Mistakes prove costly in Yale's loss to Brown

As stunning as it was to believe, had a Yale player recovered the ball on Brown's final offensive play, the Bulldogs may have been able to walk out of the Yale Bowl with an Ivy League championship still within their grasps.

In a mistake-prone game, Brown quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero fumbled the ball when all the Bears needed to do was take a knee and let the final seconds tick off the clock. After a wild scramble, it was ruled that Brown maintained possession and as a result, earned a 34-28 victory.

Capitalizing on three Patrick Witt interceptions and a key fumble by punt returner Gio Christodoulou, the Bears had a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs mounted a frantic comeback.

Patrick Witt, who passed for two scores and ran for two more, had a 2-yard touchdown run and an 18-yard TD pass to Mordecai Cargill to pull within 34-28 with 1:28 to play. That set the stage for the final fumble in the game. Yale senior defensive tackle Reed Spiller came out of the pile with the ball but the officials ruled that Brown had already been awarded possession.

"I know we had our hands on it, they had their hands on it," Williams said. "The officials said that he ruled simultaneous possession to them, that is what he told me on the sideline."

The fact of the matter is that the Bulldogs were fortunate to even be within six points at game's end. Yale had enough miscues to last a season and those mistakes mean the Bulldogs would need all sorts of help to be able to go into the season-ending Harvard game in position to earn a share of the Ivy League title.


"We were playing until the last second, we had guys grabbing trying to get the ball but the fact of the matter is that we didn't play well enough to win in a game of that magnitude," Williams said. "We turned the ball over too many times, we didn't take advantage of good field position to score and we gave up a couple of easy touchdowns defensively. We had a punt blocked for no reason at all. If you do things in a game of this magnitude against a good team like Brown, you are going to lose the game. We had plenty of opportunities to have a good day and we didn't do it.


"It starts with me. I have to figure out the right buttons ti push with my football team so that we can execute with poise in a game of this magnitude. This is the point in the season with a team that has been around for at least three years with our staff that we felt confident that we would be able to finish these types of games and to have those things pop up in the biggest game of the year is a head scratcher to me."

Speaking of head scratchers, I asked Williams about the curious play call of having Deon Randall run the ball out of the Wildcat formation with Yale having a 2nd and 3 on the Brown 5. Randall was thrown for an eight-yard loss and Philippe Panico missed a 30-yard field goal. I know Yale was struggling to run the ball at that point but I'd take my chances with a powerful back like Cargill getting a couple of cracks into the 5 rather than the Wildcat.
"That is a play that we practiced all week in that situation and we didn't execute the blocking of it," Williams said. "There was a particular block that needed to be made. It wasn't and that caused us to move backwards. It came down to execution, we liked the play, we knew what we were going to get from it. When you aren't able to execute plays, it doesn't really matter what you call."


It also didn't help that Yale gave up the longest run in Brown football history as Mark Kachmar had 95 of his 192 rushing yards on the Bears' third offensive play. The Bulldogs had a hard time defending both the run and pass in the first half. Brown helped Yale come back by going a bit conservative in its offensive play calling in the second half.
"You kind of knew they had it in them with the kind of skill that they had to come back but when you are up by three touchdowns, it is a matter of getting first downs and we blew it down there," Brown coach Phil Estes said of Yale's late offensive barrage.

"We were up 20 points and we are going to be OK. We have to get some first downs and we just couldn't get the first downs. The problem is you just start watching the clock. You don't want to throw. They have great skill at receiver, great skill at running back, defensively they play some soft coverages but they really wrap up, they hit hard and tackle hard."

Yale senior running back Alex Thomas missed his second straight game with a knee injury while Chris Smith appeared to suffer an ankle injury in the second half. If there was a positive for Yale, it is the continued emergence of freshman defensive end E.J. Conway who had another strong game.

Witt finished with 370 yards and is now just 69 yards shy of Alvin Cowan's Yale career record. Speaking of Witt, a film crew from NBC Nightly News was on campus yesterday following Witt around and also at today's game. They are planning to run a segment on Monday's show about Witt's potential conflict with his final Rhodes Scholarship interview. The interview was set for the morning of Nov. 19 in Atlanta and if it is not shifted to the previous day, Witt would have to choose between playing in The Game and going to interview for the most prestigious scholarship in this country.

Another honor for Cargill; Heroes Day update

Yale junior running back Mordecai Cargill added the Golden Helmet to his weekly haul of individual awards.

Cargill ran 42 times for a career-high 230 yards in Yale's 16-13 win over Columbia on Saturday. It was the fourth highest single-game total in Yale history and second most against an Ivy League opponent.

Cargill is the first Yale player to earn the New England Football Writers’ Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Gold Helmet Award this year.

