The Bulldogs survived a shootout versus the Quakers on Saturday edging Penn 46-41.
Kurt Rawlings was in peak form throwing for 388 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 67 yards and two touchdowns. Klubnik and Shohfi were unstoppable hauling in a combined 20 receptions for 349 yards and two touchdowns. The offensive line had one of its better showings to date giving Rawlings time in the pocket, allowing only one sack and paving the way for Dudek to run for 97 yards. Strother was back in the lineup at center sporting an arm brace. Lamar had a quiet day out of the backfield, but did make a fantastic grab over his outside shoulder in the first half on a critical drive. The tight ends were a non-factor in the passing game, yet had key blocks on many of Dudek’s runs. This was the Yale offense that fans were salivating over in the pre-season and if we keep improving, it’s going to be tough for opposing defenses to slow us down.
While the offense was firing on all cylinders, the same could not be said for the defense. Penn QB Nick Robinson completed 30 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns. Robinson had averaged just under 214 passing yards per game entering the contest, but he was able to exploit the soft coverages of Yale’s secondary in a career day. Yale’s pass rush was a huge improvement from what we saw over the last two weeks generating pressure and hard hits on Robinson. Robinson showed toughness in the pocket as he hung onto the ball as long as possible to give his receivers time to outrun our defensive backs. The run defense was strong limiting Penn’s star running back to just 72 yards on 20 carries. Reid Nickerson, Oso Ifesinachukwu, Josh Keeler, Tate Goodyear and Christian Sampleton were the standouts along the defensive line. Ryan Burke, John Dean and Micah Awodiran had solid outings at linebacker. Rodney Thomas was still out of the lineup with sophomore Brian Abraham filling his role. Abraham showed progression from his performance versus Richmond, but the potential return of Thomas will be crucial in our final two showdowns. The secondary with freshman Brandon Benn manning the free safety position struggled to contain Penn’s top two receiving threats in Cragun and Starkey. Cragun finished the day with 13 receptions for 208 yards, while Starkey added 5 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. Shoring up the secondary over the final four games must be the focus of the Yale coaching staff to stay in the hunt for a title.
Tuckerman was four for five on extra point attempts, while Bosman averaged 35.5 yards per punt over four attempts. Rouse had an exciting 21 yard punt return showing off the elite quickness and agility that earned him the job.
21 replies on “Penn Notes”
What has happened to Dathan Hickey? He was suited but I did not see him play. Think he is a superior option to Benn at safety.
Guys we won sat nice win for the blue.Now comes the truth I tell it like it is. We played ok both ways sat but the DB were no where insight.To much yardage in the air.Going to be a big problem down the road.One other thing do you notice we play good against teams that have about the same talent as we do. and have trouble against a team like Dartmouth. What does this mean we might win sat against Columbia or not.I see one more win maybe brown i hope.We gave up to many points against penn the DB where out to lunch this has to stop. The teams remaining will have a field day against our defense if this is not taken care of.
Yale coaches successfully addressed issues with the offensive line after their Richmond game. The result was only one sack allowed and nearly 100 yards on the ground for Dudek with 3 rushing touchdowns. I’m confident that the coaches will make the necessary adjustments this week in the Secondary.
Richmond and Dartmouth by far had the best Defensive Lines Yale has faced this year. I am not sure how much was actually fixed as our Line had superior talent last weekend and it showed. We match up favorably this Saturday as well and I expect a positive outcome again. Secondary is more of a concern as I have not seen the ability of our staff to make the needed game time adjustments to protect against the deep ball. Another shootout is the likely outcome this week.
Maybe it isn’t the coaching so much as not having gifted DBs. If you don’t have the talent, there isn’t much you can do.
Guys, how about an updated recruits list?
Only two home games left to see the great Rawlings play.
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2019/10/30/football-rawlings-rewrites-record-books/
I know that Rawlings is a warrior and tough as nails. At the same time to be objective, I have not seen him play well against elite teams ie poor games against Dartmouth the past two years. I see the same thing with the Penn running back, Brooks. Racks up big stats against lower-middle tier teams but not against elite teams. I will probably get a reaction by others on this board for saying this, but these are facts.
I guess you missed the Maine game last year.
I should have clarified that I meant elite Ivy teams. If you looks at Rawlings career he has only performed well in one game against The elite teams in the league – Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth.
well he beat Princeton in a come back game in ’17 and beat Harvard a few weeks later
Rawlings played well against Harvard in 2016 and Dartmouth in 2017. You certainly couldn’t fault him for the loss that day against Dartmouth.
Rawlings is 0-3 against Big Green
1-1 against Princeton
2-0 against Cantabs he did not play against P’ton and Harvard last year broken leg. So I say your wrong Big O,
Dart mouth has had the upper hand But he still has one more upper tier team to play against . And it’s not Harvard either.
So he is 3-4 vs top teams. And very likely he will end up being 3-6 by the end of the season. I am not bashing the kid – he is a great leader, has incredible mental and physical toughness. But take a look at his stats and team performance against H-P-D over his 4 years. Would say the same thing about Brooks at Penn.
To Observer: Justin Verlander is 0-6 with a 5.68 ERA in seven career starts in World Series games. Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw’s lack of success in the post season is well known. They are both headed to the baseball hall of fame. Not difficult to find unexceptional performances from exceptional talent. So what’s your point.
My point is Rawlings does not perform well against top competition in the Ivy League and neither does the supposed rip RB in the league from Penn. That’s all. Stats and record speaks for itself. I love his toughness and leadership and it’s evident his teammates and coaches love him. There could be some debate that O’Connor has more talent than Rawlings.
What concerns me about this week’s game is that Al Bagnoli always gives Yale a hard time, whether at Penn where he had the horses or at Columbia were he has not.
Big O ,when I read your posts , I always think of the Rolling Stones , Sympathy for the Devil. But that’s my opinion of you.
Rawlings is a great player, with a winning record. 2 wins against Harvard . Hopefully make it another at the Yale Bowl in the last game of his career.
Love number 6, #sunshine. He brings so much more to the team than stats.
Speaking of recruits, looks like Michael Leone outta THE HUN SCHOOL has and offer from Maryland. He is very interested in the Terps….
No worries J+, Yale already has 4 OLinemen not including Leone who are committed. around 5-6 are chomping at the bit to commit as well, if Leone vacates his spot, I can assure you that his position will almost immediately be filled. Yale has a knack for securing OLinemen who are ready to contribute early.