Box Score (PDF)
Photo Gallery (Photos by Heather Nichols)

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Cornell defense, the forgotten brother to the Big Red's explosive offense, posted its second straight impressive game. This time, it needed every bit of the effort. Cornell used a last-minute defensive stand to hold on for a 15-10 victory at Bucknell on Saturday evening at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium. The win helped Cornell improve to 2-1 overall, while the Bison slipped to 1-3.

On a night where Cornell's vaunted offense struggled to put points on the board, the defense did everything it needed to. Despite not forcing a turnover, the Big Red limited the Bison to 286 yards of offense. Taking away one 63-yard rush that set up Bucknell's lone touchdown, the Bison had 223 yards on 60 offensive plays. Cornell's defense was on the field for 27 plays in the fourth quarter for a total of 10:49, but continued to make big plays in the win.

Brian Gee, who came off the bench in the third quarter, broke up a pair of passes and had five tackles. Hugh Stewart ended a Bucknell drive with a sack that forced a field goal and the Big Red held on a fourth-and-9 in the final minute, one of two defensive possession inside its own 14 in the fourth that ended up putting just three points on the board for the home team.

Brett Buehler made a team-high nine tackles from his middle linebacker position, while Rush Miller had eight stops and both Michael Turner and Andrew Nelson posted seven apiece. Freshman Debo Sodeke had his first career sack as well.

The offense posted 361 yards of offense and piled up 23 first downs, but struggled to put the ball in the end zone. Out of synch with a makeshift offensive line and without the services of All-America receiver Shane Savage, Cornell still managed to drive the ball between the 20's for the first three quarters before Bucknell owned the fourth. At least after the Big Red scored on the very first play of the final quarter.

Clinging to a 9-7 lead, freshman Silas Nacita made his only carry of the game count, going 24 yards to the end zone for his first career touchdown. The extra-point kick was missed, keeping it a one possession game at 15-7.

Bucknell got the ball back three times, crossing into Cornell territory each time, but scoring only three points on a Sean Cobelli 29-yard field goal with 5:14 left.

A false start penalty and a sack on the Big Red's ensuing drive forced a quick punt, and Bucknell had 54 yards in front of it to take the late lead. But the Cornell defense buckled down. The Bison converted a fourth-and-inches attempt to keep the drive going, getting to the 15 before a penalty forced them back to the 20. Facing its second fourth down attempt, this time needing nine yards, Cornell forced an incompletion to essentially end the game. The offense came back on the field for the kneel down as the sideline celebrated the hard-fought victory.

Jeff Mathews finished the afternoon 27-of-46 passing for 278 yards and a rushing touchdown. He was also intercepted once in the first half, snapping a school-record string of 147 passing attempts without one. His 1-yard plunge in the second quarter got the Big Red on the board.

Kurt Ondash had his fourth career 100-yard receiving game, hauling in seven passes for 118 yards, while Luke Tasker caught eight passes for 82 yards despite seeing a constant double-team. The freshman running tandem of Nacita and Luke Hagy combined for 49 rushing yards, while Hagy also caught six passes for 51 yards. Punter and reserve quarterback Sam Wood completed a 21-yard pass, the first pass attempt of his career, to Kevin Laird on a fake punt. He also averaged 40.3 yards on his three kicks. Boomer Olsen completed the scoring with a 28-yard field goal that put Cornell ahead for good in the second quarter.

A 63-yard run by Bucknell's Charles Thompson in the first quarter was one of the lone Bucknell offensive highlights of the night, with the Bison converting for good two plays later when Jeremiah Young found daylight from the 2.

The Big Red offense seemed out of synch much of the first half despite moving the ball well between the 20-yard lines. Cornell ran 43 plays to just 23 for Bucknell and held a decisive 19:11-10:49 advantage in time of possession, but could only take a 9-7 halftime lead. Olsen's 28-yard field goal with 18 seconds left before the half put the visitors into the lead for the first time, capping off a half that saw Cornell hold a 213-121 advantage in offensive yards.

The Big Red will return to Ivy action when it visits preseason favorite and defending league champion Harvard on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. at Harvard Stadium. The Crimson have won 10 of the last 11 contests between the teams, with the Big Red's last victory coming during the 2005 campaign (27-13) at Schoellkopf Field.