The first half at Cornell was a disaster on both sides of the ball. Offensively, Chapple was “ineffective” as the ILDN broadcasters put it and went 3/10 for 40 yards with 2 interceptions before being replaced by Tre Moore. Moore played decently aside from an ugly interception and a few misreads. On both second half scoring drives, Moore made smart decisions and showed off the accuracy coaches have been raving about since camp. Whenever momentum seemed to shift in Yale’s direction, it was disappointing that the offense continued to operate at the slow tempo pace allowing defenders to catch their breath. The RBs were not being effectively switched to keep defenses off balance trying to defend against Harris’ speed or the power of Salter/Rich. The O Line struggled to open running lanes and protect the QB once again. Center Karl Marback had a number of high snaps and Guard Jeho Chang blew two assignments resulting in a sack and a tackle for loss. The offensive line stepped up in the second half, but Yale just did not have the offensive gameplan in place to come back from the 24-3 halftime deficit.
Defensively, we witnessed the same struggles as we did a week ago against Colgate. The defensive line could not generate pressure on Cornell’s QB Dalton Banks in the first half leaving the secondary exposed. The corners and safeties were often a step too slow to break up the pass and had to settle for a touchdown saving tackle. The linebackers simply missed too many tackles to slow down the Big Red. It was nice to see Foye Oluokun out there playing OLB/Nickelback and he led the defense with 10 tackles, but appeared to suffer an injury in the fourth quarter so we hope he’s OK next week. CB Marquise Peggs also went down with an injury and Yale opted to move Alessi down to cornerback and bring in senior Brian Sykes at safety.
We have to give credit to Coach Paul Rice as the special teams units played solidly. With all of our talented receivers and backs, it might be time to give someone a shot at punt returning besides Alessi though. Alex Galland performed well and should have a great future here at Yale.
7 replies on “Thoughts on the Cornell Loss”
How can this happen? Imagine being in your fifth year as a coach, with a solid reputation for recruiting, and getting beaten badly by a second year coach with a team picked last or second to last in the Ivy League. In addition, Yale will be big underdogs in its next three games for a probable 0-5 record. And this freshman class was rated the best in the country for FCS schools. Can’t blame the Athletic Department with such good teams in basketball and hockey, a much improved team in baseball, an outstanding crew, and a national champion squash team.
Given what we’ve seen, heard and read over the past five years, my prediction is that the coordinators (defense, in particular) will be scapegoated and replaced, probably at the conclusion of the season. After all, it can’t possibly be The Head Guy’s fault.
It could be a good start, though. Certainly, the defensive scheme has been a weakness for years. No pressure on the QB, resulting in DB’s hung out to dry. And why, oh why, do the DB’s never look back for the ball once beaten on a route? If the WR is two steps behind you, and his eyes give away the fact that the ball is in the air, what does it hurt to turn and play the ball? Perhaps the pass was underthrown and you can get a pick out of it. Watching the WR make the catch accomplishes nothing. Someday, one of our DB’s is going to hit in the back of the helmet by an underthrown ball that he didn’t see coming!
Does anyone know anything about Sunday’s JV game? It would be interesting to hear how our highly touted freshmen acquitted themselves.
THEY LOST 22-8. I WATCHED THE FIRST AND SECOND QUARTERS. THE OFFENSE WAS BAD. BUT THE DEFENSE LOOKED GOOD. A DB ( # 14) RAN BACK AN INTERCEPTION ( APPROXIMATELY 90 YARDS ) FOR A TD JUST BEFORE HALF TIME. DANIEL JAMES AND BRONSON KRULL ANCHORED THE THE D LINE. BRENDAN MACPHEE AND JACK WESTAFER PLAYED WELL AS DEFENSIVE BACKS. I SAW ONLY A FEW PLAYS STARTING THE THIRD QUARTER.
Good to know James is healthy. I’m surprised he’s not in the varsity two-deep.
Submitted without comment:
Junior Varsity record under Coach Reno –
1-10.
vs. Milford: 1-3
vs. Brown: 0-3 (game coming up this Sunday)
vs. Harvard: 0-3
vs. Bridgton: 0-1
My son said this morning that Sundays JV game has been canceled