NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A wet, windy and dreary day at Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Yale football team. Jackson Kennedy's third field goal of the afternoon, a 37-yarder as time expired, lifted Cornell to a 23-21 victory in the Ivy League opener for both teams.
 
Yale (0-2, 0-1 Ivy) had taken the lead with just 3:14 left in the fourth quarter when, facing a 4th down and 20, quarterback Nolan Grooms connected with Mason Tipton for a 30-yard touchdown in the left corner of the end zone. Jack Bosman's extra point put the Bulldogs in front 21-20.
 
The Big Red, though, drove 56 yards on its ensuing possession. The big play was a 22-yard reception by Doryn Smith on third-and-10. The final first down came on a quarterback sneak from Jameson Wang that put the ball on the Yale 17 with just less than a minute to play. From there, Cornell ran three rushing plays to run the clock down, setting up Kennedy's heroics.
 
KEY SEQUENCE
 
Yale had a 14-3 lead at halftime, but the Big Red took the second-half kickoff and marched 70 yard in 12 plays, capped by a 1-yard TD run from Wang. Cornell's defense forced a three-and-out on Yale's ensuing possession, and the Big Red then put together another scoring drive, this one covering 40 yards in nine plays. Nicholas Laboy's 3-yard touchdown reception gave Cornell a 17-14 lead. Kennedy's 29-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter gave the Big Red a six-point advantage.
 
STRONG FIRST HALF FOR BULLDOGS
 
Tre Peterson's 2-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter gave Yale the lead. The Bulldogs then went to their bag of tricks to increase the margin, and the result was 48-yard TD reception for Chase Nenad on a flea flicker that gave Yale a 14-0 advantage. Kennedy's 34-yard field goal late in the second quarter cut the lead to 14-3.
 
QUOTING RENO
 
"It was a hard-fought game on both sides. That's Ivy League football," said Tony Reno, The Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "I say to the team all the time that the point of difference in our league is so small that you have to be ready to win on the last play. Right now, we are not playing up to our level of capability, so we have to continue to improve. We played better than we did last week, but we didn't close out the game. That's the next thing we need to do. I really do think this team has opportunity to take off. We are just not there yet. It's up to us to make the decision when that is going to be."
 
KEY STATS
 
• The Big Red finished with a big edge in time of possession. Cornell controlled the ball for 38:41 to Yale's 21:19.
 
• Spencer Alston, an All-Ivy running back in 2021 who missed all of last season with an injury, made his season debut and rushed for 57 yards on eight carries.
 
• Grooms led the Bulldogs with 76 yards rushing on 15 carries.
 
• Joseph Vaughn (12 tackles), and first year Osize Daniyan (11) led the Yale defense. Vaughn and Clay Patterson both had sacks.
 
• Cornell had 11 different receivers catch a pass. Wang finished 26-of-36 for 197 yards.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Bulldogs play their third straight home game next Saturday, hosting Morgan State in the NAACP Harmony Classic. Kickoff is slated for noon at the Bowl.