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.

Yale junior running back Mordecai Cargill added the Golden Helmet to his weekly haul of individual awards.

Cargill ran 42 times for a career-high 230 yards in Yale's 16-13 win over Columbia on Saturday. It was the fourth highest single-game total in Yale history and second most against an Ivy League opponent.

Cargill is the first Yale player to earn the New England Football Writers’ Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Gold Helmet Award this year.

Also, there has been an impressive response for Yale's Heroes Day event as more than 200 military members including the following groups:


U.S. Navy, Submarine Base Group

National Guard
US Army
Yale Veterans Council
Yale Veterans Association (an alumni veterans group)
Yale Police
US Coast Guard

Yale is inviting military veterans, active service members, police officers, and firefighters along with their families to Saturday's home game against Brown.

Tickets as well as pre-game food and drinks will be handed out at the Heroes Tailgate located in the Hospitality Village. For more information contact Jennifer O’Neil at (203) 432-1414 or jennifer.oneil@yale.edu.

Yale junior running back Mordecai Cargill was named the Ivy League's Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a career-high 230 yards including scoring runs of 19 and 4 yards in a 16-13 win at Columbia on Saturday.

Cargill's effort was the fourth best rushing total in Yale history and just five yards shy of the school record in an Ivy League game as Robert Carr ran for 235 yards against Cornell in 2002. Cargill, who had 153 of those yards in the second half, allowed the Bulldogs to make some Ivy League history. With Alex Thomas running for 204 yards the previous week against Penn, it is the first two an Ivy team had two different runners top the 200-yard rushing mark in consecutive games.

Cargill's 42 rushing attempts is four shy of Yale's single-game record set by Rich Diana against Princeton in 1981.

Cargill was also on the six Football Championship Subdivision players named by the College Football Performance Awards as "running back performer of the week."

When the Ivy League announces its weekly player of the week, it would be fitting for one or more of Yale's offensive linemen to get the nod. Of course, there would have been a better chance of finding a sun bather at Saturday's Yale/Columbia game.

In a game played in a surprisingly potent storm, Yale made some Ivy League history.

After paving the way for Alex Thomas to run for 204 yards in a loss to Penn, the Yale starting offensive line of Ben Carbery, Gabe Fernandez, John Oppenheimer, Colin Kruger and James Talerico were at it again as Mordecai Cargill ran for 230 yards in the 16-13 win over Columbia.

I went through the record books for the Ivy teams and as far as I can tell, it is the first time an Ivy team had two backs rush for 200 yards in consecutive games. What makes the feat so impressive is that the Bulldogs were playing without both starting tackles as both Wes Gavin and Roy Collins were out with ankle injuries.

"Our O-line has really come together," said Cargill, who surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in career rushing yards late in the game. "It was (unfortunate) that Roy and Wes went down but we have a lot of solidarity up front. Our O-line is starting to mesh and we are looking to build momentum going forward."


I asked Columbia coach Norries Wilson how impressive it is to have two backs run for 200 yards in back to back games and I had to laugh at his response.
 
"I think Nebraska does it every week," Wilson said. "I think just looking at the stats, they have been intermixing the two backs. I don’t know what’s wrong with 41 (Thomas, who missed the game with a knee injury), we didn ‘t know he wasn’t going to play but (Cargill) made the most of his opportunity and they did a good job blocking for him.


"They are a real good group. They are playing Carbery as a freshman, they have a freshman who played last year (Gavin) who is a really good player. I really like 57 (Roy Collins). I think they have done a good job of playing some athletic kids who can play offensive line. They can reach block on the second step, they do a real good job of protecting their quarterback."
 
It is NOT the first time Yale had a 200-yard rusher in consecutive games as Robert Carr accomplished the feat in games against Cornell and Holy Cross but it is the first time it was done by different running backs.
 
