Ivy Campaign Opens Saturday at Cornell
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale (2-0) | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Cornell (0-2) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Ithaca, N.Y. | Schoellkopf Field | |||||
| Yale | Cornell |
|---|---|
|
Pa:
Patrick Witt - 232
Ru: A. Thomas - 124 Rec: Gio Christodoulou - 88 |
Pa:
Mathews, Jeff - 248
Ru: Booker-Tandy, N - 27 Rec: Savage, Shane - 80 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Yale | Cornell |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 232 | 248 |
| Rushing Yards | 211 | 22 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 2 |
| Time of Poss. | 32:39 | 27:21 |
BLUE LOOKS TO AVENGE 2009 LOSS
Related Links
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale football team, which
kicked off the new season with a 40-35 win over Georgetown last
Saturday at home, begins Ivy League play with a 12:30 game this
Saturday at Cornell. The Big Red, looking for their first win under
new head coach Kent Austin in his home debut, opened up 2010 with a
loss at Wagner. Saturday's game at Ithaca airs as a live
video stream (pay per view) on cornellbigred.com. Audio is
available on WELI Radio (AM-960), weli.com and wybc.com.
SERIES
Yale leads the series with Cornell 42-28-2 heading into the 73rd
meeting. The series began in 1889 with a 60-6 Bulldog win at New
Haven. Cornell has taken the last two meetings including a 14-12
win at the Bowl in 2009.
BLUE-RED 2009
Cornell scored on an 81-yard pass play to open the game and then
held on for the 14-12 win. The Bulldog defense proceeded to shut
the Big Red down (85 yards of total offense) the rest of the way.
The Yale offense found itself in a position to tie the game after a
1-yard touchdown run by Patrick Witt with no time left on the clock
in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs could not complete the
two-point conversion, and Cornell came away with the win in the Ivy
League opener for both teams.
LAST-SECOND WIN
QB Patrick Witt plowed over the goal line from one-yard out on the
game's final play as Yale opened the 2010 season with a 40-35
win over Georgetown at Yale Bowl and the Class of 1954 Field.
Witt's game-winning score capped a 10-play, 64-yard drive
over the last 1:27 to give the Bulldogs the comeback victory over
the Hoyas (2-1). The junior QB, who completed 35 of 55 passes for
407 yards and two scores, went 4-for-6 with 46 yards on the final
drive. WR Gio Christodoulou, who had a game and career-high nine
grabs for 124 yards, had three catches for 29 yards on the winning
drive. "We repped this in practice all pre-season and were
confident in our two-minute drill," said Christodoulou, who
also returned two punts. "We did it like we always do in
practice." Yale RB Alex Thomas gained three important first
downs on the final possession. He finished with three TDS, two
rushing and one receiving, while totaling 161 yards. Thomas caught
six passes for 71 yards and ran for 90 more. The Elis, who had two
field goals blocked and botched the hold on a PAT, outgained the
Hoyas 543 to 443 in total yards while converting 10 of 18 third
downs. Yale had 12 more first downs than Georgetown, which was led
by Scott Darby's impressive (24-for-47, 340 yards) passing
day. Darby connected with receiver Keerome Lawrence eight times for
129 yards. Yale junior LB Jordan Haynes, who returned a fumble four
yards for a TD, led all tacklers with 10 solos, but the biggest
defensive play in the game came from sophomore LB Will McHale in
the fourth quarter. The Hoyas were deep in Yale territory when
McHale stepped in front of a third-down Darby pass at the three
yard line to keep the Bulldogs within reach. The home team took a
27-14 lead into the half but Jeremy Moore took the second-half
kickoff 85 yards for a TD to cut the lead to six before Jayah
Kaisamba picked off a Witt pass. Lawrence's two-yard run at
12:48 of the third quarter put the visitors ahead until the
game's last snap.
WITT NAMED IVY PLAYER OF WEEK
Patrick Witt was named Ivy League co-Player of the Week after he
became just the sixth Yale QB to throw for 400 yards in a game. He
connected on 35 of 55 passes for 407 and two scores in the 40-35
win over Georgetown. Witt, who dove into the end zone from a yard
out on the game's final play, hit seven different receivers
while becoming the first Bulldog thrower to top 400 yards since
Alvin Cowan in 2004. A backup at Nebraska in 2008, Witt made his
first collegiate start against the Hoyas in 2009 and completed 22
of 27 passes for 216 yards and two scores. The junior from Wylie,
Texas, started six games in 2009 and led the team with 1,449
yards and eight TDs.
