Yale Football Blog

The Bulldogs fell to the Big Green 43-44 in painful fashion on Saturday at the Bowl.

With Jackson Proctor inexplicably out of the lineup and a slew of mishaps on special teams for the Big Green, it seemed like a golden opportunity for Yale to earn its first Ivy League win of the season. Jordan had a tremendous day through the air with 32 completions for 412 yards and 5 touchdowns. Pantelis was dominant with 8 catches for 117 yards and 3 touchdowns. Felton burned the Big Green for a 71-yard touchdown reception and Nenad had his top performance of the season with 6 catches with one touchdown. Shipp, Santiago, Yates, Pitsenberger and Foster all played great in the passing game. The only true weakness for the Bulldogs offensively was along the offensive line where Dartmouth was able to shut down the running game and constantly harass Jordan on passing plays. Jordan was very elusive and was only sacked one time but was often running for his life. Yale’s play calling left much to be desired in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters as drives stalled without burning much time off of the clock and allowed the Big Green to have just enough time to mount a historic comeback. Two-point conversions have been disastrous all season for the Bulldogs, so it was a baffling decision to put the game on the line in the first overtime. The play call itself was decent as Pantelis had some space on a defender, but clearly Jordan did not have the muscle memory in place to complete the pass in the pressure filled moment.

Yale’s defense held strong for the first two and half quarters before completely melting down. McDonough was cited for a targeting penalty that forced him out of the contest, while Yang was injured and did not return. With half of the starting defensive line out, Dartmouth was able to run and pass at will in the second half and overtime. The defensive line was manhandled while linebackers could not get off blocks or provide support on cutbacks often leaving a lone safety to make a touchdown saving tackle. Kamara did not wrap up a tight end who took a short throw for a 32-yard touchdown. Guyton was beat for a touchdown and struggled with pass interference. Daniyan appeared to be injured early on and played through the pain but was often out of position leading to a touchdown reception on him and a terrible pursuit angle on a QB scramble that cost the Bulldogs another touchdown. The Bulldogs did not respect Paxton Scott enough at wideout leaving Shaffer in deep coverage against him that led to a long reception. With no ability to pressure quarterbacks or cover simple routes, the defensive schemes need to be completely overhauled. Tarver has outplayed Daniyan by a large margin through the first four games at safety, so the coaches need to consider sitting Daniyan until he can improve physically and mentally. Haaland was a bright spot for the Bulldogs with a pair of crucial tackles.

The performance of the Bulldogs’ special teams units needed to be perfect to secure a win and unfortunately fell flat. Yale was fooled by an onside kick that gave Dartmouth all of the momentum and a later score. If Conforti would have made just 1 of his 2 field goal attempts, this contest would have had a happy ending. Conforti’s attempts were long, but he was aided by a strong wind at his back. Florio averaged just 26.0 yards per punt as a horrible 9-yard punt brought this average way down.

The Yale Bulldogs host the undefeated Dartmouth Big Green at the Bowl on Saturday in a crucial Ivy League matchup. Kickoff is slated for 12 PM ET and the game will air on ESPN+.

Dartmouth’s offense is led by senior QB Jackson Proctor (6’2”, 210 lbs.) who has completed 66.7% of his passes for 578 yards, 5 TDs, and only one interception through three games. Proctor looks much improved from a year ago when he threw two interceptions versus the Bulldogs and has the speed to run the ball on designated rushes or when the pocket collapses. Proctor gets rid of the ball very quickly and rarely strays from his first read. Senior RB Q Jones (5’11”, 190 lbs.) was an honorable mention All-Ivy performer last season and is off to a strong start to 2024 with 4.3 yards per carry. Junior RB Desmin Jackson (5’10”, 185 lbs.) is another explosive back for Dartmouth averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Senior WR Paxton Scott (6’1”, 200 lbs.) could be the best receiver in the league and has hauled in 20 catches for 232 yards and a score. Junior TE Chris Corbo (6’4”, 245 lbs.) is targeted often and leads Dartmouth in touchdown receptions with two. The offensive line averages 288.0 lbs. across the board and is a very cohesive unit that does not make mistakes often. The line paved the way for 4.9 yards per carry against a talented defensive front from Penn and only allowed one sack in the contest. Dartmouth will likely be looking to control the clock with runs from Q Jones and keep the defense guessing with play action passes, quick hitting routes, and downfield shots to wideouts or tight ends. The Bulldogs will need to find a way to make Proctor uncomfortable in the pocket while blanketing Scott with a corner and safety support. In the ground game, Yale needs to set hard edges and have linebackers get off blocks to plug inside gaps before Dartmouth’s speedy backs can reach top speed.