A few defensive details thanks to Jordan Haynes since it was extremely difficult to make out many of the plays. On the fumble recovered by Will McHale which led to Panico's field goal, McHale deflected a pass which was caught by a Columbia lineman. Cliff Foreman then jarred the ball free and McHale recovered. Haynes recovered a fumble after a huge submarine tackle. Again, I couldn't make out the player and he said it was Kurt Stottlemyer. Because of the conditions made passing extremely difficult, Yale was able to aggressive blitz its defensive backs on obvious passing situations. Collin Bibb led the way with two tackles for a loss including a sack.
 
Wilson was asked whether he felt the play before Nick Okano's game-clinching interception should have been called pass interference.
 
"You have to ask the official on that side, it doesn’t matter what I think," Wilson said.
 
The Yale players heard that Brown beat Penn 6-0 as the Bulldogs were running the final few seconds off the clock. Now Yale can clinch no worse than a share of the Ivy League title it it wins its final three games. Had Penn won out, Yale would not be able to catch the Quakers in the standings.



The main focus on my game story is on Cargill's monster effort and the fact that Yale did not attempt a pass in the second half. I have a notebook with reaction from Yale players about the winter wonderland they played in as well as Philippe Panico somehow getting a 38-yard field goal through the uprights.
 
Speaking of the snow, Yale history buff Bob Barton (a former New Haven Register copy editor and regular at Yale games for years) came up with a list of other Yale games of the last 50 years impacted by snow.
 
Temple 1953 (Yale 32-6) early November, probably 4 inches


Harvard 1955 (Yale 21-7), probably 2-3 inches


Princeton 1967, there were snowflakes but rain, thunder, little of everything, no accumulation


Think there was also a little snow at Princeton in 1985, but nothing serious.
I am thinking that if you said this was the most serious snow during a game in more than half a century, you'd be right.

It was a bit of good news mixed in with some bad for Alex Thomas regarding his knee injury.

The senior running back from Ansonia, who ran for a career-high 204 yards in Saturday's loss to Penn, underwent tests on his injured knee on both Sunday and Tuesday.

While the results of Sunday's tests were inconclusive, the second examination revealed an injured posterior cruciate ligament. As a result, he will be forced to miss Saturday's game at Columbia. It could have been worse and put him on the sidelines for the rest of his senior season.

Thomas spoke about the situation after Thursday's practice.

"There is not a tear, it is just a PCL injury," Thomas said. "I am going to sit this weekend and hope to be back next week. I have a brace on and I am just rehabbing like a maniac right now trying to get back to where I need to be."


Thomas, who is third in the Ivy League with an average of 99.5 rushing yards per game, was understandably concerned about his availability for the rest of the season after falling awkwardly in the fourth quarter of the Penn game.

"You never know, you know something doesn’t feel right but you don’t know what it is until the doctor tells you," Thomas said. "At the beginning of the week, I was just playing the waiting game and hoping and praying for the best. This is not the best news, I have to sit a week which is not what I want to do but (realizing) that I get to play three more games here at Yale, it means a lot."

While Thomas may not consider missing this week's game "good" news, Yale coach Tom Williams believes that is about the best possible outcome.

"It is as positive as it could be hearing from the doctors that he is going to have the chance to get the strength back and continue playing," Williams said. "Obviously he has been a great player for us this season but him being able to finish his senior season would be important for him and important for us."

Mordecai Cargill is an experienced tailback for Yale with 769 career yards including 73 in the 2009 win at Columbia. Deon Randall may see more snaps at running back, although he may also be called upon to pick up the slack for injured receiver Chris Smith. Other options figure to be fullback Elijah Thomas, who was a tailback as a freshman, and freshman walk on Wynston Bouknight.


"Mo (Cargill) knows what he is doing and Wynston and Elijah both know what they are doing, they have a good grasp of the offense," Thomas said.  "I am here to answer any questions they have, I am here on the sideline each and every play. I am pretty confident in the guys that we have. I know they are pretty confident and excited to get out there on Saturday."

Outside of Chris Smith's kickoff returns and Mordecai Cargill's two touchdowns, the first half exactly a highlight-reel opening 30 minutes for the Yale football team.

