Author: Moderator

The Bulldogs defeated the Lions 37-30 on Saturday to improve to 4-3, the first winning record that Yale has posted since Week 3. The Ivy League Championship race is still wide open and the Bulldogs can claim a share of the title with a strong 3-0 finish to the season.

Nolan Grooms spearheaded a stellar offensive effort that generated 421 total yards and 4 touchdowns. Grooms finished 20 of 29 for 279 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air and added another 40 net rushing yards. With Dudek still out with an injury, Alston had a career day with 116 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns as well as a receiving touchdown. The offensive line shook off some early struggles against Columbia’s talented front seven and played particularly well in the second half. Tipton and Rouse have established themselves as one of the most dynamic receiving duos in the Ivy League combining for 191 receiving yards. Nenad and Carrington both had key catches, while the tight ends Hawes and Howland kept the Lion’s secondary guessing with 7 combined receptions. Our offense seems to have hit a stride at the perfect time as we will face 3 high-flying offenses to finish the season.

While the offense has improved under Groom’s leadership, the defensive performance has declined considerably over the last few weeks. Columbia’s Ryan Young rushed for 92 yards (5.4 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns including a 60-yard scamper. The defensive line and linebackers were not plugging gaps efficiently and when backs broke into the secondary, our corners and safeties had trouble making tackles. Columbia’s quarterback Joe Greene was held to just a 50% completion rate on 44 attempts, but too often we witnessed Columbia’s receivers getting behind our defenders. Across the board from Dean to Owens, there were coverage lapses that need to be corrected in a hurry. The defense has shown tremendous resiliency in the fourth quarters of the last two contests to secure victories, but we will require a consistently dominant performance over the next three weeks squaring off against the league’s best quarterback at Brown, the league’s top offensive unit at Princeton and the league’s most talented offensive roster at home versus Harvard.

Errors in our special teams units including a bad snap and a missed PAT placed our defense in poor field position and contributed greatly to the early deficit.  On the other hand, Rouse’s 86-yard punt return for a touchdown near the end of the second quarter along with the successful 2-point attempt seemed to shift the momentum in the contest. Special teams could be the deciding factor in the hunt for an Ivy League title, so continued improvement in this area will be vital to our chances.

The Bulldogs are coming off their best offensive performance of the season in last week’s contest versus Penn.    Grooms was the star of the game leading in both passing yards (18 for 27 for 283 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception) and rushing yards (16 carries for 113 yards).  Tipton was exceptional hauling in difficult catches for 132 yards and a touchdown.  Dudek was held out of the lineup for an injury sustained in the UCONN contest and the traditional running game with McElwain and Alston never really founds its footing.  Tre Peterson appeared to be a very quick and dangerous runner in his three carries.  The offensive line struggled to contain the Penn defensive front in the running game, but Grooms was so slippery that he was able to effectively negate the pass rushing from the Quakers.

The Yale defense did not start out as sharply as they finished the UCONN contest.  Penn’s running backs Malcome and Flowers were able to find early success carving through the front seven.  The Quakers opted to start freshman quarterback Aidan Sayan and he was able to connect for two touchdowns but never found his rhythm in the second half finishing just 12 of 28 for 114 yards.  The pass interference issues in the secondary need to be cleaned up in a hurry.  The defense clamped down on the rushing attack in the second half and came up with big plays when necessary to secure the victory.

Bosman was perfect on PAT’s and had an average punting day with 39.7 yards per punt.

This week the Bulldogs host the Columbia Lions (5-1) at the Bowl.  Kickoff is slated for noon and the game will be televised on ESPN+.

The Lions dismantled the Big Green last Friday in a shocking 19-0 upset in Hanover.  The Lions played nearly flawless on defense, while manhandling the Big Green’s defensive front and limiting the errors offensively.  Bagnoli has pieced together his strongest Columbia squad to date, so this contest presents another difficult test for the Bulldogs.  Yale still controls its own destiny as winning out would secure at least a share of the Ivy League title.