The Big Green’s defense is by far the most talented squad on the schedule through the first four games. Penn’s QB looked panicked and made uncharacteristically poor decisions against the unit a week ago. The defensive line is very stout led by senior Josiah Green (6’1”, 280 lbs.) who was a 2nd Team All-Ivy selection last year and has added 12 tackles and 1.5 sacks to his career totals so far this season. Senior Ejike Adele (6’2”, 270 lbs.) is another great defensive lineman for the Big Green with similar productivity to Green with 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Dartmouth’s linebacker corps of Danny Cronin (6’3”, 230 lbs.), Micah Green (5’11”, 230 lbs.), and Braden Mullen (6’4”, 240 lbs.) is a deep and experienced unit. Green is tied for the team lead in tackles with 14, while Mullen is tied for the team lead in sacks with 2. Dartmouth’s secondary is very quick to jump routes which could nullify the short WR screens that Yale utilizes. Junior DB Sean Williams (5’9”, 190 lbs.) was a 2^nd Team All-Ivy performer in 2024 and is tied for the team lead in tackles with 14. Junior DB Patrick Campbell (6’0”, 190 bs.) leads the team in pass breakups with 3 and senior DB Zach Farris (6’0”, 190 lbs.) has the lone interception for the Big Green’s defense. Penn had chances to exploit Dartmouth’s passing defense but struggled with inaccurate or delayed passes, penalties and dropped balls. Jordan will need to make strides from his first full start last week with some help from the big men up front to challenge Dartmouth’s defensive backs. In the ground game, Yale needs to build upon the momentum established last week to move bodies up front and spring Pitsenberger loose.

Sophomore K Owen Zalc (5’10”, 165 lbs.) is 6 of 7 on field goal attempts with an impressive long field goal of 50 yards. Senior P Davis Golick (6’1”, 210 lbs.) averages 39.5 yards per punt with a long ount of 51 yards. Sean Williams can be a dangerous punt returner if not kept in check. There will be no margin for special teams miscues this week against a strong Ivy League foe.

Go Bulldogs! Beat the Big Green!

The Bulldogs pulled out a nail-biting victory at home in a 23-22 win over CCSU. Yale moves to 2-1 on the season with an undefeated Big Green squad visiting the Bowl this weekend. 

Grant Jordan returned at quarterback and finished 16 of 31 for 146 yards and a touchdown. Jordan had some great scrambles and key completions when needed but needs to be a bit more accurate and decisive moving forward. On Jordan’s huge 21 yard rush downfield to keep a drive alive, he took the safe route and slid to play another day. The play calling will need to give Jordan higher percentage plays to keep the ball moving against Ivy opponents as it’s hard to win being 6 of 15 on third downs. McCaughey appeared to be nursing an injury on the sidelines, so hopefully he can bounce back to provide depth. Pitsenberger looked improved over the Cornell contest and posted 127 rushing yards and a touchdown with the touchdown coming on a fantastic 64-yard scamper to keep Yale in the contest. Shipp, Pantelis and Nenad were solid at wideout when given good opportunities. Luke Foster made one of the plays of the season on his 19-yard touchdown reception to take the lead. St. Aubyn started at tackle with Sullivan shifting back to guard. The line’s performance was improved but Pitsenberger and Denney were still getting hit at the line of scrimmage too often to fully take control of the game. Jordan’s elusiveness aided in the sackless contest for CCSU. The offense took a step forward all around in this game and will need to keep that momentum while finding more ways to get our playmakers the ball in space.

