Yale Scores 23 Unanswered Points To Hand The Lions Second Loss Of The Season

Upper West Side NY

02 November, 2021

12:01 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY BERNARD WANG AND MATTHEW KIM OCTOBER 30, 2021 Holding a 23-14 lead over Yale with just over 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Columbia liked its chances of keeping its name in the race for the Ivy League title. The Bulldogs—tied with Columbia, Dartmouth, and Harvard for second place in the Ancient Eight heading into Saturday—had other plans. Reaching the end zone on three straight possessions, Yale scored 23 unanswered points before the Lions responded with a touchdown of their own, but it was too little too late. The Lions (5-2, 2-2 Ivy) fell 37-30 at the hands of the Elis (4-3, 3-1 Ivy) in a rainy and windy battle, pushing the Light Blue down to a tie for fourth in the Ancient Eight. "We made major mistakes in all three facets," head coach Al Bagnoli commented on the performance of the Lions' offense, defense, and special teams. "It's hard to go on the road and play a really good team and expect to come out on the other side." After earning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week last week by throwing for 283 yards and rushing for 113 yards in his first career start against Penn, Yale quarterback Nolan Grooms picked up where he left off. The sophomore torched the Lions, throwing for 279 yards and two touchdowns while adding 69 yards gained on the ground. Grooms put his skillset on full display on the Elis' second drive, keeping the ball twice before throwing a deep 34-yard pass to wide receiver Melvin Rouse II on the right side. Another pass to Rouse set the Bulldogs up on the one-yard line, and running back Spencer Alston leapt over the pile into the end zone to put the Bulldogs up 6-0. It did not take long for the Lions to respond. On the Lions' second play after the Eli touchdown, senior running back Ryan Young took a handoff up the middle from the Columbia 40, cutting right to burst through the defense. From there, he won a footrace to the end zone, giving the Light Blue a 7-6 lead with his 60-yard touchdown run. The score marked the beginning of a monster day for Young, who accumulated 132 yards from scrimmage, the most on the team, and three touchdowns. Following its fast start, Yale's offense struggled to find a rhythm in the face of unrelenting defensive pressure. On Yale's ensuing drive, junior linebacker Scott Valentas wrapped Grooms up for a 10-yard sack, forcing a third-and-16 that the Bulldogs did not convert. After trading punts, Grooms was taken down again in the second quarter by junior defensive lineman Mitch Moyer for a 10-yard loss. Things continued to go wrong for Yale. On fourth down, the Bulldogs lined up to punt, but the snap sailed over punter Jack Bosman's head, resulting in a turnover on downs at the Yale 16. The Lions went to Young for six consecutive plays, ultimately scoring from the one-yard line to put the Lions up 14-6. It seemed like the Lions had the Bulldogs' offense figured out. After junior kicker Alex Felkins sank a 30-yarder to extend the Lions' lead to 17-6, Valentas sacked Grooms on second down again, a loss big enough to eventually force the Yale punting unit to come out on the field for the fourth time in a row. On Yale's next possession, sophomore linebacker CJ Brown forced Yale running back Elliott McElwain to fumble, which sophomore defensive lineman Ben Corniello recovered for the Lions' first fumble recovery of the year. However, Columbia's offense went three-and-out, punting the ball down to the Yale 14. Rouse II fielded the punt and, in a turn of luck for the Elis, returned it 86 yards to the house to make the score 17-14 with 1:53 left in the half. The Lions' two-minute drill brought them all the way to the Yale 4 on first-and-goal, but a negative rush and two incomplete passes gave Columbia no choice but to settle for three, creating a six-point margin going into the half. The Lions came out strong in the second half, turning a punt return fumble recovered by first-year defensive back Aaron Brebnor into a Felkins 40-yard field goal. Both teams then traded punts, but the floodgates soon opened for Grooms and the Bulldogs. The dual-threat quarterback took to the air, hitting sophomore Mason Tipton deep for 32 and 36 yard gains. Three plays later, Grooms connected with Alston in the end zone from the nine. Grooms then flipped a pass to wide receiver Darrion Carrington for the two-point conversion, closing the gap to 23-22. Columbia's next drive started on the 48-yard line after senior running back Dante Miller returned a short kick 20 yards. The Light Blue could not take advantage of the favorable field position, though, driving down to the Yale 22 before Felkins missed a 40-yard attempt. Once again, Grooms hit Tipton in full stride with a 43-yard bomb. On fourth-and-two, the Elis converted with a three-yard rush by Alston, which Grooms followed up with a 14-yard run. The quarterback then hit Carrington again, this time for six, and Tipton caught the ensuing two-point attempt. The Lions did not have an answer as sophomore quarterback Joe Green bobbled the snap on third down, forcing the Lions to go three-and-out. Looking to run out the clock, Grooms and Alston took turns pounding the rock, before Alston broke numerous tackles