Penn Notes

The Bulldogs fell to the Penn Quakers in a 24-21 loss in Philadelphia as the Elis dropped to 3-3 with slim hopes of capturing an Ivy title.

The offensive game plan initially showed promise with Anderson taking two short catches to the end zone and HDK ripping off a big rushing touchdown, but a lack of halftime adjustments and zero offensive points in the second half destroyed any hopes of a victory. Reno was off the mark once again in the passing game, completing just 61.8% of his passes for 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Without Anderson taking short catches for long distances, Reno’s stats would have looked far worse. One interception was simply given to Penn on a silver platter as Reno assumed there was an offsides penalty, while the other interceptions were terrible decisions to throw to Santiago in double or triple coverage. Given all that Reno has been through in the last few weeks, it’s understandable to observe this rapid mental collapse, but it’s now left the Elis with their backs against the wall and no viable option at signal caller. Run blocking was not as consistent as last week’s, yet it still allowed HDK to run for 107 yards (5.4 ypc) and a touchdown. Reno was sacked on one occasion, although he did not even attempt to scramble and just collapsed to the floor at the sight of pressure. Anderson, Santiago and Jones all played well despite the passing limitations. Smith and Wagner each hauled in one catch, but Wagner’s attitude issues led to two incidents, one of which drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Grant has been the heart and soul of the defense for much of the season, but his costly errors combined with the leaky secondary limited Yale’s defensive capabilities. Grant was run over on third-and-goal by a freshman quarterback, which gave Penn additional yardage and the confidence to punch it in on fourth-and-goal. On Penn’s second touchdown, Grant simply blew the coverage on a tight end who streaked past him for a score. On Penn’s final score, Grant had been ejected a play earlier for targeting, and Penn easily rushed for a long touchdown with sophomore LB Lucas Price forced into action. Coverage and tackling from Daniyan and Eastep were atrocious, while Webster and Barkley-Smith also had targets simply race past them. Coaches Murphy, Rice and McGowan all deserve to be on the hot seat for the disastrous play from the secondary and linebackers. Schutzman had the best contest of his career with 7 tackles and a sack, but the struggles from Grant, Partin and Price overshadowed his efforts. Tackling was poor across the board, and trying to tackle a big running quarterback with a banged-up knee high just lacks common sense (cue the Cole Champion reel of legally destroying knees). Defensive line play was just average, as Penn racked up 3.9 yards per carry and passing pressure was inconsistent.

Despite how poorly the Bulldogs played offensively and defensively, Yale still would have had a chance to win the contest if not for poor special teams play. A bad snap on a punt allowed Penn to take over near the 20-yard line and easily march in for a score. Maltarich was ineffective as a kick returner, and the return team was also cited for holding. Yale had a chance to even the score at 24-24 in the waning seconds, but a delay of game on a successful field goal pushed them back five yards, and the ensuing kick fell yards short of a tie game.

Anyone with any institutional knowledge at the athletics office should have turned this game down based on the high number of tragic games we’ve played on Friday nights, but it was likely agreed to by a Chun disciple from Colgate whose only motivation is brownnosing the inept AD. We appear to be entering a very dark period of Yale football history if drastic measures aren’t taken immediately.