Still, the Bulldogs had a 21-20 lead despite being pushed around a bit by the visiting Hoyas of Georgetown.

At halftime, more time was spent on making the necessary adjustments than unleashing some fire and brimstone motivational speeches.

It didn't take long to realize that the second half was going to be played much more to Yale's liking.After being outgained by Georgetown by 81 yards in the first half, Yale took over control of the game.

Georgetown managed just 27 yards rushing on nine carries in the second half. Also, starting quarterback Isaiah Kempf was knocked out of the game so the Hoyas were forced to take to the air with their second-string quarterback.

Offensively, Yale's running game woke up. After managing eight yards on 11 carries in the first two quarters, the Bulldogs ran the ball 24 times for 111 yards in the second half.

The performance was almost a 180 degree turn from the 2010 Yale/Georgetown game when the Bulldogs played a great first half but struggled to slow down the Hoyas in the second half.

"It was a great start," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "We knew that not only is Georgetown an improved football team over the last couple of years but now they have a two-game head start. We felt like it was important for us to start fast. We made some early game or first game mistakes but I thought we were able to get it ironed out in the third quarter, come out and really play Bulldog football for the rest of the game."

Smith finished with 267 all-purpose yards and had he been able to elude the Georgetown kicker, he may have doubled his touchdown output.

"I wish I could have punched one (kickoff return) in," Smith said. "I guess that kicker is an All-American or something."

Cargill finished with 92 yards including his first rushing touchdown at Yale and caught four passes for 46 yards and another TD. Defensively, returning starting linebackers Jordan Haynes and Will McHale led the way with 11 and 10 tackles respectively.

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.

Yale wrapped up spring practice on Monday and the 12 practices gave some of the younger players a chance to move up the depth chart and make a case for either a starting position or a more prominent role than they had a year ago.

I asked Yale coach Tom Williams which players helped themselves the most during spring camp.

"John Whitelaw, is clearly our No. 2 quarterback. He clearly established himself as a guy who can help our team win football games. I think he has shown the development that we saw at the end of last season and he is a good football player. At tight end position, Kyle Wittenauer is a guy who has stepped up to show that he is ready to earn some playing time at that position. I don't know if he is going to be the replacement this year for (Chris) Blohm but I think he can do some things that can help us win there. (Fullback) Elijah Thomas, some kind of guy. He can do some things that Shane (Bannon) gave us and as a young player he will continue to develop and he certainly made a move in the spring. (Center) John Oppenheimer, moving from defense to offense has helped us and ultimately he will be a really good player for us at that position. Of all the skill guys that we had, (tailback) Mordecai Cargill probably had the biggest spring.

"Defensively, (safety) Nick Okano, (linebacker) Brian Leffler, (cornerback) Collin Bibb and having (defensive tackle) Pat Moran come back and show he is a better player than he was when he left us, all those guys had great springs."

Now it is up to the returning players to build off what transpired in spring camp. At this point last year I would not have predicted that guard Colin Kruger or cornerback Chris Stanley would emerge as starters but they had strong performances in the fall camp to earn regular spots.

Yale will begin its fall camp (or summer camp if you prefer since the first day of fall is not until Sept. 23) on Aug. 19.

It will be interesting monitoring some of the same positional battles that were going on during the spring highlighted by Oppenheimer and Jeff Fell vying for the starting center spot, Leffler and Wes Moyer in contention for a starting linebacking spot, Okano and John Powers trying to earn the starting nod at strong safety with Bibb, Kurt Stottlemyer and Dawson Halliday likely fighting it out for a starting cornerback position.

Receivers Gio Christodoulou and Peter Balsam will be back while Yale will be welcoming a freshman class which will number somewhere between 28-30 and should have former Duke defensive lineman Tevin Hood in the fold as well.

Injured running backs Mordecai Cargill (knee) and Javi Sosa (ankle) are not back at practice yet. They have not been ruled out yet but will need to practice by Thursday to suit up on Saturday against Princeton.

