FOOTBALL: Bulldogs to play Big Green on the road Saturday

Team 152 (2–1, 1–0 Ivy) will make a trip north Saturday to match up against their second Ivy League opponent of the year, the Dartmouth Big Green (2–1, 0–1 Ivy). 

Yale comes into the game with hopes of bouncing back from their first loss of the season against No. 7 ranked Lehigh on Saturday. Meanwhile, Dartmouth enters the contest after dropping their game against Penn (2–1, 1–0 Ivy) over the weekend, 36–24.

Lock down the secondary

Dartmouth quarterback Grayson Saunier has shown a propensity to utilize his arm talent early and often in the Big Green’s first three games of this year. Saunier currently leads the Ivy League in pass completions this season with 68, averaging just over 260 yards per game while completing his passes at a 65.4 percent rate. However, he has also been prone to turning the ball over, with four interceptions already this season.

“You have got to defend the entire field with these guys,” Yale defensive coordinator Sean McGowan said in a Yale Athletics press release. “They have an experienced quarterback. And then they have three receivers on the outside that really test you with great speed. So it’s gonna be a great challenge.”

For the Bulldog defense, McGowan’s message should be music to their ears: they have earned their keep all season defending against the pass. Yale has held their opponents to 211 yards per game in the air and has picked off the opposing quarterback four times. Led by defensive backs Osize Daniyan ’27, Abu Kamara ’27 and Joshua Tarver ’25.5, the Bulldogs will need to have air-tight pass coverage against the prolific Saunier to prevent the Big Green offense from marching down the field.

Swiss army knife

Whether it be in stopping the run, dropping back into coverage or rushing the passer, linebacker Inumidun Ayo-Durojaiye ’25.5 has been all over the field on defense this season. After having 6.5 tackles in the first game against Holy Cross, he then broke out for nine solo and 13 total tackles against Cornell. Against Lehigh, he one-upped his previous stat line as he notched 10 solo tackles, becoming only the second Bulldog to do so in the past five seasons besides Kamara. 

With the Big Green’s impressive air attack, along with their run game averaging nearly 130 yards per game, Ayo-Durajaiye should be right in the middle of the action, and his ability to wreak havoc will be much needed in this matchup. 

Protect the ball

So far this season, there has been no shortage of opportunities for the Yale offense to put points up on the scoreboard, in large part due to the number of turnovers the defense has been able to create. However, holding onto the ball and not giving it right back to the defense has been a struggle for the Bulldogs. 

Last weekend, Yale turned the ball over three times, including two passes inside the red zone that could have potentially been converted into six-point scores for the Bulldogs. Yale put together a number of strong drives, but instead of finishing with the ball in the endzone, the Bulldogs got sloppy and didn’t convert on their drives. 

Yale has also fumbled the ball four times on the year, which slows the offense down as well. Turnovers don’t just lead to missed opportunities for the Elis, they also give the opponents more chances to put points up on the board. Holding on to the ball will be paramount in determining not only the outcome of the game this weekend, but the team’s success for the duration of the season.  

In the matchup last season between Yale and Dartmouth, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead. Quarterback Grant Jordan ’25 had a school-record 412 passing yards and five touchdowns but it wasn’t enough as Dartmouth fought back and came out on top in overtime 44-43. 

This season, winning a conference championship means a trip to the postseason for the first time, and that is just an extra layer of motivation for both teams. This in-conference battle should have both teams fighting tooth and nail to come out on top.

Yale kicks off against Dartmouth this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Hanover, New Hampshire.