Senior linebacker Jordan Haynes was Yale's lone representative on the All-Ivy League first team.

Haynes, the team captain, led Yale with 81 tackles while sharing for the team lead with five tackles for losses and two fumble recoveries.

Chris Smith, who was honored as a receiver and returnman, offensive guard Gabe Fernandez, running back Alex Thomas, defensive tackle Jake Stoller, linebacker Will McHale, cornerback Drew Baldwin and return specialist were second-team selections.

Quarterback Patrick Witt and receiver Deon Randall were honorable mention selections.

Princeton running back Chuck Dibilio was named the league's rookie of the year while Penn offensive tackle Greg Van Roten and linebacker Erik Rask, Dartmouth running back Nick Schwieger and Harvard defensive tackle Josue Ortiz and defensive back Matthew Hanson were unanimous All-Ivy selections.

Senior running back Alex Thomas was not ruled out of Saturday's game against Brown until about an hour before kickoff. But he was back at practice on Tuesday and Yale coach Tom Williams believes he will be good to go after missing the last two games with a knee injury.
 
"He got some reps early in practice and then we shut it down," Williams said. "I talked to him right after and he said it felt.. I fully expect to have him on Saturday. I thought we would have him on last Saturday but he said when he was warming up, it didn't feel good.  He came out ready to go, he went through all the motions and wasn't ready."
 
The news isn't as positive on junior receiver Chris Smith, who had a walking boot on his right foot after injuring his ankle on Saturday.


"I don't know if he will have him on Saturday," Williams said. "The walking boot on Tuesday is a precaution. Tomorrow we will reevaluate it and see if he can get some reps. I would anticipate him not being available this weekend.. That was kind of a freak deal.

"He made that one-handed catch and the guy fell on the back of his leg and rolled him up. Totally different injury. He is tough and if there is a way he can go, he will go."


Yale used both Philippe Panico and Kyle Cazzetta on field-goal tries on Tuesday and Williams didn't rule out making a change this week.
"The placekicking thing, we have to find a guy to get points when we have to go out and get points and do it when it is a big game," Williams said. "Competition always but we are always making a bigger emphasis of it this week. He's been great as a punter but he can also do that. When he kicks the ball, it goes (up). He has a nice little lob wedge but we have to get his timing a little quicker, He is coming. I would like him not to have to focus on that (field goals and extra points) but if we have to..

Williams has not ruled out making a switch at punt returner either Gio Christodoulou lost fumbles in the fourth quarter in each of the last two games. Christodoulou is Yale's all-time leader in punt return yardage but when the team works on punt returns tomorrow, both Christodoulou and Deon Randall will get looks.

"We are competing there. We will give a chance to give him and Deon back there and the best guy is going to play on Saturday," Williams said.

As stunning as it was to believe, had a Yale player recovered the ball on Brown's final offensive play, the Bulldogs may have been able to walk out of the Yale Bowl with an Ivy League championship still within their grasps.

In a mistake-prone game, Brown quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero fumbled the ball when all the Bears needed to do was take a knee and let the final seconds tick off the clock. After a wild scramble, it was ruled that Brown maintained possession and as a result, earned a 34-28 victory.

Capitalizing on three Patrick Witt interceptions and a key fumble by punt returner Gio Christodoulou, the Bears had a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs mounted a frantic comeback.

Patrick Witt, who passed for two scores and ran for two more, had a 2-yard touchdown run and an 18-yard TD pass to Mordecai Cargill to pull within 34-28 with 1:28 to play. That set the stage for the final fumble in the game. Yale senior defensive tackle Reed Spiller came out of the pile with the ball but the officials ruled that Brown had already been awarded possession.

"I know we had our hands on it, they had their hands on it," Williams said. "The officials said that he ruled simultaneous possession to them, that is what he told me on the sideline."

The fact of the matter is that the Bulldogs were fortunate to even be within six points at game's end. Yale had enough miscues to last a season and those mistakes mean the Bulldogs would need all sorts of help to be able to go into the season-ending Harvard game in position to earn a share of the Ivy League title.


"We were playing until the last second, we had guys grabbing trying to get the ball but the fact of the matter is that we didn't play well enough to win in a game of that magnitude," Williams said. "We turned the ball over too many times, we didn't take advantage of good field position to score and we gave up a couple of easy touchdowns defensively. We had a punt blocked for no reason at all. If you do things in a game of this magnitude against a good team like Brown, you are going to lose the game. We had plenty of opportunities to have a good day and we didn't do it.


"It starts with me. I have to figure out the right buttons ti push with my football team so that we can execute with poise in a game of this magnitude. This is the point in the season with a team that has been around for at least three years with our staff that we felt confident that we would be able to finish these types of games and to have those things pop up in the biggest game of the year is a head scratcher to me."