Also, there has been an impressive response for Yale's Heroes Day event as more than 200 military members including the following groups:


U.S. Navy, Submarine Base Group

National Guard
US Army
Yale Veterans Council
Yale Veterans Association (an alumni veterans group)
Yale Police
US Coast Guard

Yale is inviting military veterans, active service members, police officers, and firefighters along with their families to Saturday's home game against Brown.

Tickets as well as pre-game food and drinks will be handed out at the Heroes Tailgate located in the Hospitality Village. For more information contact Jennifer O’Neil at (203) 432-1414 or jennifer.oneil@yale.edu.

Cargill honored by Ivy League

Yale junior running back Mordecai Cargill was named the Ivy League's Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a career-high 230 yards including scoring runs of 19 and 4 yards in a 16-13 win at Columbia on Saturday.

Cargill's effort was the fourth best rushing total in Yale history and just five yards shy of the school record in an Ivy League game as Robert Carr ran for 235 yards against Cornell in 2002. Cargill, who had 153 of those yards in the second half, allowed the Bulldogs to make some Ivy League history. With Alex Thomas running for 204 yards the previous week against Penn, it is the first two an Ivy team had two different runners top the 200-yard rushing mark in consecutive games.

Cargill's 42 rushing attempts is four shy of Yale's single-game record set by Rich Diana against Princeton in 1981.

Cargill was also on the six Football Championship Subdivision players named by the College Football Performance Awards as "running back performer of the week."

Snow, Yale offensive line dominate Columbia

When the Ivy League announces its weekly player of the week, it would be fitting for one or more of Yale's offensive linemen to get the nod. Of course, there would have been a better chance of finding a sun bather at Saturday's Yale/Columbia game.

In a game played in a surprisingly potent storm, Yale made some Ivy League history.

After paving the way for Alex Thomas to run for 204 yards in a loss to Penn, the Yale starting offensive line of Ben Carbery, Gabe Fernandez, John Oppenheimer, Colin Kruger and James Talerico were at it again as Mordecai Cargill ran for 230 yards in the 16-13 win over Columbia.

I went through the record books for the Ivy teams and as far as I can tell, it is the first time an Ivy team had two backs rush for 200 yards in consecutive games. What makes the feat so impressive is that the Bulldogs were playing without both starting tackles as both Wes Gavin and Roy Collins were out with ankle injuries.

"Our O-line has really come together," said Cargill, who surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in career rushing yards late in the game. "It was (unfortunate) that Roy and Wes went down but we have a lot of solidarity up front. Our O-line is starting to mesh and we are looking to build momentum going forward."


I asked Columbia coach Norries Wilson how impressive it is to have two backs run for 200 yards in back to back games and I had to laugh at his response.
 
"I think Nebraska does it every week," Wilson said. "I think just looking at the stats, they have been intermixing the two backs. I don’t know what’s wrong with 41 (Thomas, who missed the game with a knee injury), we didn ‘t know he wasn’t going to play but (Cargill) made the most of his opportunity and they did a good job blocking for him.


"They are a real good group. They are playing Carbery as a freshman, they have a freshman who played last year (Gavin) who is a really good player. I really like 57 (Roy Collins). I think they have done a good job of playing some athletic kids who can play offensive line. They can reach block on the second step, they do a real good job of protecting their quarterback."
 
It is NOT the first time Yale had a 200-yard rusher in consecutive games as Robert Carr accomplished the feat in games against Cornell and Holy Cross but it is the first time it was done by different running backs.
 
A few defensive details thanks to Jordan Haynes since it was extremely difficult to make out many of the plays. On the fumble recovered by Will McHale which led to Panico's field goal, McHale deflected a pass which was caught by a Columbia lineman. Cliff Foreman then jarred the ball free and McHale recovered. Haynes recovered a fumble after a huge submarine tackle. Again, I couldn't make out the player and he said it was Kurt Stottlemyer. Because of the conditions made passing extremely difficult, Yale was able to aggressive blitz its defensive backs on obvious passing situations. Collin Bibb led the way with two tackles for a loss including a sack.
 
Wilson was asked whether he felt the play before Nick Okano's game-clinching interception should have been called pass interference.
 
"You have to ask the official on that side, it doesn’t matter what I think," Wilson said.
 
The Yale players heard that Brown beat Penn 6-0 as the Bulldogs were running the final few seconds off the clock. Now Yale can clinch no worse than a share of the Ivy League title it it wins its final three games. Had Penn won out, Yale would not be able to catch the Quakers in the standings.



The main focus on my game story is on Cargill's monster effort and the fact that Yale did not attempt a pass in the second half. I have a notebook with reaction from Yale players about the winter wonderland they played in as well as Philippe Panico somehow getting a 38-yard field goal through the uprights.
 
Speaking of the snow, Yale history buff Bob Barton (a former New Haven Register copy editor and regular at Yale games for years) came up with a list of other Yale games of the last 50 years impacted by snow.
 
