RSS
Five things we learned from Saturday
Here are a few things to take away from Yale’s
season-opening 24-21 win over Georgetown on Saturday...
1. Tyler Varga is for real. If there were any concerns about
how Varga would adjust to American football, he put those to rest Saturday. The
freshman running back was last year’s CIS National Freshman of the Year while
at Canada’s University of Western Ontario. He split carries with Mordecai
Cargill and pounded his way for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries in his
debut. Varga was named Ivy League rookie of the week.
2. Perhaps it was first-game jitters or some miscommunication,
but center John Oppenheimer struggled with his snaps, and that’s something that
needs to be addressed heading into Ivy League play. The junior who started every
game last year, had trouble Saturday with high and wide snaps throughout. One
snap resulted in a fumble that set up a go-ahead touchdown for Georgetown in
the third quarter.
3. Freshman quarterback Eric Williams looked solid in his
debut. He also showed at times that he is a freshman. Yes he set a Yale record
with a 98-yard touchdown pass to Cam Sandquist, the longest play from scrimmage
in the program’s 140-year history. But Williams also threw three interceptions.
He finished 19-30 for 250 yards and a touchdown.
4. The Bulldogs lost a lot of speed with Chris Smith and Deon
Randall out for the season. But Cam Sandquist showed why Yale still has at
least one speedster and playmaker at WR. Sandquist finished with 187 yards and
a touchdown on nine catches.
5. The Bulldogs looked pretty good defensively
considering all the new faces on that side of the ball this season. Yale
allowed just one offensive touchdown Saturday (the two others were on a punt
return and an interception return). Georgetown threw for just 94 yards and
Collin Bibb came up with a game-sealing interception in the final minute.
posted by Chris Hunn at
6:56 PM
2 Comments:
Oppenheimer has had this problem since the beginning of training camp. It should have been already corrected.
It should be noted that Williams' record setting throw involved a good bit of luck. It was underthrown and tipped into Sandquists's hands. Having said that, the freshman looked very poised in his first start; there was a lot positive there. Regarding the high snaps: How much shotgun did Yale run last year, because I can't recall a single play Saturday in which the QB was under center. So even for a returning starter at center, this is kind of a new job. Other notes - the Yale defensive backfield played a great game, but will really be tested next week the way Cornell throws. They had three different receivers with double-digit catches Saturday, and the QB threw for nearly 500 yards. They threw nearly three times as much as they ran Saturday. (They also lost, by the way)
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home