Yale sophomore running back Mordecai Cargill underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Wednesday morning according to Yale football coach Tom Williams. Obviously, Cargill was not at practice on Wednesday morning as the surgery was being done by Dr. Pat Ruwe. Cargill will miss this week's game against Penn and figures to be out for at last one more game.

Cargill, who missed last week's win over Fordham, is second on the Bulldogs with 234 yards rushing while his 5.7 average per carry is the best among any Yale player with more than one carry.

"The sooner we could get into it, the better," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "The hope is he can be back in 10 days."

Alex Thomas, who has run for a team-high 284 yards, has been back at practice after missing the Fordham game with bruised ribs. Williams said that the week that Thomas was held out of practice helped rest his legs and he looks fresher and sharper than he has in a couple of weeks. Sophomore Javi Sosa, who ran for a career-high 74 yards against Fordham, will serve as Thomas' top backup.

WITT SERVES SUSPENSION
Quarterback Patrick Witt served a one-game suspension because he accepted a ticket to an NFL game without paying for the ticket in advance.

The NCAA ruled that Yale was guilty of a secondary infraction and although Witt later paid for the ticket, he was suspended for Saturday's game against Fordham. The irony of it was that Witt's throwing shoulder was so banged up that he was not going to be able to play.

"We appealed and sent it to the NCAA," Williams said. "They issued a suspension. He paid his restitution and in their eyes he was absolved (after serving the one-game suspension.

"It is standard protocol, we want to be squeaky clean. Normally, from what I understand, once you pay the cost of the ticket you are immediately reinstated but if it goes over a certain price, they can suspend you. In this case, they chose to do that."

Witt has been able to practice without restriction this week and appears on course to start in Saturday's game against Penn.

CARLSEN IN AT PUNTER
Freshman Greg Carlsen, who delivered a 55-yard punt under duress late in Saturday's game against Fordham, is expected to handle the punting duties against the Quakers.
Former starting punter Alex Barnes will still do the kicking off while Philippe Panico is the field goal and extra point specialist although his grip on that job does not sound like it is unbreakable.

"Philippe, today is still our field goal guy," Williams said. "Tomorrow after practice I may feel differently but based what I saw today and the last couple of days, that is the way we'll go on Saturday."

For those who missed it, here's a link to the feature on senior linebacker Jesse Reising which ran in today's Register.

Yale was supposed to kick off its spring practice schedule today at 4 p.m. but received word that there will be no practice. I was not given an explanation but the opening practice will now be held on Tuesday beginning at 4 p.m. The next three Wednesdays are built in makeup days so there won't be a problem for the Yale staff to get its 12 practices (including the April 24 spring game) in.

As was the case last year, I won't be providing coverage at the start of spring camp because I am covering the UConn women's basketball team at the Final Four in San Antonio. I won't be back home until Wednesday and then have an assignment covering the WNBA draft the following day.

Now for some news people have been inquiring about, the identies of the two transfers. One is Trevor Peterson, a tight end who is transferring to Yale from Boise State and the other is punter Greg Carlsen, who attended Florida but was not a member of the Gators' squad.

Peterson was the No. 39 ranking tight end nationally coming out of El Dorado High School in Placentia, Calif. according to the scout.com database. Scout.com also reported that he was offered by San Diego State, Cal-Davis, Utah and Harvard with Oregon and Washington listed as other schools expressing an interest in the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Peterson. Peterson redshirted in 2009 and my understanding is that he will have four years of eligibility.

Carlsen is a potential two-sport athlete who was first in contact with the Yale baseball staff. He was told that they don't often take transfers unless they have four years of eligibility and Carlsen is expected to only have three years with the Bulldogs. When I spoke with Carlsen on Sunday, he said the combination of the education opportunities available at Yale and the chance to compete for the starting punting job with the graduation of All-Ivy League punter Tom Mante was intriguing to him. He also said he is considering playing baseball as well at Yale but has not spoken with Yale baseball coach John Stuper recently.

Both Peterson and Carlsen have been accepted at Yale but neither will be able to take part in spring practice.

I will leave you today with a link to a story the Register's columnist Dave Solomon did on Yale quarterback Brook Hart, who joined the baseball team and has made an immediate impact. Hart will not be taking part in spring football practice but will be a member of the football squad in the fall.