Last year, Yale trailed in five of its eight victories. The Bulldogs continued their comeback trend on Saturday, trailing by 14 twice before rallying to beat Colgate.

Some more notes from Tuesday’s luncheon…

Traffic advisory

Fans attending Yale’s home opener against Cornell on Saturday at 1 p.m. should be aware of two exit closings and detours in I-95.

Exit 47 on I-95 South will be closed from 9 p.m. on Friday until 6 a.m. on Monday. Exit 48 on I-91 South will be closed from 9 p.m. on Friday until 6 a.m. on Monday as well.

Fans should take Exit 44 to get to Yale Bowl.

Improved defense

After struggling defensively early on against Colgate, the Bulldogs allowed just seven points after 

halftime.

“We were more focused in the second half,” Spencer Rymiszewski said. “Coach was pretty upset at halftime. We didn’t want them to gain another yard. We played well and we can keep it up.”

Going for two

Following a Robert Clemons TD, LB Matt Oplinger took a direct snap and ran in for a two-point conversion. That two-point conversion cut Yale’s deficit to 28-22 in the fourth and proved to be critical, as Yale scored again to pull ahead.

  

“Our approach on XP opportunities is to stress defenses and see how they align,” Tony Reno said. “And if there is an alignment that we feel is advantageous that we’ve worked on, if we like it, we take it.”

Welcome back

Rymiszewski played well in his return. The Yale DB suffered a spinal concussion and missed the final four games last year. He had six tackles, a forced fumble and a key pass deflection on Colgate’s final drive. 

“I’ve been waiting for that for a long time,” he said. “I’ve been out for many games, many months. A lot of rehab, a lot of hard work in the offseason. It’s really rewarding to be back on the field. I’m just blessed to be able to play still.”

Run vs. Pass

Tony Reno insisted during the preseason Yale is still a run-first team. The Bulldogs ran 41 pass plays and 35 run plays on Saturday.

“We want to be as balanced as possible,” Reno said. “Some games threw more than ran, others we ran more than threw last year. The key to being a good offense is the ability to do both. The second half, the passing game was more accessible than the run game because of what they were doing up front. We took advantage of that. There will be times this year it’ll be the opposite.”