Speaking of head scratchers, I asked Williams about the curious play call of having Deon Randall run the ball out of the Wildcat formation with Yale having a 2nd and 3 on the Brown 5. Randall was thrown for an eight-yard loss and Philippe Panico missed a 30-yard field goal. I know Yale was struggling to run the ball at that point but I'd take my chances with a powerful back like Cargill getting a couple of cracks into the 5 rather than the Wildcat.
"That is a play that we practiced all week in that situation and we didn't execute the blocking of it," Williams said. "There was a particular block that needed to be made. It wasn't and that caused us to move backwards. It came down to execution, we liked the play, we knew what we were going to get from it. When you aren't able to execute plays, it doesn't really matter what you call."


It also didn't help that Yale gave up the longest run in Brown football history as Mark Kachmar had 95 of his 192 rushing yards on the Bears' third offensive play. The Bulldogs had a hard time defending both the run and pass in the first half. Brown helped Yale come back by going a bit conservative in its offensive play calling in the second half.
"You kind of knew they had it in them with the kind of skill that they had to come back but when you are up by three touchdowns, it is a matter of getting first downs and we blew it down there," Brown coach Phil Estes said of Yale's late offensive barrage.

"We were up 20 points and we are going to be OK. We have to get some first downs and we just couldn't get the first downs. The problem is you just start watching the clock. You don't want to throw. They have great skill at receiver, great skill at running back, defensively they play some soft coverages but they really wrap up, they hit hard and tackle hard."

Yale senior running back Alex Thomas missed his second straight game with a knee injury while Chris Smith appeared to suffer an ankle injury in the second half. If there was a positive for Yale, it is the continued emergence of freshman defensive end E.J. Conway who had another strong game.

Witt finished with 370 yards and is now just 69 yards shy of Alvin Cowan's Yale career record. Speaking of Witt, a film crew from NBC Nightly News was on campus yesterday following Witt around and also at today's game. They are planning to run a segment on Monday's show about Witt's potential conflict with his final Rhodes Scholarship interview. The interview was set for the morning of Nov. 19 in Atlanta and if it is not shifted to the previous day, Witt would have to choose between playing in The Game and going to interview for the most prestigious scholarship in this country.

As if suffering a shutout loss at the hands of Penn wasn't a bitter enough pill to swallow, Chris Smith saw his freshman season come to an end when he suffered a hip injury in the 2009 game at Penn.

Earlier this week, I asked Smith to look back to his last experience at Franklin Field.

"I remember coming back with a broken hip," Smith said. "It wasn't exactly what I had planned. It was my freshman year, I was kind of just getting the hang of college football. I remember catching a post and a guy's helmet came in, kind of popped me and ended my season a little early. I am definitely going down there looking to get a 'w' this time and come back healthy.


"I've made that ride back from Penn once after not winning and kind of ending our season at that point. I think a lot of guys remembered how that tasted, how that felt taking that 3-hour bus ride back after a loss. We are going to do all we can to make sure that doesn't happen."

Yale coach Tom Williams vividly recalls the injury Smith suffered against Penn in 2009 and how it preventing him from continuing to develop as a go-to receiver for the Bulldogs as a freshman.

"That was difficult because we was just starting to come on as a freshman," Williams said. "Gio (Christodoulou) had gotten hurt against Cornell, Chris had started to really emerge as a go-to guy and then he gets hurt. I think that devastated for our football team because at that point we didn't really have anyone to be a threat down the field. He used that to get his body stronger and when he came back he was physically stronger, bigger, faster. As painful as it was at the time, I think it has made him a better football player."
Picking up a victory and remaining in first place in the Ivy League is No. 1 on Smith's priority list this week as Yale plays at Penn Saturday at noon on a game being televised by VERSUS. But he does have a chance for some personal milestones.

With one catch, he would move into a tie for eighth on Yale's career charts and he needs just three catches to tie former teammate Jordan Forney's for seventh place on the all-time list. He needs 131 receiving yards to break into the top 10 in that category while he is 100 yards away from Robert Carr's Yale career record for kickoff return yardage. The remarkable part of all of this is that Smith has done all of this and he still has as many as 15 games left in his Yale career.

More than any individual statistics, it is Smith's toughness that stands out when Williams thinks of his star receiver. It was an attribute Williams noticed when Smith took a recruiting visit to Yale shortly after Williams was hired at Yale. Williams jokingly questioned whether Smith was a glamour boy and wondered how important football was to him. Smith looked Williams in the eye and told him he lives to play football. Williams has discovered that wasn't just idle chatter on Smith's part.

"He's one of the toughest guys I have ever been around at any position," Williams said. "I think the reason why is that he is mentally tough but he is also physically tough. He worked to put himself in great condition. He really works hard at that but he is just a gritty, hard-nosed guy who loves to play the game. He really enjoys being around it, loves everything about it. He is one of the few guy who I have been around who really likes practice. Those guys are few and far between. I think the combination of all those things is what makes him such a tough football player."

