USAFA, Colo. – Cade Harris rushed for two touchdowns and caught another to lead Air Force to a weather-delayed 49-13 win over Bucknell in the season openers for both teams on Saturday before 30,207 fans at Falcon Stadium.

Ralph Rucker IV completed 10 of 18 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, and Tariq Thomas had a good day on the ground with 80 yards on 18 carries, but the Bison dropped their opener on the road against a Football Bowl Division (FBS) team for the third year in a row.

“Our players are smart, and they know we played a really good football team today,” said Bucknell coach Dave Cecchini. “Physically, we played with them at times, but we weren’t able to sustain it for the whole game. Our first step is to fix the assignment errors where it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. We have an opportunity to get better from week one to week two, and that will be our focus.”

Known more for its potent option running attack, Air Force opened up a big first-half lead thanks to its passing game. The Bison defense forced a punt on the first series of the game, but the Falcons cashed in with an 80-yard touchdown march on their second drive. Bucknell’s secondary bit on the run, and Josh Johnson found a wide-open Quin Smith for a 40-yard scoring pass at the 6:22 mark of the first quarter.

After a punt, Liam Szarka completed passes of 18 and 29 yards to set up a Harris 9-yard touchdown run with 2:31 left in the opening stanza.

Bucknell answered with a terrific 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, culminating with Rucker’s 12-yard strike to Sam Milligan on a slant pattern. Earlier in the drive, Nate Anderson drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone on third-and-9 to set the Bison up with a first-and-goal.

Air Force came right back with a matching 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. This time, the Falcons gobbled up all the yardage on the ground. Fullback Dylan Carlson started the series with a 17-yard run, and he finished it off with a dive across the goal line from the 2 to make it 21-7 with 7:14 left in the second quarter.

Bucknell made two first downs on its next drive, one on the first career catch from tight end Jack Bohm-Squicciarini, but Roger Jones picked off a pass at the Air Force 38-yard line to end the threat. One play later, Johnson came back in at quarterback and connected with Harris on a 62-yard bomb to make it 28-7.

The defense came up with a big stop to keep it a three-score game at the end of the half. A Deuce Geter sack and a Brandon Biagiarelli QB pressure forced a 42-yard field goal attempt, which was pushed wide to the right in the final 20 seconds.

The Bison received the second-half kickoff and went for it on fourth-and-inches from their own 34. Rucker appeared to have the first down on the quarterback sneak, but as he drove the pile, Mikhail Seiken ripped the ball out, and Korey Johnson returned the fumble for a backbreaking touchdown. Harris then scored his third touchdown of the day on an 8-yard run one play after a shanked punt, and suddenly the Falcons led 42-7 only 3:26 into the second half.

Bucknell 0 7 3 3 — 13

Air Force 14 14 14 7 — 49

First quarter

AF–Q. Smith 40 pass from J. Johnson (J. Medina kick), 6:22.

AF–C. Harris 9 run (Medina kick), 2:28.

Second quarter

B–S. Milligan 12 pass from R. Rucker IV (M. Schearer kick), 12:54.

AF–D. Carson 2 run (J. Medina kick), 7:14.

AF–C. Harris 62 pass from J. Johnson (J. Medina kick), 4:41.

Third quarter.

AF–K. Johnson 34 fumble return (J. Medina kick), 13:04.

AF–C. Harris 8 ru (J. Medina kick), 11:34.

B–M. Schearer 37 field goal, 5:49.

Fourth quarter

AF–M. Martin 1 run (R. Tubbs kick), 6:24.

B–Schearer 39 field goal, 0:44.

TEAM STATISTICS

B AF

First downs 18 23

Rushes-yds 38-97 51-267

Passing yards 169 159

C-A-I 16-24-1 6-9-0

Total yards 266 426

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 6-50 5-56

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Bucknell, Tariq Thomas 18-80, Michael Cadden 5-21, Logan Bush 3-5, Ty Stauffer 2-2, Chris Dietrich 3-(minus 1), Ralph Rucker IV 7-(minus 10). Air Force, Cade Harris 8-66 2 TDs, Dylan Carson 11-52 TD, Kade Frew 5-52, Terrence Gist 7-37, Gage LaDue 5-19, Kaden Cloud 2-16, Maguire Martin 4-11 TD, Liam Szarka 2-7, Josh Johnson 3-5, Owen Allen 1-3, Matt Long 1-2.

PASSING–Bucknell, Ralph Rucker IV 10-18-1 126 TD, Chris Dietrich 6-6-0 43. Air Force, Josh Johnson 4-7-0 112 2 TDs, Liam Szarka 2-2-0 47.

RECEIVING–Bucknell, Sam Milligan 3-41 TD, Michael Cadden 2-24, TJ Cadden 4-21, Owen Garwood 2-17, Kaleb Lampkins 2-13, Charlie Kreinbucher 1-14, Jack Bohm-Squicciarini 2-11, AJ Bosch 1-9, Alex Brown 1-7, Josh Gary 2-6, Caden Allard 1-6, Nate Anderson 3-0. Air Force, Cade Harris 3-83 TD, Quin Smith 2-40 TD, Tre Roberson 3-29, Bruin Fleischmann 1-7.