Penn Notes

The Yale Bulldogs moved to 4-2 (2-1 Ivy) on the season with an impressive 35-13 victory over the Penn Quakers on Saturday.

Dante Reno excelled for the second straight week completing 72.7% of his passes for 211 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Reno’s continued improvement in the ground game was also evident by his 6.7 yards per carry on 3 scrambles. He seemed much more confident and in control of the offense than we have seen all season. Pitsenberger was dominant in the rushing attack with 145 rushing yards and a touchdown. Daal rushed for 6.2 yards per carry on 6 carries in another impressive showing. Brown appears to be on pace for a 1^st Team All-Ivy season as he added 8 catches for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns to his impressive yearly statistics. Santiago made fantastic plays for 59 receiving yards and a touchdown, while freshman Lucius Anderson showed that he can be a threat with a 22-yard reception. The offensive line paved the way for 6.1 yards per carry and did not allow a sack. There is certainly still room for improvement along the offensive front as the line had issues picking up blitzing linebackers early on and was cited for correctable penalties including a personal foul on Lewis for fighting after Brown’s fumble and false starts on Bluhm at center. Continuing to build upon the offensive framework established over the last two weeks will position the Bulldogs for sustained success down the stretch in the next four difficult contests.

Yale was stingy on defense allowing just 2.8 yards per carry in the ground game and forced Penn into difficult passing situations. O’Brien seemed rattled in the pocket and completed just 53.8% of his passes on the afternoon. Ayo-Durojaiye was all over the field once again with 13 tackles and a pass breakup. Eastep and Schmidt filled in for the injured Daniyan at safety and they both performed admirably with 10 tackles and 7 tackles respectively. Grant had a solid outing with 8 tackles and a sack. There were a number of strong performers along the defensive front. Shaber racked up 6 tackles, while Jackson-Bass had five tackles and a forced fumble that was returned by Kamara for a touchdown. Tate seems to improve every week at defensive tackle and had 3 tackles and a sack. Webster, Gonzales, and White had their hands full against Penn’s Richardson and Owens but held them in check for most of the contest with just one receiving touchdown surrendered. The defense was bailed out on two occasions with long Penn plays called back for penalties, but overall, fans must be pleased with how the defense has been performing over the last three weeks.

The performance of the special teams units was an area of weakness in the contest. Piper missed his only field goal attempt of 43 yards. Eastep was stripped on a kick return after a nice 30-yard return as having a returner with a shoulder brace on is just asking for ball security issues. Kick coverage must also improve as Penn had a 34-yard kick return that was a tackler away from going the distance.