"He is not quite ready yet," Yale coach Tom Williams said of Cargill. "I think he had some rehab jogging today and we will see by Thursday if he can do anything. If not, we feel we have enough depth with Deon (Randall) and Elijah (Thomas) that we can still make it through another week. Javi, it's the same situation."

Naturally Alex Thomas, coming off back to back 100-yard rushing games, will be Yale's featured back against a Princeton team which ranks 87th among 117 Football Championship Subdivision teams in rushing defense.

Williams also said that quarterback Patrick Witt's uncharacteristic series of underthrown balls in last week's win over Brown was not injury related.

"He just didn’t play well," Williams said. "There was nothing wrong with him physically, he just played his worst game of the year. Fortunately for us, we were able to overcome it with some special teams plays. The one to Chris Blohm (in the fourth quarter), he just didn’t set his feet. He tried to just throw it with his arm and it kind of died on him. He knows, he has been playing quarterback for a long time, that you set your feet and drive the football and he didn’t. He is a prideful guy, he saw the tape and knows he didn’t play well. He came out, (Yale offensive coordinator Brian) Stark and I talked about it, he is focused on being better."

Witt threw the ball with plenty of zip during practice on Tuesday.

Williams said that after looking at the tape, Yale was one block away from returning three consecutive kickoffs for touchdowns against Brown. As it was, sophomore Chris Smith became the first Ivy League player to return consecutive kickoffs for touchdowns. On the next kickoff, Alex Norocea was brought in and rather than kicking the ball in the air to the speedy Smith, he bounced the kick down to the 20. Williams said that one more executed block would have sprung Smith free again.

CULBREATH IFFY FOR SATURDAY
On Tuesday's Ivy League football coaches conference call, Princeton coach Bob Surace said he didn't expect tailback Jordan Culbreath, the 2008 Ivy League rushing leader who has had a well-documented return to the field after being sidelined with aplastic anemia, available on Saturday.

Culbreath injured his right knee in Saturday's loss to Penn and Surace speculated after the game that it could be a season-ending injury. While Culbreath has not officially been ruled out for the year, Surace was not optimistic about having him on the field against the Bulldogs.

"He will not be available," Surace said. "He's getting x-rays, hopefully we will know today. Hopefully we get good news but I am not counting on that."

One of the advantages of three straight Yale games being televised by YES is I can go back and look at specific plays or in this case calls by the officials.

There were four I was curious to see.

At first glance I thought offensive pass interference should have been called on a screen pass from Ryan Becker to Jeff Jack resulting in a 17-yard Penn touchdown in the second quarter. But the replay showed that the other receiver waited until Jack caught the ball before throwing his block.

I mentioned the questionable spot on Adam Money's interception return and believed it cost Yale 10 yards. I stand by that statement after seeing the flag for an illegal block on the 33 yard line. If Yale was penalized from that spot and then the 15 yards were marked off for Penn's personal-foul penalty, the Bulldogs should have received the ball at the 28 instead of the 38.

I wasn't sure about the pass interference called on Yale's first scoring drive of the fourth quarter. The only issue was that the official called out No. 2 as the party responsible for the pass interference when it was evident that it was No. 37 Jim McGoldrick guilty of practically undressing Yale's Jordan Forney and forcing him out of bounds while the ball was in the air.

Now for the holding call on Alex Golubiewski late in the first half which negated a 33-yard completion to the Penn 2, the replay was inconclusive. You could see Golubiewski turning Brandon Copeland but couldn't tell if Golubiewski's hands were outside Copeland's shoulder pads or if he did anything after the final portion of his block was not visible on camera.

That being said, the officiating did not decide this game. Three turnovers, costly penalties and giving up a punt return touchdown had a bigger impact on the game's outcome rather than any one official's call. Inconsistency on first down didn't help. Nine times Yale had a double-digit gain on first down but 12 times out of the 32 first down plays the first-down play went for either no gain or negative yardage.

