Saturday, October 19
Lewisburg, Pa.
1 p.m.
Bucknell University
3-4 , 1-0
21
vs
34
Cornell
2-3 , 1-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Cornell
21
6
7
0
34
Bucknell
0
14
0
7
21
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
Turnovers Prove Costly as Bucknell Football Falls to Cornell, 34-21
10/19/2024 6:05:00 PM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Jameson Wang completed 32 of 49 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns to lead Cornell to a 34-21 victory over Bucknell on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Bison quarterback Michael Hardyway, a senior making his first career start, threw TD passes to TJ Cadden and Sam Milligan, and freshman Logan Bush ran one in for his first career score, but the Bison could not overcome four turnovers as the Big Red spoiled Homecoming and snapped their three-game series losing streak.
Hardyway, in for the injured Ralph Rucker IV, completed 21 of 39 passes for 214 yards and the two touchdowns. Cadden led the receiver corps with seven catches for 84 yards, and freshman running back Tariq Thomas had another strong game with 94 yards on nine carries.
Defensively, Gavin Willis piled up a career-high 19 tackles and Aaron Davis and Roman Pearson both picked off passes, but Cornell's vaunted offense, which came in ranked 10th nationally in pass efficiency, logged 465 total yards.
The Big Red (2-3) outscored the Bison (3-4) 21-0 in the first quarter, with turnovers playing a big role. After Cornell scored on the game's opening drive, Bucknell was in position to tie it right back up as Hardyway scrambled toward the end zone. But Luke Banbury, who had a monster game for Cornell, poked the ball loose and recovered the fumble at the 1-yard line.
The Big Red drove 95 yards to the Bison 4, but Davis made a huge play getting inside position on the receiver for an interception in the end zone. The Bison could not take advantage, as three plays later Banbury picked off a pass and brought it back 26 yards for a touchdown. After a three-and-out, Wang and Sam Musungu hooked up for the second time in the game, this one from 14 yards out to make it 21-0.
Bush's first career touchdown got the Bison on the board midway through the second half, and Hardyway engineered a terrific drive to get his team back in the game just before the half. A Cornell field goal made it a 27-7 game, but an unnecessary roughness penalty at the end of the kickoff gave the Bison good field position at its own 47.
Michael Cadden picked up a key first down on a 4th-and-2 carry, and three plays later Hardyway hit older brother TJ Cadden on a 12-yard scoring strike with 14 seconds left to make it a 27-14 game at the half.
Bucknell limited Cornell to only seven points in the second half, and a terrific 28-yard catch and run by Sam Milligan brought the Bison within 34-21 with 12:03 still to play. Milligan caught a slant pass at the 12 and dragged three defenders across the goal line for his second TD of the season.
After a punt, Thomas streaked 47 yards to the Cornell 31 on the first play of the next series, but the very next snap sailed over Hardyway's head, resulting in a loss of 23 yards. The Bison had to punt with 6:27 remaining, and they were not able to threaten again.
"Once again we saw a lot of great signs, but we undermined ourselves with turnovers and costly penalties," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "The third-down battle went in their favor, and Cornell simply made more critical plays. Michael Hardyway did some really nice things in his first start, but he knows there are some plays he'd like to have back. We certainly didn't help him out in some of the other phases of the game."
Terrian Williams joined Willis in double figures with 10 tackles, John Schlendorf had eight tackles and two pass breakups, and Will Caneer tallied seven tackles and a sack.
Banbury led Cornell with six tackles to go along with two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, the pick-six, and three total pass breakups. Musungu caught 14 passes on a whopping 22 targets for 94 yards and two touchdowns, and Ean Pope led the ground attack with 111 yards on 17 carries.
The Bison have only Patriot League games remaining the rest of the way, and they will take a 1-0 conference record into next week's road test at Georgetown.
Hardyway, in for the injured Ralph Rucker IV, completed 21 of 39 passes for 214 yards and the two touchdowns. Cadden led the receiver corps with seven catches for 84 yards, and freshman running back Tariq Thomas had another strong game with 94 yards on nine carries.
Defensively, Gavin Willis piled up a career-high 19 tackles and Aaron Davis and Roman Pearson both picked off passes, but Cornell's vaunted offense, which came in ranked 10th nationally in pass efficiency, logged 465 total yards.
The Big Red (2-3) outscored the Bison (3-4) 21-0 in the first quarter, with turnovers playing a big role. After Cornell scored on the game's opening drive, Bucknell was in position to tie it right back up as Hardyway scrambled toward the end zone. But Luke Banbury, who had a monster game for Cornell, poked the ball loose and recovered the fumble at the 1-yard line.
