December 14, 1991
ITHACA 34, Dayton 20
BRADENTON, Fla.—Ithaca captured its third national championship with a 34-20 win over Dayton in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl at Hawkins Stadium.
Junior fullback Jeff Wittman scored three touchdowns and finished with 159 yards rushing on a school playoff-record 30 carries. Wittman’s touchdown runs covered one, three and six yards.
Senior quarterback Todd Wilkowski completed 15 of 25 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdown passes went to senior split end Nick Ismailoff, who made 10 receptions for 193 yards.
The defense was equally impressive. In the second half, Ithaca did not allow a first down and yielded only 13 yards to the Dayton offense. Junior linebacker Billie Mays Jr. had 10 tackles and senior strong safety Joe Palladino picked off two passes and made nine tackles.
| Ithaca | 6 | 14 | 0 | 14 | - | 34 |
| Dayton | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | - | 20 |
UD — Hofacre 17 pass from Keller (Burns kick)IC — Wittman 1 run (kick failed)
UD — Burns 30 FG
UD — Alexander 9 run (Burns kick)
IC — Ismailoff 42 pass from Wilkowski (Sullivan kick)
IC — Wittman 3 run (Sullivan kick)
IC — Wittman 6 run (Sullivan kick)
UD — Burns 24 FG
IC — Ismailoff 32 pass from Wilkowski (Sullivan kick)
| Ithaca | Dayton |
| First Downs | 29 | 11 |
| Rushes-Yards | 65-296 | 37-135 |
| Passing Yards | 262 | 79 |
Passes
Att-Com-Int | 26-15-1 | 21-10-2 |
| Total Yards | 558 | 214 |
| Return Yards | 1 | 28 |
| Punts-Average | 3-37.8 | 7-38.7 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 5-3 | 2-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 2-22 | 3-38 |
Individual Leaders
| | | |
| Rushing | IC | - | Wittman 30-159;
Wilkowski 18-63;
Adams 10-51 |
| UD | - | Miller 11-55; Peterson 12-35 |
| Passing | IC | - | Wilkowski
25-15-1, 262 |
| UD | - | Keller
16-9-1, 71;
Daniels 5-1-1, 8 |
| Receiving | IC | - | Ismailoff 10-193;
Gamble 3-47; Slayton 2-22 |
| UD | - | Franks 3-24; Taylor 3-22 |