HAYNES LEADS BLUE
Junior LB Jordan Haynes (10-1-11), who earned Ivy League Honor Roll
status, led all tacklers with 10 solos and scored Yale's
first TD of the year on a four-yard fumble return late in the first
quarter. His fumble return was the first for a TD by a Yale player
since Steven Santoro in 2006 at Harvard.
CORNELL LAST WEEK
Wagner knocked off Cornell 41-7 in the Big Red coaching debut of
Kent Austin last week. Three newcomers had the most productive days
for Cornell. RB Grant Gellatly rushed for 87 yards on just seven
carries, including a 63-yard scamper. QB Jeff Mathews was 7-of-15
passing for 97 yards, and Brian Gee notched 12 tackles to pace the
defense. Marcus Hendren scored the lone touchdown for Cornell,
going in from 1-yard out in the fourth quarter.
JOEL E. SMILOW '54 HEAD COACH OF FOOTBALL
Tom Williams, the Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Football at
Yale, is in his second season at Yale and his second as a head
coach overall. Williams is 0-1 against Cornell and 5-6 overall with
the Bulldogs. He came to New Haven after two seasons as an
assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars and is in his 13th season
of college coaching. Williams has worked at his alma mater,
Stanford, Hawaii, Washington and San Jose State. He has been part
of four Bowl Game appearances and two Bowl victories.
NO DOUBTING THOMAS
Junior Alex Thomas (Ansonia, Conn.), who added 15 pounds of muscle
over the summer, began the 2010 campaign with 161 all-purpose yards
last Saturday. Thomas ran for 90 and caught six passes for 71 yards
while finding the end zone three times. He ended the 2009 season
with a 124-yard rushing game against Harvard, becoming the 14th
Yale player ever to run for triple digits against the Crimson.
CHRIS SMITH
Sophomore Chris Smith (Midlothian, Va.) led all Bulldogs with 167
all-purpose yards. He snared five passes for 66 yards and returned
five kickoffs for 101 more on his way to Ivy League Honor Roll
status.
DEFENDING
Senior Jesse Reising (Decatur, Ill.) made six solo stops and broke
up two passes in his first varsity start. Juniors CB Drew Baldwin
(Alexandria, Va.) and FS Geoff Dunham combined for 11 solo tackles,
while junior DT Reed Spiller (Portsmouth, NH) and senior DE Sean Williams (Portland, Ore.) had sacks.
BLOHM BREAKOUT
Senior TE Chris Blohm (San Francisco, Calif.) played in every 2009
game but did not make a catch. He entered this fall with one career
reception but caught four passes for 50 yards and a 10-yard TD
against the Hoyas.
GIO FORM
Senior WR Gio Christodoulou (Miami, Fla.) had a career-best nine
catches
(124 yards) last Saturday, which were four more than he had in any
other season. He has two career punt returns for TDs and ranks
among the top 10 at Yale in career punt (408, 4th) and kickoff
return (553, 10th) yardage.
IVY PICKS
For the second straight year Yale was picked fourth in the
pre-season Ivy League Media Poll. The Bulldogs, with one
first-place vote and 83 points, were slated behind Harvard (10,
128), defending champion Penn (6, 124) and Brown (95). Columbia,
Princeton, Dartmouth and Cornell rounded out the bottom half of the
predicted finish. The Elis went 4-6 last fall and finished
tied for sixth (2-5) after being picked fourth in the 2009 Ivy
Media Poll.
ONE BIG LOCKER ROOM
High on the facility wish list of Tom Williams was moving his team
from multiple rooms at the Smilow Field Center to one large locker
area. That wish came to fruition in the form of the Carm Cozza
Complex. A dressing area designed by ProZone Lockers and meeting
rooms for coaches and players highlight the complex that will also
include a shrine to the hall of fame former Yale head coach.
