Bulldogs Seeing Ivy

Tony Reno’s Yale Bulldogs 8-1 (5-1 Ivy) are in control of their own destiny as they head into THE GAME Saturday with the Harvard Crimson 5-4 (3-3).

Yale, with a dramatic 35-31 win last week over the Princeton Tigers, has clinched at least a share of the Ivy League title and can claim sole possession of the 2017 title with a win over Harvard on Saturday at the Yale Bowl, the Bulldogs first since 2006.

If the Bulldogs lose to the Crimson, Columbia and Dartmouth can also lay claim to a share of the title.

Yale sophomore quarterback Kurt Rawlings sparked the Bulldogs win over Princeton as he led Yale back from a 24-7 second quarter deficit. Rawlings was 26-for-34 for 304 yards and two touchdowns. The Bulldogs freshman phenom running back Zane Dudek rushed 35 times for 180 yards and three touchdowns in the Princeton win. Dudek finished with 212 all-purpose yards.

Harvard lost a shot at a share of the Ivy League title last Saturday in a less-than-inspiring 23-6 loss to the Penn Quakers 5-4 (3-3) at Harvard Stadium.

The Harvard offense was contained all day by a veteran Penn defensive unit that limited the Crimson to a pair of field goals (24,32-yards) by Jake McIntyre.

The Crimson defense will face a mountain of a challenge in defending Rawlings, who is having an MVP-type season and Dudek, who is the front-runner for National Rookie of the Year honors.

Harvard has failed to play consistent football but they have been a very dangerous team coming off a loss in the previous week.

Yale leads the series 66-59-6. The Bulldogs edged the Crimson 21-14 at Harvard Stadium last year.

The Game at the Yale Bowl (12:30 p.m. kickoff) will air live on CNBC Sports and broadcast on the Yale Football Radio Network (ESPN Radio AM-1300 in New Haven). Paul Burmeister and Ross Tucker have the call on CNBC while Ron Vaccaro and Jake Siedlecki have the call on radio.

PREDICTION:

It’s the year of the Bulldogs!

FINAL: Yale 24 Harvard 17

BULLDOG BITES and MORE

Dartmouth and Columbia need a Yale loss to remain in the Ivy title chase.

Dartmouth 7-2 (4-2) will look to keep their title hopes alive when they host Princeton 5-4 (2-4), while Columbia 7-2 (4-2) plays host to Brown 2-7 (0-6).

A Yale win will be their first title since 2006, and their first outright title since 1980. Columbia has only one Ivy League title, in 1961, and Dartmouth is looking for its League-leading 19th title and first since 2015.

Yale quarterback Rawlings performance against Princeton earned his second Ivy Offensive Player of the Week award of the season (Sept. 18) and fourth career Ivy League weekly honor.

Yale’s Dudek earned his fifth Ivy Rookie of the Week honor of the season, just the third Ivy to accomplish the feat, joining Harvard’s Eion Hu (six, 1994) and Princeton’s Chuck Dibilio (six, 2011).

With its recent win over Columbia, Yale claimed its 900th all-time victory. The Bulldogs are the third team in Division I history to accomplish the feat, joining Michigan and Notre Dame.

Penn’s superb senior wide receiver Justin Watson continues to climb the Ivy League record books. Watson is in second-place all-time with 3,585 receiving yards. He also ranks third in receptions (273) and fourth in receiving touchdowns (32).

Follow Bob for all the Yale football game highlights, features and more: @WhitneyBob

(Compiled from various Ivy League media outlets)