ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell rushed for five touchdowns for the first time since 2019, beating nationally-ranked Yale 38-25 on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field to open Ivy League play in its home opener.
Cornell's first score came after Tommy MacPherson intercepted Charles Hewitt and returned it 44 yards to the Yale 6. Four plays later, Garrett Bass-Sulpizio punched it in from 2 yards out to make it 7-0.
No. 17/18 Yale (1-1, 0-1 Ivy) trimmed the deficit to 7-3 on a 40-yard Noah Piper field goal early in the second quarter. Cornell answered before the break, going 62 yards in eight plays — highlighted by a 41-yard catch-and-run from JaVon Broussard to the Yale 4 — before Bass-Sulpizio scored his second touchdown of the day with 1:57 left, pushing the lead to 14-3 at halftime.
Cornell (1-1, 1-0 Ivy) opened the third quarter with back-to-back scoring drives. Ean Pope broke a 31-yard touchdown run on the Big Red's second possession, and after MacPherson's second interception of the game gave Cornell the ball at the Yale 43, Brendan Lee scored from 7 yards out to make it 28-3. Yale answered with a 9-play, 66-yard drive finished by a 5-yard Hewitt-to-Graham Smith touchdown, then converted a two-point pass to Lucius Anderson to cut the margin to 28-11 into the fourth quarter.
Yale's Hugo Djeumeni Kemeni capped a 10-play, 83-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth to make it 28-18, but Cornell answered with a 12-play, 58-yard field goal drive from Alan Zhao (34 yards) and then a Jordan Triplett touchdown run to push the lead back to 38-18 with 3:31 left. Hewitt found Jaxton Santiago for a 32-yard touchdown with 1:34 remaining to make the final margin 38-25, but Cornell recovered Yale's ensuing onside kick attempt and ran out the clock.
The five rushing touchdowns mark the program's first game with five-plus on the ground since a win over Columbia on 11/23/19.
Bass-Sulpizio rushed for two touchdowns and passed for 152 yards, going 14-of-21 without an interception; McAuliffe added a 32-yard catch among his contributions. Triplett led Cornell with 31 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Pope's 31-yard score was Cornell's longest rush of the day. Broussard's 41-yard reception was the Big Red's longest play through the air. MacPherson finished with two interceptions for 63 yards, six tackles and a tackle for loss. Caden Lesiewicz punted four times, including a 75-yarder that pinned Yale at its own 1.
For Yale, Hewitt threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns on 26-of-44 passing, though he was intercepted twice. Djeumeni Kemeni rushed for 56 yards and a score. Santiago and Smith each caught a touchdown pass.
Cornell held a 19-10 edge in first downs converted on offense despite trailing in total yards, 361-278, and time of possession, 30:10 to 29:50, with the Big Red converting five of five red-zone trips into scores.
Cornell travels to Georgetown next Saturday, Oct. 3, before returning home to host Harvard on Oct. 10.
