Among the former and current Yale players in attendance as Bobby Abare, Drew Baldwin, Geoff Dunham, Jordan Haynes, Pat Moran, Jake Stoller, Alex Thomas and Patrick Witt worked out for NFL scouts was somebody who knows the drill pretty well.

A year ago Shane Bannon was barely showing up on any NFL draft sites but a strong showing at Yale's pro day followed by impressive showings in individual workouts resulted in Bannon being drafted in the seventh round by the Kansas City Chiefs. I haven't had the chance to speak to Bannon since he was drafted so I spent a few minutes with him to talk about his experiences last season and also to have him talk about the process of attempting to catch the eye of NFL teams.

"It was fast," Bannon said. "It was the quickest six weeks of my life. I worked out at pro day, starting talking to teams and working out for teams and it just kind of snowballed from there. I think I was in the right place at the right time and the stars aligned and I couldn't be more grateful that the Chiefs drafted me. It was a great month for sure."

Bannon was thrilled to see his former teammates taking their best shot at the NFL.

"I thought they did great," Bannon said. "They came out and gave it their best shot so hopefully somebody saw something they liked and they'll get a couple phone calls. If not, that doesn't take away from anything they have done. I commend them for giving it a shot."

So what advice would Bannon give to the former Yale players hoping to get invited to NFL training camps.
"There is so much you can control," Bannon said. "If you get a workout or interview, just go out and be you and do what you know you can do. You can't let that stuff get to you because there is too much going on, sit back relax and enjoy it."

Bannon spent time on the Chiefs' practice squad and after the season signed a two-year contract with Kansas City.

"We'll see what happens in camp," Bannon said. "I have to make the team and I look forward to getting out there and competing for sure. It's a little different because you are not training to do a pro day any more, you are not doing specific benching and running 40s but I trying to get back in shape and get ready for OTAs and practice and hopefully the stars will align again."

Former Yale quarterback Patrick Witt was the center of attention but on Thursday morning and afternoon, former Bulldogs Drew Baldwin, Geoff Dunham, Jordan Haynes, Pat Moran, Jake Stoller, Alex Thomas and Bobby Abare got the opportunity to work out in front of scouts from the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers.

Moran had the best bench press performance with 37 reps at 225 pounds, edging out New Haven linebacker Charlie Hatchett by one. Baldwin had an impressive vertical leap of 36 inches while Haynes had a broad jump of 9-6.

"Everybody did pretty well," Thomas said. "I think and put their best effort forward, now it is a waiting game. It is one of those things that you have nothing to lose and you give it your best shot."

"This is awesome, it is kind of a mini offseason we had training for this," Thomas said. "The six of us working out together and t be out there, the culmination of all the work we put in the past four years working together, it definitely has been a fun ride and see what happens."

Last year Shane Bannon turned some impressive workouts into becoming a draftable prospect and was taken by the Kansas City Chiefs in the seventh round. Perhaps one of the former Bulldogs not named Patrick Witt might follow the same path.


Witt has been down this road before as he took part in the NFL combine last month. New England and San Diego sent representatives specifically to check out Witt (although New England did show quite a bit of interest in Sacred Heart University tight end Rich Rossi).

The only agility drill he did was the 40 which he ran a 5.03 but he spent plenty of time throwing in front of the scouts.
"It was fun, I was glad to have a bunch of the other guys out there, I think they showed well today," Witt said. "I think we all did. It was a little hotter than we expected. I got a little sweat going but I think the scouts liked what they saw from everyone, I am really proud of those other guys."

Witt worked out for several weeks in California in preparation for the NFL combine and then prepared for Thursday's pro day. Now he is heading home to Atlanta. He will likely get invited for personal workouts with teams as the draft draws nearer but he is glad to have the combine portion of the process completed.

"It is driving me nuts. It is kind of the last hurdle I have before the draft. I am planning to go back home and hope to get a call and go from there.

"Out in LA things moved kind of slow in anticipation of the combines (being) seven weeks away, six weeks away and once it is on you, it is gone in a flash. Those three or days go by really fast. You are up early and staying up late, interviews and medical tests. It is a cool experience and I was really grateful to be one of the guys invited."

