Another nailbiter

The 2010 Yale football team isn't about to steal Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis famous "Just win, Baby" slogan but that could be the perfect way to sum up Yale's season to date.

The last five games Yale has won, the scoring margin has been three points or less. It was certainly less on Saturday when Yale twice had to stop Princeton in the fourth quarter to escape with a 14-13 win and sole possession of second place in the Ivy League.

It was a typical Yale effort with some remarkable plays led by Jordan Haynes' interception in the end zone and forced fumble leading to Geoff Dunham's scoop and score 57-yard TD return. There were a couple of perfectly executed screens including one which Chris Blohm took 16 yards for a touchdown as well a clutch third down completion from Patrick Witt to Jordan Forney which pretty much ended the game.

There were also some forgettable moments including Witt lost fumble on a quarterback/center exchange, one of three lost fumbles. An illegal block on a punt which cost the Bulldogs 46 yards of field position which was followed a few plays later by a 4-yard punt.

Still, the Bulldogs improved to 7-2, 5-1 in the Ivy League with the win.

"The guys feed off of each other," Witt said. "When the defense needs to make a big play, they do, when the offense has needed to come through, we have. We know how to finish games, I think that is the most important thing. There is no panic on the sideline today when we are winning by one point, it is going down to the wire and they have a good field goal kicker. We understand what we have to do and there is certainly a lot of confidence winning those close games."

A few notes:
Sophomore running back Mordecai Cargill returned after missing the last four games with a knee injury.

Yale used the same starting lineup for the second week in a row.

Although Gio Christodoulou was one of 26 seniors honored before the game, he said he plans on returning for a fifth season of eligibility in the fall. Starting center Jake Koury and linebacker Jesse Reising are also eligible to get an additional season but they have yet to make a decision on whether they are going to come back or not.