UP FRONT
Two seniors and three juniors got the starts last week on the
offensive line. RT Jeff Fell (Garden City, N.Y., 6-5, 286) and LG
Colin Kruger (Sarasota, Fla., 6-3, 300) made their first starts.
Senior center Jake Koury (Dublin, Ohio, 6-2, 270), junior RG Gabe
Fernandez (Honolulu, HI, 6-0, 273) and senior LT Alex Golubiewski
(Green Bay, Wis., 6-6, 280) all started games in 2009.
CAPTAIN
Tom McCarthy '10 (Chester, N.J.) has been one of the leaders
on the defensive line the last two years. The second-team All-Ivy
pick last fall was Yale's MVP of the defensive line. McCarthy
registered four sacks and eight tackles for loss. He earned a
medical hardship from his freshman year and is now the fifth Yale
captain since 2001 who has taken a fifth year of eligibility.
LEG SERVICE
Senior P/PK Alex Barnes (Chesterfield, Mo.) had a 38.5 average on
six punts with two inside the 20. He connected on all four PATs but
had both (36, 18) field goal attempts blocked. Senior Bryan Farris
(Derry, N.H.) is the top kickoff man.
THE RED...
Won their first two games of 2009 (Bucknell, Yale) but lost its
last eight… Gave up over 1,000 yards more than it gained in
total offense…. Lost starters QB Ben Ganter, RB Randy
Barbour and leading WR Bryan Walters to graduation… Have a
new head coach in Kent Austin, who lived in Connecticut as a kid
and was the offensive coordinator for Mississippi in
2009… Saw former Cornell coach Jim Knowles resign to
become Duke's defensive coordinator… Have new
offensive and defensive coordinators with a combined 73 years
of coaching experience… Have four Connecticut natives
on their roster: So. OL John Begley (Shelton, CT/Shelton HS), Fr.
LB Justin Strid (Avon, CT/Northwest Catholic HS), Fr. WR Nick
Baccile (Greenwich, CT/The Brunswick School) and So. WR Kurt Ondash
(New Canaan, CT/New Canaan HS).
BULLDOG BITES
Patrick Witt has two career TD runs and both came with no time left
on the clock in the fourth quarter. His one yard run won the game
last week, but his one-yard score against Cornell in 2009 brought
the Elis to within a two-point conversion of OT… Yale opens
the 2011 and 2012 seasons at home with Georgetown… The Carm
Cozza Complex (Yale football locker room) will be dedicated on Nov.
13 prior to the game against Princeton… The 35 points
allowed last Saturday were the most by a Yale team on opening day
since the Elis gave up 43 against San Diego in 2006… RB Deon Randall (3-24) and DT John Oppenheimer (1-0-1) were the only
newcomers to register stats… Rookie OL Wes Gavin (San Diego,
Calif) may have earned a start this week after a good performance
in a backup role last week...PK Bryan Farris (Derry, N.H.) made a
TD saving tackle on a kick return... The "Y" painted on the center
of the Class of '54 Field measures 60 x 60 feet.
NUMBER CHANGES
A few Bulldogs who have their names called often on the public
address system are wearing different shirts this fall. QB Patrick
Witt wore No. 10 last year but asked about getting his old number
from high school. Witt now wears No. 11 along with junior starting
FS Geoff Dunham (Dallas, Texas), who was No. 46 last year…
WR/KR Chris Smith (Midlothian, Va.) broke in with the Bulldogs as
No. 4 last year but grabbed 3 this fall, which he shares with
senior PK/P Alex Barnes (Chesterfield, Mo.).
FIFTH-YEAR LEADERS
Captain Tom McCarthy is not alone in coming back this fall. DT Tim
Penna was the first captain (2001) in recent times to use the fifth
year of eligibility. QB Alvin Cowan captained the 2003 Bulldogs and
then used a medical hardship to play in 2004. QB Jeff Mroz
'05 was out of school for a year but returned to become
captain in 2005. WR Chandler Henley lost his true senior season to
a pre-season injury in 2005 but became captain in 2006 and led the
Blue to a championship. The first fifth-year captain since World
War II was John Smoot, who led the 1975 Elis. In the early
years of the Ivy League, if you missed playing for any reason
except military service, you were out of luck.