Witt admitted that seeing NFL head coaches in the stands or on the field at the combine took some getting used to.
"It is a little bit different with scouts coming through and you don't recognize their faces and then you look on the field, look up in the stands and there is Bill Belichick staring back at you," Witt said. "It doesn't help ease (his nerves) that but it is a great feeling and once it is going you tune all the rest of it out just like you are playing a game. It was a great opportunity to be seen by a lot of decision makers.

"I think what I have learned from this whole process is that what one team thinks of you is not really what another team thinks of you so you can be valued in a lot of different ways by a lot of different teams. There is no way to predict, that is what I keep hearing from everyone so I am trying to stay patient and calm my mind about it and see what happens."

As luck would have it, the first scout he spoke to at the NFL combine was the Denver Broncos and the team representative who met with Witt is Brian Stark, his former position coach at Yale.

"I saw him quite a bit at the combine," Witt said. "This year he was a runner so in the interview room the scouts come up and bring you to the team tables, he was the guy who grabbed me for the Broncos. He was the first guy I interviewed with. It was weird, I wanted to just kind of joke around with him, slap him on the shoulder but we had to maintain a business relationship there because of the nature of what we were doing."

 
I did speak to Witt about putting the Rhodes Scholarship controversy behind him and his reaction to the fallout resulting in Tom Williams being forced to resign as Yale's coach. I think that is better served to be a blog of its own and will put together an entry in the next day or so.
 
Some other Yale related notes, I asked Yale coach Tony Reno about defensive end Chris Coyne and offensive lineman Andy Ellis, both part of last year's freshman class. He said that Coyne is still injured and dealing with concussions but is still with the program. However, Ellis is not a member of the team.
 
There's a chance that Yale's recruiting class could be officially announced before the Apr. 21 spring game.
 
Former Yale assistant coach Duane Brooks was in attendance today. He said he just purchased a home in Bar Harbor, Maine and will be moving up there. Settling in Maine has been a dream of Brooks once his coaching career is over and he will get the opportunity.

The injury bug has wreaked havoc with some of Yale's most promising freshmen with running back Kahlil Keys (knee), defensive back Ethan DeSilva (knee) and defensive end Max Fink (hip) among those expected to miss the season. When offensive lineman William Chism suffered a hand injury in Saturday's scrimmage against Dean College, the original fear was that Chism would be sidelined for a while. However, he was back at practice in a limited fashion and Yale coach Tom Williams is expecting to give Chism some snaps in Saturday's season opener against Georgetown.

"He got about 10 reps today," Williams said after Wednesday's practice. "What they told us is they think they will be able to cast his hand, hard cast it and wrap it really tight and he should be able to get some reps on Saturday. All those guys who went down where guys we figured had a chance to play for us so it is nice to get good news on one of those guys. They'll have a chance to do something (surgery wise) at the end of the season but right now he is good to go."

Another freshman sidelined is former Staples star Chris Coyne, who is dealing with concussion-like symptoms. It is not a good sign that Yale gave Coyne No. 99 and then assigned that number to fellow defensive end Carter Deutsch.

The last item on the freshman for today is that Williams believes that Chism, fellow offensive lineman Ben Carbery, defensive backs Charles Cook and Nick LaTesta, running back Wynston Bouknight and linebacker Will Vaughan are the freshmen expected to see action against Georgetown. Plenty of their classmates should see action when the Yale JV team hosts Dean College on Sunday at 1 p.m.

MORE VISITORS AT PRACTICE
If you head to a Yale practice, the odds are pretty good that you will see an NFL scout or two in attendance. Wednesday was no different as representatives from the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals were at Clint Frank Field to see Yale's pro prospects up close and personal.

Both were there to see senior quarterback Patrick Witt but the Atlanta scout inquired about linebacker Jordan Haynes and safety Geoff Dunham while the rep from Arizona was asking about defensive tackles Pat Moran and Jake Stoller.

