ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell football team used a late defensive stop to win a wild 19-15 decision over Lehigh to clinch its first unbeaten non-conference season since 2007. The Big Red heads into the final five Ivy contests with a 3-2 mark, while the Mountain Hawks dropped to 1-6 entering the stretch run in Patriot League play.
The Big Red defense held Lehigh out of the end zone on 6-of-7 trips to the red zone and scored on an interception return to overcome two turnovers on offense that led to a pair of Lehigh field goals.
Connor Henderson returned a pick 31 yards for the only score in the third quarter and added nine tackles and a pass breakup, while
Jake Stebbins notched 10 tackled with 1.5 for a loss, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry in the win.
Rasean Thomas also forced a fumble and registered the team's lone sack, with
Brody Kidwell and
Paul Lewis III each being credited with two of Cornell's nine pass breakups.
Offensively,
Jameson Wang ran for a touchdown and had 43 yard on the ground, with
Robert Tucker III ripping off 54 yards on three carries. Wang was 18-of-30 passing for 202 yards, with
Thomas Glover hauling in six passes for 48 yards and
Nicholas Laboy grabbing three for 60 more.
Jackson Kennedy made a pair of field goals, including a 41-yarder late in the fourth that pushed Cornell to a four-point lead and forced the Mountain Hawks to search for a touchdown on its final possession.
Gaige Garcia had 162 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries to lead the Lehigh offense, with Dylan Van Dusen making three field goals. Defensively, Mike DeNucci had eight tackles with two for a loss and Nate Norris and Donovan Lassiter each recovered a fumble.
Lehigh held a narrow 374-357 lead in total yards, with both squads turning it over twice. The Big Red held twice on fourth down, including to clinch the win in the final 45 seconds on consecutive pass breakups by
Brody Kidwell and
Anthony Chideme-Alfaro.
Gallery: (10-15-2022) Football vs Lehigh, 10.15.22
First Quarter
• Like Cornell the week prior, Lehigh used a long, sustained drive to get on the scoreboard first.
• The Mountain Hawks ran 17 plays to pick up 68 yards over more than eight minutes to start the game, converting three third downs along the way, before Dylan Van Dusen banged a kick home from 26 yards.
• On the very first play for the Big Red, Wang was hit as he was throwing the football, but was ruled a fumble and Lehigh recovered at the Cornell 15.
• Lehigh picked up a first down and had goal-to-go from the 4, but Cornell held with Henderson making a pair of tackles and
Demetrius Harris breaking up a third down pass to force Van Dusen into a 21-yard field goal to make it 6-0 with 4:52 in the half.
• The Big Red answered right back, going ahead 7-6 after Wang drove Cornell 61 yards for the touchdown, finishing it off with a 10-yard run.
•
Javonni Cunningham's return to the 39 got Cornell started and
Eddy Tillman's 10-yard run set the tone.
•
Hunter Delor's first career catch for 9 yards sent up an eventual fourth down conversion, as Wang found the yard he needed to extend the drive, then hit
Nicholas Laboy for 29 yards down to the 10 on the next play.
• After Wang's sixth rushing touchdown of the season tied it up with 1:34 left in the half,
Jackson Kennedy's PAT put Cornell ahead.
Second Quarter
• Lehigh' ensuing drive turned into a first-and-goal from the 9, but the Big Red defense again held firm to force a 20-yard field goal attempt, but the kick missed th keep the score 7-6.
• A three-and-out by the Big Red was followed by a four-and-out for the Mountain Hawks, with
Jake Stebbins getting the big stick to separate Dante Perri from the ball on fourth-and-2 with
Connor Henderson finding the pigskin.
• Cornell launched a 10-play drive that ended with Kennedy's 27-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-6 with 4:36 left.
• The biggest play of the drive was a 30-yard connection between Wang and
Thomas Glover.
• Glover also caught an 11-yard pass for a first down on the drive.
• Lehigh got those three points right back highlighted by an 82-yard run by7 Gaige Garcia on the first play.
•
Paul Lewis III's effort to track Garcia down at the 5 saved the Big Red from a touchdown, as three plays later the Cornell defense had done its job and Van Dusen connected on a 20-yard effort, his third of the day.
• The Wang-
Nicholas Laboy connection struck twice for 31 yards, but Laboy fumbled after the second catch and the Mountain Hawks recovered at its own 44 with 1:43 remaining in the half.
• Four plays and 20 seconds later, Lehigh was in the lead.
• A deep pass, a targeting penalty and a 13 yard run by Garcia put Lehigh up 15-10 with 1:23 left, though
Demetrius Harris kept it from getting any worse when he broke up the ensuing two-point conversion.
Third Quarter
• The Big Red took the opening kickoff and drive 15 plays and 49 yards before Kennedy missed a 43-yard field goal.
• Cornell twice converted on fourth down - a 5-yard pass from Wang to
Gannon Carothers on fourth-and-3 and an 11-yard pass from Wang to
Matt Robbert on fourth-and-6.
• On Lehigh's ensuing possession, the momentum changed for good.
• On the second play, Perri tried to find a receiver but threw short and
Connor Henderson picked the football out of the air and outraced Lehigh 31 yards to the end zone to give Cornell the lead back with 9:12 remaining in regulation.
• The Big Red's two-point conversion failed, but Cornell still led 16-15.
• After the defense forced a three-and-out, including a third-down sack by
Rasean Thomas, the Big Red offense milked 5:28 of the clock on the strength of a 10-play drive that went 88 yards.
• Consecutive runs of 33 and 20 yards by
Robert Tucker III flipped the field, and Wang converted second down plays needing 12 and 11 yards to keep the drive alive.
• Kennedy missed his second field goal attempt of the day, but that took the game into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
• Only three drives made up the fourth quarter, with Lehigh beginning it with a 16-play drive of more than eight minutes.
• A Lehigh field goal of 39 yards was no good and kept Cornell in the lead.
• The Big Red added to the advantage and made sure Lehigh would need a touchdown to go into the lead when its own 10-play, 54-yard drive ended with a Kennedy field goal, this time from 41 yards out.
• Wang ran for 21 yards, converted a third-and-6 with an 8-yard pass to
Drew Powell and found
Eddy Tillman on a 9-yard pass to get the Big Red into field goal position.
• Leading 19-15 with 4:04 left, the defense went back to work on the second half shutout.
• The visitors ended at the Cornell 12 after a pair of big penalties kept the drive alive.
• After a first-and-10 from the Cornell 18, Lehigh had three incomplete passes to turn it over on downs, including game-clinching pass breakups by
Brody Kidwell and
Anthony Chideme-Alfaro.
• The Big Red went into victory formation after taking over at its own 6 with 36 seconds remaining.
Next Up
• Cornell hits the road in Ivy League play for the first time in 2022 when it visits Brown on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 12:30 p.m. at Brown Stadium.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Bears lead the all-time series 38-29-1, though the Big Red has won three of the past four.
• The last two matchups between the two have gone right down to the wire, with Cornell winning 37-35 on a last-minute field goal in 2019, while the Bears won in 2021 with a touchdown in the final 30 seconds.
