Testing new offense

Last weekend the Bulldogs played a new offensive game with a new quarterback en route to a season-high 34 points. However, the football team still fell 37-34 to Brown. T.J. Hyland, TC '02, replaced an injured Peter Lee, TD '02, and Head Coach Jack Siedlecki reversed his game plan from the previous seven weeks to capitalize on Hyland's quickness. Two weeks ago, against Columbia, Lee made 56 pass attempts but ran the ball for a loss of six yards. Against Brown, Hyland rushed for 139 yards on 19 attempts—including one run for 44 yards—but only attempted 19 passes.

Hyland's rushing success early in the game put the Elis out to an early 20-7 lead, which stood 20-10 at halftime. But Brown's dormant rush defense sprang to life in the second half and stymied Hyland. Brown's offense, led by the Division I-AA national leader in receptions Chas Gessner '03, moved the ball and scored at will; only a Yale touchdown drive in the waning seconds of the game evened out the score.

Despite the frustrating loss, the high-scoring game displayed a new vibrancy on the side of Yale's struggling offense. This weekend at Princeton, the Elis have one chance left to decide on an offensive strategy before the final game of the season against Harvard. The Yale-Princeton matchup will be a fight for both teams to get out of the Ivy League cellar, as both squads currently have 1-4 records.

—Erin Fitzpatrick and Geoff Chepiga

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