Junior receiver Chris Smith's injured hamstring once again kept him out of practice on Thursday. He will make the trip to Lehigh for Saturday's road opener and there is a chance he can still play but Yale coach Tom Williams said that decision won't be made until he goes through pre-game drills on Saturday.

"I am just working a lot in the training room with (trainer) Dave (DiNapoli) and doing a lot of strengthening exercises trying to be ready to go for Lehigh. I am making the trip, hopefully it will loosen up for game time and I’ll be ready to go.

"It’s been really frustrating, even in meetings and watching film (knowing) that there is a possible chance that I might not be on the field, it is really tough especially in such a tough game. Lehigh is ranked, they are a good team. I was excited to prove that we are legitimate I-AA contender."

Smith came out of the Cornell game after pulling up lame while returning the second-half kickoff. However, he said he first had issues with the hamstring practice two days before the game.

"Actually it happened on Thursday and in the game, I ran a go route and at one point it really tightened up," Smith said. "On that kick return, I tried to go out there and play through it."

If Smith can't go, either former starter Gio Christodoulou or Cameron Sandquist would likely get the call when Yale goes to its three-receiver sets while Deon Randall would replace Smith on kickoffs.

"That is the great thing about our receiving corps, from top to bottom, I think we are an explosive unit and we have a lot of playmakers," said Smith, who is tied for the team lead with 135 receiving yards and is ranked fifth nationally with an average of 32.7 yards per kickoff return. "You have Gio, Allen Harris, Deon, Cam, Brandis (Yarrington), Jackson (Liguori), we’ve got guys who aren’t even starting who could be starting on other Ivy League teams. It is frustrating for me personally but as far as the team, I don’t think it is a drop off at all."

One receiver not in position to pick up snaps if Smith is out is freshman Ty Hutchison, who recently underwent surgery to repair a detached retina. Hutchison, a standout on Yale' JV squad, will miss the rest of the season. He addressed the team at the conclusion of Thursday's practice to give an update on his condition.

"He said he had 100 guys all asking him the same question so he wanted to talk to all of them at once," Williams said of why Hutchison spoke to the team on Thursday.

Williams said that seven freshmen will be making the trip to Lehigh - defensive back Nick LaTesta, punter Kyle Cazzetta, running back Wynston Bouknight, defensive end EJ Conway, linebacker Tyler Manu as well as offensive linemen Ben Carbery and William Chism.

Aided by a strong start by Patrick Witt, Nick Okano's first career interception and a long punt return by Gio Christodoulou, Yale leads Cornell 17-3 at halftime.

Witt is 15 of 21 for 153 yards but he started 12 of 14 and overshot Allen Harris on a couple of throws. Harris leads Yale with 5 catches for 71 yards including 5-yard TD. He was stopped at 1 on another catch leading to Mordecai Cargill's 1-yard TD run.

Will McHale leads Yale with 7 tackles.

Cornell has utilized a very conservative offensive game plan, rarely taking shots down the field. Much of that may have to do with the fact that Yale's defensive front four got some pressure early on. However, it was curious to see Cornell settle for underneath completions when the Big Red had positive field position for much of the second quarter.

After a short completion brought up 3rd and goal at the 11, Cornell coach Kent Austin decided to wait until 3 seconds remained on clock to call his final timeout of half. Had he called it right away, Cornell could have taken a shot into the end zone and still had a chance at a field goal.

Yale's defense, outside of one play, and special teams had strong performances in Saturday's 24-7 win over Dean College in a scrimmage at the Yale Bowl.

Yale had seven sacks (of course with the no hitting the quarterback rule at the scrimmage, defenders only needed to be in the general vicinity to get some of these sacks.

Carter Deutsch, who is back on defense after a move to the offensive line, had three of the sacks while Cliff Foreman had two sacks. Jordan Haynes led Yale with six tackles (according to my unofficial stats). After Haynes made his presence felt on Dean's first offensive possession, one of their assistant coaches could be heard telling his players "we've got to block the Mike (linebacker). Why can't we block the Mike." I am sure more than a few Ivy League coaches said or thought the same thing since Haynes is the Mike or middle linebacker at Yale. Haynes was not the author of the best hit of the scrimmage. That came from sophomore tight end who rumbled for yardage on his only reception when a Dean player came in and tried to lay a huge hit on Coty. The result was the defender being knocked backwards and Coty continued to move forward as if he was barely touched. The play happened in front of the Yale sideline and Coty's teammates went absolutely crazy after the play.

On special teams, Gio Christodolou brought back a punt 65 yards for a touchdown and a fumble recovery on a dropped Dean punt led to Alex Thomas' 2-yard touchdown. Yale coach Tom Williams was impressed with the efforts of his freshmen punters Parker Toms and Kyle Cazzetta.

He was not as happy with the effort of the first-team offense. At halftime he challenged them to come down the field and score and the Bulldogs did just that. Thomas ran three times for 41 of his team-high 45 yards on the six-play, 79-yard drive which ended with Patrick Witt hooking up with Chris Smith on a 28-yard touchdown.

