MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – It only took three offensive plays for the University of Chicago football team to score its first touchdown, and the Maroons rolled from that point on in a dominating 56-7 victory over Cornell College on Saturday.

UChicago (4-2 overall, 2-0 MWC South) has now outscored four Midwest Conference opponents by a combined total of 168-23 this year. The Rams dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the MWC South Division.

The run game proved most potent, as the visitors rolled up 440 rushing yards on 57 carries for a robust 7.7 yards per carry. With the Maroons consistently gashing big runs, they only threw the ball 11 times on the afternoon. On the other side of the line, UChicago's defense limited Cornell to 100 total rushing yards on 33 carries (3.0 YPC).

The last time UChicago racked up more than 400 rushing yards in a game was against Beloit College (458 yards) on October 20, 2018.

Vittorio Tricase was the biggest performer with a career-high 143 yards on only seven carries (20.4 yards per carry). The junior running back also scored three touchdowns. Fellow junior Mike Martinson posted nine carries for 90 yards and a touchdown of his own. First-year Greg Asare (53 yards), junior Riley Trettel (52 yards) and sophomore Matthew Nagler (45 yards) also contributed to the rushing attack.

UChicago scored on its opening four possessions of the game to go up 28-0 in the first quarter. Then the visitors tallied four-straight touchdown drives between the second and third quarters. Senior quarterback Marco Cobian opened things up with a 57-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Caden Kalinowski.

The Rams' next possession ended in a punt, which Martinson fielded on his own 27-yard line and returned 59 yards into Cornell's red zone. Two plays later, Tricase rolled into the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown to put his squad ahead 14-0.

It was then Martinson's turn to shine in the run game as he setup his own three-yard touchdown run with a 43-yard gain on the play before.

Cornell made a big push near the end of the first quarter, reaching UChicago's two-yard line. However, the Maroons came up clutch at the goal line, denying the hosts on four-straight plays. Senior linebacker Henry Winebrake dropped the quarterback for a two-yard loss on a run play and three-straight incompletions kept Cornell off the scoreboard.

A mere two plays later, Tricase flew past the defense for a 95-yard touchdown rush to make the score 28-0.

Midway through the second quarter, Cobian was intercepted in the end zone. But on the very next UChicago drive, another long Martinson return allowed Tricase to score once again, this time on a one-yard scamper.

With one minute left in the half, Cobian hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Zack Olson for a 40-yard touchdown. The Rams broke up the shutout 30 seconds later with a 13-yard touchdown pass.

The second half continued UChicago's scoring barrage on the opening two drives. Trettel posted a 17-yard rushing touchdown, and Nagler closed out the scoring with a 13-yard burst into the end zone.

The Maroons effectively moved the sticks, converting 8 of 12 on third down compared to 5 of 16 by the Rams.

Cobian finished 8 of 10 passing for 132 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Kalinowski led the receiving corps with 66 yards on two catches.

On defense, junior linebacker Graham Repp led the way with nine tackles and two sacks on the day. Junior cornerback Ryan Montgomery added one sack of his own. Winebrake added four tackles, one forced fumble and one tackle for loss. Sophomore linebacker Josh Godosky posted seven tackles.

NEXT GAME:

• Saturday, Nov. 2 @ 1:00 PM – Monmouth College at UChicago