COMMON SURNAME
Smith is the most common surname in America, so it's no
surprise that Yale has three (Caleb, Chris, McConnell) from
different classes on its roster. All three are on offense, two are
WRs (Chris, McConnell) and Caleb is an end.
PRO UPDATE
Dick Jauron '73, who has spent 32 years in the NFL playing
and coaching, is the secondary coach for the Philadelphia
Eagles… TE Nate Lawrie '04, who played with UFL
Sacramento last year, signed with the Eagles on Aug. 9 but was
released on Sept. 3... Jeff Mroz '05 played QB in one 2010
game for the AFL Alabama Vipers… Pat Graham '01 is an
assistant coach for the New England Patriots… Michael
McDaniel '06 is an assistant in the UFL for San
Francisco.
CATCHING THE BULLDOGS
For the 13th consecutive season, all 10 Yale Football games can be
heard live on New Haven's News/Talk 960 WELI-AM and free
online at 960WELI.com. Ron Vaccaro '04 (play-by-play) and
Carm Cozza (color) have the call, which can be heard on AM radio
throughout Connecticut and across Long Island Sound, for their
sixth season together.
BARKING DOGS
Every third quarter this season, a different former Yale player
will join the WELI Radio broadcast this fall. The 2010 lineup began
with former receiver P.J. Collins '04 doing the Georgetown
game. Rick Fehling '74, a former middle guard, share his
thoughts on the broadcast at Ithaca this week.
FIELD OF STREAMS
All six home games this season will be video streamed live (pay per
view) on yalebulldogs.com through Yale's All Access with
Vaccaro and Cozza providing the call.
YALE ON YES
Three of Yale's seven league games will air live on TV. Yale on YES
is back for 2010 with three (Fordham, Penn, Columbia) straight home
games that can be seen live on many cable systems as well as
DirecTV, AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS. The Yale-Harvard game
on Nov. 20 at Boston is the Ivy League Game of the Week on Versus,
the national sports cable TV company.
PRACTICE
The Bulldogs, off on Mondays, are on the field at 7:30 a.m. (until
approx. 9:30) Tuesday and Thursdays, and 7:00 on Wednesdays behind
the baseball stadium. Fridays are walk-through days either at Yale
Bowl or on the road and times vary. Players and coaches are
available for interviews with working media following the practice
if there are no class conflicts.
STUDENTS OF THE GAME
Broadcasts of Yale football, along with several other sports during
the year, are available on the Yale student station, WYBC, and can
be heard free on-line at wybc.com. Sports director LeRoy Cole
'12 heads each broadcast.
SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER
Yale's all-time September record is 109-34-2 while the
opening day mark is 117-20-2. The Elis have won four straight
openers since falling to San Diego in 2006. This was the fourth
straight year the Blue opened the season with Georgetown.
TUESDAYS AT MORY'S
Tom Williams, the Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Yale
Football, and some of his players are at the world famous
Mory's (306 York Street) every Tuesday (Sept. 14 through Nov.
16) at 2 p.m. for the Dick Galiette Yale Football Press Conference.
This event is limited to media only. Please contact Yale Sports
Publicity Director Steve Conn (steven.conn@yale.edu) if you would
like to attend. QB Patrick Witt and DE Matt Battaglia (Simsbury,
Conn.) will join Williams this Tuesday.
QB SINGER
Sophomore QB Dez Duron (Shreveport, La.) has been singing since he
was two. He and his siblings sang for preaching tapes mailed by
their father. Their mom wrote Christian songs with videos and tapes
for kids called "Best Buddies." Duron, at 11, and his
siblings were signed to a Christian recording label. They toured
and made a CD. Duron got more involved in sports and stopped
singing with his family. He recently began making his own music,
including the recording of two songs that can be heard on
Myspace. There are also two youtube videos.
REACHING OUT
Junior CB Drew Baldwin (Alexandria, Va.), co-chair of the Yale
Black Men's Union Community Outreach Committee, is in his
third year of outreach work. Baldwin is responsible for creating
the lesson plans and the calendar of events, working to promote
personal growth and development through educational activities.
