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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Three first quarter Cornell turnovers were cashed in for scores by Dartmouth and the Big Green rolled to a 44-28 win over the Big Red on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell slipped to 4-4 (2-3 Ivy) with the loss, while the Big Green improved to 5-3 (3-2 Ivy).

The loss overshadowed a 315-yard, three-touchdown performance by junior quarterback Jeff Mathews, who became Cornell's career passing leader. He finished the day with 7,746 yards, surpassing the 7,710 yards put up by Ricky Rahne '02. Mathews did throw three interceptions in the loss.

Classmate Grant Gellatly found the end zone three times, including twice as a receiver while compiling 126 all-purpose yards. Kurt Ondash recorded nine catches for 136 yards and freshman Luke Hagy ran for 77 yards and caught four passes for 35 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, Taylor Betros made 12 tackles, including four for a loss.

Dartmouth ran for 330 yards and averaged 7.2 yards per carry while allowing backup quarterback Dalyn Williams to make comfortable plays, completing 14-of-20 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 96 yards and a score. Dominick Pierre led the rushing game with 154 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, including surpassing 100 yards by halftime. The Dartmouth defense forced four turnovers and stopped the Big Red for a turnover on downs as well after Cornell had a first-and-goal from the Big Green 2.

Dartmouth had three possessions, 176 yards and 21 points before Cornell really threatened, and when it did, the Big Green answered with a quick strike to deflate the home team heading into the half. The two decisive blows were a 16-play, 66-yard drive that got to the Dartmouth 2 that ended with no points on the board for the Big Red, as well as the backbreaking 75-yard scoring drive in the final 1:13 of the first half that all but shut the door on Cornell.

Trailing 21-0, Cornell went on a sustained drive that chewed up nearly eight minutes. A 10yard pass to Gellatly got the ball to the Big Green 2, but a short loss on a run and then a screen that was sniffed out lost 4 more and turned the possession into a goal-to-go from the 7. Mathews threw a pair of incompletions into the end zone, the first broken up by Dartmouth's Mick Davis. The fourth down attempt to Ondash in the corner of the end zone was just overthrown thanks to some Big Green pressure.

When the Big Red finally got on the board courtesy of a 16-yard pass from Mathews to Gellatly thanks in part to a short field, there was just 1:13 left on the clock. Finally with some momentum, Cornell watched it evaporate as the rains started to fall. Williams picked up a third-and-11 with his legs after a pair of Big Red timeouts, then completed a 27-yard pass to McManus to set up a first-and-10 from the Cornell 22. After a Dartmouth timeout, the Big Green decided to take one shot in the end zone. It worked. Williams floated up a pass to Michael Reilly, who boxed out a Cornell defender for position and came down with it in the end zone for a score with a little more than a second left in the half. The PAT kick made it 28-7.

The Big Green opened the second half with the ball and ran right down the field, with Williams going the final 35 yards  to make it 35-7. Cornell closed within 35-21, but never got closer. Every time the Big Red seemed to have some momentum, Dartmouth moved the chains to stay on the field. Gellatly scored on a 2-yard run and caught a 39-yard touchdown pass in the fourth to round out Cornell's scoring, with the pitch-and-catch with 1:13 left establishing the new Big Red passing record for Mathews.

Cornell will close out its road schedule next weekend when playing for the Empire State Bowl when it meets Columbia on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 12:30 p.m. at Wien Stadium.