ITHACA, N.Y. -- Colgate scored touchdowns on four of its first six possessions and intercepted four passes to spoil Cornell's Homecoming with a 41-21 victory on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red fell to 0-3, while the Raider supped its record to 2-3.
The Big Red cut a 28-6 deficit to a single possession in the third quarter (28-21), but the Raiders answered with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away in front of more than 9,000 fans under sunny skies in Ithaca.
Junior quarterback Garrett Bass-Sulpizio accounted for 316 yards yards and a touchdown passing and rushing after coming off the bench early. He piled up 91 of the team's 233 rushing yards and threw for 225 yards and a score.
Colgate junior quarterback Jake Stearney threw four touchdown passes and completed 16-of-25 passes for 206 yards without an interception, while running back Cole Fulton sealed the win with a 19-yard scoring run with 25 seconds remaining.
Cornell outgained Colgate 458-384 in total offense and held the ball for longer (31:15 to 28:45), but four turnovers - including a 43-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Trooper Price - proved costly. Price intercepted two passes on the day.
Colgate took advantage of two early interceptions, converting both into touchdowns as part of a 14-0 first-quarter lead. Stearney connected with Treyvhon Saunders on a 22-yard touchdown pass midway through the first, then hit him again for a 12-yard score just five minutes later. Saunders caught six passes for 91 yards two two first-quarter touchdowns.
The Big Red responded in the second quarter with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Bass-Sulpizio to Doryn Smith to make it 14-6, but Stearney led back-to-back scoring drives - a 2-yard pass to Mason Mozo and Price's pick-six - to push the halftime lead to 28-6.
Cornell found life in the third quarter. Senior Robert Tucker III powered in from 4 yards out on the first drive of the second half to pull within 28-13. Then, after a defensive stop, Bass-Sulpizio capped a 14-play, 84-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, followed by a two-point conversion rush by Brendan Lee to cut the deficit to 28-21.
Colgate calmly responded with an 11-play, 72-yard drive, culminating in a 21-yard touchdown strike from Stearney to Max Walters on a busted coverage early in the fourth quarter. The Raiders later iced the game with Fulton's touchdown run in the final minute.
Next Up
• Cornell travels to Cambridge, Mass., to take on Harvard Friday, Oct. 10 on ESPNU.
• It will be the 89th meeting all-time between the Big Red and Crimson with Harvard leading the series 52-34-2.
