Yale Opens its Ivy League Schedule with Cornell

Coach Tony Reno and his Yale Bulldogs will kick off their Ivy League football season when they host Cornell, Saturday afternoon, at the Yale Bowl.

The kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The game marks the 78th meeting between the Eli and Big Red, with the hosts holding a 46-29-2 advantage in the series.

Yale has won the last two meetings between the schools.

Last year the Eli trounced the Big Red, 51-13 in Ithaca,

as quarterback Morgan Roberts tossed five touchdown passes in a record-setting offensive performance.

The Ivy League opener is a swing-game for each team, but for different reasons.

Yale (1-0, 0-0) is coming off the momentum of a stirring 29-28 second half comeback win last week over Colgate in Hamilton, New York.

The Bulldogs, who are No. 3 in the preseason Ivy League Media Poll (behind Harvard and Dartmouth) and a decided favorite to beat Cornell, have their eye on dethroning Harvard as Ivy League champs.

A win over Cornell is an important first step in a season-long effort to reach that goal.

For the Big Red (0-1, 0-0), who was picked to finish last in the preseason poll, they are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 19-14 loss last week to Bucknell at the Crescent in Ithaca, New York.

Cornell, under Coach Dave Archer, is not a legitimate threat to contend for the Ivy League crown but an upset win over Yale would be a huge boost to a program that is in transition.

The Big Red has an offensive threat of their own, in senior running back Luke Hagy.

The senior running back from Pittsburgh, PA will pose a huge test for the Bulldog defense.

In the opener against Bucknell, Hagy rushed for 105 yards on 18 carries while scoring a touchdown in the 19-14 loss.

Cornell put in a solid defensive effort against Bucknell, limiting the Bisons to just 19 points.

They were led by defensive lineman Seth Hope who was credited with 6 tackles (4 solo).

The Cornell defense will need more than Hope to come up big this week as they face Yale’s All Ivy quarterback Morgan Roberts.

Roberts warmed up for his final season in New Haven by

passing for 293 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Colgate.

The kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be available on the Ivy League Digital Network.

PREDICTION:

Last year Roberts shredded the Big Red defense for 5 touchdowns in a 51-13 win. Ditto this year!

Yale 42   Cornell 7

BULLDOG BITES

Saturday’s game with Cornell is one of only four home games in the Yale Bowl this year which is an all-time low for the Eli.

Sophomore wide receiver Michael Siragusa had a career-best day at Colgate last week with a team-high seven catches for 82 yards.

Long-time Yale trainer Billy Kaminsky passed away last week after serving more than 40 years.

Junior linebacker Victor Egu played his first game at that position last week and had a career and game-high 13 tackles.

Cornell senior running back Luke Hagy has racked up some impressive stats rushing for 100 or more yards in four consecutive games, dating back to last season. He became the first Cornellian to hit the century mark four straight times since Chad Levitt did so six consecutive times during the 1996 campaign. Hagy enters the Yale game 10th on the school’s all-time rushing list with 1,727 yards, passing Scott Oliaro.

All American, Ed Marinaro, is the Big Red’s all-time rushing leader, having racked up 4,715 yards in three seasons back in the early ‘70s.

In a rare Thursday night game, the Penn Quakers made a bit of history by defeating the Villanova Wildcats 24-13.

It was the Quaker’s first win over the Wildcats since 1911!

Around the Ivy League – Saturday’s (9/26) game schedule:

Georgetown at Columbia, 1 pm [ILDN]

Lehigh at Princeton, 5 pm [ILDN]

Brown at Harvard, 7 pm [FCS]

Sacred Heart at Dartmouth, 7 pm [ILDN

ILDN-Ivy League Digital Network

FCS-Fox College Sports

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