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Tuesday's notes
Yale sophomore running back Tyler Varga hopes to be back on the field Saturday at Harvard for the 129th edition of The Game, after missing last week’s loss to Princeton with a knee contusion.
Varga leads the nation with 199.4 all-purpose yards per game and tops the Ivy League with 119 rushing yards per game. A Kitchener, Ontario, native Varga has never seen a Yale-Harvard game before. So his first experience will be on the field.
"I’m really excited," Varga said. "It’s one of the most storied rivalries in college football. There’s so much history and a lot of hype. I’ve never played in front of that many people before."
QB UPDATE
Who will be Yale’s starting quarterback once again remains a mystery.
Starter Eric Williams missed last week’s game as he continued to nurse a shoulder and foot injury. Backups Derek Russell and Logan Scott have missed the last three games with injuries. Yale has used Varga out of the wildcat. Junior Henry Furman saw his first full game under center last week with Varga sidelined. Furman looked solid going 18-for-28 passing for 184 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed five times for 28 yards.
"It’s going to be whoever has the best chance to win and whoever is healthy," Yale coach Tony Reno said. "That’s the best answer I could give you there. I’ll know better Saturday at 11:50 a.m."
MISSING PIECE
Harvard is the only Ivy League team this year’s Yale senior class has not beaten. The last time the Bulldogs beat the Crimson was 2006.
"It’s obviously a fun game to play in," Yale senior Will McHale said. "It’s a storied rivalry. It’s a game that a lot of people care about. It’s fun playing in front of a lot of people. And it’s a game that I haven’t won yet. That would be a phenomenal way to go out, to get a win against Harvard would mean a lot to me and the senior class."
CHESHIRE’S RAGONE INJURED
Former Cheshire standout and Penn senior quarterback Billy Ragone dislocated his left ankle on the final play of the third quarter in a 30-21 win over Harvard last week, according to Philly.com.
The Quakers could clinch the Ivy League title with a win over Cornell on Saturday.
SOME YALE-HARVARD STATS...
Yale leads the series 65-55-8. Harvard has won 10 of the last 11 meetings. There have been 55 shutouts. The Crimson have won three of the five games played on Nov. 17. Yale is 7-6 in years ending with two.
IF YALE LOSES...
The Bulldogs will finish 2-8. That will be the Bulldogs worst season since 1997 (1-9) and its fewest ivy League wins (1) since 2001.
posted by Chris Hunn at
5:01 PM
14 Comments:
To all you crying about Reno's "next man in" phylosophy, read the first line:
http://coachingsearch.com/home/1724-danny-hope-no-one-complains-about-it-on-sunday.html
"Football teams always talk about the next man in"
That is how football is! Williams developed a culture of softness and entitlement! Maybe that is why all the people whining on portal31 don't like Reno. They are the same soft, entitled people. It's going to be a great day in a couple years when YFB is Ivy Champs! I wish I could see the looks on your faces when you have to admit you were wrong!
Need a tissue? hahaha
Thank you Mrs. Reno
No, not Mrs. Reno, former YFB player who played for Reno.
What absurd remarks, ridiculous on its face. Anybody who thought Williams bred any softness or any entitlement simply knew nothing of Williams or the program during his tenure. Your remarks couldn’t be more inane. You make yourself look ridiculous and defeat the purpose of this blog.
Wow, this whining and Reno-bashing has to stop. It is completely sefish and unproductive and those engaging in it have personal axes to grind and are simply not being objective Yale football fans and supporters of the program. Different coaching might have given this team another win or two but here is a news flash: New coaches = poor won-loss records. Almost always. AND - this team is on its fifth quarterback for God’s sake – and lost three of them in ONE GAME. Show me a coach who wins on any level with that misfortune. And while I can see that the commenters on this blog want to put all the blame on coaching, and none on players - where is the criticism for the junior QB who, if he had stuck it out through a little adversity – might have been starting by game two or three, and would CERTAINLY be starting now. A lot of animosity here toward Reno, but none for a person who let his team down when he walked away from the job of being quarterback 1A. Part of what Reno is obviously fighting here is an entitlement culture. It may be unfair to blame Williams for it, but it is clearly here. Sounds like the young man who quit got the same advice from his parents that all the parents commenting here are giving: “When you don’t get what you want, stamp your feet, have a hissy fit, and let everyone know. Quit it you have to” Suck it up, people! May the adversity of “Coach isn’t starting me anymore more” be the worst thing that ever happens to them! There’s also a lot of love here for Tom Williams which is funny because no one loved him after the 4th and 22 punt or the stomping at Harvard last year. And his mantra that “it’s a game of attrition, men” sounds a lot like Reno’s “next man up.” It’s coach-speak, people, no more, no less. Williams was a people person, Reno is not. So what? Different strokes for different folks. When Bill Belichick goes to the Hall of Fame it won’t be because he was so warm and fuzzy and everyone who played for him felt the love. Rex Ryan’s players say they love him and want to play for him – how’s that working out? It’s always unfortunate for the upperclassmen when a new coach comes in. But it happens ALL THE TIME all over the country. Deal with it. And to the prior commentor, I do wonder - what IS the purpose of this blog?
