Wednesday's news and notes

Clemson-transfer QB Morgan Roberts seems to be turning the corner now and should see more playing time moving forward.

Roberts completed 6 of 13 passes for 67 yards and two TDs against the Rams. He played the entire second half with Furman out.

“I tried to learn the offense as fast as I could,” he said. “Maybe I sped through it a little bit. Maybe I didn’t’ see the whole process. I think about every play as an individual play, not the end result. Now that I’ve taken that mindset on, I think it’s really helped me and made me a better QB.”

Roberts says he looks at himself as a traditional pocket passer. His high school coach didn’t allow him to run because of the fear of an injury. When he got to college, he became more mobile. Roberts really does have exceptional speed.

ROBERTS ON CLEMSON AND FBS FOOTBALL
“In the ACC, people make busts a lot,” Roberts said. “Completely bust on a coverage. That’s a touchdown, seven points right there. You don’t see that as much in the Ivy League. People make minor busts here and there, but you won’t see people giving away seven points. They make you earn it every drive. You don’t see as many 3-play, 85-yard boom, boom, drives. You have to sit there, move the ball with 10-play drives and be consistent, you can’t hurt yourself. It’s a different game in that way.”

Another quote from Roberts…

“We were a team like we are here. But everyone’s end goal was a little more selfish. Every single player’s end goal was to play in the NFL. For us, we practice as hard as we can because we want to win and play hard for the person next to us.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Yale (3-2, 1-1) will look to snap its two-game losing streak this weekend at Penn (3-2, 2-0). The Bulldogs were the only Ivy League team to last year’s league champs last season.

Reno says this year’s Quakers are better than last year’s team. They have most key players back and a handful of playmakers.

Defensively, they play an odd-man front. LB Daniel Davis runs well, fills the gaps and causes a problem in protection. Penn runs multiple coverages.

Former Cheshire standout and Penn QB is a dual threat. He ranks No. 5 in the Ivy in total offense at 201.2 ypg.

“He’s one of the top QBs during my time in the league just because of his winning percentage,” Reno said. “He does what all great QBs do, he wins.”

Penn also has two RBs who are tough to defend in space in Spencer Kulcsar and Kyle Wilcox, along with WRs Ryan Mitchell and Ty Taylor. Their TEs, which includes former Valley Regional standout Mitchell King, can block and catch.

It’s also worth noting they have Evan Jackson, a DB from Hamden. Jackson earned Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week last week.

“He runs well,” Reno said. “He makes plays in the pass game and he’s aggressive in the run game. He tackles well. He’s been factor in all their wins.”

NEXT YEAR’S SCHEDULE

For those who haven’t seen it yet, below is Yale’s 2014 schedule. Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Yale Bowl.

The schedule is unique in the sense that the Bulldogs will open with five of its first six games at home, followed by three of the final four on the road. The schedule was made during the Tom Williams tenure.

Sept. 20 vs. Lehigh

Sept. 27 vs. Army

Oct. 4 at Cornell

Oct. 11 vs. Dartmouth

Oct. 18 vs. Colgate

Oct. 25 vs. Penn

Nov. 1 at Columbia

Nov. 8 at Brown

Nov. 15 vs. Princeton

Nov. 22 at Harvard