The football team pulled off an upset today, defeating the No. 19 Alfred University Saxons 42-25 on Saturday at Butterfield Stadium.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Bombers, who have been nothing short of impressive since losing to No. 6 St. John Fisher College on Sept. 22. Since then, Ithaca has scored 35 points in each game and at least 40 in their last three.

Senior running back Alex Baez said the Blue and Gold are clicking especially well late in the season.

“We’re just gelling and playing as a unit and taking what the defense gives us,” Baez said. “We’re supposed to win. I expect it because it’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Baez carried the ball for 109 yards on only six carries for a staggering 18.2 yard per carry average. Most of his yardage came on a 71-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the second half, which put Ithaca on top 21-14.

Junior quarterback Dan Juvan accounted for most of the day’s scoring, throwing a career high four touchdown passes and amassing 296 yards passing. The Bombers punished Alfred’s defense, burning the Saxons with long passes over the middle for three scores. Juvan’s main target was senior wide receiver Brian Hogan, whom he hit twice for touchdown passes of 15 and 59 yards. With his two touchdown catches today, Hogan has pulled in five touchdowns in just the last two games and eight on the season. He led the team today with eight receptions for 147 yards.

“They were playing a lot of cover, and we tried to take advantage of that,” Hogan said. “[Juvan] was just throwing the ball great today;it was the most accurate I’ve ever seen him. He’s been finding the open receiver and it’s just been me the past couple weeks.”

The Bomber defense came up huge today, as the secondary held Alfred quarterback Paul Keeley, the Empire 8 leader in passing touchdowns and completion percentage, in check. Though Keeley amassed 274 yards through the air on 53 attempts, the Bombers were able to stop him before he made a huge impact. Junior linebacker John Scanlon said containing Keeley was the key on defense.

“[Keeley] is phenomenal,” said Scanlon. “He’s going to make his plays regardless. We just started bringing pressure off the edges more in the second half and once we did that we were able to stay in coverage.”

The defense also played extraordinarily against the run, holding Vinson Hendrix, who leads the Empire 8 in rushing with 135.4 yards per game, to just 62 yards on 20 carries. The Bomber defense held Alfred as a team to 91 yards on the ground and continued what has been a stellar run.

“It’s just another step forward,” said Scanlon. “We’ve been on a hell of a roll since the Fisher game.”

The big win gives renewed life to the Bombers playoff hopes. A win against SUNY-Cortland at Cortaca Jug, at noon Saturday at Butterfield Stadium, may be just enough to get the Bombers into the postseason.