Holy Cross Notes

The Bulldogs defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders on Saturday in a tough 38-28 contest that earned Coach Cahill his first win as Yale’s head coach. While the opening-week victory gives the squad something to build on, the film reveals plenty of issues that need to be ironed out before conference play ramps up.

Quarterback Reno put together a massive performance under center, taking heavy punishment from blitzes yet finishing 30-of-43 for 454 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions. His primary targets put up video-game numbers: Santiago hauled in 12 catches for 234 yards and two touchdowns (including a 75-yard house call), while Anderson added nine receptions for 155 yards and two scores. Tight ends also came up clutch when it mattered most, with Smith hauling in a key 28-yard touchdown reception and Wagner hanging onto the football through a punishing hit.

However, the rest of the offense left a lot to be desired. Kemp continues to struggle with drops at wide receiver, and the rushing attack was virtually nonexistent, managing just 70 net yards on 30 carries (a 2.3 yards-per-carry average). HDK and Adams split the carries and both are exceptional runners in space and great receiving threats but lack the power and vision to be inside rushing threats. The offensive line had a tough day across the board: pass protection leaked, run blocking was stagnant, and the unit struggled to pick up blitzes. Penalties and mental mistakes stalled drives, highlighted by a holding call on Lewis, a mauling of St. Aubyn that led to a sack, a false start by McGown, and an offense that managed just 3 rushing first downs and 3 penalty first downs all afternoon, going 7-of-16 on third down and losing the time of possession battle (29:34 to 30:26).

Defensively, Yale was pushed around and struggled to find consistent containment. The secondary had bright spots as Schmidt led the team with 10 tackles despite not earning a starting spot, Daniyan added eight tackles and a game-sealing interception, Kamara was very active in run and pass support and displayed some of the best tackling of the day, and Webster played well in coverage albeit with a penalty. Grant flashed ability but missed too many open-field stops, while Schutzman struggled to generate production or defeat blockers and suffered a costly gaffe when a punt bounced off him.

Up front, the defensive line was heavily neutralized. Tackles Fadeyibi and Tate—the latter not officially listed on the roster at #94—along with Austin and Johnson, performed well below expectations at defensive tackle, while freshman Ohakawa saw brief action in reserve. Jackson Bass was up-and-down, and Cave failed to maintain outside containment or generate a consistent pass rush. While Hutton made the defensive play of the day with a strip-sack that Yale unfortunately failed to recover, Coleman has not yet evolved into a true game-wrecker.

The numbers tell the story: Holy Cross’s top back gashed the defense for 120 yards, while their powerful backup repeatedly shrugged off weak arm-tackles and threw a touchdown. Eastep still proved to be a liability with poor angles in pursuit and a penalty, though he did have solid coverage late in the contest. It remains an odd configuration that Daniyan and Schmidt have to split time at free safety when you want your top tacklers on the field in a 5-DB array. Still, the defense did hold Holy Cross to 153 yards passing and under 50% completion (17-for-40).

Special teams also had a messy afternoon, featuring a blocked field goal, a bad punt snap (or a failed fake attempt?), though Pandolfi provided a top highlight with a crushing block on a kickoff. Has Pandolfi’s explosiveness been overlooked by the offensive coaches?

It was a very forgiving first opponent, but the mistakes need to be cleaned up in a hurry. Special teams, blocking assignments, and fundamental tackling must improve drastically this week if the Bulldogs expect to secure a win against Cornell.