BULLDOGS HOPE TO RETAIN MOMENTUM FROM LAST WEEK

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale Football Team begins the Ivy League stretch run with a huge contest against Penn this Saturday at Franklin Field. The Bulldogs (4-1, 1-1 Ivy) and Quakers (2-3, 0-2) kickoff at 1 p.m. in a game that airs live on the Ivy League Network, on Comcast Sports Network Philly and on the Yale Football Radio Network (AM 960).

SERIES
Yale leads the series against the Quakers 46-37-1, though Penn has won 19 of the last 25. The Elis captured the first meeting in 1879 at New Haven but lost last year at the Yale Bowl's first night game. Yale's last win at Franklin Field was in 2007. The Elis are 2-1 in OT against Penn.

LAST TIME
The first night game at Yale Bowl did not go well for the home team last October. Alex Torgersen and Justin Watson, who had 10 catches for 166 yards, connected on three scoring passes as Penn remained undefeated in Ivy League play with a 42-7 win over Yale.

THE ELIS
Yale has won four of five games by a wide margin, including a season-high 32 points last weekend against Holy Cross. The one blemish was a 28-27 decision two weeks ago at Hanover. The Bulldogs rank 5th in the FCS in scoring with 41 points per game, while the defense leads the country in sacks.

BULLDOGS BLANK CRUSADERS
It was a defensive day for Yale last Saturday. The Elis earned their first shutout since 2011 with a 32-0 win over Holy Cross at Yale Bowl. The Bulldogs were facing one of the top quarterbacks and offenses in the FCS with a number of key defensive secondary members out of the lineup. The Blue rose to the occasion, holding Peter Pujals to 89 passing yards and a 143 of total offense. Pressure from the defensive front included four sacks and numerous hurries. Senior linebacker Matthew Oplinger had three of the sacks – all in the first half – and even tackled Pujals in the end zone for a safety late in the second quarter.

QUAKERS
Penn, the league's top red zone offense, opened the season with two wins but has lost the last three. There are many Quakers putting up big numbers, including RB Karekin Brooks (117.0 yards) and WR Justin Watson (7 TDs). LB Nick Miller, who had a pick-6 last Saturday, leads the Ivy with 11.2 tackles per game. The Quakers have played two Ivy games and have lost both on the game's final play. Dartmouth's wildcat QB leaped into the end zone as time expired in the fourth at Franklin Field three weeks ago. Last week at Columbia, the Lions, who answered Penn's 41-yard field goal, connected on a scoring pass to end the game in OT.

BULLDOG BACKS
RBs Deshawn Salter (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Zane Dudek (Kittanning, Pa.) have accounted for 14 of Yale's 16 rushing TDs while serving as one of the best combos in FCS play this fall. They each have 7 TDs on the ground, which is ninth in the nation and tops in the Ivy. Salter, the team's active career TD leader with 15, is ninth in the FCS with a 6.6 average per carry and had two straight games with three TDs, the most for an Eli back since Mike McLeod had consecutive triple TD games in 2007. Dudek, whose 8 overall TDs are a freshman school record, is No. 5 in the FCS with 9.6 points per game. He began his collegiate career with a pair of 100-plus yard games. He came within a dozen yards of the Yale freshman record against Cornell while earning Ivy Rookie of the Week honors. Dudek's Western Pennsylvania high school game rushing record (492 yards) was broken while he was making his collegiate debut at Lehigh.

SACK ATTACK
Yale leads the FCS in sacks with a 4.4 average and have now surpassed its 2016 total with 22 this fall. Senior LB Matthew Oplinger (Summit, NJ) leads the team with seven after notching three (including a safety) against Holy Cross. That was the most sacks in a game for a Bulldog in 15 years. Sophomore defensive end Charles Callender (Cutler Bay, Fla.)  has four, while senior DL Copache Tyler (Springfield, Ill.) and junior DE Kyle Mullen (Manalapan, NJ) each have three. The six total for Yale vs. Cornell were the most for the Blue since registering seven in 2014 vs. Dartmouth.
 
