This story will be updated.
On a rainy day at Schoellkopf Field, fans filled the stands as Cornell searched for both its first win of the season and its first homecoming win in seven years.
Taking on the top team as notated in the Ivy League Preseason Poll, the Red made few mistakes in a 47-23 win over Yale in front of its home crowd on Saturday. The win also marks Cornell’s first victory over the Bulldogs at home since 2016.
Senior quarterback Jameson Wang threw three touchdown passes and sophomore wide receiver Brendan Lee had two of them. Wang accounted for five touchdowns on the afternoon, the most by any Cornell quarterback in a single game. The explosive win is the first of head coach Dan Swanstrom’s tenure on East Hill.
The offense was only part of the story –– after the Red’s defense surrendered 41 points to Colgate one week prior, the Cornell defensive line held Yale to less than 300 total yards of offense on Saturday and tightened up its mechanics. The Red also forced three Bulldog turnovers, the first of Yale’s season.
The first half presented Cornell with a handful of prime scoring opportunities thanks to two first-quarter turnovers by the Bulldogs. Cornell notched 27 points in the opening half while playing much stronger on the defensive side of the ball than it did in last Saturday’s loss to Colgate.
Cornell impressed its large homecoming crowd with a fast-paced start, beginning with a shutdown of Yale’s strong offense. Limiting Yale’s running game, the first drive concluded with a sack by senior linebacker Luke Banbury on Yale’s quarterback, Brogan McCaughey.
On its first offensive drive, the Red cashed in. After a Yale stop on third down, a critical pass on fourth down ended up in the hands of Lee, awarding Cornell the first points of the afternoon, though Yale quickly tied the score with a touchdown of its own.
The Red looked to come up short on its next drive, until junior wide receiver Parker Woodring collected a Yale fumble after a miscaught Cornell punt. Woodring was called short of the endzone and the drive concluded with a made field goal by sophomore kicker Alan Zhao.
Cornell stifled the Bulldogs once again as junior linebacker Ben Sahakian collected the second Yale fumble of the first quarter. Yale didn’t fumble the ball once in its win over Holy Cross last week but lost two to Cornell in the first quarter. A Zhao field goal ended the first quarter scoring.
The second quarter opened with a Yale touchdown to go ahead in the score, 14-13. With rain beginning to pour down, Cornell looked to keep its homecoming crowd in good spirits, and that it did –– Lee caught a pass around four minutes into the quarter to retake the lead 20-14.
Cornell took a blow to its special teams unit when senior kicker/punter Ayden McCarter left the game with an apparent leg injury. The play came after a largely tentative second quarter on both sides, before sophomore running back Ean Pope made a big run into the endzone to give Cornell a substantial 27-14 lead.
The Red continued its onslaught into the second half –– Wang found sophomore tight end Ryder Kurtz, who ran it into the end zone for a 68-yard rushing touchdown, the first touchdown of his career. Yale followed it up with a touchdown of its own in the latter half of the quarter, but the Red defense came up big by breaking up Yale’s two-point conversion attempt. The stop kept it a two-possession game for the Bulldogs.
Wang added another touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rushing it into the end zone himself. Wang strung together another impressive performance on Saturday, completing 18/29 passes for 278 yards.
Cornell tacked on another touchdown with just over a minute remaining, as sophomore wide receiver Samuel Musungu caught Wang’s pass, completing the 47-23 final score.
Cornell will look to extend its momentum as it continues its three-game homestand. The Red will face a tough task next week as No. 16 University of Albany –– the only ranked team Cornell will face this season –– travels to Ithaca. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field, while the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.