LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Cornell defense put on a clinic for nearly the entire first half, shutting out the Bison for over 22 minutes and forcing a pair of turnovers, en route to a 34-21 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Senior quarterback Jameson Wang joined a club of one this weekend, becoming the only quarterback in Cornell history to account for 40 touchdown passes and 20 rushing touchdowns in a career. With the win, Cornell improves to 2-3 (1-1 Ivy) while the Bison fall to 3-4 (1-0 Patriot).

Wang completed 32-of-49 passes for 274 yards and three scores through the air. Ean Pope led the rushing game with 111 yards on 17 carries. Wang rushed for 59 yards on 13 attempts. Johntu Reed rounded out the major contributors in the running core with 15 yards on three carries. Two Cornell receivers neared the 100-yard mark with Parker Woodring clocking 95 yards on five catches and a touchdown, Samuel Musungu followed with 94 yards on 14 catches and two house calls. Sophomore tight end Ryder Kurtz posted 31 yards on three catches. Luke Banbury, Joey Cheshire, and Muhammad-Ali Kobo led the defensive unit with six stops a piece. Banbury became the first player since Cornell kept single-game records in 1995 to tally a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pick-six in a single game. He did so on the first two Bucknell drives of the game and ended the day with two forced fumbles. Alan Zhao drilled two field goals on special teams.

Bucknell quarterback Michael Hardyway went 21-of-39 passing for 214 yards and two scores. Tariq Thomas led the Bison rushing core with 94 yards on nine carries. Micahel Cadden was the next-highest rusher with 16 yards on four carries. TJ Cadden was the Bison's top receiver, clocking 84 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. Josh Gary was next with three grabs for 57 yards. Bucknell's Gavin Willis had a game-high 19 tackles including one for loss. Bucknell attempted no field goals.

FIRST QUARTER

• Wang went 4-for-5 passing on the first drive, totaling 69 yards through the air, ending in a 20-yard touchdown pass to Musungu. Wang picked up the missing six yards on a scramble for a first down.
• A near-interception almost stopped the Bison's first drive when Banbury bobbled a pass that hit him on the numbers, but the senior linebacker found another way to force a turnover, poking the ball out of Bucknell quarterback Michael Hardyway's grasp on a rush to the endzone. Banbury dove on the loose ball, giving Cornell possession on its one-yard line.
• Penalties plagued the second Cornell drive, eventually backing Cornell into a 2nd-and-30 situation. A 32-yard completion to Woodring from Wang erased the long backup, but the Bison stole the first pick of the season against Wang, souring a touchdown pass intended for AJ Holmes.
• Banbury proved to be a ball magnet in the first. He stopped Bucknell's second drive with a 24-yard pick-six after a Hardyway pass attempt on third-and-six.
• Cornell held the Bison to its first three-and-out of the afternoon on the ensuing drive.
• Wang connected with Musungu on the next Big Red drive for a 14-yard touchdown pass to conclude the team's third offensive drive and take a 21-0 lead with 1:25 left in the first.
• The Big Red defense stood strong after a kickoff out of bounds, forcing a second three-and-out for the Bison. Cornell played just one play, a nine-yard pass from Wang to Woodring before taking the drive into the next quarter.

SECOND QUARTER 

• After getting a first down on the first play of the second quarter, Cornell was forced to punt for the first time on Saturday afternoon. Freshmen Caden Lesiewicz took his first career punt, booting the ball 43 yards.
• The Bison's first snap of the first drive of the quarter was fumbled by Hardyway after a miscommunication on the handoff and recovered by senior defensive lineman Maxwell Van Fleet, putting Cornell in an advantageous first-and-10 at the Bucknell 32-yard line. The Big Red ended up in the endzone, but penalties backed up the team to a third-and-goal at the Bucknell 18-yard line. Zhao ensured the Big Red salvaged some points with a 35-yard field goal, bringing Cornell's lead to 24-0.
• Bucknell ended the scoring drought with 7:38 remaining in the second, cutting the Big Red's lead to 17.
• The next Big Red drive was seemingly halted on a 4th-and-two at the 32-yard line, but a Wang scramble for a first down helped Cornell set up a better field goal on its next set of downs. Zhao buried the 34-yarder from the right hashes to go up 27-7.
• A penalty on the kick-off moved Bucknell from their 32-yard line to the 50, and the Bison capitalized to make it a two-score game.

THIRD QUARTER

• The Big Red defense opened the third quarter by holding Bucknell to a three-and-out. 
• The Bucknell defense forced just its second punt of the day on Cornell's first drive of the second half, but Banbury made sure the Big Red offense got right back to work with his second forced fumble for the day, recovered by Michael O'Keefe.
• The Big Red offense took over at the Bucknell 21-yard line, and four plays later, Wang found a wide-open Woodring in the back corner of the endzone on a 10-yard toss to bring Cornell's lead back to 20.
• After Cornell was forced to punt on its next drive, the defense held strong on a fourth-and-six at the Cornell 29-yard line when Muhammad-Ali Kobo brought heavy pressure and forced an early throw away from Hardyway.
• Jameson Wang tallied his second career punt after the drive stalled at the Bucknell 42-yard line, which resulted in a touchback after it was nearly downed at the one-yard line by Woodring and Smith.
• Forty seconds later, Cornell already had the ball back in its possession with another three-and-out by the defense.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Bucknell found the boards first in the fourth, cutting the score to 34-21 with 12:03 remaining, and both teams reached a stalemate for the remainder of the game.

MORE NOTES AND NOTABLES

• In the first half, Musungu and Woodring had already set career-highs in catches (10) and receiving yards (85), respectively. Musungu ended the day with 14 catches, matching the second most in a single game in program history, and most since 2008. Woodring posted 95 yards on his five grabs.
• Freshman tight end Blaine Zoller caught his first-career pass on a nine-yard pass from Wang.
• Freshman Tommy Ducker earned his first career sack, taking down Hardyway for a loss of seven.
• For the first time since the 2022 season, Cornell had a rusher tally over 100 yards with sophomore Ean Pope's 111 yards on 17 carries. Now-senior running back Eddy Tillman was the last Big Red to do so when he posted 130 yards on 13 carries at Brown on October 22. The 111 yards marked a career-high for Pope.
• The win marks the first Division I nonconference win under Dan Swanstrom.

NEXT UP

• The Big Red remains on the road when it heads to Providence, R.I. to take on Brown on Saturday, October 26.
• The game kicks off at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.