CAPTAIN SPENCE
Spencer Rymiszewski (West Chester, Pa.), who was voted captain by his teammates despite missing last season with an injury, has started all 30 games (150 tackles, 6 interceptions) in the defensive backfield that he's been available for. He earned freshman MVP honors in 2013 and was team MVP and a first-team All-Ivy pick in 2015. An injury slowed him in 2014, and he elected to have surgery over competing in 2016. Rymiszewski, whose busiest day was 11 solos and one interception vs. Dartmouth in 2014, leads the current squad in pass breakups.

ALESSI
He's the only player in school history to return two punts for TDs of 80 yards or more. Jason Alessi (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), the dual-sport standout who has been a starter on defense for most of his career, has 137 career tackles and six interceptions over 33 games, while his 387 career punt return yards are 5th best at Yale. His work as a midfielder on the lacrosse team has helped the defending Ivy champs win three straight league tournament titles.

CARLSON
Senior DB Hayden Carlson (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Yale's active career leader with 244 tackles, is 17th on the school's career list. Carlson, who scored his first TD on his seventh career interception vs. Cornell this fall, led the Ivy League in tackles in 2015 with 92 and was third in 2016 with 95.

SCI-GUYS
Seniors Jon Bezney and Karl Marback, two starters on the offensive line, are science guys. They have helped the Elis rank among the best in the nation in total offense and scoring, but they are equally impressive off the field.

BEZNEY, a molecular, cellular and developmental biology major, worked in Yale's Bindra Laboratory this summer in the department of therapeutic radiology. The laboratory focuses on novel therapeutics for brain cancer and specifically focuses on the biology of DNA repair. His project aimed to distinguish how certain drugs react in the presence and absence of key proteins involved in DNA repair, hoping to translate the findings into a clinical setting. Bezney (Cincinnati, Ohio), a tackle who missed last year with an injury, plans to attend medical school and become a physician.

MARBACK, a biomedical engineering major and the team's rocket scientist, has been sending devices into space as part of the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association (YUAA). He helped build a rocket (sophomore year) that climbed to 10,000 feet and collected microbes from the air to learn more about what is living in the atmosphere. Marback (Birmingham, Mich.), a semifinalist for the 2017 William Campbell Trophy (nation's top football student-athlete), moved from the defense as a sophomore and then started every game at center last year.

LEGAL GUARD
Anders Huizenga, a guard, is a political science major who spent 8 weeks last summer in the legal department at Mercy Health, a Catholic non-profit hospital system in Ohio. He also spent 4 weeks interning for The Cooper Law Group in Colorado Springs, Colo. Huizenga (Trophy Club, Texas), who is known for his Yoga interests, plans to intern with the firm again next year and then go to law school.

BLIKSEM BULLDOG
Bliksem, in South Africa, is slang for hitting, which is what Dieter Eiselen does very well on the Yale offensive line. The South African native, who played rugby from ages 7 to 16 before switching to Olympic weightlifting, was fascinated by the American gridiron and wanted to find a way to play after graduating from his local high school. He attended a football camp in Washington, D.C., and immediately garnered interest from colleges. He got in as a PG at Choate Rosemary Hall and then attended the Yale camp to get ready for his first season of football. Eiselen, who worked his way into the starting lineup as a rookie last fall, is the starter at guard this fall.
 
STERLING CENTER
Sterling Strother (Moraga, Calif.), who earned a starting job at tackle last fall as a newcomer, is now Yale's center, playing the position for the first time. He learned to snap while staying at QB Kurt Rawlings' house the summer before their first season in New Haven. (Rawlings' father is a high school football coach, but Strother also learned from his own father, who did not play football but his son calls a "jack of all trades."). Strother, who is considering a major in psychology and has played all five spots on the Yale o-line, became a starter early in the 2016 campaign.

