Schoellkopf Field, Cornell Still a House of Horrors for Lehigh As They Fall 48-38 To Big Red

ITHACA, NY – Going into their game against Cornell, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks were 2-9-1 against the Big Red at historic Schoellkopf Field. No matter whether Cornell were Ivy League favorites or picked last in the preseason, whether Lehigh was nationally-ranked or winless, Lehigh has always struggled against Cornell. Even the two wins didn’t come easily.

Instead of breaking the trend, Schoellkopf field continued being a house of horrors for Lehigh (6-1, 4-0 Patriot) in a stunning 48-38 loss to Cornell (3-2, 1–1 Ivy).

Lehigh never led, falling behind 24-7 and surrendering 600 yards of offense to the Big Red. Even a 101-yard fumble-return touchdown by DB Luke Denny couldn’t turn the tide as Cornell snapped Lehigh’s 23-game regular-season winning streak.

Cornell QB Garrett Bass-Sulpezio did a masterful job on the afternoon, throwing for 366 yards and 2 touchdowns and leading the team in rushing with 103 yards and a third touchdown on the ground. The Big Red had only three possessions that did not end in points – the fumble return for touchdown, the final few plays of the first half, and the victory formation at the end of the game.

The Big Red came out firing on their opening possession, marching 75 yards in five plays before RB Jordan Triplett capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown run, exploding through the center of the line and rumbling into the end zone.

After the defense forced a Lehigh three-and-out, Bass-Sulpizio directed another scoring drive, this one covering 86 yards in 10 plays and ending with a 37-yard touchdown strike to WR JaVon Broussard on a perfect pass.

Bass-Sulpezio spread the ball around to ten different receivers, consistently moving the sticks. The Big Red went 8 for 12 on 3rd down conversions, and on two of the fourth down plays that resulted, Cornell converted – one of which was the Broussard touchdown grab.

After the teams exchanged field goals, Bass-Sulpizio led Cornell on another long march, covering 73 yards in 10 plays. He finished the drive himself with a one-yard touchdown plunge, giving the Big Red a 31–10 lead late in the second quarter.

But the No. 4 Mountain Hawks wouldn’t go down easily. Lehigh began chipping away at the deficit, with QB Derek Morgan threading a 21-yard touchdown pass to WR Jamaire Harden and later finding WR Anthony Feaster for a 16-yard score. That brought Lehigh within a touchdown at 31–24.

Cornell, however, kept answering Lehigh’s scores with scores of their own.

After the Feaster touchdown, Cornell methodically marched down the field again on a 13 play, 79 yard drive that ground out 6:46 off the clock and ended with a 3 yard pass from Bass-Sulpezio to WR Brendan Lee to make it a two-touchdown lead again.

Lehigh RB Luke Yoder, who ran for 142 yards, scored a touchdown to conclude an 8 play,.69 yard drive, but Cornell responded with a drive of their own, a 10 play, 81 drive the other way resulting in a Triplett 3 yard touchdown to make it 45-31 with 8 minutes to play. The Big Red exploded for 204 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns against Lehigh’s run defense, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation going into the game.

“We are all in this together, and the players and coaches know it,” Lehigh head coach Rich Nagy said afterwards. “and we got to get back to work tomorrow, find the things we need to fix, and we’ve got to get ready to move on and turn the page.”

Seemingly on their final gasp on 4th and 19, Morgan threw a perfect pass to freshman WR Bryce Werner for a 41 yard touchdown strike to keep Lehigh’s hopes alive. He ended with 204 yards passing, 37 yards rushing and 3 passing TDs, helping keep the Mountain Hawks in it.

But an onsides kick was successfully recovered by Cornell, which turned into Zhao’s 32 yard field goal that would effectively settle the final score. A last-gasp effort to close the gap ended with Morgan being intercepted in the end zone.

“They never quit,” Nagy said. “There was never was a moment where you felt like you weren’t in the game, until the very end, and that’s a tribute to them and how hard they work. But obviously we had some mistakes that came back onto us today that we have to fix. Our tackling wasn’t very good defensively, and that led to some problems. We got to get back to what we do and be better at it.”

Cornell postgame with coach Rich Nagy. pic.twitter.com/NagedLnuV7

— Lehigh Football (@LehighFootball) October 17, 2026

Lehigh won’t have much time to lick their wounds as a critical Patriot League game at Villanova looms next week. A win there will be critical for their chances at the title. Meanwhile Cornell, who now as two wins this season over Top 25 teams (Lehigh and Yale) will travel to Providence to take on Brown in Ivy League action.

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