Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Cornell
Bucknell Football Stifles Cornell, Concludes Homestand with 20-5 Victory
9/16/2006 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell forced a season-high four turnovers, including a momentum-building takeaway on the opening kickoff, and Andrew Lair totaled 99 yards passing and a team-high 77 yards rushing to lead the Bucknell football team to a 20-5 victory over Cornell Saturday night in front of 6,152 fans at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
Dorian Petersen, who tied for game-high honors with 11 tackles, set the tone on the opening kickoff when he jarred the ball loose from Shane Kilcoyne and David Frisbey recovered for the Bison at the Cornell 24-yard line. Five plays later Lair powered across the goal line from a yard out to put Bucknell up 7-0.
The Bison, now 2-1 on the season, tacked on 10 more points in the first quarter and never trailed in the game. The 17-point opening period came on the heels of a shutout loss to Lafayette the previous week.
Cornell had a strong showing on its first drive, covering 56 yards on nine plays, but managed just a 35-yard field goal from Peter Zell. It marked the only points for the Big Red until the Bison took an intentional safety in the final minutes of play.
A 40-yard field goal from Will Carney put Bucknell up 10-3 midway through the first quarter, then Petersen forced his second fumble of the night moments later. Nathan Ford, who was 18 of 36 passing for 202 yards to seven different receivers in his first start for Cornell, completed a pass to Jesse Baker, but Petersen knocked the ball loose for Brigham Farrand to recover.
A pair of big runs led to a touchdown on the ensuing drive. First Lair covered 32 yards, then slotback Peter Kaufman tallied Bucknell's third score in as many possessions as time expired in the first quarter with a 41-yard touchdown run down the right sideline.
Trailing 17-3, the Big Red missed a scoring chance on their first possession of the second quarter. Backed up at their own 13-yard line, Ford found Baker open beyond the defense along the left sideline, but Baker dropped what might have been a long touchdown.
Ryan Walsh stopped Ford just short of a fist down on the next play, forcing a punt. With more excellent field position, the Bison parlayed a 22-yard Josh DeStefano run and two Cornell pass interference penalties into a 24-yard field goal from Carney and 20-3 lead. .
Farrand, a freshman making his first collegiate start, equaled Petersen for game-high honors with 11 tackles and later added an interception at the Bucknell 1-yard line that stopped a potential Cornell scoring drive.
The only points of the second half came with 1:24 to play when Phil Azarik, who had a terrific day punting the ball for the Bison, took a snap in his own end zone and intentionally took a safety. Despite not being called upon until the second half, Bison punter Phil Azarik averaged 49.3 yards while punting three times. He is now averaging more than 43 yards per punt this season.
Ryan Slater's interception near the goal line on the final play of the game was Bucknell's fourth takeaway of the night - it had only one in its previous two games - and kept Cornell out of the end zone for the night. The last time the Bison defense did not allow a touchdown in a game was also against Cornell at home in a 14-3 victory on Sept. 21, 2002. In the Big Red's last three trips to Lewisburg they have not broken double digits, managing only 3, 9 and 5 points. The Bison have won four straight home games against Cornell.
Bucknell posted its second victory of the season despite being outgained 436-331. Of those yards, 232 came on the ground, with Kaufman totaling 54 to go along with Lair's 77. Lair also completed 5 of 7 passes for 99 yards.
Luke Siwula surpassed 100 yards rushing with 105 for Cornell, which was playing its first game of the season. Ford added 74 yards on the ground as the Big Red averaged 6.5 yards per carry.
After playing its first three games at home, Bucknell heads on the road for the first time this season next week when it travels to Richmond for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Spiders, who are 2-0 with a 13-0 win at Division I-A Duke and a 58-7 victory over VMI.
