Behind a dominating defensive effort and an explosive offensive performance, the Case Western Reserve University football team opened its 2024 campaign with a 41-7 win over Waynesburg University in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon.

CWRU, which outgained the Yellow Jackets 489-184 in the game, improved to 1-0 on the year with the win, while Waynesburg dropped to 0-1.

Senior quarterback Alex Fromberg completed 24-of-29 pass attempts for 269 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while running for an additional 18 yards with a score. He found senior wide receiver Noah Coyne eight times for 74 yards and a score.

Defensively, junior linebacker Henry Busch led the squad with eight tackles, including one tackle for loss, while graduate student defensive lineman Kaden Tong added seven tackles. Junior cornerback Osi Chukwuocha picked off a pass in the third quarter, the second interception of his career.

The Spartans ran for 186 yards and passed for 303 on Saturday while allowing just 37 rushing yards and 147 passing yards in the contest.

After Waynesburg ate just over seven minutes off the clock on the opening drive of the game before punting from the CWRU 28-yard line, the Spartans spent the rest of the first quarter driving down the field to set up a goal line touchdown run by Fromberg early in the second quarter. CWRU's defense held the Yellow Jackets to just five yards on four drives through the rest of the half, while the Spartans reached the end zone on each of their final three drives of the frame to take a 27-0 lead into the break. Fromberg accounted for two more of the scores, connecting with senior running back Sean-Michael James on a 12-yard pass to extend the lead to 13-0 with 10:08 to play in the period and Coyne on a nine-yard pass with 4:21 left, making it a 20-0 CWRU lead.

CWRU outgained Waynesburg 252-54 in the first half of the game.

The Spartans added a touchdown midway through the third quarter when first-year quarterback Jake Kavcic, playing in his first-career game, completed a seven-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Jack Bryer to give CWRU a 34-0 lead with 8:50 left in the third, and a three-yard touchdown run by junior Stefan Lopez extended the Spartans' lead to 41-0 with 11:15 left in the fourth.  The Yellow Jackets were held scoreless by the Spartan offense until early in the fourth quarter when the Yellow Jackets broke up the shutout with a 79-yard catch-and-run to make the score 41-7 with 10:31 left.

As a team, CWRU converted four of seven third-down chances and both of its fourth-down attempts of fourth down during the game. The Spartans' offensive line was stellar in the game, not allowing a sack in the contest and surrendering just a pair of tackles for loss.

The Spartans will return home to Cleveland for their first game at DiSanto Field this season, hosting Bethany College on Saturday, September 14 at 7:00 p.m.

Spartan Notes

• Saturday's game was the Spartans' 19th win in their last 20 season-opening games and the fifth-straight time that CWRU has won its season-opening game on the road.

• The victory was the team's ninth-consecutive win over Waynesburg, as CWRU improved to 9-1 all-time against the Yellow Jackets.

• CWRU dominated time of possession on Saturday, holding the ball for 34:58 compared to 25:02 for the Yellow Jackets.

• In a matchup of the least penalized team (CWRU) and the most penalized team (Waynesburg) in the PAC last season, form held on Saturday with the Spartans committing just four penalties (two of which were on the same play) for 26 yards, while Waynesburg finished with seven penalties for 81 yards.