Image courtesy of Yale Athletics
By Ryan Barry
NEFJ Staff
PROVIDENCE – Early morning rain gave way to a beautiful November afternoon in Providence for Yale to take down Brown 34-22 for a fourth straight win.
The dominant offensive effort for the Bulldogs (6-2, 4-1) was led by senior offensive running back Josh Pitsenberger (27 car, 173-yds, 2 TDs; 3 rec, 25-yds) who had his third consecutive game with at least 100-yards.
Yale offensive coordinator Chris Ostrowsky spoke highly of the veteran back.
“Josh (Pitsenberger) is the complete package,” said Ostrowsky. “He’s the leader of the team, he’s tough, he’s smart, he’s hard working, he’s been a great player and he’s had a great career here.”
Bulldogs sophomore quarterback Dane Reno (20-for-28, 208-yds, 2 TDs) also had a strong game, connecting well with senior wide receiver Nico Brown (6 rec, 103-yds, 2 TDs).
With Yale’s only two losses this season coming on the road, Reno talked about what was different about Saturday’s performance to get the win away from home.
“Over the past four weeks we’ve been clicking as an offense and as a team,” said Reno. “When the defense gets a stop we go out there, play our best, go and score, feed off each other’s energy.”
For the Bears (3-5, 0-5), junior quarterback James Murphy (26-for-42, 366-yds, 1 TD, 2 INTs) had some nice throws throughout the game, but struggled at times behind a shaky offensive line.
Brown sophomore wide receiver Trevor Foley (6 rec, 145-yds) was outstanding throughout the game, coming up with several big catches to keep the Bears alive.
The Bulldogs couldn’t have started the game better with Pitseberger exploding for a 62-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage to jump out to an early 7-0 lead.
After two Brown offensive drives that stalled past the 50-yard line, Yale added to their lead with a 12-yard touchdown catch from Brown to go up 14-0.
The Bears finally found some points on their next offensive drive with a 29-yard field goal from freshman kicker Drew Crabtree to cut the Bulldog lead to 14-3.
Brown nearly pulled momentum back after a mishandled snap at midfield and gave the ball over to the Bears, but a failed fourth down attempt handed the ball right back to Yale.
The Bulldogs went on an impressive seven-play, 70-yard drive to extend their lead to 21-3 after Reno found Brown for a second time, this time from 21-yards out.
The Bears tacked on two more Crabtree field goals before the end of the half to cut the Bulldog lead to 21-9.
The first half of the third quarter was fairly uneventful with a total of five punts and minimal trips across each other’s 50-yard line.
Yale changed all that with a quick four play, 53-yard drive that saw Pitsenberger get his second touchdown of the day, this time from a wildcat position.
With the Bears trailing 28-9 needing some kind of momentum, Murphy led them on a seven-play, 75-yard drive to cut the lead to 28-16 after sophomore Matt Childs (16 car, 41-yds, 1 TD; 4 rec, 43-yds) scored on a five-yard run.
The Bulldogs added two field goals from freshman Noah Piper early in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 34-16, but the Bears still weren’t done fighting.
With one of the better throws you’ll see all year in the Ivy League, Murphy hit senior receiver Ty Pezza (2 rec, 66-yds, 1 TD) in stride for the touchdown. With a failed two point conversion, Brown trailed 34-22 with 7:06 to go in the game.
The Bulldogs defense stepped up to hold on the rest of the game to ensure the win.
With their trip to Princeton the only game that stands in the way of “The Game” against Harvard in two weeks that very well could determine the league champ and the owner of the first ever FCS playoff berth, Ostrowsky talked about focusing on the now.
“We work really hard one week at a time,” he said. “We’ll make sure we have a little fun tonight and enjoy this one, regroup a bit, then it’ll all be about week nine, so we’ll try to ensure that that is our focus.”