The Columbia offense is led by sophomore quarterback Joe Greene (6’4”, 215 lbs.) who had a very efficient outing at Dartmouth with 14 completions on 22 attempts for 98 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.  The Lions have a bruising runner in senior Ryan Young (5’9”, 230 lbs.) as well as a more balanced running back in senior Dante Miller (5’9”, 185 lbs.).  The most eye-opening aspect of the Columbia-Dartmouth game was how the Columbia offensive line neutralized Dartmouth’s talented front seven.  Senior and captain Stew Newblatt (6’3”, 290 lbs.) is the leader of the offensive line that limited Dartmouth to just one sack.

Dartmouth wasn’t able to find success in the rushing or passing game versus Columbia.  The Big Green were held to just 262 yards of total offense, 13 first downs, and a meager 60 rushing yards.  Senior safety Ben Mathiasmeier leads the team in tackles with 35 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 3 interceptions.  Yale will catch a break in the first half this week as Mathiasmeier was penalized for targeting last week and will be held out of the first half of the game.  Senior linebacker Cam Dillon has been a star for the Lions with 31 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. Fellow senior linebacker Justin Woodley is one of the top linebackers in the Ivy League and has been playing well with 23 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.   Senior defensive lineman Paul Akere has been too much to handle for opposing offensive lines racking up 28 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks.

Kicker Alex Felkins is 10 of 16 on field goals for the season with a long of 41 yards.  Punter Drew Schmid has been solid with 41.0 yards per punt.

Go Bulldogs!

The Bulldogs (2-3) return home to host the Penn Quakers (2-3) on Saturday at the Bowl.  Kickoff is scheduled for noon and the game will air on ESPN+.

An improved Columbia squad led by former Penn head coach, Al Bagnoli, defeated Penn 23-14 last week in Philadelphia.  The Lions generated 426 yards of total offense including 244 rushing yards against the Quakers’ defense.  After going into halftime with a 17-14 lead, the Columbia defense was able to shutdown Penn and convert on two field goal attempts to widen the lead.

The Penn offense is led by senior quarterback John Quinnelly who has completed just 49.6% of his passes this season for 782 yards, 3 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.  Penn does have a few highly recruited quarterbacks on the roster, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see a change at quarterback heading into the bulk of the Ivy season.  5^th year senior Isaiah Malcome (5’5”, 170 lbs.) is an explosive running back averaging 6.1 yards per carry and 84.8 yards per game.  Senior running back Trey Flowers (5’10”, 220 lbs.) is Penn’s power runner who has posted 4.3 yards per carry and 43.6 yards per game.  Penn always seems to have a talented receiving corps and this year is no exception.  Senior Ryan Cragun leads the team in receiving yards with 335 yards on 22 catches for 15.2 yards per catch.  Senior wideout Rory Starkey, Jr. (6’2”, 210 lbs.) is a large and athletic player who has hauled in 12 catches for 254 yards.  Starkey is rumored to have an injured shoulder, so his status for Saturday remains questionable.  The offensive line averages 288 lbs. across the board and is an above-average unit for the Ivy League paving the way for 4.0 yards per carry and allowing just 9 sacks so far on the season.  If our defense can limit the big plays and correct the coverage errors from last week, we have the potential to stymie the Quakers’ offense as the Lions did in the second half of their contest last week.

5^th year senior linebacker Brian O’Neill (6’2”, 240 lbs.) is the heart of the Penn defense racking up 28 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss this season.  Defensive lineman Prince Emili (6’2”, 300 lbs.) is the most talented player on the Penn roster and a 1^st team All-Ivy League selection in 2019.  Emili has dominated opposing offensive linemen notching 27 tackles, 4 sacks and a forced fumble.  Junior defensive back Jaden Key leads all defenders with 29 tackles, half a tackle for loss and 3 pass breakups.  Opponents have been equally successful running the ball and throwing the ball on the Penn defense for 737 yards and 741 yards respectively.  The focus for the Yale offense this week must be to contain Emili and establish the running game early on to take the pressure off our quarterbacks.