Witt struggled at times throwing the ball down the field although he finished 13 of 20 for 122 yards with the one touchdowns and an interception. Smith led the team with 51 yards on three catches while Allen Harris had a team-high four catches.

Yale offensive starters were Witt, Mordecai Cargill at tailback, Cameron Sandquist, Deon Randall and Allen Harris at receiver, Kyle Wittenauer at tight end and the offensive line of tackles Roy Collins and Wes Gavin, guards Gabe Fernandez and Colin Kruger and center John Oppenheimer. On defense, it was ends Matt Battaglia and Austin Pulsipher, tackles Reed Spiller and Jake Stoller, linebackers Haynes, Will McHale and Wes Moyer, cornerbacks Drew Baldwin and Dawson Halliday and safeties Geoff Dunham and Nick Okano.

As for the freshmen, William Chism and Ben Carbery saw time on the second-team offensive line, linebacker Will Vaughan, running back Wynston Bouknight and corner Nick LaTesta where the ones I noticed as well as the two aforementioned punters.

There have been some injuries among the freshmen. Running back Kahlil Keys suffered a knee injury during practice earlier in the week and he may miss the season, defensive back Ethan DeSilva had a knee injury late in his senior season at Mission Viejo (Calif.) and will not play this season. Chism hurt his hand in the scrimmage and had an MRI done on Saturday.

despite Elijah Thomas rushing 35 times for 183 yards and a touchdown, the Yale junior varsity team lost to Harvard 28-21 on Friday.

Other standouts for Yale were quarterback John Whitelaw (8 of 19 for 122 yards, one TD pass and a touchdown run), linebacker Brian Leffler (13 tackles, forced fumble), cornerback Russell Perkins (interception, fumble recovery) and linebacker Ben Ashcraft (seven tackles).

Emotions were running high during the game and the poor officiating job (even by junior varsity standards) didn't help the cause. Fortunately, it seems as if both teams escaped without injury which is amazing considering how many times the official let running backs take unnecessary additional shots because of the lateness of blowing the whistle. There were a couple of blow to the head shots against receivers that went uncalled as well as one blatant hit against a defenseless receiver and more than a few late shots undetected by this crew. Can't say I was too impressed with the quality of the public-address announcing either. I'm assuming it was an active Harvard player who had the microphone and thinking my ears won't be recovering any time soon. I'm also convinced that if I attended an event at Harvard Stadium in the middle of July, I'd need a winter coat. I actually did see the sun once or twice but it wasn't until I attempted to navigate my way back to my hotel (very poorly, I will admit) did the sun make an appearance blinding me as I attempted to read street signs. Every time I've been to this field, it has been bitter cold. Two years ago at the varsity game, I was probably as cold as I have ever been.

As for Harvard, I was impressed with sophomore receiver Curtis Ross (5 catches, 79 yards and a touchdown and unlike most of the other Harvard receivers he did not short arm balls going over the middle of the field. Freshman defensive end Austin Taylor was in the backfield on a regular basis for the Crimson.

Looking ahead to next year, I can update the recruiting situation a bit. Likely letters have been sent out to five players so far
Staples defensive end Chris Coyne and linebacker Pat Murray, Union (N.J.) linebacker Everett Johnson and offensive linemen Ben Carbery from Oak Park in River Forest, Ill. and Steve Shoemaker from Bronxville, N.Y.

There could be a few more players getting likely letters in the next week or two meaning that their applications for early admission have been approved by Yale.

Updating a previous report on the three Yale seniors who are eligible to return for a fifth season because they lost a year - or at least most of it - due to injury, center Jake Koury said he has yet to make a decision.

"I am going to get through this game," Koury said. "I haven’t made any decisions yet. We’ll see what happens but I am going to finish this game out first."

Receiver Gio Christodoulou said he is planning to take advantage of the extra season while I have yet to bring up the topic with senior linebacker Jesse Reising. Yale is also expected to get back defensive end Pat Moran and receiver Peter Balsam, who took this year off.

The Yale Bowl scoreboard read Blue 28, White 0 at the end of Saturday's spring game but in reality, the scrimmage ended in a tie.

The offense, especially the first unit, completely dominated the first half while the defense rebounded quite nicely in the second half.

The first team offense scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the first half and would have made it a perfect 5 for 5 if not for a holding call which negated a touchdown pass from Patrick Witt to Chris Smith.

Witt and Smith hooked up for touchdowns of 13 and 30 yards, Jordan Forney caught a 20-yard touchdown reception which I caught on video while Gio Christodoulou had a 91-yard reception to set up Mordecai Cargill's 1-yard touchdown run

The offense had 298 yards on 32 plays in the first half while managing just 51 yards on 17 plays in the second half.

I had Witt going 12 for 17 for 243 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. Christodoulou had two catches for 99 yards, Smith caught four passes for 95 yards and Forney had 43 yards on three receptions.