The season has yet to begin and scouts of New England, both the New York Giants and Jets, Carolina, Cleveland, Washington (twice), Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Houston, Jacksonville, St. Louis, San Francisco and now Atlanta and Arizona have been at a Yale practice. To say it is a major jump from the last couple of years would be an understatement of immense proportions.

"First year, I don't think we had anybody who came through," Williams said. "Last season we had a couple of teams that came through to see Tommy (McCarthy) and (Shane) Bannon but it was really more during the end of the season and not at this time. I think they all come because Pat (Witt) is on the radar screen. When they watch practice, they have those other guys on their sheet and then they watch those guys and say 'tell me more about this kid.' We've had that happen almost every day, a guy will say 'I came for your quarterback but I want to know about Stoller, Moran, Haynes, Dunham.'"

Alex Thomas is also on the radar of some NFL teams.

"I think a lot of his looks will depend on his season," Williams said. "If they look at the stat sheet, the stats are good but they are going to compare him to an SEC running back who has 1,000 yards rushing. If he has the season I think he can have (he'll get a shot at the NFL)."

CHANGE IN PLAY CALLING
As I mentioned in a blog post yesterday, receivers coach Kefense Hynson is now calling the offensive plays, a duty which Brian Stark handled the last two seasons. Hynson and Stark are now listed as co-offensive coordinators.

I asked Williams about the reason for the switch.

"There was a medical situation with Coach Stark," Williams said. "It happened during fall camp. We didn't make a big deal out if but one of the things I wanted to make sure I did is to help him (Stark) in terms of taking some responsibilities that he didn't have to worry about and concentrating on his health. At the same time, I wanted to reward a guy on our staff who I felt like was the right guy to take that step. Coach Hynson has been an offensive coordinator at Western Washington, he has called plays so to me it was the logical choice. Coach Stark is still very much in support and still very much another voice in our room but I think it has worked out for our entire football team and we haven't missed a beat."

The natural follow-up question was how would Yale's offense be different with a new person calling the plays.

"He (Hynson) has been trained in the Boise offensive scheme," Williams said. "Chris Petersen, when he was the offensive coordinator at Boise was one of the best play callers I had been around. I think play calling is an art. It is something a guy can either do or not. Kefense is a guy who definitely can do it and he has been around guys who are really good at it. I think that will add a different dimension to the plays that we run. It is when we run them and I think if you are the casual fan looking at Yale football this year, you probably will notice a difference in that aspect."

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Of all the positional battles during Yale's spring practice, none might be more intriguing than the h-back/tight end situation simply because of the inexperienced group of candidates.

Yale lost tight ends Chris Blohm and Caleb Smith and h-back Shane Bannon to graduation and unlike the situation when John Sheffield and A.J. Haase graduated a year ago, the potential replacements were not upperclassmen.

After Tuesday's practice, Yale coach Tom Williams praised the development of rising sophomores Michael Leunen, Kyle Wittenauer (who had a couple of key catches in the 11 on 11 portion of practice), Beau Palin and Keith Coty.

"I am excited about the young group of tight ends. I think Michael Leunen is doing a good job, Wittenauer, Beau Palin, Keith Coty, they have the potential to be a very special group," Williams said. "The one thing we weren't sure about was their ability to block bigger guys on the perimeter. They are showing that they are able to block some of our guys which is a good sign so they are progressing like we hoped they would."

They are just some of a talented group of freshmen pushing for playing time. Nick Okano is fighting with junior to be John Powers for the starting strong safety position, John Oppenheimer was shifted from defensive line to compete for the starting center position, Elijah Thomas saw a decent amount of time at fullback, Wes Gavin is a returning starter at offensive tackle. At receiver, Cameron Sandquist is making a push for a larger role in the fall. Fellow rising sophomore receiver Deon Randall missed practice on Tuesday and had his left arm in a sling but Williams said it was merely for precautionary reasons.

"He has a slight shoulder (issues), he could have practiced," Williams said. "We're just being extra careful."

Staying on the subject of the Class of 2013, John Whitelaw and Henry Furman are running neck and neck in the battle for the No. 2 quarterback spot behind rising senior Patrick Witt.

