By Steven A. Conn
Associate Athletics Director and Director of
Sports Publicity
Yale University
 |
| The Yale Bulldogs overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat Princeton and earn at least a share of the Ivy League title. A win over arch-rival Harvard next week will give the Elis the undisputed crown. (Photo courtesy Yale University Athletic Department.) |
The Yale Bulldogs earned at least a share of the 2017 Ivy
League title by staging one of the most impressive comeback victories in school
history by erasing a 17-point, first-half deficit with three second half
touchdowns to defeat the Princeton Tigers, 35-31 at Princeton Stadium on
Saturday afternoon.
Saturday’s win included four lead changes and came down to a
final Yale defensive stand. The Tigers, down by four with just over a minute to
play, had a 4th and 8 on the Eli 43. The Bulldogs were in their dime
package and sent Matthew Oplinger (10 tackles) after Princeton’s prolific
quarterback, Chad Kanoff. The senior linebacker who closed out the win at
Harvard last November on a similar blitz, wrapped up the Tiger as he got rid of
the ball. The pass ended up in the hands of senior Foyesade Oluokun, who ran
around for 20 yards before realizing he and the Bulldogs had clinched the win.
“We put in so much work this whole season, and it finally
comes down to a couple of drives and the last play,” said Oluokun. “That’s
everything you ask for right there. Everybody’s electric, everybody’s excited.
We still have one more game so hopefully we can cap it off with a win.”
Seniors made huge plays on defense, youngsters initiated
some big moments on offense for the visitors.
Zane Dudek, who proved not only to be the league’s top
rookie by running for 180 yards and three touchdowns, might be the Ivy League’s
offensive MVP after this 35-carry afternoon that will go down as one of the
program’s greatest offensive performances.
He found the end zone from 47, 1 and 4 yards out, the latter
turning into the game-winning points with 12:14
left in the fourth quarter. The longer one was a multiple-tackle breaking jaunt
that had him tip-toeing down the left sideline for Yale’s first TD.
“We just wanted to win plays, our goal is to win plays, and
take each play one at a time,” said Dudek, who also had six catches and 212
all-purpose yards. “We shut the scoreboard off, didn’t look at it, we just
wanted to win each play one by one. That’s what good teams have to do, you have
to just focus on winning plays and that’s what we did.”
Princeton, which fired up its league-best offense, jumped
out to leads of 14-0, 17-7 and 24-7 before taking a 24-14 advantage into
halftime. The Elis had not seen deficits that large in 2017.
Yale sophomore QB Kurt Rawlings continued to rack up
milestone outings with a 26-for-34, 304-yard afternoon that included TD tosses
of 58 and 33 yards. Senior tight end Jaden Graham had the first one, while
classmate Ross Drwal hauled in the other.
“I am so proud of this team,” said Yale head coach Tony Reno. “I think it speaks volumes to the culture this team has
created, their ability to focus on winning plays. We talk about how your
response to any event is twice as important as the actual event itself, and
that’s going to affect the outcome. When we went in at halftime, I said to
them, ‘I don’t think we’re playing to our standards. I don’t care what the
scoreboard says, that’s not us out there.”
Now 8-1 overall and 5-1 in Ivy League play, Yale hosts
Harvard next Saturday at 12:30 with an opportunity to claim its first outright
championship in 37 years.
Responding To Scores
The teams combined for 31 second-quarter points, while
Yale’s first two scores came within a minute of Princeton scores.
Huge Turnover
Senior DE Earl Chism forced a third-quarter fumble that
sophomore DL Spencer Matthaei recovered. That effort set up the Rawlings-to-Drwal TD pass to bring the Blue to within 24-21.
Big Day
Senior WR Christopher Williams-Lopez had 11 grabs for 73
yards.
1981
The Yale-Princeton game 36 years ago was similar to this
contest. It pitted the Elis’ star RB Rich Diana (No. 33 like Dudek) against an
outstanding Princeton QB in Bob Holly in a contest that ended in the same score
with a different winner.
Bulldog Bites
- Yale’s last Ivy title was shared in 2006 with Princeton…
- Both squads had more than 500 yards of offense…
- Rookie Melvin Rouse, the WR-RB combination, had two carries for 26 yards and returned three kickoffs...
- Dartmouth beat Brown on Friday and Columbia knocked off Cornell today, so both the Green and the Lions are 4-2 in Ivy play.
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