Yale may have won the battle and lost the war tonight.
It’s a very depressing victory.
There is reason for hope. Dudek might be getting closer to getting healthy and Check performed well in relief. With a week plus a day to prepare as the anointed starter Check should be even more effective against Columbia. If Dudek can also regain his form Yale could still challenge for the title.
gentlemen; the loss of mr. rawlings due in part to the ill decision not to steal second base will be hard to overcome. with that being said young mr. check has talent and showed he can lead our squad provided mr. cahill takes the chains off and lets him play.
I felt stomach sick, when I saw Rawlings go down. Question to Coach Cahill, if you’re offense is moving the ball, Why on EARTH would stop doing it. Taking out Lamar and putting in Dudek , who is obviously still HURT…?
The momentum was gone.
Defense showed their teeth , great job by them. Need to put some stick’em on those hands. I counted 5 possible turnovers. That didn’t happen. Go Dogs
Coach Cahill please go to some high school football games and learn how to run an offense. This offense yale runs you find at pee wee football.I know its your first year but come on its like watching our former coach and that was bad enough . Put the freshman QBin and run some wildcat . Then maybe some fans will show up at the games.Watching the game last night as soon as yale went to the two back set i knew who was getting the ball and he was smashed for a loss.Come on wake up and do your job. There is so much talent on offense its being wasted. There are better teams coming up you better be ready.Also we where on the fence all night with our LB AND DB. they have a hard time staying with RB WR and TE. If that was a different OB. the game would of ben over early.The kids up front on D play great Pope was all over the field.My pick for player of the week.On to Columbia wish them luck they may be playing in a rain storm.
While I wouldn’t necessarily praise the offensive play calling I don’t think we should be overly critical of it either. Over the decades, going back to Hickman, Oliver, Pont, Cozza et al the Yale offense has always been conventional except for a brief period in the late seventies when Carm experimented with the “Yale wishbone.” Successful seasons and championships have always been the result of having the talent to execute “predictable plays” better than the opposing team. Trick plays and are low probability calls and are enjoyable to watch when they work but usually they don’t. There is nothing different about the game plan that won us the championship last year and the one Yale is using this season. The major difference is we are missing a lot of impact players from graduation and injuries. Not much you can do when top players like Dudek, Rouse, and now Rawlings are out. In my humble opinion, the occasional “wildcat” formation is not going to work any better than any other play against a defense that is good against the run. It’s not the offensive play calling that is causing a decline in game attendance. The root causes of the attendance problem is lot more complex but needs to be addressed. Anyone catch a little bit of the high school game on ESPN immediately following the Yale Penn game? Notice the attendance?
This was a big win on the road against a well-coached team that was ready. There were some very good performances worth mentioning:
1. Yale won the physical battle on both lines and all over the field. The offensive line was consistent and at times overpowering. The difference with the defensive line from the Dartmouth game was night and day.
2. Yale has finally abandoned the frantic, last second mass substitutions on defense. Instead, substitutions are being made by series or quarter. Huge improvement as a result as our defenders are lined up and reading down, distance, formation and motion. Penn had less than 30 yards rushing. Our young linebackers were able to make big plays because we controlled the line of scrimmage.
3. Noah Pope was fantastic, his open field tackles are instructional video material. It was great to see our coaches send him after Penn’s quarterback at key moments in the second half
4. Our defensive back play is improving as the young men gain experience. However, did I see Rodney Thomas II and another of the the top six go down to injury?
5. If you are going to run the spread option offense the quarterback has to be a viable running threat. Look at Penn State and Trace McSorley. The Rawlings injury looked like a classic turf, no give situation so you can’t blame him or the coaches. The fact remains….if you run single back, read option the QB has to be able to run. If you aren’t willing do that run more two back offense.
6. The Penn defense was keying on Charles and Dudek every time they stepped on the field, knowing the ball was headed their way. Dudek, by all reports, is not 100%. I give Tony credit for not forcing him in there once we got the lead and Lamar was rolling to a big game. Clearly, Zane was chafing on the sidelines so the coaches have a dilemma on what to do with Lamar, Alston, Dudek and Charles in a single back offense. I say go to more power and two back formations.
