Four-Down Friday

Here is a look at four things to keep an eye on when Yale hosts Dartmouth Saturday.

Dartmouth D: The Big Green boasted the top scoring defense in the Ivy last season. Against Penn last week, Dartmouth had four sacks, two interceptions and allowed just a pair of field goals in Penn’s three trips to the red zone. This will be one of the toughest defenses Yale’s high-powered offense will face this season.

Dynamic Dalyn: Dartmouth quarterback Dalyn Williams has been a staple among the Ivy’s top quarterbacks the last couple seasons. He is the prototypical dual threat. Williams can do it through the air or on the ground, throwing for 431 yards and five touchdowns and rushing for 171 yards and four scores this season.

Bigger role: Tony Reno spoke very highly of his freshmen wide receivers over the summer. With Myles Gaines out for the year, that should open the door for some of those freshmen. Expect to see an increased role for receivers like Jake Dehart, Mike Siragusa and Ross Drwal in the upcoming weeks.

Encore performance? After giving up 96 points over the first two weeks, Yale’s defense had a breakout game against Cornell last week. The Bulldogs allowed just 189 yards of total offense and one offensive touchdown. But keep in mind, this came against a Cornell team that is not very good this season. But Reno says it’s the progression of a young defense. Saturday’s game will be a true barometer to see how much the Bulldogs defense has improved.

Some other quick notes…

With Gaines out, Dehart and Robert Clemons will see some more time in the slot…TE Stephen Buric is expected to be back this week. He missed last season with an injury. If TE Sebastian Little is out, Jackson Stallings and Conor Furey will split time at the position…Andrew Johnson is currently the No. 3 QB in what Reno described as a very close competition.