Temple 1953 (Yale 32-6) early November, probably 4 inches


Harvard 1955 (Yale 21-7), probably 2-3 inches


Princeton 1967, there were snowflakes but rain, thunder, little of everything, no accumulation


Think there was also a little snow at Princeton in 1985, but nothing serious.
I am thinking that if you said this was the most serious snow during a game in more than half a century, you'd be right.

Update on Alex Thomas

It was a bit of good news mixed in with some bad for Alex Thomas regarding his knee injury.

The senior running back from Ansonia, who ran for a career-high 204 yards in Saturday's loss to Penn, underwent tests on his injured knee on both Sunday and Tuesday.

While the results of Sunday's tests were inconclusive, the second examination revealed an injured posterior cruciate ligament. As a result, he will be forced to miss Saturday's game at Columbia. It could have been worse and put him on the sidelines for the rest of his senior season.

Thomas spoke about the situation after Thursday's practice.

"There is not a tear, it is just a PCL injury," Thomas said. "I am going to sit this weekend and hope to be back next week. I have a brace on and I am just rehabbing like a maniac right now trying to get back to where I need to be."


Thomas, who is third in the Ivy League with an average of 99.5 rushing yards per game, was understandably concerned about his availability for the rest of the season after falling awkwardly in the fourth quarter of the Penn game.

"You never know, you know something doesn’t feel right but you don’t know what it is until the doctor tells you," Thomas said. "At the beginning of the week, I was just playing the waiting game and hoping and praying for the best. This is not the best news, I have to sit a week which is not what I want to do but (realizing) that I get to play three more games here at Yale, it means a lot."

While Thomas may not consider missing this week's game "good" news, Yale coach Tom Williams believes that is about the best possible outcome.

"It is as positive as it could be hearing from the doctors that he is going to have the chance to get the strength back and continue playing," Williams said. "Obviously he has been a great player for us this season but him being able to finish his senior season would be important for him and important for us."

Mordecai Cargill is an experienced tailback for Yale with 769 career yards including 73 in the 2009 win at Columbia. Deon Randall may see more snaps at running back, although he may also be called upon to pick up the slack for injured receiver Chris Smith. Other options figure to be fullback Elijah Thomas, who was a tailback as a freshman, and freshman walk on Wynston Bouknight.


"Mo (Cargill) knows what he is doing and Wynston and Elijah both know what they are doing, they have a good grasp of the offense," Thomas said.  "I am here to answer any questions they have, I am here on the sideline each and every play. I am pretty confident in the guys that we have. I know they are pretty confident and excited to get out there on Saturday."

Yale uses strong second half to beat Georgetown

Outside of Chris Smith's kickoff returns and Mordecai Cargill's two touchdowns, the first half exactly a highlight-reel opening 30 minutes for the Yale football team.

Still, the Bulldogs had a 21-20 lead despite being pushed around a bit by the visiting Hoyas of Georgetown.

At halftime, more time was spent on making the necessary adjustments than unleashing some fire and brimstone motivational speeches.

It didn't take long to realize that the second half was going to be played much more to Yale's liking.After being outgained by Georgetown by 81 yards in the first half, Yale took over control of the game.

Georgetown managed just 27 yards rushing on nine carries in the second half. Also, starting quarterback Isaiah Kempf was knocked out of the game so the Hoyas were forced to take to the air with their second-string quarterback.

Offensively, Yale's running game woke up. After managing eight yards on 11 carries in the first two quarters, the Bulldogs ran the ball 24 times for 111 yards in the second half.

The performance was almost a 180 degree turn from the 2010 Yale/Georgetown game when the Bulldogs played a great first half but struggled to slow down the Hoyas in the second half.

"It was a great start," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "We knew that not only is Georgetown an improved football team over the last couple of years but now they have a two-game head start. We felt like it was important for us to start fast. We made some early game or first game mistakes but I thought we were able to get it ironed out in the third quarter, come out and really play Bulldog football for the rest of the game."

Smith finished with 267 all-purpose yards and had he been able to elude the Georgetown kicker, he may have doubled his touchdown output.

"I wish I could have punched one (kickoff return) in," Smith said. "I guess that kicker is an All-American or something."

Cargill finished with 92 yards including his first rushing touchdown at Yale and caught four passes for 46 yards and another TD. Defensively, returning starting linebackers Jordan Haynes and Will McHale led the way with 11 and 10 tackles respectively.

Yale beats Dean 24-7

Yale's defense, outside of one play, and special teams had strong performances in Saturday's 24-7 win over Dean College in a scrimmage at the Yale Bowl.

Yale had seven sacks (of course with the no hitting the quarterback rule at the scrimmage, defenders only needed to be in the general vicinity to get some of these sacks.