RAWLINGS
The name may remind you of baseball (gloves), and his brother is a college baseball player, but Kurt Rawlings, who is second in the FCS with a .706 completion percentage, is all about the gridiron, having grown into the game as the son of a high school football coach. The sophomore from Bel Air, Md., got the last three starts of 2016, including a win at Harvard, and picked up where he left off last fall. Rawlings completed 20 of 26 passes at Lehigh for 308 yards and four TDs to earn Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, College Sports Madness Ivy Player of the Week, honorable mention STATS FCS Offensive Player of Week and College Football Performance honorable mention national performer of the week.  Rawlings established a Yale record for completion percentage with 18 connections (including the first 14 straight) on 20 attempts at Fordham. He has 16 TD passes in 12 career games (7 starts).

Rawlings in 2017
at Lehigh: 20-26, 308 yards, 4 TD, 0 int.
vs Cornell: 10-17, 123 yards, 1 TD, 1 int.
at Fordham: 18-20, 189 yards, 1 TD, 1 int.
at Dartmouth: 24-39, 283 yards, 3 TDs, 2 int.
vs. Holy Cross: 27-39, 316 yards, 2 TDs, 0 int. 

C-LO
Christopher Williams-Lopez (Duluth, Ga.), nicknamed "C-Lo," is Yale's active career leader in receptions with 106 (10th for a Yale career) in an injury-shortened, 16-game career. His 6.62 average per game is among the top 3 in the nation, but the NCAA does not include anyone with fewer than 125 career catches. The senior WR leads the team this fall with 31 catches. He led the Blue with 60 catches in 2015. C-Lo had a season-high 10 grabs with one score at Dartmouth in 2017. The former Greater Atlanta Christian High School football and track captain came to New Haven as a Spanish Honor Society and National Honor Society member. He was also on the GACS President's list and won the school's citizenship award.

BULLDOG BITES
Yale had seven different ball carriers and nine players with receptions last week… The Elis had 23 players with defensive stats vs. Holy Cross… Juniors Kamsi Nwangwu and Daniel Debner had their first varsity rushing attempts against the Crusaders… Prior to last week, Yale's last shutout was a 30-0 win over Dartmouth in 2011… Prior to last Saturday, the last time Yale had a safety was in 2015 against Lehigh.


BLOWING HIS OWN HORN
Junior Alex Galland (Bakersfield, Calif.) is handling the punting and place kicks this season. He is 4th in the Ivy with a 40.4-yard punt average, while 13 of his 22 punts have been inside the 20. Last summer, in addition to working out, Galland interned as a mechanical engineer, helping design facilities for Hess Oil. The mechanical engineering major in Pauli Murray College was building 3D models and making sure they were compliant with state laws. Galland, who plays the trumpet in the Yale Band and has played the national anthem at the Bowl before his own game, is 11-15 on FGs and 44-47 on PATs.

HEFTY LEFTY
Sophomore lefty PK Sam Tuckerman (Bexley, Ohio) takes the Yale kickoffs and has six touchbacks this fall. He and a teammate did a 6-week, intensive Spanish immersion program last summer through IES Madrid in order to test out of Yale's language requirement. Tuckerman embraces the nicknames his high school friends use for him: The Hefty Lefty, The Hebrew Hammer.

LONG SNAP
Junior Hunter Simino (Portage, Mich.) has been the top long snapper in every game since he arrived at Yale. When Simino was in fourth grade, his neighborhood friend (the offensive line coach at the rival high school) brought him to the rival school's football camp and spent the day teaching him to snap. He missed the second half at Lehigh this year with an injury, and the emergency snapper, TE Jaeden Graham, had to snap for kicks and punts.

