Just a few months ago, Anthony Ambrosi probably couldn’t have guessed that his first touchdown as a varsity player would come out of the hands of Yale’s quarterback. The junior safety was the starting tailback as a freshman on the junior varsity squad and saw time on the special teams units as a sophomore, but knew an opportunity when he saw it.

“It was really a spur of the moment decision,” Ambrosi said of his conversion to safety. “Coming into training camp, I had no thought of playing defense, but a few days into camp, the running backs coach pulled all the running backs aside and told us ... that there was opportunity on the defensive side of the ball, maybe a better shot to get on the field. As a junior, I really just wanted to get on the field and contribute to the team, so I hopped on the opportunity.”Answering the call: Senior safety Frank Morand (22) left Cornell’s season opener against Bucknell on Sept. 27 with a knee injury, paving the way for Anthony Ambrosi, a former tailback, to fill in for him.

Defensive coordinator and safeties coach Clayton Carlin liked what he saw from Ambrosi. Fast-forward to last Saturday; in his first career start at safety, Ambrosi nabbed an interception from Bulldog quarterback Patrick Witt and returned it 20 yards for the deciding score in Cornell’s 14-12 win over Yale. Cornell’s defense shone brightly in the win, containing the Yale offense for just 296 yards. The Red secondary held Witt to 180 yards on 21-of-54 pass attempts, and grabbed three interceptions, all in the second half and all by Cornell safeties. In addition to his pick-six, Ambrosi broke up three passes, twice on third downs.

“We knew every time we stepped on the field that we had to execute,” Ambrosi said. “We looked inward in the second quarter when we realized the offense was struggling moving the ball and said ‘hey guys, if they’re not going to score it looks like we’re going to have to.’”

And score Ambrosi did, putting Cornell up, 14-6, with 6:18 to play in the third quarter. Witt partially redeemed himself against the Cornell defense later in the game, leading the Bulldogs down the field on a 12-play, 47-yard drive with just 1:35 to play that set up the potential tying two-point conversion. But Ambrosi and the defense held firm when it mattered most, stifling the Bulldogs’ conversion attempt and cementing the win, Cornell’s second upset in two years over the Bulldogs and its first road Ivy win since 2005.

Ambrosi blitzed numerous times against Yale, picking up two tackles for loss but no quarterback sacks. Although he never got to the quarterback, Ambrosi realized that Witt was relying on short one- and three-step drop-backs, and took advantage for the interception. Ambrosi’s pick might have been the play of the game on Saturday, and Carlin is giving the safety all the credit.

“He just played it well,” Carlin said. “He read the quarterback’s eyes, I don’t think the quarterback ever saw him. He caught the ball well, took it right out of the air. And then he was gone after that. It was a simple three-deep coverage that executed very well.”

Although it’s a small sample of games, Ambrosi doesn’t seem to be having too many problems adjusting to his new position. The 5-9, 198-pounder played outside linebacker and defensive back in high school and prep school, so he had some experience on the defensive side of the ball.

“We try to get the right people in the right positions,” Carlin said. “We thought he was a guy that could help us from the safety position, not that he wasn’t doing well at tailback. He could get to the field a little bit quicker and help the team a little bit sooner at the safety position.”

The move proved wise almost immediately, as senior safety Frank Morand left the game against Bucknell with a knee injury that will keep him out for at least a couple of weeks, according to Carlin. A potentially season-ending injury to the starting strong safety seems like an exploitable hole in a defense, but with Ambrosi showing big-play potential at his new position, the Red secondary can rest a little easier.

“[Ambrosi] got better as the game went on Saturday,” Carlin said. “He was a little hesitant at first and he got faster and faster as the game went on as he got more comfortable.”