to break away for a 54-yard touchdown, his third score of the day. A successful extra point completed the Bulldogs' 23-point run, giving them a comfortable 37-23 lead with 11:05 left in the game. Though the defense kept Grooms mostly in check in the first half, the elusive quarterback proved to be a headache in the second half, constantly scrambling out of a collapsing pocket and turning negative plays into chunk gains. Valentas, who sacked Grooms twice in the first half, noted the strain that Grooms' speed put on the defense. "It's definitely a momentum killer, especially on those third downs when it's third and long and he's able to pick up those 12 yards," Valentas said. "It's something you gotta just pick your head up from and keep going, but it is a momentum killer for the team." Just as Grooms quickly covered serious ground with his two deep balls to Tipton in the third quarter, Green led a charge of his own, throwing 31 yards to wide receiver Bryson Canty for the first-year's first catch of the season and then to Young for 28 more. With the ball on the six, the Lions went to Young four times before the Illinois native dove over a pile of bodies for his third touchdown, making it a one-possession game. Columbia's defense did its job on the next drive, forcing the Elis into a punt. With only four minutes and one timeout left, the Lions' next drive would make or break their chances at taking home their fourth consecutive victory. The drive had a promising start. Green found junior wide receiver Jack Ertz twice to earn two first downs. However, the Lions' chances seemed to be growing slim. On second-and-10 on the Columbia 41, a false start by Columbia pushed the ball back five yards, which was followed by an incompletion to senior wide receiver Ernest Robertson. When it seemed like it was all but over on third-and-15, Green scrambled for five yards, and a holding penalty for 10 yards called against the Bulldogs gave the Lions just enough for a fresh set of downs. Four plays later, Green connected with sophomore wide receiver Marcus Libman on fourth down to gain another first, keeping the Light Blue's hopes alive. Green was then brought down for a five-yard loss to put the Lions in another third-and-15 situation. This time there was no holding penalty to bail them out, and Green was sacked again. On fourth-and-22, Green aired one out but was nearly picked off, giving Yale the ball and the win. "[It was] obviously a tough drive, but I think we just can't get behind the sticks," Green said. "When you're third and fourth and 20, it's a tough spot. A lot of it's on me, taking that sack. I gotta get the ball out of my hands." Despite leaping ahead to a 23-14 lead, the Lions knew they were leaving points on the board. "We attempted four field goals," Bagnoli said. "If just two of those are touchdowns, it's a whole different game." When forced to stay on the field for prolonged periods of time, the Lions offense struggled, finishing with an abysmal 4-for-19 on third-down conversions. Young's 92 net rushing yards fueled the Light Blue's attack, but Bagnoli wanted more out of the passing game, especially after Green threw 44 times and finished with only 223 yards. Libman led the team with 64 yards on four receptions. "We have to get much more consistent throwing the ball," Bagnoli said. "That's been an area that we have to really focus in [on], because we've kind of stayed neutral in that area. I've expected to see more growth. I've expected to see more dynamic plays. It just hasn't occurred right now." The Lions defense also struggled in the second half, failing to maintain its high level of play from the first half. "I think we got to a point where our lack of discipline hurt us enough to where we weren't able to come back from it," Valentas said. Saturday's matchup also came right off of Columbia's 19-0 victory over Dartmouth, Yale's co-champion in 2019. Bagnoli expressed frustration over the Ivy League's scheduling of games. Despite the fact that last season was canceled, the Ivy League decided not to follow the 2020 schedule, giving some teams six home games from 2019 to 2021 while others will have played eight. Columbia was one of the teams that got the short end of the stick. "It puts way too much stress on you, and your margin of error is not that great," Bagnoli said of the schedule. "It is what it is. You gotta play it out, but it's not fair." While the Lions' chances at winning the Ivy League title are low, as Princeton has still not lost in conference play, a second-place finish is still achievable. Harvard and Dartmouth, the other two teams who entered the weekend tied with Columbia, faced off today, with Dartmouth coming out on top 20-17. The Lions will host Harvard next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the most significant game remaining. There is still a lot to play for, according to Bagnoli. "We gotta bounce back," Bagnoli said. "We're not giving up on the season. We still have three games left to play. We're going to have to play them to the best of our ability and try to improve." Deputy Sports Editor Matt Kim can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @matt_kim9. Staff writer Bernard Wang can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow Spectator Sports on Twitter @CUSpecSports. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.