CCSU racked up 458 yards on offense in another sloppy performance from the defense, although the Bulldogs do deserve credit for coming up with big plays and turnovers when needed. Yang was a bright spot with 3 tackles for losses. The defensive line jumped offsides on several hard counts, so discipline must improve in that regard. Egodogbare was back and did not yet appear to be in peak form. Shaffer and Biggs had their best performances of the season but still need to take their play to the next level. Ayo Durojaiye had a stellar sack for a ten yard loss that killed a CCSU drive. The secondary struggled to contain receivers with Daniyan constantly caught out of position. Tarver stepped up at safety with an interception and another key breakup. Da’Quan Gonzales was burned for a touchdown at corner but came back with a pass breakup to kill a drive. Kamara has been forced to be a workhorse for this defense and continues to rack up tackles with another 14 against CCSU. Yale needs to clean up the outside containment issues along with the gaps in coverage to keep Dartmouth in check this week. 

Conforti was 1 of 2 on field goals with a 33-yard miss. Florio had a decent punting day with a 37.7 yard average and four punts inside the redzone. 

The Bulldogs host the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils on Saturday at The Bowl. Kickoff is slated for 12 PM ET and the game will air on ESPN+.

CCSU enters the contest with a 2-2 record with its two losses coming to FBS squads. The Blue Devils lost a close contest last week against UMASS by just 4 points and will be seeking to keep their undefeated streak against FCS opponents going this week.

CCSU’s offense is led by junior QB Brady Olson (6’4”, 200 lbs.) who played in 19 games for UMASS prior to transferring to CCSU this season. Olson has completed 50.4% of his passes for 634 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions on the season. The Blue Devils also like bringing in junior QB Ricky Ortega (5’11”, 185 lbs.), a dual threat transfer from Villanova, on short running situations.  Junior RB Elijah Howard (5’11”, 176 lbs.) is another FBS transfer joining the Blue Devils after a stint at Virginia Tech. Howard is a very elusive back that was a 2nd Team All-NEC selection a year ago after ranking 19th in the FCS for all-purpose yardage. Senior WR Michael Plaskon (5’9″, 190 lbs.) is a surehanded and shifty receiver that has hauled in 18 receptions for 219 yards and a score. Senior WR Paul Marsh, Jr. (6’1”, 205 lbs.) is a very physical receiver that can leap over defenders for tough catches. CCSU’s offensive line averages 303.0 lbs. across the board and has allowed just two sacks on the season. At several positions, there will be difficult matchups for our defense, but this week needs to be a return to the fundamentals for the Bulldogs. Finding a way to generate a pass rush, fill gaps and blanket receivers in this contest will hopefully provide a roadmap for the difficult conference schedule ahead.

CCSU’s defense is very opportunistic and has recovered 8 fumbles, scored 2 defensive touchdowns and sacked opponents 16 times. The unit is very stiff against the running game allowing just 106.5 yards per game, although they’ve been a bit more lenient against the pass allowing 237.8 passing yards per game. The defense is led by junior S Kimal Clark (5’10”, 200 lbs.), a returning 1^st Team All-NEC selection in 2023 who is off to a hot start to the season with 46 tackles and a fumble recovery. Junior LB Malachi Wright (6’1”, 225 lbs.) is a local product from West Haven who has played very well with 26 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Junior Jack Stoll (6’0”, 200 lbs.) has been a physical presence at the inside linebacker position with 21 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. The defensive line is led by senior Jalen Howard (6’1”, 265 lbs.), a transfer from Villanova who has already racked up 5 sacks. The secondary features several transfers such as senior Davone Walden, Jr. (6’1”, 185 lbs.), a UNLV transfer, and junior Deon McLean (6’0”, 200 lbs.), a UCONN transfer. CCSU’s defense is a hard-hitting unit that flows well to the ball and is rarely out of position. With Pantelis and Shipp playing at such a high level, Yale must find creative ways to get them the ball without placing too much pressure on our inexperienced signal callers. The offensive line will have their hands full this week against talented defensive linemen and linebackers, so it will be very interesting to see how they respond after such a poor outing at Cornell.