Also, if you count the two sacks as passing plays (as they were obviously designed to be) instead of running plays as they go down as, Yale threw or attempted to throw the ball 56 times on 74 offensive plays. Considering that quarterback Patrick Witt missed the previous game with a shoulder injury and has dealt with hand and wrist injuries, it's amazing he was able to walk off the field under his own power. A power back like Mordecai Cargill (who missed the game after undergoing knee surgery) could have made a difference in establishing the run. But he's going to miss at least one more game. Yale ran the ball on half of its first 12 offensive plays and had eight designed rushing attempts by the end of the first quarter but 10 for the rest of the game. Nobody expected Yale to attempt to shove the ball down the throats of a Penn defense coming into the game ranked first in FCS in rushing defense but when the opponent doesn't have to respect the run, you might as well put a target on Witt's jersey.

Back on the topic of Money, here's the story I wrote on the senior safety

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.

Neither starting tailback Alex Thomas nor reserve Mordecai Cargill practiced today and both are questionable for Saturday's game against Fordham although Thomas would have to be considered more questionable than Cargill.

Thomas didn't return to Saturday's game against Dartmouth after injuring a rib while falling on the ball after a carry. Cargill was able to come back into the game despite dealing with an ankle injury.

"We'll wait and see," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "We have a few more days of practice. Our policy is you have to have some practice time before you play. He (Thomas) went to the doctor so we won't know more until later today. He fell on the ball awkwardly and they are going to have an MRI to see if there is any damage."

Williams also said that defensive end Matt Battaglia and center Jake Koury are unlikely to play against Fordham because of the knee injuries which they suffered against Albany.

One last item isn't so much of an injury update as it is a sign that Yale football players are cut from a different cloth than the usual college football player.

Starting offensive tackle Alex Golubiewski missed the Dartmouth game not because of injury or a lack of performance.

"He had to take the LSAT on Saturday," Williams said. "That's Yale. That's what Yale students do. He did reschedule and there was going to be a huge penalty at another time so he had to take it. He looked at every avenue and that was the only thing he could do. I told him I hoped he did really well but he said he thought he did really well."

Yale senior defensive end Tom McCarthy (Achilles, calf strains) and sophomore running back Mordecai Cargill (hip flexor) are back at practice and should be good to go for Saturday's game at Dartmouth.

McCarthy hasn't played since the first quarter of the season opener against Georgetown and with a knee injury expected to keep the other starting defensive end Matt Battaglia out of Saturday's game, the timing of McCarthy's return could not be more ideal.

"Having your captain back for his first Ivy League game, we are hoping it will give us a boost," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "I know he is excited to play. I know the guys are excited that he is back. We hope all of those things will equate to a chance to win a game on Saturday."

Center Jake Koury will also be out against Dartmouth after suffering a knee injury. Jeff Fell will replace Koury in the starting lineup. Fell is also being pushed by Kyle Wittenauer for the starting long snapper role while Williams said he has reopened the kicking competition since Yale is 0 for 4 on field goals this season with three of the FGs being blocked. Alex Barnes is the incumbent while Philippe Panico is being given a 50-50 chance to earn the kicking job.

Another item I brought up at the weekly press conference at Mory's was reaction to the arrest of former Yale football player Jordan Jefferson during a New Haven police department raid on the Elevate Lounge on Crown Street. The raid, in which some of those on site have accused the police of brutality, came two weeks after there was a shooting on Crown Street.

"We already talked about it as a team, (the importance of) making good decisions," Williams said. "We always talk about that but the one thing we said in light of
what happened downtown with the gunfire is that everybody is on edge. We can’t add fuel to the fire so if you are in the situation when an officer is talking to you about doing something, you’d better do it, you’d better do it right away.

"We had this conversation long before this happened with Jordan. Unfortunately he is not on our team right now so he missed that conversation. When you are under the circumstance that our police are under, you are edge so we don’t need to do
anything to add to that. We need to help diffuse those situations."

