Dudek, Salter help Yale grind past Cornell 49-24

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Zane Dudek and Deshawn Salter combined for 316 yards rushing and four touchdowns and Yale pulled away from Cornell in the second half for a 49-24 win in an Ivy League opener on Saturday.

Kurt Rawlings started a run of 28 points with a 14-yard score with under a minute left in the first half for a 14-10 lead at the break and finished the spree with a 4-yard TD pass to Jaeden Graham early in the fourth. In between, Salter had pair of short TD runs.

The Big Red (0-2, 0-1) scored on Harold Coles' 90-yard run and Dalton Banks' 57-yard pass play to James Hubbard to get within 35-24 before Salter added an 82-yard touchdown run and Dudek a 14-yarder. Dudek finished with 173 yards on 16 carries and Salter added 143 on 12 for the Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0).

Hayden Carlson scored Yale's first points with a 19-yard interception return.

Cornell's Dalton Banks was 26-of-45 passing for 272 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted twice. Eric Gallman II made nine catches for 97 yards, breaking Keith Ferguson's freshman single-game record of 94 yards set in 1999. Coles finished with 101 of Cornell's 114 yards rushing.