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ITHACA, N.Y. -- On a cool fall evening, with a Homecoming crowd of more than 14,000 watching in historic Schoellkopf Field, the Cornell football team took another step toward fielding the championship program head coach Kent Austin knows he'll soon have. The Big Red overcame adversity, used the big play on offense and was stout against the run to top unbeaten Bucknell 24-13 on Saturday evening.


Cornell gave the new video scoreboard a workout and gave a television audience spanning New York state a treat with three plays of 64 yards or better, including an 87-yard strike from sophomore Jeff Mathews to junior Kurt Ondash on a key third down play with a little more than a minute to play to seal the victory for the home team. The pass play, the fifth-longest in the storied history of Cornell football, gave Mathews a career-best 332 yards and two touchdowns in the air. He was also intercepted twice.

Shane Savage caught four passes for 99 yards and a 64-yard touchdown, while Luke Tasker hauled in four passes for 102 yards, including a 65-yard catch. Ondash made his only reception of the night count, streaking down the field and outracing three defenders to the end zone. Sophomore Grant Gellatly also scored his first career TD with a 22-yard run in the first quarter to get Cornell on the board. He posted a team-high 39 rushing yards. Brad Greenway booted a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter to extend the lead to 10-0.

Defensively, Cornell limited Bucknell to 59 rushing yards on 33 carries and posted three sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Junior Hugh Stewart had three tackles for loss and two sacks, while sophomore Brett Buehler made 10 tackles, including four for a loss. Senior captain Rashad Campbell made a game-high 11 tackles (and averaged 27.0 yards on four kickoff returns) and classmate Brandon Lainhart chipped in the 10. DeMarr Moulton had his first career interception in the end zone on the game's final play.

Despite losing the turnover battle 3-1, Cornell's defense was able to hold Bucknell at bay again and again. The Big Red forced Bucknell into 2-of-16 third-down conversions while allowing just three scores in six Bucknell chances in the red zone. The offensive line didn't allow a sack after surrendering 49 in 10 games a season ago.

In short, everyone contributed to the win.

Bucknell's talented quarterback Brandon Wesley, the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, completed 22-of-35 passes for 267 yards, but was held to -4 yards on 12 rushing attempts. His favorite target was Victor Walker with 108 yards on five catches. Defensively, Bryce Robertson and Evan Byers each had an interception. Drew Orth made a pair of field goal attempts after replacing Alex Eckard, who missed a 30-yarder early in the first.

The Big Red's season got off to a riveting start with Campbell returning the opening kickoff 41 yards to set up Cornell near midfield. An 11-yard completion from Jeff Mathews to Luke Tasker gave Cornell a first down, which was followed by a pass into right flat that Shane Savage turned upfield for 18 more yards to the Bucknell 22-yard line. After an incomplete pass brought up second down, Gellatly bounced a rush off to the left, racing past the last defender and diving inside the pylon for a 22-yard score just 1:44 into the game. After Greenway's extra point, the Big Red enjoyed a 7-0 lead.

Cornell's defense then matched the offense's impressive start. The Big Red stuffed a rush on the Bison's first play from scrimmage, then Campbell broke up a pass that rattled in the hands of Victor Walker to create a third-and-11. An Incomplete pass led to a three-and-out and gave the ball back to Cornell.

But Bucknell responded with Robertson's interception, which set up the Bison on Cornell's 34-yard line after a holding penalty negated his dash to the end zone. The Bison advanced into the red zone, but the Big Red defense responded again by thwarting a second-down rush and watching a third-down pass fall to the turf. Eckard then pushed a 30-yard field goal attempt wide to the right.

The Big Red sprung what generally would be a team's longest gain of the night two plays later. Mathews lofted a pass up the right sideline toward Tasker. He cut back in front of the defender and raced down the middle of the field for 65 yards before a shoestring tackle brought him down at the Bucknell 15. Three plays later, Greenway came on to stripe a 32-yard field goal that pushed the Big Red's lead to 10-0.

The Bison came back with a big return on the ensuing kickoff, but Greenway made a textbook open-field tackle around midfield to keep the visitors off the board. Stewart recorded the Big Red's first sack of the season on the next play, handing the Bison a loss of nine yards. Junior safety Michael Hernandez then sniffed out a screen on second down, and the downfield coverage on third down forced a pass underneath before the Bison's second punt.

The teams traded punts to start off the second quarter before the Bison pieced together a nine-play, 87-yard scoring drive around the middle of the frame. The big play came on a fourth-and-five from the Big Red 35 that resulted in Wesley finding Victor Walker on a crossing route for a 34-yard gain. Tyler Smith punched in a 1-yard run for the touchdown on the next play. Following the extra point, the Bison cut its deficit to 10-7 with 6:27 to play before the half.

Cornell looked to have it going again on the ensuing possession, as Mathews hit freshman Lucas Shapiro for a third-down conversion. The sophomore went deep on his next snap. The pass intended for Tasker was just long, but the defender tackled him anyway to draw a pass interference call. Gellatly went four yards to the 31, but two plays later, Evan Byers was able to sneak in front of a pass intended for Savage for the interception to give the visitors the ball back with three minutes to play in the half. The Bison couldn't make anything of the next drive, though, leaving the score at 10-7 in favor of Cornell at the half.

After the Big Red defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, the Bison forced a fumble and took over at Cornell's 19-yard line. But the Big Red defense once again stood tall, moving the visitors back four yards before Orth spun a 40-yard field goal just inside the left upright to knot the score at 10. Bucknell's next drive also stalled in the red zone, leading to another Orth field goal – this one from 27 yards – to give the Bison their first lead of the contest with 3:24 to go in the third.

The lead was short-lived – 15 seconds, to be exact.

Campbell brought the kickoff back to the Big Red 36, then Mathews found Shane Savage wide open running a post pattern. The senior receiver reeled in the pass, then sprinted away from the ensuing defenders for a 64-yard touchdown. The extra point put Cornell back on top, 17-13.

The teams traded a pair of possessions apiece to start the fourth quarter before the Bison broke through on the second play of a drive that started with 4:40 left in regulation. Wesley hit Frank DeNick for a 46-yard gain to set up Bucknell at the Cornell 27. A 12-yard reception to Nick Gatto led to another first down, and a pair of Jeremiah Young rushes and an incomplete pass left the Bison with a fourth-and-3 from the Cornell 8. Wesley kept the ball and tried to run through the left side of the line, but the Big Red defense swarmed the shifty quarterback to force a turnover on downs with 1:35 remaining.

With much of the stadium expecting the Big Red to run time off the clock with three consecutive rushes, Cornell provided the exclamation point with Mathews' third touchdown pass of the day – an 87-yard bomb to Ondash streaking up the left sideline. It was the fifth-longest pass play in program history. Greenway's PAT made it 24-13 with 1:13 left on the clock

The Bison offense chewed up 47 yards against Cornell's prevent defense, with Zack Imhoff getting to the quarterback for a second on the second-to-last play of the contest. Wesley's desperation pass into the end zone as time expired was picked off by Moulton to begin the celebration for the home team.

Cornell will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 12 p.m. at Yale in a game that will be televised by VERSUS.