The Big Red drove 95 yards to the Bison 4, but Davis made a huge play getting inside position on the receiver for an interception in the end zone. The Bison could not take advantage, as three plays later Banbury picked off a pass and brought it back 26 yards for a touchdown. After a three-and-out, Wang and Sam Musungu hooked up for the second time in the game, this one from 14 yards out to make it 21-0.
Bush's first career touchdown got the Bison on the board midway through the second half, and Hardyway engineered a terrific drive to get his team back in the game just before the half. A Cornell field goal made it a 27-7 game, but an unnecessary roughness penalty at the end of the kickoff gave the Bison good field position at its own 47.
Michael Cadden picked up a key first down on a 4th-and-2 carry, and three plays later Hardyway hit older brother TJ Cadden on a 12-yard scoring strike with 14 seconds left to make it a 27-14 game at the half.
Bucknell limited Cornell to only seven points in the second half, and a terrific 28-yard catch and run by Sam Milligan brought the Bison within 34-21 with 12:03 still to play. Milligan caught a slant pass at the 12 and dragged three defenders across the goal line for his second TD of the season.
"Put that one on the highlight reel!"
— Bucknell Football (@Bucknell_FB) October 19, 2024
💪Sam Milligan powers his way across the goal line. #rayBucknell #ACT
Watch: https://t.co/sJ4GeNAFaG@ESPN | @PatriotLeagueHQ pic.twitter.com/IWvYTg1mWl
After a punt, Thomas streaked 47 yards to the Cornell 31 on the first play of the next series, but the very next snap sailed over Hardyway's head, resulting in a loss of 23 yards. The Bison had to punt with 6:27 remaining, and they were not able to threaten again.
"Once again we saw a lot of great signs, but we undermined ourselves with turnovers and costly penalties," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "The third-down battle went in their favor, and Cornell simply made more critical plays. Michael Hardyway did some really nice things in his first start, but he knows there are some plays he'd like to have back. We certainly didn't help him out in some of the other phases of the game."
Terrian Williams joined Willis in double figures with 10 tackles, John Schlendorf had eight tackles and two pass breakups, and Will Caneer tallied seven tackles and a sack.
Banbury led Cornell with six tackles to go along with two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, the pick-six, and three total pass breakups. Musungu caught 14 passes on a whopping 22 targets for 94 yards and two touchdowns, and Ean Pope led the ground attack with 111 yards on 17 carries.
The Bison have only Patriot League games remaining the rest of the way, and they will take a 1-0 conference record into next week's road test at Georgetown.
Team Stats
COR
BKN
Total Yards
465
331
Pass Yards
274
214
Rushing Yards
191
117
Penalty Yards
120
64
1st Downs
30
15
3rd Downs
8
3
4th Downs
1
2
TOP
39:47
20:13
1st Quarter
COR 7, BKN 0
COR - Musungu,Samuel 20 yd pass from Wang,Jameson (Zhao,Alan kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:41
COR 14, BKN 0
COR - Banbury,Luke 26 yd interception (Zhao,Alan kick)
COR 21, BKN 0
COR - Musungu,Samuel 14 yd pass from Wang,Jameson (Zhao,Alan kick) 10 plays, 63 yards, TOP 03:15
2nd Quarter
COR 24, BKN 0
COR - Zhao,Alan 35 yd field goal 7 plays, 14 yards, TOP 03:27
COR 24, BKN 7
BKN - Bush,Logan 3 yd run (Schearer,Matt kick), 6 plays, 62 yards, TOP 01:55
COR 27, BKN 7
COR - Zhao,Alan 34 yd field goal 15 plays, 73 yards, TOP 06:22
COR 27, BKN 14
BKN - Cadden,TJ 12 yd pass from Hardyway,Michael (Schearer,Matt kick) 8 plays, 53 yards, TOP 00:52
3rd Quarter
COR 34, BKN 14
COR - Woodring,Parker 10 yd pass from Wang,Jameson (Zhao,Alan kick) 4 plays, 24 yards, TOP 01:31
4th Quarter
COR 34, BKN 21
BKN - Milligan,Sam 28 yd pass from Hardyway,Michael (Schearer,Matt kick) 6 plays, 60 yards, TOP 02:34
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
21
TD
2
YDS
214
INT
1
Players Mentioned
RB
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RB
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CB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
CB
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QB
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S
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RB
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LB
/ FootballGeorgetown-Bucknell Women's Soccer Highlights 9-11-2025
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In The Herd: Bucknell Invitational Preview And Mirra Manolov And Abby Platt Features
Thursday, September 11
Evelyn Bliss World's Send Off
Thursday, September 11
In The Herd: Georgetown Game Preview And Katie Connell Feature
Thursday, September 11