NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Cornell offense came alive in the final quarter, but two touchdowns in the final 75 seconds weren't enough to top defending Ivy League champion Yale. The Bulldogs (1-1, 1-0 Ivy) earned a 23-17 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Yale Bowl thanks in large part to the Rodney Thomas show. The Big Red slipped to 0-2 (0-1 Ivy).
Thomas had a pair of interceptions and returned an on-sides kick attempt for a touchdown to allow Yale to hold off Cornell. One of his interceptions was returned for a score, but it was called back on a penalty - one of 14 for 144 yards called against the home team. His on-sides return, the second consecutive year at the Yale Bowl for the Bulldogs against the Big Red in the final minutes, all but sealed the win and sandwiched the visitors' two late touchdowns. It was also the second consecutive game between the teams that Thomas had a pair of picks.
The Big Red defense kept the pressure on Yale all afternoon, allowing just 88 yards on 30 Yale carries while posting one sack and seven total tackles for loss. The difference was in the turnover battle - Yale had three interceptions and the Big Red wasn't able to take the ball away.
Jake Stebbins and
Lance Blass had identical nine tackles, including one for a loss, with
Logan Thut and
Eric Diggs adding seven stops. Diggs added a pass breakup.
Holt Fletcher had 1.5 tackles for loss in his first career start and
Onome Kessington registered his first sack.
Offensively,
Curtis Raymond III had four catches for 80 yards as the Big Red had 10 different receivers catch passes from
Richie Kenney and
Ben Mays. Mays came off the bench to lead both late touchdown drives, including hitting
Alex Kuzy for a 15-yard score.
Devon Brewer piled up 83 yards of offense, including a 50-yard catch out of the backfield in the first half.
Delonte Harrell also scored from the 2 in the game's final minute.
Scott Lees booted his first career field goal to lead the special teams, with
Koby Kiefer averaging 39.0 yards on four punts.
The Bulldogs had a 409-336 edge in total yards thanks in large part to Griffin O'Connor's 23-of-38 day for 317 yards and two touchdowns - one each to Darrion Carrington and Chase Nenad. Zane Dudek tallied 96 total yards, including 57 on the ground. Besides Thomas, who added two tackles and a pass breakup, Wande Owens had the teams first interception and Clay Patterson had both sacks for the Bulldogs.
First Quarter
• Cornell's first eight plays of the game each gained at least five yards with three ball carriers and four receivers catching passes.
• Yale's Wande Owens was able to intercept the ball in the end zone on third-and-5 to snuff out the drive.
• The Big Red defense forced a Yale three-and-out, including getting a stop on third-and-1 to force a punt.
• After Cornell punted away the football, the Bulldogs used a three-play, 55-yard drive that ended in the first touchdown of the day.
• Griffin O'Connor lofted a ball on the run over two defenders and into the arms of Darrion Carrington for a 35-yard score with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
• Jack Bosman's PAT kick went wide and the score remained 6-0.
• On the ensuing drive,
Richie Kenney's second interception of the first quarter set the Bulldogs up at the Big Red 43.
• The Big Red defense spent the next series in the Yale backfield, causing a pair of tackles for loss and nearly falling on a fumble before the home team completed a deep pass on a scramble as the quarter ended.
• Yale ended the first 15 minutes with -13 rushing yards but a 6-0 lead.
Second Quarter
• Yale got inside the 10-yard, but the Big Red defense stiffened and forced a 20-yard field goal attempt that again went wide, keeping the score at 6-0.
• A Big Red three-and-out put Yale back on the offensive.
• A 28-yard pass from O'Connor to Mason Tipton, followed by two runs, put Yale inside the red zone at the 11 and forced Cornell to take a timeout with 9:18 remaining.
• Yale made it 9-0 on a 27-yard field goal by Bosman with 8:13 remaining before halftime.
• On the ensuing drive, Kenney hit the first deep pass of the night for the Big Red, going up top to find
Devon Brewer for a 50-yard gain from its own 25 to the Yale 25.
• That play set up Cornell's first score, a 32-yard field goal by
Scott Lees - the senior's first career field goal.
• A long Yale drive ended in a punt and the Big Red took over with 1:18 remaining in the half at their own 7.
• The three-and-out ended just 24 seconds later, allowing the Bulldogs to get the ball at the Big Red 34 with 54 seconds left before the half.
•
Jordan Patrick ran O'Connor out of bounds one first down and
Onome Kessington recorded his first career sack on the next play to end the half at 9-3.
Third Quarter
• Yale took the ball to begin the second half and methodically went down the field to score, extending its lead to 16-3 five minutes in.
• O'Connor hit Chase Nenad on the run with a 25-yard floating pass over a defender to cap a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive.
• Cornell tried to respond, getting to the Bulldogs' 36 before the offense turned it over on down with four straight incomplete passes.
• Yale began a march down the field as the scoreboard turned to the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
• The Big Red defense was able to get the ball back into the offense's hands with a fourth-down stop less than two minutes into the fourth.
• A 22-yard run by Brewer and an athletic 16-yard catch along the sidelines by
Curtis Raymond III brought the Big Red into the red zone with under 10 minutes to play in regulation.
• That's where the rally stopped, as Rodney Thomas stepped in front of his second pass of the day just shy of the end zone for the Big Red's third turnover of the contest.
• The final two minutes were head turning, with the Big Red scoring at the end of a 2:58 drive when
Ben Mays closed the drive with consecutive passes, an 18-yarder to
Thomas Glover over the middle, followed by a 15-yard scoring throw to
Alex Kuzy after the center snap bounced and he had to get creative.
• Trailing 16-10 with 75 seconds remaining, Cornell attempted an on-sides kick, but Yale's Thomas picked it out of the air and returned it 48 yards for the score.
• Undaunted, the Big Red went back to work on offense and took advantage of Yale penalties on three consecutive plays.
• The last one gave Cornell a free play, and Mays went deep to Raymond for 43 yards down to the 2.
• On the next play,
Delonte Harrell found a hole and went into the end zone untouched.
• Lees' second PT of the day made it 23-17 with 34 seconds left.
• The Bulldogs were able to recover the on-sides kick and run out the clock to win the Ivy opener for both teams..
Next Up
• The Big Red remains on the road when it visits Bucknell on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m. at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa.
• Cornell leads the all-time series 43-14, though the Bison have claimed three of the last four contests between the programs.
• It will be the first meeting between the teams since 2017, a 26-18 Bucknell victory at Schoellkopf Field.
