I don't have very many details but former Duke defensive lineman will not be suiting up for Yale after all.

Hood, who was recruited heavily as a senior out of Hamilton High in Chandler, Arizona, opted to attend Duke as a preferred walk on. Hood played in four games as a freshman and was in on a sack in a game against Alabama.

After flirting with the idea of attending his home state University of Arizona, Hood followed through on his transfer at Yale. He attended at least one of Yale's spring practices and was provisionally accepted into Yale. He was supposed to be taking some classes during summer school and was supposed to suit up for Yale when fall drills began in August.

However, I just heard that he is not at Yale. If I find out where he ends up and/or what led to his change of heart, I will pass on the info.

The silver lining is that defensive tackle may be Yale's deepest position with the return of Jake Stoller, Reed Spiller and Chris Dooley and Patrick Moran coming back after taking a year off from school and football.

I just realized that I tweeted up a storm about Yale's 27-24 win over Brown but neglected my blog. Of course not having working internet in either the media room or press box at Brown Stadium following the game added to the delay.

It was quite an interesting affair with the headliner having to be sophomore Chris Smith and his two kickoff returns for touchdowns. He fell one yard short of the Yale single-game record for kickoff return yards in a game. David Knox had 179 yards against Penn in 2002. Just a hunch that he may be Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week.

Yale sophomore kicker Philippe Panico kicked two 36-yard field goals including the game winner with 9:30 to play and was 3 for 3 on extra points. He also handled the kickoffs exclusively for the first time this season.

Yale forced Brown to punt twice after retaking the lead. The play by Jordan Haynes (who ought to be in the equation for Ivy League Player of the Year) and Chris Dooley, who made his first career start, in stuff Brown's Zach Tronti on a 3rd and 1 at the Brown 16 was the defensive play of the game. Tronti is not an easy guy to bring down and throwing him for a 1-yard loss in that situation was a spectacular play.

"We had a few third downs throughout the day, it is something we drill during practice 3rd and 1, 3rd and 2," sauid Haynes, who led the Bulldogs with seven tackles. "It just seems like everything is coming together right now, it is a good feeling."

Following Brown's final punt, Yale took the ball and literally ran out the clock as Alex Thomas picked up 24 of his 121 yards on the first five carries of Yale's final drive.

"That whole fourth quarter we were moving the ball on the ground," Thomas said. "We knew there were four minutes on the clock and it was a matter of running it down. We practice the 4-minute drill, keep getting first downs. The O-line was doing their jobs. You can't say enough about how well they were blocking. Shane Bannon was doing his job. We ran like 10 powers in a row and we kept going full speed."

Those were the positive aspects of the game for Yale.

Now for the other side. Patrick Witt struggled more than his pedestrian (18 for 38 for 129 yards) line would indicate. He was short on a bunch of throws, none more glaring than when he missed a wide open Chris Blohm inside the 5 yard line on the drive in which Panico booted the second of his 36-yard field goals.

Yale's pass defense in the second quarter was downright horrible as Joe Springer threw for 207 yards in the quarter after missing on his only pass attempt in the first quarter.

The result of Saturday's games means that Yale has to beat Princeton while rooting for (gasp) Harvard to beat Penn setting up Yale for a chance to gain a share of the Ivy League title by ending the season with wins over Princeton and Harvard.

Yale's JV team will host Army JV tomorrow at noon at Clint Frank Field (next to Yale Field).

Yale wrapped up its 11th practice of the spring a couple hours ago. In preparation for Saturday's Blue-White Game, the Bulldogs practiced without pads.

It didn't stop receiver Jordan Forney from catching three touchdowns in the time I was there including a brilliant one-handed grab in the right corner of the end zone. Collin Bibb had one series where he broke up three plays and also got into it with Forney which seemed to be the emotional spark the coaches was looking for as the pace and intensity of the practice picked up after the pushing and shoving subsided.

There has been a string of injuries among the offensive linemen with Nate Blair, Nathan Burow, Alex Golubiewski and Justin Hymes all expected to be sidelined for the 2 p.m. spring game tomorrow at the Yale Bowl.

