The Bulldogs defeated the Lions 37-30 on Saturday to improve to 4-3, the first winning record that Yale has posted since Week 3. The Ivy League Championship race is still wide open and the Bulldogs can claim a share of the title with a strong 3-0 finish to the season.
Nolan Grooms spearheaded a stellar offensive effort that generated 421 total yards and 4 touchdowns. Grooms finished 20 of 29 for 279 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air and added another 40 net rushing yards. With Dudek still out with an injury, Alston had a career day with 116 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns as well as a receiving touchdown. The offensive line shook off some early struggles against Columbia’s talented front seven and played particularly well in the second half. Tipton and Rouse have established themselves as one of the most dynamic receiving duos in the Ivy League combining for 191 receiving yards. Nenad and Carrington both had key catches, while the tight ends Hawes and Howland kept the Lion’s secondary guessing with 7 combined receptions. Our offense seems to have hit a stride at the perfect time as we will face 3 high-flying offenses to finish the season.
While the offense has improved under Groom’s leadership, the defensive performance has declined considerably over the last few weeks. Columbia’s Ryan Young rushed for 92 yards (5.4 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns including a 60-yard scamper. The defensive line and linebackers were not plugging gaps efficiently and when backs broke into the secondary, our corners and safeties had trouble making tackles. Columbia’s quarterback Joe Greene was held to just a 50% completion rate on 44 attempts, but too often we witnessed Columbia’s receivers getting behind our defenders. Across the board from Dean to Owens, there were coverage lapses that need to be corrected in a hurry. The defense has shown tremendous resiliency in the fourth quarters of the last two contests to secure victories, but we will require a consistently dominant performance over the next three weeks squaring off against the league’s best quarterback at Brown, the league’s top offensive unit at Princeton and the league’s most talented offensive roster at home versus Harvard.
Errors in our special teams units including a bad snap and a missed PAT placed our defense in poor field position and contributed greatly to the early deficit. On the other hand, Rouse’s 86-yard punt return for a touchdown near the end of the second quarter along with the successful 2-point attempt seemed to shift the momentum in the contest. Special teams could be the deciding factor in the hunt for an Ivy League title, so continued improvement in this area will be vital to our chances.
22 replies on “Notes on the Win over Columbia”
How about the the pooch kick-offs which routinely gave great field position to Columbia???
Does Brown have an All-American punt/kick off returner named Roussos on the roster? Is there going to be a cold, wet weather feild? Do you know the on field performance status of the kick off team? Is there anything you know that makes the pouch kick decision during the game, not a good decision? The point is, you have no knowledge about the the decision.making process that goes into the kicking game, do you?
I know Yale would have been better off just kicking it out of bounds.
Neither do you , do you.? Or you wouldn’t be writing about it.
Pouch kick, kick you in the pouch
Kick the dang ball out of the endzone.!!
I don’t know that pouch kicking was the best choice. Therefore I do not question that choice. That decision should be left to those in the know, not anonymous.
Yah Commonsense is a terrible thing to waste. Especially on someone like you, and the other guy. So stop posting Mrs. Reno.
Kick the ball out of the end zone? Could you guarantee that the kicker could do that? The ball was wet and heavy, the weather was cold, the wind was unpredictable. Are you sure that if your kicker did not kick it out of bounds that better field position was guaranteed? I don’t have superior knowledge of the game time status of the kicking team. Neither do you. In this case, I don’t question that which I don’t know. Yale won. Can anyone do better?
Columbia was kicking in the same conditions and they managed just fine. I could kick the ball out of bounds guaranteed. What are you talking about?
Yes
Son Of Eli , is the one I listen too.
Son of Eli, what number are you on the Yale team? Not on the team? Then you could not kick anything out of bounds, because you are not eligible.
And that is the point, it is not what you could do (hypothetically), but what the reality that coaches have to deal with to make decisions about the kicking game. You don’t know, so just state the facts. Yale won and they didn’t need your 2 cents to do it. Go Yale!
Pffffffffff that’s your ball loosing air. Take it and go home. Agree Go Bulldogs.!! Other wise you suck eggs
Yes, Yale won. That doesn’t mean they did everything right. The pooch kick-offs was a flawed strategy that resulted in Columbia starting their drives at their 4o or more three times. That is something that needs to be cleaned up on special teams in addition to the bad punt snap and missed PAT.
“Columbia was kicking in the same conditions and they managed just fine.”
Realy? What Yale kicking team player could run down Roussos on a return? Name him. Not Son of Eli or Anonymous that’s for sure.
Coach Reno made a decision to pooch kick based upon his knowledge of his offense, defense and kicking team. How simple are you people? Yale won. Could you do better? I agree with not kicking to Roussos and if you pooch kick there is a chance to recover a fumbled return. You have no idea what the process was to reach the decision to pooch kick, so stop complaining and criticising that decision. By saying that Columbia had no problem kicking it out of the endzone and comparing it to Yale’s kicking team without addressing the Roussos personnel issue, you really dont defend the anti pooch decision you espouse for the Columbia game decisions. Go Yale! Beat Brown!
Roussos returned 5 punts Saturday for a total of 19 yards. The punt team had no problem containing him. Should Yale have pooched punted too?
Here’s the thing, if it was kicked out of the endzone. You wouldn’t have to chase anyone. So you just proofed the theory.
Now I know you really know very little about football. Sorry to interupt your fantasy.
That’s very funny, that’s what your Mommy just said to me about you. !! Bring home some English muffins and bacon.
Kinda hungry, after taking care of her. ?
You’re the king, right?
The King of Idiots and nonsense