Junior K Jack Barnum (6’1”, 200 lbs.) has made 5 of 7 field goal attempts with a long of 50 yards this season. Senior P Aidan Clark (6’3”, 255 lbs.) has a stellar punting average of 44.0 yards with an unheard-of long punt of 84 yards this season. Senior RB Jadon Turner (5’10”, 180 lbs.) is the most explosive returner the Bulldogs have faced this season, so Yale’s coverage teams must improve considerably from last week to keep him in check. As always, the contest could come down to special teams play, so hopefully Reno and Vashel have prepared thoroughly to defeat an instate rival.

Go Bulldogs! Beat the Blue Devils!

The Bulldogs fell to the Cornell Big Red 23-47 in one of the worst contests of Reno’s career. 

Even with Pitsenberger and Felton back in the mix, the offensive performance was lackluster. McCaughey earned the starting nod at quarterback but failed to provide much of a spark with abysmal offensive line play and nonsensical play calling contributing to the demise. While McCaughey didn’t throw an interception, he again tried to unsuccessfully force passes into tight coverage and had a costly fumble on a bad handoff exchange with Peterson. Howe made his first appearance of the season but didn’t fare any better with low passes and an interception. If Jordan is healthy this week, one has to imagine he’ll be given another chance to put this team on his back. The offensive line had one of the roughest performances over the past five years as they were pushed around by an undersized front and never seemed to be able to pick up blitzes. Pitsenberger didn’t appear to be fully healthy and could not break the arm tackles that he’d normally brush off. Denney, Dahl and Peterson all played with effort but couldn’t overcome the lack of rushing lanes. Shipp, Pantelis and Yates were bright spots for the Bulldogs offensively with stellar catches to keep Yale alive early on. The coaches bear much of the responsibility for the loss as well with a complete lack of preparation and head scratching play calls. As bad as the offense was, the defensive and special teams units were far inferior. 

The defense allowed 475 yards with 9.6 passing yards per attempt and 4.9 rushing yards per attempt. The Bulldogs will not win a league game all season with statistics of that nature. Aside from a few nice plays from Gulley and Yang, the defensive line was manhandled, couldn’t set the edge, and failed to impact Wong. Egodogbare was still out of the lineup at defensive tackle and Shaber just doesn’t have the power to dominate the interior. Yang played at the defensive end position but doesn’t seem to be a natural edge defender. It would seem more logical to have Yang and Gulley at the defensive tackle positions with Shaber, Tyler, McDonough, and Jackson-Bass rotating on the outside. The linebackers were once again nowhere to be found as they were taken out by blockers on running plays and provided little support in the passing game. The constant, undisguised blitzing of the linebackers had no effect on Cornell and actually gave the Big Red an advantage as once runners broke free from the line of scrimmage, there was no second level support. Allowing a 68-yard touchdown reception from a tight end is simply inexcusable. The coaches made grave errors in fielding the freshman safety Eastep who gave up two costly touchdown receptions. For every one freshman such as Breylan Thompson who can make an impact as a youngster, there are another 15 first years who have no business seeing the field. Having Daniyan, Kamara or Tarver in the same coverage would have at least given the Bulldogs slight hopes of deflecting a pass. Guyton was the only member of the starting secondary to have a decent outing as Daniyan and Kamara were routinely torched by middling receivers and Thompson made a few mistakes typical of a freshman still adjusting to collegiate football. This painful loss to Cornell needs to be a wake-up call for the defense that the level of intensity and physicality needs to drastically increase in a hurry.