Yale went mostly with one-back sets today, something that will continue. Alex Thomas (4 carries for 46 yards) and Cargill (8 carries, 24 yards) split time with the first-team offense while Javi Sosa (14 carries, 36 yards) got all the work with the second unit.

Defensively, defensive end Cliff Foreman (four tackles, a fumble recovery and blocked punt) and linebacker Will McHale (six tackles) were the stars. Safety John Powers had an interception while defensive end Allen Davis recovered a fumbled punt by Christodoulou.

Spring games like Yale's when the offense plays against the defense always leads to the "is the glass half full or it is half empty" argument.

Witt looked great throwing the ball and with Yale planning to play Forney, Smith and Christodoulou together, I would expect a more wide-open offense than what I witnessed a year ago. On the other hand, Yale's starting secondary did not distinguish itself as the three receivers got open with relative ease. Bear in mind that the QBs weren't getting hit so it wasn't the same as a regular-season game when Witt would have been rushed more than he was on Saturday but it still was a bit surprising that the Yale secondary, featuring three returning starters, struggled as much as it did when the first team offense and defense squared off.

The other thing of note was that quarterback turned defensive back Bryan Farris was back at quarterback and was the No. 2 QB on Saturday while Dez Duron and Derek Russell got into the game in the second half. If Brook Hart gets taken in the Major League Baseball draft, which could very well happen, and opts to sign the Bulldogs will need to develop another quarterback to serve as insurance behind Witt.

NO NEWS ON MANTE
Just spoke with former Yale punter Tom Mante. He said there is nothing to report but his agent is still in contact with some NFL teams and he is hopeful of getting an invite to an NFL camp.

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.

Just returned home from the Yale Bowl and won't soon forget what I saw today.

We're not only going to start with Tom Williams' decision to attempt a fake punt leading by three points in the fourth quarter, we are going to finish with it as well. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, it was a reckless decision. In the 20 years I have been a sports reporter, I can't remember a coaching decision I disagreed any more strongly than this one. I am not alone. When I checked my phone, I had four missed messages in the hour after the game from people wanting to know why he wouldn't punt the ball and put the game in the hands of his defense.

This Yale team had been through so much this year, disappointing losses to Cornell and Princeton, so many injuries, a constantly changing lineup and a nearly completely new coaching staff. They could easily have had their eyes elsewhere especially in an academic setting like the one they reside in at Yale. But they didn't. They were on the verge of their most complete effort of the season and only needed for their coaching staff to demonstrate a little self restraint.

Faced with 4th-and-22 at their own 25 and Harvard out of timeouts, Tom Mante trotted onto the field to punt. All Mante did was average 51.3 yards on his previous three punts to clinch the Ivy League punting crown. Harvard had enough respect for Mante that their returner lined up 50 yards from the line of scrimmage when Mante dropped back to punt. But he never got the chance. The designed fake was snapped to up back Paul Rice, who twice this season got the call on successful fake punt calls who pitched the ball to freshman safety John Powers. Powers, a former dual-threat runner and passer during his days as the starting quarterback at Hopkins, nearly got the first down but was tackled seven yards short of the first down. Rather than Harvard needed to drive somewhere between 60-80 yards for the winning TD, it only needed to go 40.

There is no defending the decision. If Williams ponders a decision in that situation again that he will remember the post-game scene. Senior linebacker Travis Henry, one of the truly class acts on the team, kneeled on the 50 by himself for what seemed like an eternity or some of the seniors wandering slowly around the field as if they were trying to comprehend what had just transpired. Henry and the other seniors bought into Williams' deal from the outset. Even when some of them saw their playing time cut or their roles diminished, there seemed to be little discord in the program (at least none I discovered). Instead of walking off the field snapping a two-game losing streak to Harvard, the departing seniors were left to deal with a bitter end to their collegiate careers. Many of them will never play in a football game again and this was not the ending they envisioned or deserved.

I have gone on the record saying I am impressed with the job this coaching staff has done but there is no defending a decision like this. If you want to try it in a JV game or spring it early on Harvard, fine but not in the final quarter against your greatest rival. I compare it to fouling a 90 percent free throw shooter with a 1-point lead with 5 seconds to play in a basketball game. The risks simply outnumber the reward but such a large margin that you just don't do it. I also found it ironic that on a day when Yale ran the ball so well, the Bulldogs resorted to a gimmick with their version of the Wildcat formation. Williams scoffed at the impact of the Wildcat when asked about after the Penn game and yet they went to it. Why?

The sad part is that it all seemed to be coming together for this team. They shook the turnover bug, discovered a running game in sophomore Alex Thomas, the offensive line was playing better than it had all season even if the Bulldogs' two best linemen (Jake Koury and Cory Palmer) were dealing with injury issues. Defensively, Yale resembled the stingy unit of the last couple of years. All of that ended with one call which was simply to risky to justify.