Jefferson was a freshman tight end on Yale's 2009 squad. He appeared in two varsity games and although he did not have a reception, he did make a tackle on special teams. He has a medical condition which kept him from being cleared to return to the football field.

While it is possible that Jefferson could play for the Bulldogs again, Williams said "I don’t know what the odds are so there is a chance, you never say never but based on the last conversation I had, it was slim."

Yale senior defensive end and captain Tom McCarthy is not wearing pads or going through pre-game drills so it's safe to say he will miss his second straight game.

Defensive end Matt Battaglia and running back Mordecai Cargill are out there so I'd assume they will be available although we'll have to see how much they are out there.

I caught the last half hour or so of Yale's practice on Thursday and senior defensive end Tom McCarthy is still being held out because of a calf strain. It's likely that the Yale captain will miss his second straight game.

"Here is what my thinking is, instead of having him come back and play in a non-conference game - we could use him - but I’d rather get him another week of rest and get him ready for Dartmouth," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "If we had to play him, if this is Harvard, I think he’d play but we are going to err on the side of being smart with the season as opposed to just this game."

Also, running back Mordecai Cargill, slowed by a hip flexor and is questionable. If Cargill is held out, sophomore Javier Sosa would likely be the top backup to starting tailback Alex Thomas while promising freshman Elijah Thomas could also figure into the equation.

There's been no decision on whether Matt Battaglia, who has practiced all week, will get the call at defensive end. Battaglia started the opener before missing last week's Cornell game with a hamstring issue. Williams said Battaglia will be evaluated to see how he feels before making a final decision. If Battaglia doesn't start, sophomore Allen Davis figures to be in there after recording 2 sacks in just 20 defensive snaps against Cornell.

Williams said that Nathan Burow, a former starting offensive lineman, will not play again because of a torn labrum. Burow will follow the path of another former starting lineman Nate Blair by becoming a volunteer assistant coach/manager with the team.

REISING A CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALIST
Yale senior linebacker Jesse Reising is one of 28 Football Championship Subdivision and four Ivy League players named as semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, considered to college football's premier scholar-athlete award.

Players are nominated by their schools and must have at least a 3.2 grade point average, be a key contributor on the field and according to the release put out by the National Football Foundation "demonstrate strong leadership and citizenship."

Reising, a first-year starter, is second on the 2-0 Bulldogs with 12 tackles and has also broken up two passes. Reising is planning to enroll in Marine Corps Officer Candidate School after graduating from Yale. Reising has a 3.75 GPA in economics/political science.

Brown's Kyle Newhall-Caballero, Columbia's Alex Gross and Dartmouth's Tanner Scott are also among the candidates as is Albany's Chris Blais.

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.

Last year receiver Chris Smith and running back Mordecai Cargill were among the freshmen to make an impact at Yale.

The latest group of players who I have confirmed have been accepted at Yale could add some more punch to the Bulldogs' offense. California running back Jackson Cummings ran for more than 2,000 yards and scored 42 touchdowns as a senior while Loomis Chaffee receiver Cameron Sandquist ran the 100 meters in 10.8 seconds when he was at Redmond (Wash.) High.

Here's the latest batch of kids who have received likely letters and are expected to be part of what is shaping up to be a pretty impressive recruiting class.

George "Kolu" Buck, DE Punahou, Hawaii Listed with a time of 4.91 seconds in the 40-yard dash at a combine, also one of the best wrestlers in Hawaii.
Jackson Cummings, RB Rocklin High (Calif.) Ran for 2406 yards, 42 TDs as a senior
Beau Palin, HB/TE/FB, Phillips Andover Averaged 13 yards per catch for Andover and blocked a punt against Phillips Exeter
Cameron Sandquist, WR Loomis Chaffee Had 66 catches for 939 yards as a senior at Redmond High School before having PG year at Loomis where he made NEPSAC Class A team
Kerr Taubler, QB Bullard HS Fresno, Calif. Threw for 266 yards in 42-31 win over Centennial in Central Section championship game.