After two crucial defensive stops, the punt return team promptly gave the ball back to Cornell. Felton failed to catch a punt that bounced off of Barkley-Smith and was recovered by Cornell while Tarver roughed the punter and was cited for an unsportsmanlike penalty after the initial flag. Conforti made his only field goal attempt of the afternoon and was perfect on PATs. Florio had a better showing than last week with 43.6 yards per punt and two touchbacks on kickoff returns.

The Bulldogs travel to Ithaca this week for the start of Ivy League play against the Cornell Big Red. Kickoff is slated for 2 PM ET and the game will air on ESPN+.

The Big Red fell to Colgate last weekend in a 24-41 contest to open the Dan Swanstrom era. Swanstrom joined Cornell after a short stint as Penn’s offensive coordinator making this a revenge game on two fronts for the losses against Cornell and Penn a year ago.

Senior QB Jameson Wang (6’1”, 205 lbs.) once again leads Cornell’s offense and shows improved passing skills to go along with his quickness in the running game. Wang finished the contest last week with an impressive 313 passing yards and 3 TDs with a completion percentage of 78.4%. Wang was not sacked and was also the top rusher for the Big Red with 41 rushing yards (4.1 yards per carry). Sophomore RB Ean Pope (5’7”, 176 lbs.) is a speedy back that saw the most carries for Cornell last week but struggled with just 2.8 yards per carry. Sophomore RB Robert Tucker III (5’8”, 204 lbs.) is the top returning running back from a year ago and posted 7.7 yards per carry. Junior RB Johntu Reed (6’2”, 230 lbs.) is a big back with great receiving skills out of the backfield. Cornell has a very deep receiving corps that was difficult for Colgate to contain. Sophomore WR Brendan Lee (5’11”, 176 lbs.) caught 5 passes for 101 yards, while fellow sophomore WR Samuel Musungu (6’1”, 192 lbs.) added another 7 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Pope and Reed combined for 9 catches out of the backfield, so our linebackers will have their hands full in the passing game this week. Cornell’s offensive line averages 293.8 lbs. across the board and returns one starter from a year ago in senior LT Davis Watson (6’6”, 276 lbs.). The offensive line has yet to give up a sack this season but did not display superior run blocking skills in the lone contest. The Bulldogs will need the defensive line to generate a much better pass rush this week while keeping Wang contained from breaking loose with his legs. Yale will also need to line up quickly as Cornell likes to utilize a hurry up offense particularly after big plays.

Colgate was able to generate 457 yards of total offense with 270 rushing yards a week ago. The Raiders averaged 6.3 yards per carry which enabled them to control the clock with over 34 minutes of possession time. Swanstrom did not make a change at defensive coordinator, so it’s a very familiar defensive scheme that we’ve seen from Cornell in the past. Senior LB Luke Banbury (6’2”, 237 lbs.) led Cornell in tackles with 8 including half a tackle for loss. Senior DL Muhammad-Ali Kobo (6’4”, 257 lbs.) proved difficult for the Raiders to block with 6 tackles on the afternoon. 5^th year senior DL Brendan Chestnut (6’4”, 283 lbs.) is a returning starter at defensive tackle that anchors the Big Red’s front. Senior S Trey Harris (6’4”, 202 lbs.) has been starting since his sophomore season and posted 7 tackles with a pass breakup. Colgate had early success in the passing game before leaning heavily into the running game to bleed the clock. Cornell’s cornerbacks often play far off the line of scrimmage, so there should be opportunities for Shipp and Pantelis to rack up yardage on short passing plays. Yale matches up well against Cornell’s defense, although play calling on 1^st and 2^nd downs will have to improve from last year’s contest as stalled drives were backbreakers.

Sophomore K Alan Zhao (6’0”, 197 lbs.) nailed his only field goal attempt and was perfect on PATs. Senior P Nathaniel Hillenburg (6’3”, 230 lbs.) averaged 36.0 yards per punt with a long of 61 yards. This should be a tight contest that could come down to special teams play, so Yale will need to limit mistakes especially on the kickoff team.