The good news is the future is bright. Replacing John Sheffield, who finished third on Yale's career receiving list, and the entire starting linebacking corps will not be easy. But with Alex Thomas and Mordecai Cargill, the Bulldogs have two talented running backs. Speedy receivers Gio Christodoulou and Chris Smith return after dealing with injury-shortened seasons. Four offensive line starters are back and with the development of Chris Stanley and Kurt Stottlemyer, Adam Money should be able to move to safety to help fill the void left by Larry Abare's graduation. I think Yale could compete for the Ivy League title with an experienced group of returning players.

The biggest news coming out of Wednesday's practice came from who was not on the field.

Senior safety Larry Abare, who leads the Bulldogs with 30 tackles, had his right arm in a sling. Abare suffered two broken bones in his right arm. Although no surgery will be needed, Abare said "I am going to keep looking at the x-rays but it probably looks not good for the season right now. I am still hoping I will be able to make the Harvard game."

It goes without saying that this is a huge loss for the Yale defense. Juniors John Pagliaro and Marcus Wallace will likely both see plenty of time filling in for Abare.

Junior receiver Gio Christodoulou spoke with his parents Tuesday night and decided to sit out the rest of the season so he could recapture his junior season and have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Christodoulou suffered a turf toe injury similar to the one that hampered Green Bay Packers' star Charles Woodson a couple years back and he was not going to be 100 percent so he made the decision to shut it down for the season. Christodoulou, while obviously disappointed to see his season end prematurely, admitted it's been easy to deal with emotionally because of the development of freshman Chris Smith gives the Bulldogs a big-play threat on special teams and at receiver even if he isn't the one providing the game-breaking plays. If Yale was struggling to make plays in the passing, kickoff and punt return games, Christodoulou would be taking his absence much harder than he is at the current time.

"He's the future of Yale football," Christodoulou said of Smith. "I think he is going to be a great football player, he already is, and I try to help him out. Since I got most of the reps during spring and fall practice, I help him out with what I learned."

Right on cue, Smith had an impressive diving catch of a deep ball thrown by Patrick Witt for about a 40-yard gain during the scrimmage portion of Wednesday's practice.

There will be a story on Abare and Christodoulou in Thursday's Register and look for a piece in Saturday's paper about how the Bulldogs go about trying to fill the rather sizeable void left by Abare's absence.

The good news on the injury from is that offensive linemen Jake Koury, Alex Golubiewski and Nate Blair are all back at practice. I expect Koury and Golubiewski to be back in the starting lineup. At practice, there were a number of combinations seeing time with the first team offense. Cory Palmer, Golubiewski, Koury, Nathan Burow, Blair, Mike McInerney and Gabe Fernandez all took snaps with the starters.

Senior linebacker and captain Paul Rice did not practice to reach an aching knee but Rice said he will be good to go on Saturday when Yale plays at Penn.

Considering that Brook Hart is coming off a game where he passed for 390 yards, it should come as little surprise that Yale coach Tom Williams said Hart would start on Saturday when Yale plays at Lehigh. It will be Hart's first game in his home state of Pennsylvania as a college player. Hart was a member of the JV team in 2007 when Yale won at Penn in the Bulldogs' last game in the Keystone State.

Patrick Witt, who started the first three games before being benched for a violation of team rules in last week's 38-7 win over Dartmouth, could earn some time depending on how well he practices the rest of the week.

With freshman Scott Williams moving to defense and his injured classmate Derek Russell not expected to see any action this season, Yale is down to four quarterbacks. Bryan Farris and Dawson Halliday, who split time at quarterback on Yale's junior varsity team as freshmen, both shifted to defense. Farris actually plays both ways with the JV team since freshman Dez Duron is the only other quarterback available to play in the JV games. When Duron needs a break, Farris still plays some quarterback while also seeing plenty of time at safety.

Not much new to report on the injury front. Receiver Gio Christodoulou is out again with foot and ankle injuries. Offensive linemen Jake Koury (bruised calf) and Nate Blair (knee) are both questionable.

The major changes on the Yale depth chart feature the Bulldogs' impressive freshman class. Allen Harris is listed along with Jordan Forney as a potential starter at one receiving position, Chris Smith is the starter at the other position while Jeff Marrs is listed as the starting left guard.

Tom Williams' dad was at the weekly press conference at the Yale bookstore. He spent plenty of time speaking with former Yale coach Carm Cozza. It turns out that when Cozza was coaching at Miami (Ohio) before heading to Yale, Williams' dad was an assistant coach at rival Kent State.

A few other notes, for those who like to head out to the JV games, Sunday's contest against Navy Prep has been cancelled.

Finally, the third of my weekly live chats is set for Wednesday at 2 p.m. Log in to nhregister.com/chat.

The first thing I noticed once Yale began the scrimmage portion of practice was Max Newton was in at linebacker and John Pagliaro playing safety. They got the call in place of starters Travis Henry and Larry Abare who were dealing with flu-like symptoms, were getting medical treatment and where not at practice. Yale coach Tom Williams said he expects both will be good to go on Saturday.

