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Lehigh Doomed by Slow Start in 48-38 Loss to Cornell

 
Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn

| October 18, 2026

Entering the game with high expectations, Lehigh’s defense couldn’t get off the field as they found themselves in a 14-0 hole within 8 minutes into the game, forcing the Mountain Hawks offense to play catch up from the first whistle. Lehigh’s 23 game regular season winning streak, the 2nd longest in school history, got snapped in the process.

The positives for Lehigh is that the offense still looked explosive, as Luke Yoder rushed for 142 yards and 1 TD and QB Derek Morgan threw for 3 TDs and completed 15/25 passes for 204 yards. However, it was nearly impossible for them to pull out a win when the defense gave up 600 yards on the day and had them playing from behind in a hostile road environment.

Cornell started the game with a Jordan Triplett 17 yard TD run and QB Bass-Sulpizio completing a 37 yard TD on 4th and 8 to JaVon Broussard, putting the Big Red up 14-0 at the 7:05 mark of the 1st. Lehigh’s Cayden Vassa saved the team from a bigger hole when he stripped Sulpizio at the goal line after an overturned TD and Luke Denny returned it 99 yards for a Lehigh TD. The fumble return TD tied the Lehigh school record set by Steve Smoke in 1938 against Penn State.

 

However, even with a TD pass from Morgan to Jamaire Harden and a 22 yard FG from Connor Poole, Lehigh still found themselves trailing 31-17 at half, as the defense gave up 3 more Cornell scores in the 2nd quarter.

Lehigh started the 2nd half with a 58 yard TD drive over 8 plays that culminated with a 16 yard TD pass from Morgan to Anthony Feaster, bringing Lehigh back to within 7 at 31-24.

 

Lehigh scored on another TD late in the 4th, when Bryce Werner caught a 41 yard TD from Morgan on 4th and 19. However, every time Lehigh scored in the 2nd half, Cornell answered right back.

 

Cornell sealed the game late with a 32 yard field goal from Alan Zhao. While Lehigh had 387 yards of offense on the day, including 183 rushing yards, a leaky Lehigh run defense gave up 234 rushing yards of their own. They were also on the field for almost 37 minutes and gave up 8 conversions on 3rd down and 2 on 4th down. Bryce Werner led Lehigh with 3 receptions for 67 yards and a TD. On defense, Cayden Vassa and William Parton had 9 tackles each, with Vassa having that forced fumble play at the goal line.

Lehigh will travel to Villanova for a 3:30 PM Patriot League battle this upcoming Saturday, as they look to get back on track against the team that eliminated them from the FCS playoffs last December.

Postgame Interview with Lehigh’s Coach Nagy

 

Final Game Stats

Lehigh

1st Downs: 19

3rd Down efficiency 5-12

4th Down efficiency 3-3

Total Yards: 387

Passing: 204

Completions: 15/25

Rushing: 183 yards

Penalties: 2-20

Turnovers: 1 (INT)

Time of Possession: 23:13

Cornell

1st Downs: 32

3rd Down efficiency: 8-12

4th Down efficiency: 2-2

Total Yards: 600

Passing: 366

Completions: 22/34

Rushing: 234

Penalties: 2-25

Turnovers: 1 (fumble)

Time of Possession: 36:47

 
 
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