Among the highlights on Tuesday was a sweet catch by rising junior Allen Harris, some nifty runs by classmate Mordecai Cargill and some impressive plays by cornerback Colin Bibb, another junior to be.

I caught up with defensive lineman Pat Moran, a starter back in 2009 who took off last season to work on his father's political campaign. Look for a story on Moran to run in the paper perhaps as early as Thursday.

Tight end Chris Blohm didn't waste much time making an impression in front of New England Patriots scout James Liipfert and Ray Walsh Jr. of the New York Giants.

Blohm benched 225 pounds 30 times at Yale's pro day on Thursday and also was the only participant to clear 10 feet in the broad jump, maxing out at 10-1 throw in a 35 inch vertical leap and 40-yard dash times of 4.89 and 4.91 and it's easy to understand why Green Bay and Atlanta are among the teams showing interest in Blohm.

"It's been intense," Blohm said. "I was hoping to hit the number, the magic number (30 on the bench press) so it was exciting to get it. I am excited to see what happens and hoping for some positive reaction to these numbers. I was pretty pleased with all of them. The 40 was a question mark and it turned out to be OK. I am going to keep working out with these guys (fellow Yale seniors Shane Bannon, Tom McCarthy, Adam Money and Sean Williams) and (Yale''s head strength and conditioning coach) Emil (Johnson) and wait to see if there is any feedback."

While Blohm took part in every drill, Bannon, McCarthy and Williams picked their spots since all three had strong performances at other pro days.

"It's hard when you are an Ivy League guy," Yale defensive line coach Duane Brooks said. "I think all these guys can get in (camps). Tommy had the breakout at Fordham's (pro day). Blohm had a great day today and Bannon (Wednesday in Tolland). The question is can they get into a camp. The Jaguars and Miami are in the (Yale football) office. Tommy's going down to Jacksonville, Blohmer is probably going to San Francisco at some point. Detroit called, Atlanta called because when your numbers hit, people want to be involved. Money is a wild card guy. He is a guy who can do a lot of things and it's something he didn't think about before. It is a lot to think about. I think Tom (Williams, Yale's head football coach and a former assistant coach with the Jaguars), the way he talks to us, the way we practice it gives you a feel of what that life can be if that's what you want. Who thought about Shane Bannon (as an NFL prospect) and all of a sudden he is on the radar."

McCarthy's stock has been soaring since a standout effort at Fordham's pro day earlier this month. Before leaving on Thursday, McCarthy gave Liipfert his e-mail address, a pretty good indication that the Patriots are interested. Jacksonville and the Giants head the teams who have reached out to McCarthy and he is expected to have private workouts for both teams next month.

Bannon had a strong effort on Wednesday at a pro day in Tolland highlighted by a 4.69 clocking in the 40 and testing out well in the agility drills as well. He made a brilliant one-handed catch during pass receiving drills on Thursday.

"It is kind of a relief," Bannon said. "It is kind of emotional being here doing this after all this time. It is something we dream of and the fact that we got to do it was pretty awesome. For my size, my numbers are right where I wanted them to be. I am pretty pleased what I was able to do and accomplish these past couple of days."

Former Xavier High star Shea Dwyer, who set Wesleyan's single season record for rushing yards, as well as Southern Connecticut State defensive back Richard Kirkland also took part in the pro day on Thursday.

Yale will be having its junior pro day on Saturday with quarterback Patrick Witt, running back Alex Thomas, defensive linemen Jake Stoller and Pat Moran and linebacker Jordan Haynes expected to go through many of the same drills their former Yale teammates went through on Thursday.

Yale officially released its spring practice schedule and it will begin on April 4 and wrap up on Apr. 23 at 2 p.m. with the spring game which will start at 2 p.m. at the Yale Bowl.

Pat Moran, who would have been a senior defensive lineman on the current Yale team, opted to take the year off so he could help in his father Jim Moran's reelection campaign in Virginia.

