ITHACA, N.Y. – The Yale football team made a big statement to open Ivy League play. First year
Joshua Pitsenberger scored three touchdowns, and the Yale defense added four more sacks as the Bulldogs cruised to a dominating 38-14 victory over Cornell before a big homecoming crowd of 14,821 at Schoellkopf Field.
Yale led 14-7 after 15 minutes and increased the advantage to 28-7 by halftime. By the end of the third quarter, the lead was 38-7.
The Bulldogs responded well after falling to Holy Cross in last week's season opener.
"I'm really pleased with our effort," said
Tony Reno, The Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "The execution went up and things started to click on both sides of the ball. I was really impressed with how we ran the ball."
Quarterback
Nolan Grooms was an efficient 12-of-17 for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Pitsenberger carried 17 times for 93 yards, and
Mason Tipton had seven receptions for 133 yards. Defensively,
Osorachukwu Ifesinachukwu had two sacks for the second straight week, while
Hamilton Moore added six tackles, including a sack.
Yale's defense now has nine sacks in two games.
Against Cornell, the Bulldogs amassed 453 yards of total offense and limited the Big Red to 184.
Pitsenberger's first TD came on Yale's opening drive when he caught a shuffle pass from Grooms and scampered in for a 5-yard touchdown.
After the Big Red marched 99 yards to score to tie the game, Yale quickly answered. A 30-yard reception from tight end
Ry Yates moved the Bulldogs into Cornell territory, and Pitsenberger capped the long drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Yale kept it rolling in the second quarter. Tipton caught a pass over the middle and made some nifty moves to score from 17 yards with 6:41 left to make it 21-7. Earlier in the drive, Tipton and Grooms connected on a 39-yard pass play.
The Bulldogs closed out a dominant first half when Pitsenberger scored on a 1-yard run with 39 seconds left.
"Playing on the road in a great atmosphere we wanted to get off to a great start and put ourselves in a position where we weren't letting the crowd and homecoming atmosphere play to their advantage," Reno said of the Yale's dominant first half.
It was more of the same in the third quarter.
Jack Bosman booted a 45-yard field goal, and
Tre Peterson scored on a 1-yard TD as Yale increased its advantage to 38-7.
Cornell (1-1) capped the scoring in the fourth quarter when Eddy Tillman caught a 6-yard touchdown pass.
After beginning the season with two road games, the Bulldogs play their home opener at Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field next Saturday when Howard visits for the
Harmony Classic. Kickoff is slated for noon.
