Injured offensive starters Roy Collins (tackle), Chris Smith (receiver) and Alex Thomas (running back) did not take part in Tuesday's practice but none of them have been ruled out for Saturday's game at Columbia.

Yale coach Tom Williams said that Collins, who injured his ankle, and Smith, who reaggravated a hamstring issue he had earlier this season, are considered to be day to day. Both Collins and Smith were at practice in uniform but did not take part in drills. I did not see Thomas there and his situation is a little more up in the air.

Williams said that tests on Thomas' injured knee were "inconclusive" and he was undergoing further tests today.
Williams is hoping that Smith can return to practice as early as tomorrow.

"I think he wil get some more opportunity tomorrow to practice," Williams said. "We gave him Tuesday to get an extra day of healing. AT (Thomas) is going to see a doctor today. We didn't get the clear information yesterday. (Tackle Wes) Gavin (who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury) probably be out for another couple of weeks."

What this means is that Yale could play at Columbia on Saturday without both of its starting offensive tackles, leading rusher and leading receiver.

"This is the time of the year when teams get beat up," Williams said. "We are coming off a difficult couple of weeks. It does erode your depth but fortunately we have guys who are ready and willing to step up. We have good running backs so Mo (Cargill) will have a chance to step up, Wynston Bouknight - a young guy, Deon Randall will get a chance to play some running back as well. The depth issues are very challenging but I think if we prepare like we are capable of preparing, those guys should be ready to play."

In my opinion, the most intriguing story to emerge out of Yale's loss to Penn on Saturday was the performance of sophomore offensive lineman James Talerico.

Talerico started at guard against Cornell before suffering an Achilles injury that was feared to be of the season-ending variety. He returned to practice last week and took part in two practices including one at tackle. When Collins went down, freshman William Chism got the call but after getting beaten for a sack bringing the end to an offensive series. Talerico was in there on the next series and played the rest of the game at right tackle. Talerico was with right tackle with the first unit at practice and if Collins can't play, Talerico should get his first career start at tackle.


I spoke with Talerico following practice and he will be the focus of the story in tomorrow's paper.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yale junior receiver/kickoff returner Chris Smith was clamoring to practice on Tuesday, a sign that the hamstring he hurt in Saturday's win over Cornell isn't that serious. However, the Bulldogs may have lost sophomore James Talerico for the season with an injured Achilles tendon.

Both Smith and Talerico were hurt in the second quarter of Yale's 37-17 win. Smith actually returned the second half kickoff before being forced out of the game.

"He didn't go today, it was more our call than his," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "He wanted to practice and we said 'no.' We'll give him another day of rehab and see what he feels like (today) and maybe get him a few reps. He is one of the few guys I have been around that doesn't need a million reps to play a game. We are going to err on the side of caution to make sure he is ready for next week. hamstring, high up."

Talerico was a surprise starter at guard and Williams liked what he saw from the 275-pound Talerico before he suffered what could be a season-ending injury.

"It is probably going to (sideline) him for a while," Williams said. "He was playing well. I feel bad for the kid because he played a good quarter and was off to a good start in the second quarter."

Colin Kruger, who started all 10 games last year and in the season-opening win over Georgetown, is back with the first unit. Williams did hint that freshmen William Chism and Ben Carbery could see some time when Yale plays its road opener against No. 13 Lehigh.

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.

There's plenty of stuff to report off Monday's practice (the last afternoon practice for quite some time).

First, I went over to get a sense of how the hurricane/tropical storm impacted Yale's practice schedule. Here is the story I filed for the paper.

In the time I was at practice, I noticed that John Whitelaw saw most of snaps at quarterback and starter Patrick Witt wasn't in there at all. Turns out the Witt strained a groin and with the field a little slick thanks to the large rainfall in the area over the week, the Yale coaching staff decided to play it safe.

"It wasn't anything bad but the grass was slick," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "He planted and his foot slid. It was mostly as a precaution. Johnny (was able to get) as many reps as he could stand. Pat got some reps but we didn't give him a lot. We didn't give him any pass reps. We gave him some handoffs so we didn't have to stretch his groin. We've give him tomorrow off and we are hoping Wednesday morning and be back to as close as 100 percent as he can be."

Whitelaw looked extremely sharp running the first-team offense. He is ahead of Witt in two noticeable areas - the screen game and the ability to make plays with his feet.

"It is not only beneficial to John to prove that he can do it but it is beneficial for the rest of the offense, the rest of the team to see John to be out there and be able to operation because now we know we are definitely two-deep at quarterback with John Whitelaw," Williams said. "The more reps he gets, the more comfortable he is going to get. We went through our two deep after the scrimmage on Saturday as a staff and we feel like we are two deep at every position and 2 1/2 deep at some and that has never been there before. It is exciting for us. He has a great feel for the screen and the other thing that he gives you that Pat can do but hasn't shown it is that John can scramble and get you 10-12 yards. About four or five times a game he can get you a first down which puts pressure on the defense. He is very similar to (former Cheshire and current Penn quarterback) Billy Ragone in that regard that if it breaks down, he can run and if you turn your back on him, he can go a long ways."

Williams referred to the scrimmage. Yale had originally planned to have an intrasquad scrimmage on Sunday but had a change of plans because of the unstable weather. So the team scrimmaged on Saturday.

Here are his thoughts on which players stood out.

"The guys were expected to be players for us did what they expected us to do. Some guys who showed up where (defensive lineman) Charles Holmes who has been out for a couple of years in injury, I thought he had a really good scrimmage. (Freshman running back) Kahlil Keys was a guy that we wanted to see how he would do against varsity defense. Practice is one thing but games are different. He showed up. (freshman linebacker) Will Vaughan, looks like he is a guy who can help us. (Defensive back) Charles Cook, another freshman who showed up. Offensive line wise, Ben Carbery and William Chism, those guys look like they will be able to help us this year. In the secondary, probably the emerging starter for us at corner is Dawson Halliday. It is a great competition with Collin Bibb. I think Dawson has proven in camp that he has been more consistent and Collin has been nicked up injury wise. That has given him the edge. Nick Okano is being pushed by John Powers. I think that thing is going to go down to the wire. By the time we play Dean (in a scrimmage on Sept. 10), I think we will have a better idea. (Linebacker) Wes Moyer has had a good camp. He is a guy who has been a backup linebacker for us but is pushing to be a starter."

I followed up with Williams on Carbery and Chism to see if they are pushing for starting roles.

"Those freshmen offensive linemen were a pleasant surprise," Williams said. "I just wasn't sure if they were going to be up with the tempo. Athletically they can do it. Without a doubt. They are pushing guys who are up front right now. (They are) potential starters. I would say that they are both where Wes Gavin was a year ago which is 'we think he is good enough but we have to put him out there in the game and see.'"

Carbery is a tackle while Chism is making a push at center and guard.

Yale is taking Tuesday off because it is hectic day for students at Yale getting ready for the start of the fall semester. Yale will shift to morning practices beginning on Wednesday with the Bulldogs going 7:30-9:30 a.m. from now on with the exception of the scrimmage against Dean Junior College on Sept. 10.