Jeff Marrs saw the bulk of time at left guard with Yale's top offensive line unit and appears primed to make his first start. Marrs saw time with the No. 1 line during the preseason but his inconsistent play led the coaching staff to take their time getting Marrs ready to start. He would be the third freshman to start on offense for Yale joining fullback Jordan Capellino and receiver Chris Smith.

As promised, quarterbacks Patrick Witt and Brook Hart split time in practice. Witt had his best practice of the ones I have witnessed. He showed off his arm with long touchdown passes to freshmen Smith and Allen Harris in consecutive series. His best throw, however, may have come on a deep sideline out even though he lost his footing. Hart also had a solid practice and scrambled for a first down as he continues to prove he can make plays with his feet. There are no questions about Hart's arm strength.

Williams is encouraged by not only the play of Hart and Witt but also the way they have handled the situation with no clear-cut starter for Saturday's noon game against Dartmouth.

"We think they are both playing pretty well and the competition is on," Williams said. "We really haven't talked about it. I'll sit down with (Brian Stark, Yale's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach) and see what we are going to do.

"They have healthy demeanors. They are both team guys and both want to help the team and what's best for the program. They see the tape too, they can evaluate each other and have an understanding that it is really close, it is not a runaway by any stretch of the imagination. I think they both have earned the opportunity to play, we just have to figure out what the formula is going to be."

Freshman Dez Duron saw almost as much time but it was because he is the quarterback most similar to Dartmouth's Alex Jenny and Williams wanted Yale's defense to get to practice against a QB comfortable throwing on the run. Duron had his moments - both positively and negatively.

Fullback Josh Kozel is back at practice. Kozel injured his ankle in Yale's scrimmage against Union and returned to practice for the first time this week. Starting center Jake Koury was held out of practice as he is still bothered by a bruised calf. He practiced sparingly on Tuesday and Wednesday and his status is up in the air. If he can't go, Gabe Fernandez will start at center. Receiver Gio Christodoulou will miss his second straight game with an ankle and foot injury.

Williams said highly-touted freshman linebacker Brian Leffler will undergo knee surgery. Ironically. Leffler was practicing on Thursday and made an interception. With Leffler likely not to be at 100 percent, the decision was made to schedule the surgery to allow Leffler to return in the fall with four years of eligibility.

Plenty of news to report out of a pretty solid practice.

Gio Christodoulou will not play on Saturday because of foot and ankle injuries suffered in the loss to Cornell. Yale coach Tom Williams said Christodoulou could be out "indefinitely." Reid Lathan is back and should make his 2009 debut against Lafayette on Saturday.

Sophomore Bryan Farris, who came out of spring ball running neck and neck with returning starter Brook Hart for the No. 1 quarterback job, has been moved to safety - at his request.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Farris saw plenty of action in the secondary today. The move was his idea. Seeing that he was behind classmate Patrick Witt and Hart, a junior, and with three freshmen quarterbacks joining the program, Farris decided to request the switch because he wants to play.

The irony is that Farris split time at quarterback on Yale's junior varsity team with Dawson Halliday and now they are both defensive backs. Halliday saw extensive action as an additional defensive back in the nickel package, a role filled so admirably by current starter Adam Money last season.

The biggest winner in all of this - other than Farris - could be freshman Dez Duron. The reigning Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year moved up to No. 4 on the depth chart. He was in there frequently today since a class conflict kept third-string quarterback Rich Scudellari out of practice.

With starting center Jake Koury battling a left calf injury and guard Nate Blair sidelined by a combination of a reaggravation of a previous knee injury and a class to attend, senior center Ben Meyer and freshman guard Jeff Marrs saw plenty of time practicing with the No. 1 offensive line.

Freshman Taylor Stib, coming off a strong effort in Yale's junior varsity opener against Milford Academy, was rewarded by getting a number of carries in the scrimmaging portion of practice. With Jordan Farrell, Alex Thomas, Mordecai Cargill, Brandon Scott, Rodney Reynolds and Ricky Galvez all options at tailback, it's uncertain how much varsity time Stib will get but he certainly did not look out of place when he got the call.

Finally, a bit of housecleaning. There are three uniform number changes. Smith goes from No. 4 to 21, freshman running back Javi Sosa, who used to wear No. 21, will now wear No. 39 and junior linebacker Andrew Pappas changes numbers from 51 to 36.

At Tuesday's weekly Yale press conference, Bulldogs coach Tom Williams wasn't optimistic about the status of junior receiver/returnman Gio Christodoulou. Christodoulou hurt his foot and ankle in Saturday's 14-12 loss to Cornell.

"Based on what I saw at the end of the game I would be surprised if he would be able to go," Williams said.

While Yale will miss the game-breaking skills of Christodoulou, the Bulldogs should have the services of senior receiver Reid Lathan and sophomore running back Alex Thomas.