The word I am hearing is that Yale is making progress in its quest to add some size and athleticism to its offensive line with three prospects currently having their applications reviewed. Among that group is James Talerico out of Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, Fla. who has committed to Yale according to reports out of Florida.

Here's a list of 12 players I previously reported have been accepted at Yale.
Kyle Aberton, DB Cottonwood HS, Holladay, Utah
Chris Brady, DB Don Bosco, Ramsey, N.J.
Henry Furman, QB Lincoln, Portland, Ore.
Jackson Ligouri, WR Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood, Calif.
Max Napolitano, DB Oaks Christian, Westlake Village, Calif.
Obinna Nwakeze, DL/OL Rye (N.Y.) Country Day
Nick Okano, DB Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood, Calid.
John Oppenheimer, OL Sacred Heart, Atherton, Calif.
Deon Randall, QB/RB/DB Parker HS, San Diego, Calif.
Grant Stanley, DE Fresno (Calif.) San Joaquin Memorial
John Whitelaw, QB Hinsdale (Ill.) Central
Kyle Wittenauer, TE/LS St. Christopher's, Richmond, Va.

When he was announced as Yale's 133rd football captain, defensive tackle Tom McCarthy sat in his seat at the front of the room and did not move for several seconds. After getting over the shock of surviving four rounds of voting and beating out cornerback Adam Money, McCarthy rose from his seat and received a huge round of applause from his teammates.

"I never really expected this," McCarthy said. "Just to be elected with this group of guys, it is absolutely amazing. It is an honor."

The ironic part is that McCarthy will not be able to take part in spring drills. He missed the entire 2006 season mononucleosis and was granted a fifth year of eligibility. However, Ivy League rules stipulate that student-athletes can only be enrolled in eight semesters so he will need to skip the spring semester so he can enroll in the fall.

The awards were also given out. John Sheffield was named the Ted Blair Award winner as the team MVP while Paul Rice earned the award annually given to Yale's captain.

Here's the complete list of other award winners
Jordan Olivar Award (given to a senior other than the captain who has earned the most respect from his teammates): Larry Abare
Woody Knapp Memorial Trophy (player who typifies the cheerful disposition, leadership qualities and unselfish disposition to others): Brandon Scott
Robert Gardner Anderson Award (combination of skill, spirit and pride in accomplishment): Reid Lathan and Max Newton.
Norman S. Hall Memorial Trophy (given to an individual for outstanding service to Yale football): Tim Handlon
Gregory Dubinetz Memorial Trophy (linemen who exemplified the spirit of Dubinetz): Cory Palmer
Charley Loftus Award (most valuable freshmen): Mordecai Cargill and John Powers
Chester J. Laroche Award (given to senior who did the most for Yale): Rich Scudellari
Ledyard Mitchell Award (for proficiency in kicking): Tom Mante
Ted Turner Award (top offensive lineman): Cory Palmer
Keppel Award (given to offensive back who exemplified Keppel's work ethic, pride and dedication to Yale football): Rodney Reynolds
LoProto Award (awarded to defensive back who exemplies LoProto's passion and competitive spirit): Adam Money

Also, Tom McCarthy was named the top defensive lineman, Mante the top specialist and Travis Henry the winner of the Hammer Award.

From former Yale star Jon Reese's empassioned remarks to Reynolds' comical impersonation of Yale running back coach Rod Plummer, it was a memorable event.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Yale coach Tom Williams addressed his decision to run a fake punt faced with a 4th-and-22 at the Yale 25 in the final 2 1/2 minutes. Williams has received plenty of criticism, including in this blog, for the decision.

Here is what he said to the invited guests at The Commons at Woolsey Hall.

"I take responsibilities for all those losses, not just the one yesterday but for the other five," Williams said. "The only regret I have is that there is a man who wears a ‘Y’ on his helmet who thinks their opportunity to win the football game was taken from them, that is the only regret I have. I want to sincerely apologize to those men because I worked very hard to earn their trust and I love these guys as if they are my own children."

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.