When I've been at practice, I've been impressed by the development of the freshmen and that is the focus of the story I filed for publication in Saturday's Register. Defensive tackle Chris Dooley has been the talk of the camp while Kurt Stottlemyer and fellow freshmen corners Bibb and Russell Perkins are playing well enough for the Bulldogs to move All-Ivy corner Adam Money to safety. Will McHale has played his way into a starting linebacker spot while Brian Leffler should figure into the mix at LB when he is fully recovered from a knee injury which sidelined him for the 2009 season.

After practice I caught up with 2009 Yale captain Paul Rice, who has been a volunteer assistant coach this spring. Rice worked out for the Cleveland Browns earlier this month and would love to get an invite to the team's rookie camp. If not, he is planning to join the coaching staff at Fairfield Prep in the fall.

I asked Rice his take on the development of the freshmen defensive stalwarts. Although space limitations precluded me from getting Rice's take in my story, here is what he had to say.

"Leffler and McHale will definitely push for playing time, at least in my eyes," Rice said. "Stottlemyer has gotten a lot of playing time, a lot of looks and I think he will have a good scrimmage. Dooley has had a phenomenal spring (camp), he has really opened a lot of eyes. It is a very good class. They are going to come in and do what they are supposed to do which is push for playing time and challenge the older guys.

"It’s a big jump (from being a freshman to becoming a sophomore) because you have a year of lifting, a year of film, a year of everything under your belt and now a lot more is expected out of you. It is an exciting time and these guys are up for it. You’ll see a lot of sophomores making impacts (in the fall) on special teams or even in starting roles."

I am heading that 2008 Yale football captain Bobby Abare is among the alumni expecting to return to the spring game. Although it has not been officially announced, Abare recently accepted a spot on the staff at Wesleyan after spending last season coaching at Wagner. Former Yale head coach Jack Siedlecki will be Wesleyan's offensive coordinator.

Caught the last hour of practice today and here are some of my impressions.

Receiver Jordan Forney had a spectacular practice catching the ball including making a catch of a ball thrown behind him that was - for a lack of a better term - very John Sheffield like. Gio Christodoulou, who missed most of last season with foot and ankle injuries, got behind the secondary for a long touchdown catch from Patrick Witt.

Yale coach Tom Williams said the Bulldogs are planning to play Forney, Christodoulou and Chris Smith together in three-receiver sets which must be music to Witt's ears. Williams is also expecting big things from rising senior tight end Chris Blohm and was raving about the offseason work done by tailbacks Alex Thomas and Mordecai Cargill. Williams said Thomas added 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason while Cargill is bigger and faster.

Another offensive player drawing his praise is rising junior lineman Jeff Fell. The offensive line has been beset by injuries with Nathan Burow and Alex Golubiewski, who combined for 14 starts in 2009, both sidelined likely for the rest of the spring. Nate Blair hurt his right knee during a one-on-one drill.

There could be some offensive line reinforcements as Carter Deutsch moves over from the defensive line while former tight ends Roy Collins and Alex Birks are making the transition to offensive tackle.

Adam Money is moving from cornerback to safety with Kurt Stottlemyer, Collin Bibb and Russell Perkins among the leading candidates to start at corner across from Drew Baldwin. Austin Pulsipher moved from linebacker to defensive end and is vying for a starting job as the Bulldogs transition from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense. Former safeties Jesse Reising and John Pagliaro are now linebackers and Reising would be on the two-deep chart if the season began tomorrow.

Yale seemed to have a plethora of defensive linemen so a move to the 4-3 makes sense. A player to watch is rising sophomore Chris Dooley who will likely move inside. Junior to be Jake Stoller seems to have put his shoulder issues which hindered his last two seasons behind him and could emerge into another impact player on the defensive line. With Pat Moran injured and captain Tom McCarthy taking the spring off so he can take advantage of a fifth year of eligibility in the fall out of the lineup, rising stars like Stoller, Dooley and Charles Holmes are getting plenty of chances to shine.

There have been some defections as fullback Josh Kozel and receiver Chris Morris are no longer with the team and receiver Peter Balsam is taking next year off but is planning to return for his senior season in 2011.

Also, former Oklahoma assistant recruiting coordinator David White is not joining the Yale staff. Don't know all the details but somewhere between being recommended for the tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator gig by Williams and getting the job, there was a snafu. A replacement for Mike Sanford, who left to become quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at Western Kentucky, could be announced by the April 24 spring game.