ALL-IVY
Seven members of the 2017 team earned all-league honors last fall or in 2015. Here are the current All-Ivy players:

CB Spencer Rymiszewski '17 – First-Team 2015 *
DT Copache Tyler '17 – First-Team 2015 *
DB Jason Alessi '18 - Second-Team 2016
OL Karl Marback '18 - HM 2016
LB Matthew Oplinger '18 – HM 2015, 16
DE Kyle Mullen '19 - HM 2016
RB Alan Lamar '20 - Second-Team 2016 (missing 2017 due to injury)
*missed 2016 season and is a senior this fall

SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
There have been some memorable games in the 137-year rivalry between Yale and Penn: 2007: Yale's goal-line stand followed a TD run by Mike McLeod '09 in the third OT of an Eli win… 2006: An Alan Kimball '08 35-yard field goal in OT gave Yale a 17-14 victory at New Haven... 2003: Playing its first modern OT game, Yale fell to Penn at Franklin Field (34-31) after erasing a 31-10 deficit. The Blue tied the game with 32 seconds left but had a FG attempt blocked in the extra session... 1991: Nick Crawford '92 rushed for a then-Yale QB record 204 yards in a 31-12 Bulldog win at New Haven... 1987: WR Bob Shoop '88 (currently Tennessee's defensive coordinator) capped off a miraculous comeback at Yale Bowl with a last-second TD reception in a 28-22 Yale victory... 1969: Jack Ford `72 intercepted a Penn pass and went 77 yards for a score in a 21-3 Yale win... 1958: Herb Hallas '59 set a school record with a 94-yard punt return, but it was the only points in a 30-6 Quaker win.

2017 YALE TEAM
The current roster includes the following:

87 High School football captains
53 High School captains of an additional sport
61 National Honor Society members
7 High School Class Presidents
3 High School Student Body Presidents
3 High School Valedictorians
2 High School Salutatorians

SURVEY SAYS
Yale players were surveyed about their teammates:

Most humorous: OL Anders Huizenga
Most intelligent: OL Jon Bezney
Most vocal leader (besides the captain): LB Matt Oplinger
Most interesting extracurricular activity: OL Karl Marback (rocket building)
Best singer: RB Kamsi Nwangwu
Strongest pound-for-pound: LB Matt Oplinger

ROSTER FACTS
The 2017 Yale football team represents 24 states and 3 countries… California (14) has the most Bulldogs… Cameron Warfield is the first player from Washington, D.C. since John Kemp in 1990… Ross Drwal is the first player from Nebraska since Christopher Beutler in 1965… The heaviest player on the team is sophomore offensive lineman Sterling Strother at 310 pounds… The Yale starting offensive line averages 6-5 and 299.6 pounds… The school with the most (6) players is a college prep called Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn.

2017 HONORS
Yale Player, Game, Honor
Kurt Rawlings: Lehigh: CSM, Ivy, STATS, CFP; Holy Cross, Ivy H     
Zane Dudek: Lehigh: Hero, Ivy H, STATS; Cornell: Ivy R
Deshawn Salter: Cornell: Ivy H; Fordham: Ivy H
Christopher Williams-Lopez: Dartmouth Ivy H
Matthew Oplinger: Holy Cross: Ivy H

The Awards Index
(CSM) College Sports Madness Ivy POW
(Ivy) Ivy League Offensive Player of Week
(Ivy R) Ivy League Rookie of the Week
(Ivy H) Ivy League Honor Roll
(STATS) STATS FCS Honorable mention
(CFP) College Football Performance Awards
(Hero) Hero Sports candidate

TUESDAY AT MORY'S
Every Tuesday, the Dick Galiette, Yale Football Media Luncheon, takes place at Mory's on York Street. Tony Reno, Yale's Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach, is joined by a few of his student-athletes. Captain Spencer Rymiszewski, Zane Dudek, Deshawn Salter, Foyesade Oluokun, Matthew Oplinger, Hayden Carlson, Kurt Rawlings and Jaeden Graham have attended this fall.

PROMOS
The Cornell game was Youth Day at the Bowl… Health, fitness and sustainability was the focus for the Holy Cross game… Columbia is Hero's day… The Friday night Brown contest is Yale Employee and Community Game… Harvard is "Fill the Bowl" with the Connecticut Food Bank.

filed by Steve Conn, Yale Associate AD/Sports Publicity Director - steven.conn@yale.edu