Box Score ITHACA, N.Y.  -- The Ithaca College football team relied on a stout defense that forced six turnovers and scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery to knock off Hobart College 24-6 Saturday at Butterfield Stadium.

In a matchup of two ranked squads, No. 24 Ithaca (2-0) remained undefeated after holding No. 16 Hobart (2-1) to just 159 yards of total offense while intercepting three passes and recovering three fumbles.

Senior Logan Murphy pounced on a fumble in the Hobart endzone halfway through the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

Senior Max Rottenecker hit a 33-yard field goal, junior Wolfgang Shafer connected with senior Josh Oliver on a 16-yard touchdown pass late in the first half, and sophomore Tristan Brown powered his way into the endzone from the one with 2:57 remaining to conclude the scoring for the Bombers.

Ithaca held Hobart scoreless for the first 44:25 until Tynard Barfield's 12-yard touchdown run with 35 seconds remaining in the third sliced the Ithaca lead to 17-6.

The Bombers, who forced turnovers on each of Hobart's first three possessions, earned the victory in a rematch of a 2014 NCAA first-round contest, won by Hobart 22-15.

"We had two weeks to prepare for them and we were just really excited to come out and play a nationally-ranked team, and we played great today," said sophomore Dan Loizos, who was all over the field in recording nine tackles (seven solo) while recovering a pair of fumbles and forcing a fumble.

"Last year's loss definitely was on our minds today. We just wanted to come out and redeem ourselves today and get a big win."

This time, there would be no need for any late-game heroics against Hobart. Ithaca came out with an aggressive defense from the opening minute and never let Hobart get into an offensive rhythm.

Shafer, the son of current Syracuse University head football coach Scott Shafer, completed 13 of 24 passes for 163 yards with one TD and no interceptions, but it was the Ithaca defense that carried the day against the Statesmen.

Murphy had seven tackles (two-and-a-half for loss) and recovered a fumble, senior Schnayder Termidor added eight tackles, sophomore Kenny Bradley had seven tackles with a 19-yard interception return, and senior Ryan Michaels and sophomore Jordan Schemm each added interceptions in the win.

Senior Brandon Steff kept the Hobart offense at bay with his accurate punting, averaging 40.4 yards on nine punts with a 49-yarder mixed. The Statesmen fell to 0-14 all-time in Butterfield Stadium while Ithaca improves to 25-4 in the regional rivalry.

"It felt good to get this win, we don't like to focus on the past too much, but last year's loss was definitely in the back of our minds," said Murphy, one of Ithaca's three captains.

"We just played our own style of defense. We know that it's going to be pretty hard to score points and gain yards on us, and our defense came out today and really dominated."

The loss snapped a 32-game regular-season winning streak for Hobart, who fell for the first time since a 29-28 setback to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Nov. 5, 2011.

Schemm stepped in front of a Tom Sydeski pass and gave Ithaca the ball at its 26 five minutes into the opening quarter, but the Bombers had to punt. Steff boomed his kick deep into Hobart territory, and the Statesmen took over at their own three following an illegal blocking penalty.

With a third-and-12 from the Hobart one, Sydeski tried running out of his endzone, but fumbled and Murphy was there to fall on the ball for his first collegiate touchdown with 7:08 remaining in the first.

After the Ithaca defense forced a punt, senior Josh Oliver broke off a 60-yard punt return to give the Bombers possession at the Hobart 17. Rottenecker converted the field goal for a 10-0 lead, and the score remained 10-0 until late in the second quarter.

After a short punt gave Ithaca possession near midfield, Shafer found junior Brian Balsamo for a 25-yard strike down to the Hobart 20. Following a pair of runs from sophomore Evan Skea, shafer hit Oliver for a 16-yard TD pass with 1:47 remaining in the opening half as Ithaca took a 17-0 lead into the locker room.

Hobart scored late in the third to get on the scoreboard, and following an Ithaca turnover, the Statesmen had the ball deep in Bomber territory to start the fourth quarter. But Loizos forced and recovered a fumble, and the Bombers held Hobart scoreless the rest of the way.

The Statesmen mounted one last comeback attempt with 4:51 remaining in the fourth, but Bradley intercepted a pass at the Hobart 26 and ran it back to the seven-yard line. Brown capped the scoring with his one-yard run off left tackle as Ithaca handed Hobart its first road loss a 24-21 setback to RPI Nov. 6, 2010.

"To start off a season 2-0 is always great, but we definitely have work to do," Bradley said. "We let up a touchdown today, so we always want to improve on our performance. But it always feels good to get a win against a ranked opponent. That was a good team coming in."

Ithaca hosts Alfred University at 1 p.m. Sept. 26 in the Bombers' Empire 8 opener. Hobart plays at Merchant Marine Academy at 2 p.m. Sept. 26.

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