It looks like Jim Moran, who has represented Virginia's 8th congressional district since 1991, appears to be running away with things

Pat Moran has another year of eligibility and the last time I spoke to Yale football coach Tom Williams about Moran and receiver Peter Balsam, who also took the year off, are still planning to return to Yale next year.

With the Ivy League coaches conference call on Tuesday and Yale football coach Tom Williams joining Southern Connecticut's Rich Cavanaugh and New Haven's Peter Rossomando Wednesday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Sports Council's second annual "Chalk Talk – College Football in New Haven" event, there will be some upcoming stories on the 2010 Bulldogs.

I figured I would get things rolling with a few updates.

First, defensive lineman Pat Moran is planning to take the 2010 season off. The decision was caused by not only by his troublesome shoulder but also the chance to work on his dad's politicial campaign.

Jim Moran has been the representative in Virginia's 8th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1991 and is up for reelection.

Pat Moran had 24 tackles including three for losses and two quarterbacks as a junior. He is planning to return for the 2011 season.

Next, Yale will scrimmage Union for the second straight season. There was some talk of the date needing to be changed because Union had freshmen orientation that day but Williams said that Union is planning to come up for the Sept. 4 scrimmage without the freshmen.

Finally, there are a few position changes of note. Some of this is old news which I reported in the spring but Roy Collins and Alex Birks, who saw time at tight end, will be playing offensive tackle and offensive guard respectively. Sean Williams is moving from defensive end to linebacker and perhaps the biggest news of all is that captain Tom McCarthy is staying put. The original plan was for McCarthy to move from the defensive to tight end but the Yale staff was encouraged enough by the performance of the returning tight ends during spring camp that McCarthy will remain on the defensive line. Williams said that McCarthy could see some time at tight end in certain packages. McCarthy, who was listed at 243 pounds last season, is currently checking in at 260 pounds.

Williams said that he is expecting all of the players to take part in fall camp. The players will report on Aug. 19 and the first day of camp is Aug. 20.

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.

Yale punter Tom Mante, defensive back Adam Money, linebacker Paul Rice and tight end John Sheffield were named to the All-Ivy League first team on Tuesday.

Mante, one of eight unanimous first team selections, led the league with a 41.2 punting average and had 10 punts of at least 50 yards.

Money, the first Yale junior named to the first team since running back Mike McLeod and linebacker Bobby Abare in 2007, had 43 tackles, three interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Rice led the 4-6 Bulldogs with 74 tackles and 9 1/2 tackles for losses while Sheffield had a team-leading 61 catches as a senior and his 126 career receptions is third all-time for the Bulldogs.

Defensive tackle Tom McCarthy was named to the second team as was Mante as a kicker while defensive lineman Joe Young and linebackers Travis Henry and Sean Williams were honorable mention selections.

Brown receiver Buddy Farnham and Penn linebacker Jake Lewko shared the Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League player of the year while Harvard running back Treavor Scales was named the rookie of the year.

OK, that's the news of the day. Now for my two cents. The obvious Yale omissions were linebacker Tim Handlon (68 tackles, two interceptions and three forced fumbles), center Jake Koury and defensive lineman Pat Moran. I was also surprised to see Mante on the second team as a kicker. He did become the first Ivy Leaguer with 50-yard field goals in consecutive games but also lost his kicking duties to Alex Barnes and finished 4 for 12 on field goals.

Also, if I were to cast a vote for rookie of the year, it would go to Brown cornerback AJ Cruz.

It wasn't the prettiest of wins, that's for sure but a Yale squad without its starting tailback Jordan Farrell (out with the flu) and starting center Jake Koury (bruised calf) and then dealt with safety Larry Abare and receiver Jordan Forney being knocked out of the game, wrapped up the non-conference portion of its schedule with a gutsy win.

The only touchdown came on a 40-yard run by linebacker Paul Rice on a fake punt. Yale had been whistled for delay of game making the call all the more surprising.