7. The key to the rest of this season will be winning the physical battles on both lines and putting the opposing quarterback on the ground before he can pick apart our secondary.
eoe
Don’t know whether Rodney Thomas was injured but on defense definitely Peggs and Keeler – both injuries looked like they will be out a while. Thomas’s name is not in the “participation list” in last night’s box score. Also missing from last night’s game was defensive end Roman – thought I saw him on the sidelines out of uniform.
In terms of other missing players or not often seen; what has happened to experienced defensive players Balter, Fraser, Herbert and James who who have had little or no playing time this season?
I agree that the defense played better without as you put it the “frantic substitution” exhibited in prior games; though how much of that was by design or was it because the defense is getting depleted from all the injuries and there are fewer players to rotate in.
A very good game by all!
Most top Ivy teams need two-deep squads to succeed. Yale needs three or four!
I just hope this injury situation doesn’t start affecting recruiting. Other Ivy coaches are sure to use it.
Really ,injuries will be used against Yale for recruiting.? Please tell me how. It’s part of the game unfortunately ?.I love seeing this stuff,back to the real world
gentlemen; I agree with the comment Mr. Cozza ran a conventional offense due to the fact he had a stable of superlative halfbacks at his disposal and a defensive wizard in mr. amendola. during the years when this was not the case mr. cozza adapted to his squad by implementing the wishbone during mr.keilher’s era and the ibone copied from the buffalo camp for mr. crawford and company. mr. oliver was an innovator with his wing T formation which contributed to the undefeated 1960 squad. while I don’t disagree the offense is similar to that of last year our defense is not yet as accomplished requiring a more aggressive approach to take advantage of our outstanding receivers which mr.cahill means throwing the ball down the field.
Any definitive word on Rawlings? Does anyone know why Bulldog injury status has become harder to obtain than the next move in the Russia investigation. We need a special counsel to find out who hurt what.
Broken ankle
How can injuries hurt recruiting? Simple – Yale has FAR MORE than any other team in the league, and they tend to happen to the most highly recruited players!
So you know that YALE has the most of all. You have NO clue about any such thing.
Columbia is on its 4th string QB, they have actually more players out than Yale does.
Don’t go to Yale, you’ll get injured. Silly Goose. Come On Man .!! LOL
Dudek, Rouse, Peggs, Henson,McPhee got hurt at HolyCross on a pristine grass field. Rawlings, Keeler, Peggs got hurt at Penn. FAR MORE WORSE INJURIES on Synthetic turf.
Columbia, Harvard have it worse than Yale. It’s the nature of a violent game .
2 things IMHO should be added. Short yardage situations like goal line, the QB should be under center not 5 yards in a shot gun formation, the QB can use multiple options to sneak, hand off or quick pop pass to a TE to score. Shotgun formation allows for too much penetration and limits you to a draw type run or pass. Secondly, the spread using the one back QB read option will only work if the QB is a running threat, as someone already posted correctly, Yale needs to adjust now to tailor the play calling to fit JC who strikes me as more of a pocket passer than track star. I am sure with more reps at practice he will build more chemistry with the WR squad. Need the big blue defense to step up this week big time until the offense gels.
gentlemen; a question of concern now becomes can our blue squad groom in a week a second and third string signal caller. the lions purportedly are down to their fourth string quarterback who played against the indians without any practice with the first string.
OGK’s , as Tony would say . Next man up.? At least he has been put into the fray. I think he will be fine. May have to stop by practice this week.
Looks like the offense will necessarily be a “work in progress” as Jimmy Check and his backup take more snaps in practice and in games. Lamar and Alston will be carrying the load for scoring until the new qb gets in sync with arguably two of the best wide receivers in the league. An absolute must is the OL providing the protection to give a rookie qb time to view the field and not have to pass under pressure. Without an effective passing attack the opposing defenses are bound to load the box against our rbs.