Go Bulldogs! Beat the Big Red!  

The Bulldogs enter Week 2 with an unblemished 1-0 record for the first time in years after an exciting 38-31 win at Holy Cross.

Grant Jordan’s debut at quarterback was short lived suffering what appeared to be a concussion after being rocked by a Holy Cross safety on a running play. Jordan played well with a couple nice passes including a great throw along the sideline to Shipp. Not many quarterbacks have the physical durability of the departed Grooms and unfortunately Jordan learned the hard way why most signal callers must slide when confronted in the open field. McCaughey entered the contest looking like a seasoned veteran as he marched the Bulldogs down with impressive passes and a hard-nosed charge into the endzone for Yale’s first points. McCaughey showed incredible poise not only on the first drive but throughout the contest culminating in a game winning drive aided by defensive penalties. McCaughey finished the afternoon 18 of 32 for 217 yards and 1 TD. It wasn’t all pretty for McCaughey with a number of risky deep balls that could have been intercepted and short passing plays that were doomed by poor timing or low balls. Pantelis and Shipp were dominant with a combined 11 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Jaxton Santiago is a matchup nightmare for defensive backs with his size and strength. With Pitsenberger out of the contest, Denney, Dahl and Peterson picked up the slack rushing for 129 yards (3.5 yards per carry) and 3 TDs. McCaughey added another 14 rushing yards with a touchdown. Denney was a workhorse that fought tirelessly for every yard and his receiving skills looked much improved. Pass blocking along the offensive line was decent for a first contest with only one sack allowed, although McCaughey’s elusiveness aided this statistic as he was often running for his life and took a number of hard shots after releasing the ball. Run blocking was up and down as the big men opened enough holes to keep the clock ticking away, but far too many rushing plays were blown up at the line of scrimmage. Overall, it was a great offensive effort considering we were down a starting QB and RB with two new starters along the offensive line.

The defensive performance was another story as Holy Cross posted 426 yards of total offense. Saffold was caught off guard on the very first defensive play with a play action pass going for a 74-yard touchdown. Freshman Breylan Thompson entered in relief of Saffold and instantly made his presence known with a punishing hit on a Holy Cross running back. The future looks very bright for Thompson as we haven’t seen a freshman cornerback with his skillset in Reno’s entire career at Yale. The defensive line appeared to be a bright spot for Yale heading into the season, but with Egodogbare and Yang out of the rotation, our linemen were not getting off blocks and were not pressuring the quarterback. Containment on the outside from our defensive ends was often non-existent. Sophomore DE Zairion Jackson-Bass seemed to have the best performance along the defensive front with 4 tackles, half a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery. The linebacker position continues to be a huge concern with the linebackers failing to plug gaps or shed blockers. Shaffer, Biggs and Campbell all missed crucial tackles which forced the safeties and cornerbacks to make touchdown saving stops. Shaffer’s performance did improve in the 2^nd half and he wound up leading the defense in tackles with 9. The secondary was often just a step out of position to contain receivers and even in tight coverages, Holy Cross’ talented wideouts were able to make difficult catches. The safeties and cornerbacks stepped up on 3^rd downs though with Kamara, Daniyan, Guyton and Tarver all making clutch plays to stall drives. Holy Cross was limited to just 5 of 11 on third down conversions but was able to generate big plays in the passing game with 10.3 yards per attempt and 23.3 yards per reception. This contest likely would have had a different outcome with either Bob Chesney coaching or Jordan Fuller playing at running back.

Conforti was 1 of 2 on field goals with his miss coming on a difficult 47-yarder in the rain. Florio averaged 35.8 yards per punt with 2 punts placed inside the endzone. The kickoff team will need to improve considerably as Florio’s short kickoffs gave great field advantage to Holy Cross. Felton was inactive, but Denney was fantastic in the return game with 27.0 yards per kickoff return.