The most noteworthy aspect of the game in my opinion was the play of the defensive line. Tom McCarthy had two sacks and blocked a field goal. Pat Moran was also in the backfield on a regular basis while Sean Williams had another strong game, capped by him snaring the ball on a bad pitch by De'Vaughn Gordon on an attempted hook and lateral play. He also forced a fumble. With Lehigh having used all of its timeouts, all that remained was for quarterback Brook Hart to take a knee on three straight plays. On a day where offensive success was the exception and not the rule, even that proved to be a challenge. Lehigh claimed they recovered the ball on third down. The officials disagreed to allow Yale to run out the final few seconds.

Junior cornerback Adam Money caused a fumble and had an interception.

Until some strong runs by senior Rodney Reynolds in the second half, it seemed as if Rice would end up as Yale's leading rusher. Reynolds, the starter coming out of the spring, had seen limited time. With Mordecai Cargill managing 16 carries on 15 yards and Alex Thomas added 13 on seven rushes, Yale turned to Reynolds in an attempt to run out the clock. Reynolds carried the ball 11 times for 45 yards to not only help secure a win but likely play himself back into the picture at tailback.

Hart struggled, throwing three interceptions including two on consecutive second-half drives. His final interception came when he did something quarterbacks at every level are instructed not to do - throw the ball late down the middle. He was just 12 of 31 for 86 yards. John Sheffield caught seven passes for 55 yards and he is now tied with Ashley Wright for third on Yale's career reception list.

The offensive line shuffle continued. With Koury again not able to do, Gabe Fernandez started again at center, the guards were freshman Jeff Marrs and sophomore Mike McInerney while Cory Palmer and Nathan Burow.

Yale is now 3-2, 1-1 in the Ivy League heading into Saturday's game at Penn. The Quakers won 27-13 at Columbia.

A couple of reminders, tomorrow's JV game has been cancelled and my weekly live chat will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. Log in to www.nhregister.com/chat to ask questions or just check it out.

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.

With a Yale/Quinnipiac men's soccer game to run out to Saturday evening, I wasn't able to put together a recap of the Yale/Union scrimmage.

So file this under the "better late than never" department.

Patrick Witt started at quarterback and played five of the seven first-half drives. Witt seems comfortable in Yale's West Coast offense. His two touchdowns (a 54-yarder to Alex Thomas and 16-yarder to Peter Balsam) probably traveled about five yards combined. Thomas ran the wrong route but made up for his miscue by slicing through the Union defense for a TD while Balsam made an impressive grab on Witt's swing pass just after crossing the line of scrimmage and took care of the rest. The passing game didn't take a ton of chances down the field but it's hard to argue with a 20 of 30 for 320 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions in Yale's 36-14 win.

My unofficial stats had Witt 8 of 9 for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns. Brook Hart was 4 of 9 for 59 yards. It was a two-quarterback show until the fourth quarter when Rich Scudellari (4 of 8, 48 yards) and Bryan Farris (4 of 4 for 47 yards) got some work.

Jordan Farrell started at tailback and turned a busted play into a 36-yard touchdown run on his first carry and had a 25-yard run on his second rush. He finished with 71 yards on five carries. Freshman Mordecai Cargill was up next and ran nine times for 33 yards and also had a 24-yard reception. Thomas also saw plenty of action, scoring on a 2-yard run as well as the aforementioned screen pass. Rodney Reynolds and Brandon Scott (the top two tailbacks coming out of spring ball) and Ricky Galvez saw some time in the second half. Balsam, Thomas, Chris Smith and tight ends Chris Blohm (2 catches for 45 yards) and Jordan Jefferson (3 catches, 54 yards) had multiple receptions.

I have seen different variations of the offensive line with center Jake Koury and tackle Cory Palmer the only constants. But the starting unit was the same one which I saw working together in Thursday's practice with Jon Charest playing the other tackle and Nate Blair and Jeff Marrs (the only freshman to start on either offense or defense) manning the guard positions. It was a mixed bag as there were very few hits behind the line of scrimmage by Union but there were six penalties for either holding or illegal blocks.