Prior to Rawlings’ injury Yale would have been favored over Columbia and Brown. Now it’s just too difficult to tell what the odds should look like.
Remember it well, let’s breathe and getta couple of practices in 1st. JC has been getting a lot of reps along Conte. Now he will be getting the Lions share. No pun invented.
I hate autocorrect..!! Intended.
gentlemen; to my recollection mr. rawlings had his coming out party two years ago at the lions den. lets hope mr check has a similiar result. mr. check has a strong arm and will perform well provided mr. cahill allows him to throw the ball down the field. if not, our blue halfbacks are going to get shellacked.
That’s the positive spirit we’re looking for.?!! LOL
Anonymous
With all due respect, perhaps your view of the type of discourse to be expressed on this blog is somewhat different than others. Nothing that is printed here that couldn’t be part of the friendly conversation shared by Yale boosters at the club bar. Candid opinions on the team, coaches, upcoming games etc. should never be interpreted as lacking in positive spirit. I can assure you that those of us who have sat through rain, sleet and storms over the decades to support our Bulldogs are never lacking in spirit.
Well said, remember it well
A thought or two on the Ivy League today: Until this week, it appeared that the title game was sure to be between Dartmouth and Princeton, but after both had scary games yesterday by two teams that “have more injuries” than Yale, things open up a bit. Even Cornell, with only one loss has a chance. Who knew? As for our guys, we can always think of the 2016 team that entered the Harvard game 2-7 and still beat them. Let’s hope for more Reno magic.
I believe our field has much to do with the percentage of players that go down to injury. Our players are expected to play on a field made of deep sand and mud and then perform at the same caliber the next week on turf. Yes, I understand that they practice on turf, but I believe the extreme difference in playing surfaces week-to-week makes it very difficult for our young athletes to adjust.
That is utter hogwash.!! No way, play on pavement. Stop these excuses.
30 replies on “Yale 23 Penn 10”
Yale may have won the battle and lost the war tonight.
It’s a very depressing victory.
There is reason for hope. Dudek might be getting closer to getting healthy and Check performed well in relief. With a week plus a day to prepare as the anointed starter Check should be even more effective against Columbia. If Dudek can also regain his form Yale could still challenge for the title.
gentlemen; the loss of mr. rawlings due in part to the ill decision not to steal second base will be hard to overcome. with that being said young mr. check has talent and showed he can lead our squad provided mr. cahill takes the chains off and lets him play.
I felt stomach sick, when I saw Rawlings go down. Question to Coach Cahill, if you’re offense is moving the ball, Why on EARTH would stop doing it. Taking out Lamar and putting in Dudek , who is obviously still HURT…?
The momentum was gone.
Defense showed their teeth , great job by them. Need to put some stick’em on those hands. I counted 5 possible turnovers. That didn’t happen. Go Dogs
Coach Cahill please go to some high school football games and learn how to run an offense. This offense yale runs you find at pee wee football.I know its your first year but come on its like watching our former coach and that was bad enough . Put the freshman QBin and run some wildcat . Then maybe some fans will show up at the games.Watching the game last night as soon as yale went to the two back set i knew who was getting the ball and he was smashed for a loss.Come on wake up and do your job. There is so much talent on offense its being wasted. There are better teams coming up you better be ready.Also we where on the fence all night with our LB AND DB. they have a hard time staying with RB WR and TE. If that was a different OB. the game would of ben over early.The kids up front on D play great Pope was all over the field.My pick for player of the week.On to Columbia wish them luck they may be playing in a rain storm.
