 |
| Yale and Princeton bring identical 7-1, 4-1 records into Saturday's game. It will be the 142nd all-time meeting between the Ivy League rivals. |
The Bulldogs have mirrored their 2017 Ivy League Championship season thus far as Yale is 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Ivy play and its lone loss at Dartmouth. Yale aims for its third 8-1 start to a season in the past six year under head coach Tony Reno.
The Series
Saturday’s matchup is the 142nd all-time meeting between the
schools. Yale leads the series 77-54-10, including a 33-21-4 mark on the road.
The series has been tightly contested over the past 12 years with neither team
able to beat the other more than twice in a row. Yale has won three of the past
five matchups, but Princeton edged the Bulldogs in a shootout last season,
59-43.
Receiving Recognition
For the 13th straight week, Yale continues to receive votes
in the STATS FCS Top-25 poll and are back in the AFCA Coaches poll, marking the
11th week the Elis are in both polls. The Bulldogs started with votes in the
preseason poll and now have 90 votes in STATS’s rankings—the 31st-most in the
nation. Princeton checks in at 18 and 19 in the polls, respectively.
Kudos
For the fourth-straight week and sixth time in the past
seven weeks, Yale football has been recognized with an Ivy League Player of the
Week award. This week, the Bulldogs received two honorees. Senior captain and
wide receiver JP Shohfi was selected as the top Offensive
Player while first-year defensive back Brandon Benn was tabbed
Rookie of the Week. Shohfi hauled in 10 receptions, and gained over
160 yards receiving for the third consecutive game, setting a Yale single-game
record four touchdowns in a 59-35 win at Brown. Benn led Yale with 10
tackles with a game-high nine solo tackles and forced one of four fumbles for
Yale. Shohfi, along with junior running back Zane Dudek (216
rushing yards, 79 receiving yards, touchdown) were honorable mention selections
for the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Week.
Bulldog Breakdown
The Yale offense is coming off its most prolific game in
recent memory after a 59-35 win at Brown last Saturday. The Bulldogs scored its
most points in 16 years, a 62-29 victory over Towson in 2003, and totaled 627
yards of total offense, the first time the Bulldogs hit 600 total yards since
2014. Senior quarterback Kurt Rawlings threw a career-high five touchdowns as he now ranks eighth in the nation in passing efficiency (160.6). Rawlings is also fourth in the country in yards per completion (15.37), fifth in yards per attempt (9.47), eighth in points per game (146), ninth in total offense (308.6) and 15th in yards per game (280.5).
Rawlings’ classmate wideout duo of captain JP Shohfi and
Reed Klubnik have excelled as one of the top tandems in the nation.
Shohfi boasts seven touchdowns and 768 receiving yards and a 5.5 catch per game
average which are all nation top-40 marks. Just behind is Klubnik with five
touchdowns, 751 yards and 4.8 catches.
On defense, senior defensive lineman Spencer Matthaei is
tied for the nation lead with three blocked kicks and ranks 37th in
the country with three forced fumbles. The entire Yale defense turned in a
strong performance at Brown with four turnovers, eight sacks and 10.5 tackles
for loss.
Brainiac Squad
Two Yale football seniors were selected to the 2019 College
Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Team.
Senior defensive lineman Josh Keeler and senior center Sterling
Strother were tabbed to the NCAA Division I District 1 team, made up of
players from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode
Island and Vermont.
The Academic All-District team recognizes the nation’s top
student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the
classroom. Academic All-District honorees now advance to the CoSIDA Academic
All-America ballot. First- and second- team (if applicable) Academic
All-America honorees will be announced in early December.
Keeler, an Orlando, Fla., native, boasts a 3.5 GPA in
Political Science. He has started the past 11 games at defensive tackle for
Yale and played in the previous 27. Keeler anchors a defensive line rotation as
the starting nose guard, eating up space to go along with 25 career tackles and
two sacks. He helped the Bulldogs with an Ivy League Championship in 2017.
Strother, a Moraga, Calif., native, boasts a 3.68 GPA in
Psychology. Strother is a Semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy; the
'academic Heisman.’ A two-time All-Ivy League performer; has played left
tackle, left guard and now center, he has started the past 30 games the
Bulldogs. Also part of Yale’s Ivy title team, Strother has been scouted by the
NFL.
Scouting PrincetonThe nationally ranked Princeton Tigers saw its 17-game winning streak come to end last Saturday at Yankee Stadium where they lost to undefeated Dartmouth (27-10). It is the Tigers only loss this season.
The similarities between the Bulldogs and Tigers stretch
beyond their records as senior quarterback Kevin Davidson leads the way for
Princeton with 20 touchdowns to five picks and 2,250 yards. Nearly identical
marks to Rawlings. Junior wideout Jacob Birmelin paces the air attack with 51
catches for 663 yards while senior Andrew Griffin has a team-high six
touchdowns. On the ground, junior Collin Eaddy has gained 553 yards with nine
touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, Princeton boasts one of
the national top linebackers in Jeremiah Tyler. He has racked up 13 tackles for
loss this season with 53 stops, 3.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
Defensive back Sultaan Shabazz has picked off three passes and broken up two
others.
Saturday will be Princeton’s first home game since October,
last playing at Powers Field in a 30-24 win over Harvard on October 26.
—Staff Reports
No comments:
Post a Comment