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The Game

The Bulldogs dominated the Crimson 24-3 on Saturday to claim the outright Ivy League Championship.

Harvard came out in the first quarter with a solid offensive game plan to spread the field and get the ball in Shelton-Mosley’s hands as often as possible.  The Crimson were able to march into Yale territory before our defense stiffened and held them to just a field goal.  That would be Harvard’s lone score of the afternoon.

Harvard’s defense found a way to slow Dudek, but committing the resources to stop Dudek left the Harvard secondary vulnerable.  Rawlings threw a few shaky passes early in the contest, but was able to settle down and finished the day an efficient 18/27 for 177 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.  In comparison, Harvard’s two quarterbacks threw for a meager 138 yards combined, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.  Shohfi, Drwal, Siragusa and Williams-Lopez had clutch performances at the receiver position.  Shohfi’s 46 yard reception followed by his spectacular touchdown grab were easily the offensive highlights of the game.  The offensive line was fantastic in pass protection giving Rawlings just enough time to deliver strikes.  Harvard would only sack Rawlings twice in the contest.

The muddy conditions of the field turned the game into a defensive chess match.  Harvard QB Jake Smith caused two turnovers on option plays with his wild pitches at the worst moments.  One of the fumbles was picked up by Malcolm Dixon and returned 19 yards for a touchdown.  Hunter Roman fell on the second fumble to set up Yale in Crimson territory.  The Bulldog defense battered Smith for three quarters, before Tim Murphy decided to yank Smith for his Senior QB Joe Viviano.  Viviano’s first series would end in a turnover on downs, his second series would end with a Carlson interception and his third series would end in a Henson interception.  It was a senior sack affair on Saturday.  Oplinger topped off his stellar career with another two sacks, Herubin added one and a half sacks, Oluokun and Carlson each had one sack and Chism finished with half a sack.  Awodiran was all over the field and will be a cornerstone of the linebackers next season.  This was truly a team effort on defense with too many contributors to list them all.  This Yale defense will go down in history as one of the greatest in the conference.

Kyle Mullen has been elected captain of next year’s squad.  We will be posting our post-season awards and a look ahead to the future in the coming days.

For God, For Country and For Yale

2017 Ivy League Champions

8 replies on “The Game”

Congratulations to Mullen, a great choice for captain. Looking forward to team 146 defending the title.

Someone please look into the condition of the turf in the Bowl. Is it time to get away from natural grass?

Captain Kyle great choice. Eli’s brought back pride back to New Haven. Already looking forward to 2018.
To Ray YALE FOOTBALL FAN you were missed. God Bless ya.

Was Reed Klubnik injured the last couple of games? I don’t believe he played against Princeton or Harvard.

Is it true the team practices in the bowl twice a week? If so all the more reason to install turf.
The field was really bad, sand and seed in large uneven divots, grey dormant grass with no roots. I met a few sentmentalists defending the grass surface for the bowl. Even they couldn’t defend conditions Saturday. Turf it and use it….the money is there.

I agree. Install the field turf and along with it the practice bubble. Do it now. It would be a perfect ending to Beckett’s transformational tenure. I understand the money has already been budgeted. It’s just being held up by some nutty professor who is trying to make a name for himself with unsubstantiated claims that field turf causes cancer. Playing five games a year on the field turf isn’t going to hurt anyone. Playing on a muddy slippery field filled with divets is what’s risking player safety.

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