Yale wins 800th game, 42-6

Saturday, September 16th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ Yale became the first school to win 800 football games as Rashad Bartholomew scored three touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 201 yards in a 42-6 victory over Dayton on Saturday.

``We're part of history now,'' Bartholomew said. ``It means a lot. We'll be able to look back and say we beat Michigan and everybody else.''

The Bulldogs (1-0) reached the milestone with third-ranked Michigan next with 798 wins going into Saturday's game against UCLA.

The game ball carrying every team members' name will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame on Monday, Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said.

``That's a very special thing for these kids to have,'' Siedlecki said.

Yale played and won its first game on Nov. 16, 1872, 3-0 against Columbia, with each team playing 20 players at a time.

Yale junior Peter Lee made his first start and threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

Yale also gained 355 yards on the ground against the Flyers (2-1). Bartholomew led the charge, slipping Dayton tacklers all afternoon. He scored from 25 yards out to give Yale its opening touchdown with less than four minutes gone in the game. He also had scores of 40 and 10 yards.

Lee threw TD passes of 8 and 12 yards to Eric Johnson and Tommy McNamara, respectively. Reserve tailback Jay Schulze capped the Bulldogs' scoring with a 2-yard run in the final five minutes of the game.

Dayton never threatened. The Flyers opened the season with wins over Division II and III opponents, but the defending Ivy League champs dominated Saturday.

``We didn't face a lot of adversity,'' Siedlecki said. ``They weren't huge and I think we wore them down.''

The Bulldogs specials teams also made an impact. Leading 14-0, Yale had fourth-and-3 late in the second quarter and opted for a fake punt. Senior linebacker Peter Mazza took the snap for a 20-yard gain to the Dayton 25. Lee connected with McNamara six plays later to give the Bulldogs a 21-0 lead with 16 seconds left in the half.

``That was a critical play. We should have expected that,'' Dayton coach Mike Kelly said. ``Our momentum would have been a little different going into halftime.''

The Bulldogs held Dayton to 127 total yards. A trio of Flyers quarterbacks completed just three passes on 14 attempts for 26 yards.

The Flyers haven't been shut out since 1976. They preserved that streak with a 36-yard touchdown run by Jermaine Bailey with 13:37 left in the fourth quarter. Dayton has played 269 games without being shut out.