Defensively, I was little surprised to see Joe Young and Pat Moran lining up side by side on the line along with Sean Williams and Tom McCarthy. Although I had Young and Moran for three tackles combined, they helped bottle up Union's running game. Bedford Booth got the start at free safety and looked pretty comfortable while Tim Handlon and Jordan Haynes saw plenty of time at linebacker, playing alongside Paul Rice and Travis Henry.

Larry Abare and Drew Baldwin, half of Yale's starting secondary, had interceptions as did John Pagliaro while linebacker Dan Walsh continues to make plays.

On special teams, Tom Mante did miss an extra point and field goal but did have a 57-yard punt. Gio Christodoulou was his normal electrifying self on returns while freshman John Powers, who starred at Hopkins, was a special-teams terror.

It was a pretty good day for the freshmen. Not only did Marrs start and Cargill have his moments, Jefferson looks like he will be forcing his way into the rotation even with John Sheffield, Haase and Chris Blohm all returning at tight end for the Bulldogs. My stats had Powers and fellow freshman safety Ryan Falbo tying for the team lead with three tackles with Walsh and Haynes. Freshman receiver Chris Smith made a highlight-variety catch in the end zone for an 18-yard scoring grab. Fullback Jordan Capellino had a 23-yard catch. Of the 15 players with receptions, seven were freshmen.

The only injury I noticed was to fullback Josh Kozel, who twisted an ankle.

Hopefully, the depth chart will be available to me in the next couple of days.

Unfortunately, I was unable to make it out to Yale's first practice yesterday so I caught the last hour of today's practice.

Here are my impressions, the freshmen running backs look pretty good in the 7-on-7 drills as Taylor Stib, Javi Sosa and Mordecai Cargill impressed me. Stib's patience following his blockers and darting through tacklers on one run caught my eye since freshmen running backs usually tend to be in a hurry. Stib also bested his teammates in a wind sprint at the end of practice. It's hard to read too much into what I saw today because it was a no-pad, minimal contact setting in the 7-on-7 (likely a few of the runs would have been stopped for short gains in a full-contact setting) but talent is still talent and judging by what I saw today, this is a pretty talented freshman class who will be given every opportunity to earn playing time.

The 7-on-7 started with the quarterbacks misfiring on the first five passes but when sophomore Chris Morris made a nice sliding catch on a pass from Nebraska transfer Patrick Witt, it started a run of eight straight completions. The most impressive hook ups were senior Reid Lathan making a diving catch on a deep post route to haul in a 40-yard pass from Brook Hart. Freshman Dez Duron displayed his arm strength with a deep out to Shane Bannon, one of the toughest throws to make. Duron was victimized by classmate Brian Leffler, whose interception was the only turnover in the 7-on-7 drills.

It's too early to read too much about who is lining up with the first team but it did catch my eye that former Hopkins star John Powers was out there at safety with Larry Abare, Paul Rice, Tom McCarthy, Adam Money and Drew Baldwin during part of the 7-on-7 drills so he must be doing something right. Collin Bibb, Powers and Ryan Falbo are the first-year players who had pass breakups down the field according to my very unofficial stats. Freshman Allen Davis broke up one pass at the line of scrimmage when the offense was starting to get rolling in the drills.

It was weird seeing a running back (Cargill) wearing Mike McLeod's old No. 28 and a linebacker (Leffler) with the No. 44 worn by Bobby Abare for the last four years.

The team won't start practicing in pads until Tuesday and that point until the the intrasquad scrimmage on Aug. 29 (from 12:30-2:30 p.m.) will be a pivotal time for the coaching staff to come up with the nucleus of the 2009 team.

"It's typical, the defense is a little ahead of the offense because the defense is reactive and the offense is trying to figure out the execution," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "I am not surprised at all with where we are.
"Yesterday we executed better offensively but we didn't have as much in so it was very singular and they could focus. Today, we added a lot more. You could tell a lot of guys are still thinking, we are still playing fast. But on day two, I don't mind that at all. If that is going on the week we play Georgetown, we have problems so I'd say we are on schedule."

Defensive tackle Matt Kelleher sat out with a sore knee and a hamstring limited fellow defensive lineman Patrick Moran but other than that, Yale looks to be in pretty good shape health wise.