Injured offensive starters Roy Collins (tackle), Chris Smith (receiver) and Alex Thomas (running back) did not take part in Tuesday's practice but none of them have been ruled out for Saturday's game at Columbia.

Yale coach Tom Williams said that Collins, who injured his ankle, and Smith, who reaggravated a hamstring issue he had earlier this season, are considered to be day to day. Both Collins and Smith were at practice in uniform but did not take part in drills. I did not see Thomas there and his situation is a little more up in the air.

Williams said that tests on Thomas' injured knee were "inconclusive" and he was undergoing further tests today.
Williams is hoping that Smith can return to practice as early as tomorrow.

"I think he wil get some more opportunity tomorrow to practice," Williams said. "We gave him Tuesday to get an extra day of healing. AT (Thomas) is going to see a doctor today. We didn't get the clear information yesterday. (Tackle Wes) Gavin (who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury) probably be out for another couple of weeks."

What this means is that Yale could play at Columbia on Saturday without both of its starting offensive tackles, leading rusher and leading receiver.

"This is the time of the year when teams get beat up," Williams said. "We are coming off a difficult couple of weeks. It does erode your depth but fortunately we have guys who are ready and willing to step up. We have good running backs so Mo (Cargill) will have a chance to step up, Wynston Bouknight - a young guy, Deon Randall will get a chance to play some running back as well. The depth issues are very challenging but I think if we prepare like we are capable of preparing, those guys should be ready to play."

In my opinion, the most intriguing story to emerge out of Yale's loss to Penn on Saturday was the performance of sophomore offensive lineman James Talerico.

Talerico started at guard against Cornell before suffering an Achilles injury that was feared to be of the season-ending variety. He returned to practice last week and took part in two practices including one at tackle. When Collins went down, freshman William Chism got the call but after getting beaten for a sack bringing the end to an offensive series. Talerico was in there on the next series and played the rest of the game at right tackle. Talerico was with right tackle with the first unit at practice and if Collins can't play, Talerico should get his first career start at tackle.


I spoke with Talerico following practice and he will be the focus of the story in tomorrow's paper.