Senior kicker Daniel Karrash is 5 for 7 on field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards.  Junior punter Ben Krimm is averaging 38.3 yards per punt with 3 punts over 50 yards.  Penn did have a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown versus Dartmouth, so it may prove wise to test their punt protection scheme.

Go Bulldogs!

The Bulldogs fell to the Huskies 21-15 on Saturday in a sloppy contest in East Hartford.  Yale now sits at 2-3 (1-1 Ivy) heading into the second half of the season.  Going 5-0 through the stretch of upcoming contests could be the only way to secure a share of the title this season.

Turnovers crippled our chances of knocking off an FBS opponent.  O’Connor threw three interceptions in the first half and finished with 11 completions on 23 passes for just 59 yards.  Passes from O’Connor were often underthrown, thrown late, or tossed into solid coverage.  Grooms didn’t fare much better in the passing game playing the entire second half with 8 completions on 31 attempts for 132 yards and a touchdown.  Pass protection was not phenomenal with two new starters in the mix along the offensive line but our quarterbacks displayed poor pocket awareness and were not stepping into the pocket to deliver strikes.  Run blocking was a struggle in the first half and then playing down 21 points in the 3^rd quarter limited our ability to ever solidify the rushing attack.  Grooms was the top rusher for the Bulldogs with 67 net yards on 13 carries, many of which were scrambles on passing plays.  Dudek and Alston combined for just 33 net yards on 10 carries.  Receivers struggled creating separation from the UCONN secondary and were given limited opportunities for success given the poor passes.  Our tight ends who have played well all season were stripped of two crucial completions, one resulting in an interception.   

The Huskies were able to capitalize on mistakes in our secondary to score on big plays.  A mix of mental errors and defenders running into each other left UCONN receivers wide open on two touchdowns.  Our linebackers missed several tackles and our defensive line did not create the same consistent pass rush that we’ve seen from them in prior weeks.  Owens’ return to the lineup in the second half proved to be vital as the Bulldogs limited the Huskies to just 7 points in the second half.  Despite the defensive mistakes, our defense still kept us alive in this contest and our offense was given a chance to win the game on the final drive.  Based on this film, we can now expect opponents to lean heavily on pick plays and crossing patterns to create openings for their receivers.

Outside of a 24-yard punt return by UCONN and a botched point after attempt, our special teams played reasonably well.  Yale blocked UCONN’s only field goal attempt while Bosman was 1 for 1 on field goals and had a nice afternoon punting the ball.

The Bulldogs will travel up the I-91 to East Hartford on Saturday for a showdown versus the Huskies.  Kickoff is scheduled for noon and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.

This contest will be the 50^th game played between Yale and UCONN and the Bulldogs currently hold a 32-17 record versus the Huskies.  This is only the second time that Yale has ever played at UCONN.  The Huskies are 1-0 at home versus the Bulldogs and are also on a 4-game win streak in the series.

Although many FBS experts consider UCONN to be one of the worst teams in the country, they came up just short in their contests against Vanderbilt and Wyoming and seem to be playing harder under interim head coach Lou Spanos.  Spanos tested positive for COVID-19 a week ago in addition to other coaches and players, so his presence along the sidelines is questionable this weekend.   UCONN practices have been streamed to Spanos remotely and he has had his voice amplified over the loudspeakers in a bizarre situation one would only find in the post-pandemic world.  UCONN is not as disciplined as the Army team that we defeated years ago but they do have more raw talent, size and speed on the roster than that Army squad or any FCS team that we will face this season for that matter.

The Huskies have struggled to find consistency at the quarterback position with four different players attempting passes this season.  Redshirt sophomore quarterback Steven Krajewski is listed as UCONN’s starter on this week’s depth chart.  Krajewski completed 13 of 24 passing attempts for 128 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions last week versus UMASS.  Freshman running back Nate Carter has been one of the bright spots of the UCONN offense this season and he had a stellar game last week posting 136 rushing yards on 20 attempts for an average of 6.8 yards per carry.  Freshman receiver Keelan Marion leads the Huskies in receiving yards with 282 yards on 17 catches along with four touchdowns.  Senior tight end Jay Rose (6’3”, 253 lbs.) is second on the team in receiving yards with 157 yards on 10 catches and a touchdown.  The offensive line averages 294 lbs. across the board and is more athletic than we are accustomed to seeing in the Ivy League.

