. No one was able to get a hand on the senior as he cruised into the end zone, becoming the first Big Red player to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in one season. Princeton's lead lasted jusut 14 seconds, and Cornell was on its way.

The Big Red controlled the second half on the defensive side of the football, forcing three turnovers and stopping Princeton on fourth down on the Tigers' only possession of the fourth quarter. In all, Cornell held the ball for nearly 20 minutes in the second half and exerted its will upfront to carry drives of 80 and 73 yards for touchdowns, and an eight-play, 55-yard drive to eat up the final 5:23 of the contest.

The teams traded punts to open the second half, but Lainhart's giant hit on Princeton's freshman quarterback jarred the ball loose. It went forward in the air through the end zone nearly 20 yards for a touchback, and Cornell took the ball. Consecutive passes from Mathews to Savage, one for 14 yards and the next for 28, brought the ball to the Princeton 27. Houska ran on four of the next five snaps, the last for a 3-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 17-7 wuith just 2:46 left in the third.

Princeton's last true gasp to get back into the game came on its final drive of the third that leaked into the final period. The home team was able to get down to the Cornell 26 before Dibilio was hit for a loss by Lainhart on third down, then Booker-Tandy knocked down a fourth-and-7 pass to turn the ball over on downs.

Cornell turned that defensive stand into points, as the Big Red marched 73 yards on 12 plays and milked 5:45 off the clock. Cornell's short passing game and Houska's effective running between the tackles marched off uards. The Big Red converted three third downs on the drive, the last coming on a third-and-8 from the 10. Mathews cocked his arm back and found Ondash in the back of the end zone, and the junior was able to tap his feet down for the score to make it 24-7 after the conversion with 7:00 to play.

Cornell ended Princeton's chances for good just over a minute and a half later.

Imhoff broke through at midfield for a sack to put the Tigers in a hole. After a short completion, Epperly was forced to drop back again facing a third-and-11. The team's 12th plass of the day would be its final one, as freshman Andrew Nelson was able to grab the ball off a deflection and get his feet down inbounds for the interception with 5:23 left.

Cornell was able to run out the clock, in large part due to an impressive 35-yard pass completion from Mathews to Tasker on third-and-9 from the Big Red 21. Tasker outjumped a defender on an underthrown ball with under four minutes to play after Mathews was hit by two defenders, bounced off them and rolled right for the pass. It extended the drive and allowed for the Ryan Houska show later. After the completion, Houska ran on four of the next five plays to seal the victory for the Big Red.

The Big Red remains on the road next weekend when it visits Dartmouth on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m. in Hanover, N.H.