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PRINCETON, N.J. -- Senior quarterback Jeff Mathews became the 45th player in NCAA Football Championship Subdivision history to surpass 10,000 yards of total offense, but Princeton signal caller Quinn Epperly accounted for six touchdowns as Princeton claimed a 53-20 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers remained in first place in the Ivy standings at 6-1 (4-0 Ivy), while the Big Red slipped to 1-6 (0-4 Ivy).

Mathews completed 24-of-40 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown despite being under pressure much of the afternoon. Luke Hagy ran for 76 yards and caught eight passes for 78 more, while senior wide receiver Grant Gellatly hauled in 11 passes for 97 yards and the score.

Mathews, already the Ivy League's career leader in 17 categories, ended the day with 210 yards of offense, giving him 10,144 yards of offense. He enters his final three games needing eight passing yards to join the top 25 all-time in FCS career passing yardage.

Defensively, Cornell forced a pair of turnovers against a high-powered Tiger offense, with the highlight coming on a strip sack by senior Kevin Marchand in the second quarter. The loose ball ended in the arms of classmate Justin Harris who had an open lane to the end zone for his first career touchdown. Senior Brett Buehler notched a career-high 18 tackles, broke up a pass and had one stop for a loss.

The special teams also excelled thanks in large part to a trio of freshmen. Place-kicker Joe Pierik nailed both of his field goal attempts, including a 39-yarder, while punter Chris Fraser averaged 45.3 yards on six punts, including two downed inside the 20 and a 60-yard kick. Luis Uceta averaged 20.0 yards on his four kick returns in his first primary duty.

Epperly was the story for a Tiger offense that piled up 605 yards of offense. He set an NCAA FCS record by opening the game with 29 consecutive completions and ended the day 32-of-35 for 325 yards and three scores. He also ran for three touchdownsand 69 yards on 11 carries.

Roman Wilson caught seven passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns and Set DeValve had eight receptions for 81 yards and a score. Joe Rhattigan's 12-yard fourth quarter rushing touchdown capped the scoring.

Princeton jumped out to a 15-3 lead after the first quarter before the Big Red got back into the game in a little over a minute of game action. Pierik's second field goal of the day, a 21-yard effort, was followed just plays later by Marchand's sack that led to the fumble return touchdown by Harris to close within 15-13 with 11:46 remaining in the second quarter. Princeton was unfazed, with Epperly leading the Tigers on a scoring drive that took just 2:12 to go 80 yards to get those points back. The junior ended the drive the same way he did the follwoing one, bursting around the edge for a 1-yard touchdown.

The 28-0 Tiger run made it 43-13 heading into the fourth, but Cornell chipped away with its best sustained drive of the day, marching 82 yards in 11 plays and ending with Mathews finding Gellatly for a 19-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. It was the 13th straight game Mathews posted at least one touchdown pass and was the 67th of his career. For Gellatly, it was his 17th career score and his sixth receiving touchdown of the year.

Cornell returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. when it travels to Hanover, N.H. for a game that will be televised by NBC Sports Network.