Sophomore linebacker Jackson Mitchell (6’2”, 229 lbs.) from Ridgefield, Connecticut not only leads the Huskies in tackles but also the nation.  Jackson has racked up an astounding 73 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble through seven games.  Junior defense tackle Travis Jones, Jr. is the largest defensive tackle that we’ll face this season at 6’5”, 333 lbs. and has been a force along the Huskies’ interior front posting 30 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.  Junior defensive end Kevon Jones, Jr. (6’2”, 247 lbs.) is yet another defender that has been hard for opponents to block with 35 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.  Freshman safety Durante Jones has been the most productive member of the secondary with 35 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble on the season.  As a team, the Huskies have allowed 452.1 yards of total offense per game.  UCONN has been unable to defend in the redzone with opponents scoring on 31 of 33 trips inside the 20-yard line.

Freshman kicker Joe McFadden is 8 of 11 on field goal attempts with a season long of 44 yards.  UCONN also relies on McFadden for punts in addition to freshman Haydn Kerr.  The two have combined for an average of 39.3 yards per punt.    

The Bulldogs will have to play a complete game this weekend to claim the spot as the top football program in the state.  The UCONN community has circled this contest as a must-win for the Huskies, so we’re in store for a tough, physical matchup on Saturday.

Go Bulldogs!    

The Bulldogs fell to the Big Green 24-17 in overtime on Saturday in a barnburner of a game.  Although it was a painful loss, the silver lining of the weekend is that we can compete with top tier teams in the Ivy League and we are just a few plays shy of 4-0. 

Yale led Dartmouth in time of possession (34:38 vs. 25:21), generated more total offense (314 yards vs. 277 yards), and was better on third down conversions (7 of 18 vs. 3 of 12).  The key differentiators leading to the Dartmouth victory were a fumble lost, a missed field goal, a dropped pass in scoring territory, 5 first downs on penalties for the Big Green and the inability to score in the redzone (1 of 3 vs. 3 of 3). 

The offensive line did a phenomenal job in pass protection giving O’Connor ample time to find his receivers.  There were struggles in run blocking however that led to an average of just 2.8 yards per carry.  O’Connor had a solid contest completing 66.7% of his passes for 194 yards and a touchdown.  Grooms was perfect on his two attempts for 37 yards and a touchdown.  It was tough sledding all around in the run game especially for Grooms who netted just 1 yard on 5 carries.  The receivers as a whole showed improvement while battling against a solid secondary hauling in 30 receptions for 231 yards and two touchdowns.

The defense far exceeded our expectations and played a nearly flawless second half.  Without the targeting call against Owens in the waning minutes, this game could have turned into a win for the Bulldogs.  It was especially sad for Owens as he clearly had no intent of creating helmet-to-helmet contact but there is simply no wiggle room for the referees to side with a defender if any contact is observed.  The fact that Owens cannot play in the first half of the UCONN game just adds insult to injury.  The NCAA really needs to refine the targeting penalty and include the option of a 15-yard penalty without ejection in circumstances such as this.  Awodiran had perhaps his best performance of his career with 10 crucial tackles.  Dean and Owens were all over the field each notching 7 tackles.  Sampleton had a better game than he did against Lehigh recording the only sack of the contest.  If the defense maintains this physicality and consistency throughout the remainder of this season, this could be Reno’s best defense to date.

Bosman had a great day as a punter averaging 42.8 yards per punt yet his missed field goal at the end of the second half unfortunately overshadowed his punting success.

This week the Bulldogs will travel to UCONN to renew the rivalry with the Huskies.  This is the final non-conference game of the season and should be every bit as tough as the Dartmouth contest.