Cornell Notes

The Bulldogs evened their record to 1-1 on Saturday with an impressive 38-14 win over the Big Red. In a mirror image of the 14-38 loss to Holy Cross in Week 1, Yale displayed dominance over many facets of the game. Coach Reno and his staff had an impressive week of preparation to get this team on track in a hurry.

No one bounced back in a bigger fashion than Nolan Grooms. Grooms finished 12 of 17 for 187 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. In the ground game, Grooms averaged 6.1 yards per carry over 9 attempts. Grooms looked poised in the pocket and delivered perfectly placed strike after strike. Tutas entered the contest midway through the 3^rd quarter and put on an impressive display completing 4 of 5 passes for 85 yards. The rushing attack was led by freshman Joshua Pitsenberger who has looked exceptionally polished over his first two contests. Pitsenberger averaged just under 5.5 yards per carry as he rushed for 93 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns. The talented first-year also hauled in a shuffle pass from Grooms on the opening drive. The running back stable of Peterson, Saffold, Denney and McElwain all got in the mix with Peterson adding a touchdown. The offensive line put together one of the most impressive performances we’ve seen since 2019. Large holes were opened for Pitsenberger and company while Cornell’s All-Ivy linebackers were neutralized. Grooms was only sacked once and the snapping issues appear to be resolved. Yates and Hawes were able to stretch the defense from their tight end positions. Hawes did have two critical drops, although one would have been canceled by a holding call on Gargiulo. Tipton and Pantelis were simply too much for the Cornell secondary to handle. Tipton just embarrassed defenders on a nifty catch and run that is surely the top highlight of the season thus far. Pantelis delivered in crucial moments hauling in a catch on 4^th down before half and later catching a bomb from Tutas down to the 1-yard line.

The defense once again came out firing on all cylinders on the first drive before allowing a 36-yard passing touchdown from Wang on Cornell’s second drive. Any concerns of a high scoring shootout were quickly erased as the defensive line established dominance at the line of scrimmage to ease the pressure on the linebackers and secondary. Oso was explosive as he racked up 6 tackles and 2 sacks, while Patterson and Nickerson each notched a sack. Hamilton Moore was the most impressive linebacker who crushed backs in run support. Wang’s quickness on runs posed issues for Vaughn and others, but overall the tackling was much improved from the week prior. Outside of the long passing score early on, the secondary of Owens, Hickey, Ellis and Oldacre clamped down on the Big Red. Owens and Hickey were able to contain receivers and support from the safeties was much improved. The ability to continue to limit the big plays will be vital down the stretch.

Bosman nailed a 25-yard field goal in the 3^rd quarter and was perfect on PATs. The snaps from Mann have been solid so far this season.

The Bulldogs return home to square off against the Howard Bison at the Bowl.