LOUISBURG — Jameson Wang completed 32 of 49 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium, leading Cornell to a 34-21 victory over Bucknell. Bison quarterback Michael Hardiway (senior) made his first career start, throwing TD passes to TJ Cadden and Sam Milligan, and freshman Logan Bush scored his first career score on a one-in. The Bison couldn’t overcome four turnovers and the Big Red spoiled Homecoming. The series losing streak ended at three.
Hardiway, who replaced injured Ralph Rucker IV, completed 21 of 39 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Cadden led the receiver corps with seven catches for 84 yards, and freshman running back Tarik Thomas also had a strong showing with nine carries for 94 yards.
Defensively, Gavin Willis racked up a career-high 19 tackles and Aaron Davis and Roman Pearson picked off passes, but Cornell’s vaunted offense, which ranked 10th nationally in passing efficiency, totaled 465 yards. was recorded.
Turnovers played a big role for the Big Red (2-3), who outscored the Bison (3-4) 21-0 in the first quarter. After Cornell scored on the game’s opening drive, Bucknell was quickly in position to tie the score as Hardiway scrambled toward the end zone. But Luke Bunbury, who had a great game at Cornell, flipped the ball and recovered the fumble at the 1-yard line.
The Big Red drove 95 yards to the Bison 4, but Davis made a big play getting into the inside receiver position and making an interception in the end zone. The Bison were unable to take advantage as Bunbury picked off a pass three plays later and brought it back 26 yards for a touchdown. After a three-and-out, Wang and Sam Musung scored their second goals of the game, with a shot from 14 yards out to make it 21-0.
Busch’s first career touchdown got the Bison into the game midway through the second half, and Hardiway produced a great drive to get his team back in the game just before the half. A Cornell field goal made the game 27-7, but an unnecessary roughness penalty at the end of the kickoff gave the Bison good field position at their own 47.
Michael Cadden got a crucial first down on a 4th-and-2 carry, and three plays later, Hardiway hit his brother TJ Cadden with a 12-yard scoring strike with 14 seconds left to make it 27-14 at halftime.
Bucknell held Cornell to just seven points in the second half, but Sam Milligan’s spectacular 28-yard catch-and-run put the Bison ahead 34-21 with 12:03 left. Milligan caught a diagonal pass on No. 12 and dragged three defenders across the goal line for his second TD of the season.
After the punt, Thomas drove 47 consecutive yards to the Cornell 31 on the first play of the next series, but the next snap went over Hardiway’s head for a 23-yard loss. The Bison were forced to punt with 6:27 left and could not threaten again.
“Once again, we saw a lot of great signs, but we undermined ourselves with turnovers and costly penalties.” Bucknell coach Dave Cecchini said. “The third-down battle went in their favor and Cornell just made the more important plays. Michael Hardiway did some really great things in his first start, but there are some plays that we’d like to get back. He knows that. We certainly couldn’t help him in other aspects of the game.”
Cornell 34, Bucknell 21
Cornell 21 6 7 0 — 34
Bucknell 0 14 0 7 — 21
1st quarter
C-Samuel Msungu, 20 passes from Jameson Wang (Alan Zhao kick), 13 minutes 19 seconds.
C-Luke Bunbury 26 interceptions (Zhao kick), 5:30.
C-Musung 14, pass from Wang (Zhao kick), 1 minute 25 seconds.
2nd quarter
C-Zhao 35 field goals, 9:38.
B-Logan Bush 3 run (Matt Shearer kick), 7:38.
C_Zhao 34 field goals, 1:10.
B-TJ Cadden 12 passes from Michael Hardiway (Shearer kick), 0;14.
3rd quarter
C-Parker Woodring, 10 passes from Jameson Wang (Zhao kick), 8 minutes 33 seconds.
4th quarter
B-Sam Milligan, 28 pass from Michael Hardiway (Shearer kick), 12:03.
team statistics
C.B.
First down 30 15
Rush Yards 43-191 28-117
Passing Yards 274 214
Comp.-Att.-Int. 34-49-2 21-39-1
Total yards 465 331
Lost fumble 0-0 4-3
Penalty Yards 12-120 5-64
personal statistics
Rushing – Cornell, Ian Pope 17-111; Jameson Wang 13-59. Jontu Reed 3-15; Robert Tucker III 3-7; Eddie Tillman 3-5; Team 4-(minus 6). Bucknell, Tariq Thomas 9-94; Michael Cadden 4-16; Michael Hardiway 7-11; Paul Neal 4-9; Logan Bush 2-7 TD; Nate Anderson 1-3.
Passing – Jameson Wang, Cornell 32-49-2 274 3 TDs. Bucknell, Michael Hardiway 21-39-1 214 2TDs.
Receiving – Parker Woodring, Cornell 5-95 TD. Samuel Musungu 14-94 2TD; Ryder Kurtz 3-31; Ean Pope 4-18; Dorin Smith 1-13; Blaine Zoller 2-11; Chad Martini 1-5; Robert Tucker III 1-5; Jontu Reed 1-2. Bucknell, TJ Cadden 7-84 TD. Josh Gailey 3-57; Sam Milligan 1-28 TD: Eric Weatherly 4-17; Charlie Kleinbuescher 2-16; Paul Neal 2-10; Nate Anderson 1-3; Tarik Thomas 1-( minus 1).
LOUISBURG — Jameson Wang completed 32 of 49 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns to lead Cornell University 34-21.
At one point during the practice week, Muncie coach Sean Tetreault instructed his team to work on their punting game. on friday …
