It was wonderful to finally be back at the Bowl on Saturday after over 600 days without Bulldog football in our lives. The crowd was thin even for an opening contest against an out-of-conference opponent with the official attendance listed at just 3,987 people.
Ultimately, the play of the offensive line and quarterbacks was simply not enough to overcome an experienced and talented opponent in Holy Cross. The last thing that we wanted to do was to leave the game in the hands of Holy Cross’ kicker and that’s exactly how the fourth quarter unfolded. With a stagnant offense in the second half, the defense had to play perfectly to pull out a win and Holy Cross was able to find holes in the Bulldogs’ defense to keep the clock moving and sway the momentum that Yale once had in the first half.
Offensively, the Bulldogs came out flat to start the first quarter and seemed understandably rusty from not playing football last season. Wide receivers were not creating enough separation, the offensive line was not establishing a dominant run-game and O’Connor’s initial throws were not on target. O’Connor would settle down in the second quarter finding tight end Jackson Hawes on a 19-yard touchdown reception and tight end JJ Howland on a 74-yard touchdown scamper. Nolan Grooms showed off his mobility in the third quarter leading a Yale drive that would result in a field goal. The Holy Cross front seven would eventually wear down the Bulldog’s offensive line leading to stalled drives and missed opportunities. The offensive line did not play with the level of physicality needed to control the line of scrimmage on running plays and communication was poor on passing downs with blitzers roaming free in the backfield. Down 17-14 with under a minute left, O’Connor forced an errant pass into coverage resulting in an easy game-sealing interception for Holy Cross. O’Connor would finish the contest at 15 of 29 passing attempts for 234 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Grooms was 3 for 3 through the air with 25 yards rushing. Dudek had a rather pedestrian day for his standards with 69 yards rushing on 15 attempts. JJ Howland led the Bulldogs in receiving yards with 103 yards on 3 receptions. The offense will need to regroup this week in practice to correct the mental errors and develop the blueprints for sustainable drives that will win the time of possession battle.
The defense for the most part played up to expectations and seemed to be more game-ready than the offense. Holy Cross was limited on third down conversions to just 2 of 11 attempts, however the Crusaders were still able to average 5.8 yards per play including 4.8 yards per rush. Holy Cross’ advantage of having three games under their belt certainly helped their efficiency in the second half when it appeared that the Yale defense began to tire. The Crusaders’ veteran offensive line was able to clear wide running paths for their mobile quarterback and trio of talented running backs. Sluka finished with 85 yards net rushing and 2 touchdowns. Aside from a 63-yard passing play from Holy Cross, the secondary was a bright spot in this contest with corners typically blanketing receivers and the safeties displaying much improved angle tackling to limit big plays. Captain John Dean had the best outing for a Bulldog defender with 11 tackles and crucial stops on 3rd and 4th downs. The defensive line must do a better job at creating penetration this week to allow the linebackers to plug the inside gaps. The secondary needs to keep up the physical level of play while limiting mental errors.
Bosman was 1 of 2 on field goal attempts missing a 52-yarder in the third quarter and making a 47-yarder in the fourth quarter to tie the contest. Bosman also averaged 40.8 yards per punt with a long of 52 yards. Rouse struggled in his punt return duties with mental mistakes that we expect him to clean up this week with the coaching staff. Tre Peterson had an average outing as kick returner with 3 returns for 64 yards.
8 replies on “Notes on Loss to Holy Cross”
A 3 point loss to HC magnifies the missed opportunities and some coaching decisions which played a significant role in the outcome:
1. On 1sr drive, QB missed 3 receivers open for TD/1st downs inside the 10 and the drive ended up with 0 points
2. All plays for WB Grooms were RPO which HC called out – we should have allowed him to throw from the pocket as HC was stacking the box and crashing on edges
3. Attempted fake FG in Q3 we tried initially by placing our regular kicker #45 as a left footed was easily called out by HC and forced us to use one of our precious time outs in 2nd half…..need to place another player # posing a left footed if try this
4. We did not try to attack the middle of field with short dig or stop routes from the slot to keep the box cleaner for #33
5. Two WR went through warm ups (Lindley #20 from Westlake and Brunelle #3 from Notre Dame) but Yale parent told me held out for nagging injuries for Cornell – this could explain lack of plays in middle to move chains and keep HC honest in the box
6. ST coach should have coached ko returned on the last one to fair catch the ball…clock was our enemy and we need to save all time we could instead lost 8 seconds off clock and 7 yards of field position on the return….this and saving the to on that fake field goal, would have resulted in us having the ball at the 25 on that last drive with closer ~1:40 remaining which would have changed our playcalling.
7. Last two games vs Harvard and HC – we have been hashed up the middle as we have to improve on stopping run or we will be in trouble vs Dartmouth, Princeton and Harvard.
8. Good news is our kicking and ST look solid, and we have a very athletic looking squad so looking forward to seeing the improvements moving forward.
Congratulations to Yale’s Men’s Soccer for avenging their 2019 tournament loss by beating Boston College tonight 2-0.
Gentlemen; summary and comment by Mr. Y Alumni are fair and accurate. Was there a reason for the second and third string linebackers playing against the Crusaders on their final drive.
Yale not only scored the fewest points of any of the Ivy League teams last Saturday, but appeared to be the least prepared for the new season. Coaches take note.
While disappointed with the final score Holy Cross was arguably the best opponent of any of the ivy teams that played. As poorly as Yale played the only two opposing teams that would have had a chance to beat them on Saturday were Rhode Island and VMI. The offensive line had three interior lineman that never started a college football game. Griffin O’Connor missed several early passes to wide open receivers that likely would have put Yale in a position to put the game away early. Yale has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball and I expect them to rebound nicely the next couple of weeks. The Dartmouth game will be a better indicator of where Yale will likely be in the final standings.
The offensive line is young and inexperienced. Hopefully they can gel over the next couple games. Their ability to do so will be the biggest factor in the team’s success this year.
Saturday will be key to the success of this team. Biggest improvement will be from the Holy Cross game and how they perform against Cornell. Who always plays Yale tough.
Some one please tell me this.. We have eight or nine running backs some with 3 or 4 stars when are they going to play. Why stay with one back when the other team knows where the play is going..all the time Terrible play calling last sat.Dudek had no where to run except out side. Cahill have some new schemes put the QB under center use 2 backs throw passes to the backs out of the backfield misdirection plays not this boring offense you been using. Give the kids some thing to play with you better Cornell is waiting for you. I wonder how many Yale fans will come to the prison sat excuse me the yale bowl sat to see the game . A friend went to the game last sat and could not believe how many fans were there maybe 3.000 what a shame. He said it had a lot to do with V.Chun do and do not rules he heard that there going to start charging to take a crap soon. He done to not going anymore what a mess.What a disappointment she has been she has to be held accountable for what she has done to yale sports.Like everyone says you what fans to come to the games but with her in charge this will not happen. Maybe 2100 at the prison sat if the weather is good.Where is the Yale Football Association they should do something about this will they time will tell if not by 2025 football and other sports are done. RITE AID MAN