Lathan has been slowed by a knee injury and last week Williams was uncertain when he would back. Williams believes the reliable Lathan, who developed chemistry with quarterback Patrick Witt, will be a big lift for the Bulldogs.

Thomas was in uniform against Cornell but Williams said he wasn't planning to put the former Ansonia High star in unless there were no other options.

"It would have to have been in an emergency situation because we just wasn’t quite right yet and for order for him to play in that fast of a game, he needed to be 100 percent," Williams said. "He should be ready to go this week."

The status of Witt, who threw three second-half interceptions, was a popular topic on Tuesday. Williams was solidly behind his quarterback who will start again on Saturday against Lafayette.

Lafayette's quarterback situation is a bit dicey. Senior Rob Curley suffered a concussion in Saturday's win over Pennsylvania. Curley has completed 64 percent of his passes for 831 yards with six touchdowns and one interception in the first three games of the season. The Lafayette media which called into the Ivy League football coaches teleconference referred to Curley as being out for Saturday. If that is the case, sophomore Ryan O'Neil will get the start.

Staying on the quarterback topic, Yale senior strong safety Larry Abare took a trip down memory lane when he was told that Josh Johnson would be starting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against Washington on Sunday. Abare remembers trying to tackle Johnson when he led his San Diego team to a 17-14 win over Yale. Johnson was 22 of 34 for 198 yards including the winning touchdown with 6:37 remaining.

There may be new coaching staff with just two holdovers and 14 new starters for Yale but when it comes to Cornell, it was a familiar script as the inability to run the ball consistently, costly turnovers and offensive futility led to another loss to the Big Red. Instead of having quarterbacks losing fumbles, it was Patrick Witt's three second-half interceptions which proved costly.

A few observations:
Witt was not at his best. He was high on so many throws and will need to break his tendency to lock in on his intended receiver. It led to an interception by Anthony Ambrosi which was returned 20 yards for a score. Witt didn't get too much help from his receivers - especially in the first half when I counted six dropped passes.

I thought the offensive play calling for Yale was pretty conservative. Of course, losing Gio Christodoulou to an apparent ankle injury did not help. It is the second straight game Christodouou wasn't available for the entire game as he was knocked out of the Georgetown game with cramping issues. For most of the game, the passing game was little more than a series of dump offs. Then in the fourth quarter, it seemed like they were overcompensating and starting going for it all. You'd have to think they will find a happy medium at some point.

The offensive line did a solid job pass blocking as Witt was sacked just once but struggled run blocking. Yes, I know Jordan Farrell ran for 74 yards but he needed 25 carries. One thing to consider is that Alex Golubiewski, who started at left tackle, had less than a week of practice so the unit that started only had three days of practice to get accustomed to playing together so I expect that they will get better. Alex Thomas was in uniform but did not play. I think he could have loosened up the Cornell defense considerably but perhaps he was not ready physically.

Yale ran 35 more plays than Cornell, outgained the Big Red 296-166 and limited Cornell to three first downs but lost. Football can be a funny game sometimes.

Yale's defense was fooled on the trick plays as the double pass turned into an 81-yard touchdown and a flea flicker also worked perfectly only to be negated by a holding penalty. Let's be honest, other than strong safety Larry Abare, the other three starting defensive backs (Drew Baldwin, Adam Money and Geoff Dunham) came into the season with just one career start between them. I was impressed by the play of defensive linemen Pat Moran and Joe Young and linebacker Tim Handlon had an interception for the second straight game.

Of course Tom Mante's 54-yard field goal was something to behold. It would have been good from about 60 yards. His punting was merely average by his lofty standards as he averaged 37.6 yards on six punts.

Former Amity and Choate star Ricky Ballou started at defensive end and had three tackles playing in front of a host of friends and family. He had an interception nullified by a personal foul penalty by Aaron Levine.

Apparently the Versus feed went out in the second half. If anybody lost the feed, feel free to post a comment. We are looking into what happened.

Headed over for the last hour of practice but the most noteworthy part of my time there was Yale coach Tom Williams' post-practice tirade.

To say Williams was unhappy with the effort level would be an understatement of immense proportions. While calling out a couple players, Williams' wrath was directed at the entire unit as he reminded him of last year's outcome against Cornell.

Watching players walk back to the huddle is pretty high up on Williams' list of things he does not expect to see at practice. He bypassed the daily ritual of having players meet with their positions coaches and told them to "get off the field."

As for the practice itself, Gio Christodoulou was back at full speed catching multiple touchdown passes. Christodoulou left the season-opening win over Georgetown with cramping issues.

Alex Thomas and Reid Lathan, who missed Saturday's game, were in uniform but neither took part in the scrimmage portion of the practice. While it is still early, I would think they will both be able to go on Saturday's home and Ivy League opener against Cornell.

Cory Palmer, the only returning starter on the offensive line, was back practicing with the first unit. Palmer saw action at both guard and tackle.