Bucknell Notes

The Yale Bulldogs defeated the Bucknell Bison 29-9 on Saturday at the Bowl in a game that was much tighter than the final score would indicate.

Grooms finished 19 of 33 for 209 yards, 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions through the air in a contest filled with mental mistakes across the offense. Two of the interceptions came on dropped passes to Tipton and Hawes, while the other two interceptions came on passes heaved into double coverage. On one play that exemplified the type of the day that the Yale offense had, Tipton and Pantelis ran into each other on passing routes, Grooms somehow found a way to deliver a strike to Hawes, Hawes was unable to reel in the pass and the Bison came away with an interception. A lack of intensity plagued Yale all day but seemed to be more prevalent on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive line really struggled run blocking early on and couldn’t create adequate holes for Peterson and Pitsenberger until the fourth quarter. Bucknell’s blitz packages confused the offensive line on passing downs leading to 3 sacks of Grooms. To make matters worse, Gargiulo was rolled up on and left the game with an injury. Durand filled in at center admirably and Gargiulo was later seen walking around under his own power. Peterson, Pitsenberger and Denney all ran well once the blocking improved averaging 5.7 yards or more per carry. Grooms was impressive on the ground with 95 yards and 3 touchdowns on a mix of designated runs and broken pass plays. The offense was far too reliant on Grooms’ rushing plays with poor play selection on the medium to long-range passing plays. Hopefully the offensive staff has been keeping some creative plays hidden for the tough Ivy stretch ahead as the Bulldogs need to do a better job of getting athletes like Tipton the ball 5-10 yards down the field. Pantelis had the best day in the receiving corps with 8 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. Tipton caught 3 passes for 49 yards but was the victim of two crushing blows from the Bison on back-to-back plays. Lindley, Shipp, Brunelle and Hawes all caught passes on the day.

Injuries suffered along the defensive line were the most unsettling aspects of the game. Oso was hurt early on and was in crutches along the sideline. Nickerson was carted off the field later in the game but was seen walking under his own power. Mitchell, Mauney and McDonough all saw extended playing time at end. Reno opted to shift Patterson back to defensive end with Raine, Gulley, and Egodogbare holding down the inside. Guyton was once again starting at corner with no appearance from Hickey. Tackling was very poor early on and defenders took bad angles that allowed the Bison to eat up yardage. Bucknell scored a field goal on a 73-yard drive in the first quarter that gave them the lead until a Yale score in the second quarter. RB Rushawn Baker racked up 113 rushing yards and a touchdown on the day often breaking a tackle or two in the process. Ayo-Durojaiye led all defenders with 10 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. Moore and Vaughn combined for another 16 tackles. Raine had his best game of the season with 7 tackles and 2 tackles for loss. Patterson added another 6 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Benn was a savior once again at safety with a crucial pass breakup on fourth down. Oldacre had great coverage on Bucknell’s failed 2-point conversion attempt. Overall, pass coverage was fairly weak on the afternoon with Bucknell simply unable to deliver passes to wide open receivers. The Penn, Princeton and Harvard contests will require far better gap control in the running game along with tighter coverage from the secondary for our defense to hold up.

Bosman was 3 of 4 on PATs and averaged 38.8 yards per punt. Lindley had a nice day at punt returner with 4 punts for 41 yards including a 25-yard return. Felton returned 3 kicks for 60 yards.

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