While I wouldn’t necessarily praise the offensive play calling I don’t think we should be overly critical of it either. Over the decades, going back to Hickman, Oliver, Pont, Cozza et al the Yale offense has always been conventional except for a brief period in the late seventies when Carm experimented with the “Yale wishbone.” Successful seasons and championships have always been the result of having the talent to execute “predictable plays” better than the opposing team. Trick plays and are low probability calls and are enjoyable to watch when they work but usually they don’t. There is nothing different about the game plan that won us the championship last year and the one Yale is using this season. The major difference is we are missing a lot of impact players from graduation and injuries. Not much you can do when top players like Dudek, Rouse, and now Rawlings are out. In my humble opinion, the occasional “wildcat” formation is not going to work any better than any other play against a defense that is good against the run. It’s not the offensive play calling that is causing a decline in game attendance. The root causes of the attendance problem is lot more complex but needs to be addressed. Anyone catch a little bit of the high school game on ESPN immediately following the Yale Penn game? Notice the attendance?
This was a big win on the road against a well-coached team that was ready. There were some very good performances worth mentioning:
1. Yale won the physical battle on both lines and all over the field. The offensive line was consistent and at times overpowering. The difference with the defensive line from the Dartmouth game was night and day.
2. Yale has finally abandoned the frantic, last second mass substitutions on defense. Instead, substitutions are being made by series or quarter. Huge improvement as a result as our defenders are lined up and reading down, distance, formation and motion. Penn had less than 30 yards rushing. Our young linebackers were able to make big plays because we controlled the line of scrimmage.
3. Noah Pope was fantastic, his open field tackles are instructional video material. It was great to see our coaches send him after Penn’s quarterback at key moments in the second half
4. Our defensive back play is improving as the young men gain experience. However, did I see Rodney Thomas II and another of the the top six go down to injury?
5. If you are going to run the spread option offense the quarterback has to be a viable running threat. Look at Penn State and Trace McSorley. The Rawlings injury looked like a classic turf, no give situation so you can’t blame him or the coaches. The fact remains….if you run single back, read option the QB has to be able to run. If you aren’t willing do that run more two back offense.
6. The Penn defense was keying on Charles and Dudek every time they stepped on the field, knowing the ball was headed their way. Dudek, by all reports, is not 100%. I give Tony credit for not forcing him in there once we got the lead and Lamar was rolling to a big game. Clearly, Zane was chafing on the sidelines so the coaches have a dilemma on what to do with Lamar, Alston, Dudek and Charles in a single back offense. I say go to more power and two back formations.
7. The key to the rest of this season will be winning the physical battles on both lines and putting the opposing quarterback on the ground before he can pick apart our secondary.
eoe
Don’t know whether Rodney Thomas was injured but on defense definitely Peggs and Keeler – both injuries looked like they will be out a while. Thomas’s name is not in the “participation list” in last night’s box score. Also missing from last night’s game was defensive end Roman – thought I saw him on the sidelines out of uniform.
In terms of other missing players or not often seen; what has happened to experienced defensive players Balter, Fraser, Herbert and James who who have had little or no playing time this season?
I agree that the defense played better without as you put it the “frantic substitution” exhibited in prior games; though how much of that was by design or was it because the defense is getting depleted from all the injuries and there are fewer players to rotate in.
A very good game by all!
Most top Ivy teams need two-deep squads to succeed. Yale needs three or four!
I just hope this injury situation doesn’t start affecting recruiting. Other Ivy coaches are sure to use it.
Really ,injuries will be used against Yale for recruiting.? Please tell me how. It’s part of the game unfortunately ?.I love seeing this stuff,back to the real world
gentlemen; I agree with the comment Mr. Cozza ran a conventional offense due to the fact he had a stable of superlative halfbacks at his disposal and a defensive wizard in mr. amendola. during the years when this was not the case mr. cozza adapted to his squad by implementing the wishbone during mr.keilher’s era and the ibone copied from the buffalo camp for mr. crawford and company. mr. oliver was an innovator with his wing T formation which contributed to the undefeated 1960 squad. while I don’t disagree the offense is similar to that of last year our defense is not yet as accomplished requiring a more aggressive approach to take advantage of our outstanding receivers which mr.cahill means throwing the ball down the field.
