Things did not start out smoothly for the Bulldogs on Saturday in the home opener at the Bowl. Cornell came out fired up and Dalton Banks was able to drive down the field after numerous Yale mistakes. Yale missed key tackles and the secondary looked flat-footed until slowing down the Big Red in the red zone limiting them to just a field goal. Our offense was pushed around on the first series with unblocked defenders causing havoc in the backfield. Just as the situation seemed dire, our defense came alive causing a turnover on a tipped pass. Yale was truly a different team in the second half featuring a punishing defense and a balanced offense. Mullen, Tyler, Callender, Kissel and Crowle played well along the defensive front. By the end of the game, fans were unsure if Banks would even be able to stand up after all the hits he endured. One particular hit on Banks from Oplinger drew a flag from the officials, but seemed to be clean in real time. Agbeyegbe was tossed in the second half for a controversial targeting penalty and will be ineligible to play in the first half of next week’s game. Salter and Dudek both rushed for over 100 yards each, while Klubnik was the difference maker at receiver this week. Rawlings had a rough day throwing the ball as he went 10 for 17 for only 123 yards with a touchdown and interception. Williams-Lopez hauled in only two receptions for 30 yards and had a costly fumble. The offensive line struggled early on, but was able to make adjustments and wear out Cornell’s front seven by the third quarter.
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2 replies on “Thoughts on the Cornell Game”
I feel like not a lot was learned on Saturday. Yale beat a team they should have beaten. Both sides of the ball showed flashes of brilliance, and both sides also showed cause for concern. Overall, the good outweighed the bad, but the future is still uncertain depending upon which version of the squad shows up each week.
On the bright side, it seems that the injury situation is – to this point – dramatically improved over recent years; hopefully that will continue to be the case.
In general, there seems to be a feeling that potential is being realized, rather than wasted or lost. That’s a refreshing change of pace, and if it continues, Team 145 has the potential to be one that brings fond memories to the faithful in future years.
I hope we learned in the first half of the Cornell game that you can’t always expect to sling the ball a mile and assume someone in blue jersey will run under it and make the catch. Scoring was a cinch against Lehigh, and we may have believed it would be even easier against the team predicted to finish last in the IL.
Initially, Cornell ate us up with short, accurate passes, and we countered ineffectively with off-target bombs.
This is the most exciting bulldog team in ages. We’ve got a great OL and a lot of weapons. Let’s establish our dominance, get into a rhythm, and play smart.