Has anyone noticed that Yale is the only Ivy League team that has beaten first place Penn? Think of what they could have done with everybody healthy...
To the comment at 9:04 a.m. There was an abundance of criticism of John Whitelaw on blogs when he left the team, and I'm not sure why it's necessary to keep piling on almost three months later. It would not have been an issue at this point in the season if Eric Williams and backups had not been injured. Maybe there was more to John's decision than him simply having a "hissy fit" -- certainly it was a more thought-out decision than it appeared. Sounds like you are trying to put the blame on him now that things are not going as well as hoped. I can assure you that John and his parents are not the type of people that you describe,
Not trying to "put the blame" on anyone (There has certainly been enough of that on this blog - and it's been done by the Reno-bashers.) I'm just trying to bring some objectivity. Back to my original point - new coach, new system, decent but not abundant talent - leads to a struggling season. NO blame needs to be placed. It is what it is. Where John Whitelaw's decision has been mentioned it's been done with kid gloves - which is fine - he's a kid, I get it. But why can't Reno be afforded the same level of fairness and decency? I'm just trying to bring some objectivity to a conversation where there is none. Objectively speaking, Yale would have had a better chance to have more wins if John Whitelaw had stayed - hard to argue, right? So his decision if a factor if we are going to have this conversation. But he didn't stay - so we move on and deal with what we've got. Which turns out to be everyone else who plays QB getting hurt, which is devastating. And a final thought - If this blog was filled with people who personally knew Tony Reno and his family, I'm sure they could "assure us" of the type of person he is. Not sure why we have to engage in character assassination because the man's football team is struggling. Go Bulldogs! I'm still behind you.
Reno did not inherit a losing team he made it one. Yale's performance in second halves is an indication of a lack of coaching. How many times have we been shut out in the second halves of games?
After seeing Russell and Furman, they should have have been playing more. Russell brought a nice dimension to the game.
The Ivy League was not as good this year. To date only Cornell played well enough that we weren't beating them on that day. Every other game was winnable.
I agree with 2:47 above John Whitelaw is not the kind of young man that would just walk away in a "Hissy" I suppose we have established that Reno is not a people person so We will never know what was said to John other than your time here means nothing and Im going to start a young Freshman just out of high school. Maybe John was told your not going to play I have 2 freshman QB's in front of you. Who knows, but I can tell you that John and his family no matter what was said would take the high road. Leaving the team was probably Johns way of taking that road. We do know Yale is about to have it's worst season since 1997 and after just a year. Blame it on what you will but the bottom line is it starts and stops with the Coach but my guess is you won't hear or see Tony Reno taking any of the blame.
I'm sure Tony Reno is a great husband and father and a man of good character but that doesn't make him a good Coach.
2:47 Back to 3:47...Agreed...character assassinations are unnecessary and hurtful, and Tony Reno has had more than his share this fall which is unfortunate. While some of his decision have been unpopular...maybe naive...there's no doubt that he is doing what he feels will benefit the team. Hopefully his plan will result in happier players and Yale football fans in the coming years. I think the frustration -- or whiner factor that you attribute to parents and fans -- is that Yale football was "sold" as more than a business when the young men decided to make Yale their football home. They were to be scholar / athletes...and it felt like the right choice. Having put two or more years into the team, it might have been extremely disappointing to have been pushed to the side in the interest of building the young team. And honestly, I don't think the case can be made that the plan has worked. Would there have been more wins with Whitelaw as QB? No question. As noted in a comment above, both Furman and Russell were veteran players who made plays this year in tough situations. There's definitely something to be said for maturity and experience. That's the sad part of this season for many...but clearly the team will learn from mistakes and be better for it next year and beyond.
Although it's clear Reno is not prepared to be a head coach my big issue with him is still his refusal to explain ANY of his very bizarre decisions, not one, starting with Whitelaw.
No offense to him, but why is everyone acting like Furman is some great qb that was screwed over by past coaches? Since he started playing the team lost to Columbia for the first time in 14 years, scored exactly 0 points against Brown, and got embarassed by Princeton. Where is all this talent that both Williams and Reno failed to notice over the past 4 years????
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