Carter Deutsch, who is back on defense after a move to the offensive line, had three of the sacks while Cliff Foreman had two sacks. Jordan Haynes led Yale with six tackles (according to my unofficial stats). After Haynes made his presence felt on Dean's first offensive possession, one of their assistant coaches could be heard telling his players "we've got to block the Mike (linebacker). Why can't we block the Mike." I am sure more than a few Ivy League coaches said or thought the same thing since Haynes is the Mike or middle linebacker at Yale. Haynes was not the author of the best hit of the scrimmage. That came from sophomore tight end who rumbled for yardage on his only reception when a Dean player came in and tried to lay a huge hit on Coty. The result was the defender being knocked backwards and Coty continued to move forward as if he was barely touched. The play happened in front of the Yale sideline and Coty's teammates went absolutely crazy after the play.

On special teams, Gio Christodolou brought back a punt 65 yards for a touchdown and a fumble recovery on a dropped Dean punt led to Alex Thomas' 2-yard touchdown. Yale coach Tom Williams was impressed with the efforts of his freshmen punters Parker Toms and Kyle Cazzetta.

He was not as happy with the effort of the first-team offense. At halftime he challenged them to come down the field and score and the Bulldogs did just that. Thomas ran three times for 41 of his team-high 45 yards on the six-play, 79-yard drive which ended with Patrick Witt hooking up with Chris Smith on a 28-yard touchdown.

Witt struggled at times throwing the ball down the field although he finished 13 of 20 for 122 yards with the one touchdowns and an interception. Smith led the team with 51 yards on three catches while Allen Harris had a team-high four catches.

Yale offensive starters were Witt, Mordecai Cargill at tailback, Cameron Sandquist, Deon Randall and Allen Harris at receiver, Kyle Wittenauer at tight end and the offensive line of tackles Roy Collins and Wes Gavin, guards Gabe Fernandez and Colin Kruger and center John Oppenheimer. On defense, it was ends Matt Battaglia and Austin Pulsipher, tackles Reed Spiller and Jake Stoller, linebackers Haynes, Will McHale and Wes Moyer, cornerbacks Drew Baldwin and Dawson Halliday and safeties Geoff Dunham and Nick Okano.

As for the freshmen, William Chism and Ben Carbery saw time on the second-team offensive line, linebacker Will Vaughan, running back Wynston Bouknight and corner Nick LaTesta where the ones I noticed as well as the two aforementioned punters.

There have been some injuries among the freshmen. Running back Kahlil Keys suffered a knee injury during practice earlier in the week and he may miss the season, defensive back Ethan DeSilva had a knee injury late in his senior season at Mission Viejo (Calif.) and will not play this season. Chism hurt his hand in the scrimmage and had an MRI done on Saturday.

Some thoughts on spring camp

Yale wrapped up spring practice on Monday and the 12 practices gave some of the younger players a chance to move up the depth chart and make a case for either a starting position or a more prominent role than they had a year ago.

I asked Yale coach Tom Williams which players helped themselves the most during spring camp.

"John Whitelaw, is clearly our No. 2 quarterback. He clearly established himself as a guy who can help our team win football games. I think he has shown the development that we saw at the end of last season and he is a good football player. At tight end position, Kyle Wittenauer is a guy who has stepped up to show that he is ready to earn some playing time at that position. I don't know if he is going to be the replacement this year for (Chris) Blohm but I think he can do some things that can help us win there. (Fullback) Elijah Thomas, some kind of guy. He can do some things that Shane (Bannon) gave us and as a young player he will continue to develop and he certainly made a move in the spring. (Center) John Oppenheimer, moving from defense to offense has helped us and ultimately he will be a really good player for us at that position. Of all the skill guys that we had, (tailback) Mordecai Cargill probably had the biggest spring.

"Defensively, (safety) Nick Okano, (linebacker) Brian Leffler, (cornerback) Collin Bibb and having (defensive tackle) Pat Moran come back and show he is a better player than he was when he left us, all those guys had great springs."

Now it is up to the returning players to build off what transpired in spring camp. At this point last year I would not have predicted that guard Colin Kruger or cornerback Chris Stanley would emerge as starters but they had strong performances in the fall camp to earn regular spots.

Yale will begin its fall camp (or summer camp if you prefer since the first day of fall is not until Sept. 23) on Aug. 19.

It will be interesting monitoring some of the same positional battles that were going on during the spring highlighted by Oppenheimer and Jeff Fell vying for the starting center spot, Leffler and Wes Moyer in contention for a starting linebacking spot, Okano and John Powers trying to earn the starting nod at strong safety with Bibb, Kurt Stottlemyer and Dawson Halliday likely fighting it out for a starting cornerback position.

Receivers Gio Christodoulou and Peter Balsam will be back while Yale will be welcoming a freshman class which will number somewhere between 28-30 and should have former Duke defensive lineman Tevin Hood in the fold as well.