Any definitive word on Rawlings? Does anyone know why Bulldog injury status has become harder to obtain than the next move in the Russia investigation. We need a special counsel to find out who hurt what.
Broken ankle
How can injuries hurt recruiting? Simple – Yale has FAR MORE than any other team in the league, and they tend to happen to the most highly recruited players!
So you know that YALE has the most of all. You have NO clue about any such thing.
Columbia is on its 4th string QB, they have actually more players out than Yale does.
Don’t go to Yale, you’ll get injured. Silly Goose. Come On Man .!! LOL
Dudek, Rouse, Peggs, Henson,McPhee got hurt at HolyCross on a pristine grass field. Rawlings, Keeler, Peggs got hurt at Penn. FAR MORE WORSE INJURIES on Synthetic turf.
Columbia, Harvard have it worse than Yale. It’s the nature of a violent game .
2 things IMHO should be added. Short yardage situations like goal line, the QB should be under center not 5 yards in a shot gun formation, the QB can use multiple options to sneak, hand off or quick pop pass to a TE to score. Shotgun formation allows for too much penetration and limits you to a draw type run or pass. Secondly, the spread using the one back QB read option will only work if the QB is a running threat, as someone already posted correctly, Yale needs to adjust now to tailor the play calling to fit JC who strikes me as more of a pocket passer than track star. I am sure with more reps at practice he will build more chemistry with the WR squad. Need the big blue defense to step up this week big time until the offense gels.
gentlemen; a question of concern now becomes can our blue squad groom in a week a second and third string signal caller. the lions purportedly are down to their fourth string quarterback who played against the indians without any practice with the first string.
OGK’s , as Tony would say . Next man up.? At least he has been put into the fray. I think he will be fine. May have to stop by practice this week.
Looks like the offense will necessarily be a “work in progress” as Jimmy Check and his backup take more snaps in practice and in games. Lamar and Alston will be carrying the load for scoring until the new qb gets in sync with arguably two of the best wide receivers in the league. An absolute must is the OL providing the protection to give a rookie qb time to view the field and not have to pass under pressure. Without an effective passing attack the opposing defenses are bound to load the box against our rbs.
Prior to Rawlings’ injury Yale would have been favored over Columbia and Brown. Now it’s just too difficult to tell what the odds should look like.
Remember it well, let’s breathe and getta couple of practices in 1st. JC has been getting a lot of reps along Conte. Now he will be getting the Lions share. No pun invented.
I hate autocorrect..!! Intended.
gentlemen; to my recollection mr. rawlings had his coming out party two years ago at the lions den. lets hope mr check has a similiar result. mr. check has a strong arm and will perform well provided mr. cahill allows him to throw the ball down the field. if not, our blue halfbacks are going to get shellacked.
That’s the positive spirit we’re looking for.?!! LOL
Anonymous
With all due respect, perhaps your view of the type of discourse to be expressed on this blog is somewhat different than others. Nothing that is printed here that couldn’t be part of the friendly conversation shared by Yale boosters at the club bar. Candid opinions on the team, coaches, upcoming games etc. should never be interpreted as lacking in positive spirit. I can assure you that those of us who have sat through rain, sleet and storms over the decades to support our Bulldogs are never lacking in spirit.
Well said, remember it well
A thought or two on the Ivy League today: Until this week, it appeared that the title game was sure to be between Dartmouth and Princeton, but after both had scary games yesterday by two teams that “have more injuries” than Yale, things open up a bit. Even Cornell, with only one loss has a chance. Who knew? As for our guys, we can always think of the 2016 team that entered the Harvard game 2-7 and still beat them. Let’s hope for more Reno magic.
I believe our field has much to do with the percentage of players that go down to injury. Our players are expected to play on a field made of deep sand and mud and then perform at the same caliber the next week on turf. Yes, I understand that they practice on turf, but I believe the extreme difference in playing surfaces week-to-week makes it very difficult for our young athletes to adjust.
That is utter hogwash.!! No way, play on pavement. Stop these excuses.