"We try to do this through exposing the mentees to new ideas
and experiences and, most importantly, through building lasting
relationships between mentor and mentee. We work toward
trying to help these high school kids become young men. In
the Black Men's Union we measure success by how many lives we
impact. Because our mentoring program puts us in a position
to impact lives to a great extent, we take that responsibility very
seriously," said Baldwin (31-8-39 last year with two
interceptions), who has mentored over 30 kids.
JV SLATE
Here's the JV schedule for this fall. All home games are
played at Clint Frank Field.
Date
Opponent
Time
Oct. 3 Milford
Academy
Noon
Oct. 31 Bridgton Academy
Noon
Nov. 7 Army
Noon
Nov. 19 at Harvard
1:00
REISING FLIGHT
Senior OLB Jesse Reising (Decatur, Ill.), who started at one of the
LB spots in the scrimmage, was home for the summer taking classes
to get his flight license before he completes Marine Corps Officer
Candidate School next year. The class valedictorian at Eisenhower
High School, he participated in various community outreach
activities through his Yale fraternity, including events to raise
money to fight prostate cancer, Relay for Life, and making care
packages for Navy SEALs in Afghanistan. Reising (3.75 GPA,
economics/political science), Yale's candidate for the
National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award, recently spent
time in Washington, DC, working closely with veterans' service
organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Project, American Legion
and Disabled American Veterans.
GOLDEN BLUE
This season marks the 50th anniversary of Yale's last perfect
football squad. The 1960 Elis, who shared the Lambert Trophy with
Navy, were Ivy champions and ranked 14th in the final Associated
Press poll, went 9-0. They will be honored during the weekend of
the Princeton game at the Bowl.
YALE COACHES' PICK PLAYERS OF WEEK
The Yale coaching staff selected its top players after the opening
day win:
Offense: QB Patrick Witt, WR
Gio Christoudoulo, RB Alex Thomas, OL Wes Gavin, TE Chris Blohm
Defense: DT Reed Spiller, DE Sean Williams, LB Jordan Haynes
Special Teams: P/PK Alex Barnes
LEADERS COME TO YALE
The annual survey of Bulldogs produced the anticipated results;
Yale is a team full of leaders who produced as much off the field
as they did on it. Here is the 201 breakdown.
81 players were captains of their high school
football team
55 players were captains of another sport in
high school
57 players were a national honors society
member
8 players were class president at their
high school
8 players were student body president at
their high school
11 players were class valedictorian at their
high school
2 players were class salutatorian at their
high school
POPULAR DOGS
The following Yalies have distinguished themselves according to a
vote by their teammates.
DB Josh Grizzard (Jr, Zebulon, N.C.): most
humorous
DB Geoff Dunham (Jr, Dallas, Texas): most
intelligent
DB Adam Money (Sr, Whiteland, Ind.): most vocal
leader (not captain)
LB Jesse Reising (Sr, Decatur, Ill.):
most likely to be U.S. President
QB Dez Duron (So, Shreveport, La.): most
interesting activity (musician)
best singer
RB Alex Thomas (Jr, Ansonia, Conn.): strongest
player (pound-for-pound)
WR Jordan Forney (Sr, Bloomington, Ind.): most
involved in community outreach
ALOHA
"Hawaiian Fridays" are the rule in the Yale Football
Office. Show up without a Hawaiian shirt and you risk a fine. Three
coaches (Tom Williams, Ikaika Malloe, Doug Semones) have worked in
high school, college or pro football on the island while three
players, Gabe Fernandez (Honolulu), Kolu Buck (Kaneole) and Jake Semones (Haleiwa), grew up there.
YALE NORTH
Yale recently added a West Campus (Orange/West Haven) to its
expanding list of real estate. A "North [football]
Campus" has begun to form in Middletown, Conn., at Wesleyan
University. Jack Siedlecki, Yale's head football coach for 12
(1997-2008) years is the Cardinals' new offensive
coordinator. He brought former Yale assistant coach Jeff McDonald
and ex-Bulldog playerTyler Wells '06 to the 2010 coaching
staff. The Cardinals open at Middlebury on Saturday.
YORKSIDE IN BOWL
The Yale Bowl may be in West Haven, but the press box has a taste
of New Haven with Yorkside Pizza & Restaurant serving slices
and salad on home Saturdays. Rather than interrupting your work
with a lunch at halftime, the food is now served on its arrival
before kickoff.
filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
