Date & Time: Saturday, November 6, 2021 – Noon ET
Location: Providence, R.I.
Stadium: Brown Stadium
Tickets: Buy Now
Series: 125th Meeting; Yale leads, 84-35-5
Last Meeting: Yale 59, Brown 35, 11/9/19
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: Click here
Two Deeps: Yale (PDF) -- Brown (PDF)
Game Notes

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale football team is coming off a pivotal victory over Columbia last Saturday which put the Elis into second place in the Ivy League. The Bulldogs now play another historic matchup on Saturday, Nov. 6, in Providence, R.I. For the 125^th time, the Bulldogs (4-3, 3-1 Ivy) and Brown Bears (2-5, 1-3 Ivy) will take the gridiron. Yale controls its own destiny in its quest for back-to-back Ivy League titles with three games remaining on the schedule.

The Series
Saturday's landmark matchup is the 125th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Bears. The Bulldogs look for their 85^th win and lead the series, 84-35-5. Brown is Yale's third most-played opponent behind only Princeton (142) and Harvard (136). The Bulldogs have won the past three matchups, scoring at least 34 points in each game. Yale has won six of the last seven meetings.

Bulldog Breakdown
Yale made it two wins in a row last week in a come-from-behind victory over Columbia, 37-30. The Bulldogs got three total touchdowns from Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, Spencer Alston, who went for a season-high 116 rushing yards and two scores along with a receiving touchdown.

It was senior Melvin Rouse II who sparked the rally with his 86-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Rouse was recognized as the Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week as the play ranked third all-time at Yale for the longest punt return. It was the second-straight week the Bulldogs have taken home the Ivy Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week.

Sophomore quarterback Nolan Grooms is now 2-0 in his career starts and has the offense rolling with 39.5 points per game over the past two contests. Grooms, a dual threat, has completed 67.9 percent of his passes since taking over as the Yale starter with 562 yards passing, four touchdowns and 153 rush yards and a score. He was the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week after the Penn win in Week 7.
 
Grooms has benefited from the receiving duo of Rouse and sophomore Mason Tipton. Rouse leads the Bulldogs with 33 receptions and has totaled 360 yards and a score. Tipton paces Yale with 478 yards through the air and ranks third in the nation with 22.76 yards per catch.

The Yale defense continues to lead the nation in third down conversion percentage (.213) and has allowed the ninth fewest first downs this season (117).

The pressure starts up front as the Bulldogs are eighth in the country in sacks per game (3.29) and tackles for loss (7.7). Sophomore defensive lineman Clay Patterson averages 1.36 sacks per game, good for fourth in the nation. He also ranks 12^th with 1.6 tackles for loss.

Senior captain John Dean leads Yale with 52 tackles at the second level while junior cornerback Wande Owens and senior safety Rodney Thomas II are tied for second in the Ivy League and 22^nd in the nation with 1.1 passes defended per game.

Scouting Brown
Brown is 2-2 in its past two games with wins at Cornell (49-45) and over Colgate (31-10), and losses to then-No. 20/25 Princeton (56-42) and last week at Penn (45-17). The Bears started the season 0-3.

The Bears are led by senior quarterback EJ Perry who was a finalist for the 2019 Bushnell Cup. He ranks second nationally with 31.0 completions per game and is fifth overall in total offense (359.7). Last Saturday at Penn, he tied an Ivy League record with his 15th-straight game with a touchdown pass, and set a new Ivy mark with his eighth-straight 300-yard passing game.

Perry boasts a receiving trio of Wes Rockett, Hayes Sutton and Graham Walker who each have at least 30 catches, 435 yards and five touchdowns. Perry is also tied for the team lead with 84 carries with Allen Smith. Perry has scored four times on the ground while Smith has a team-leading 343 rush yards.

On defense, the Bears are allowing 40.9 points per game and 443.4 total yards.

Brown gang tackles as eight players have at least 21, led by Junior Gafa who has a team-best 41 stops. Jason Medeiros is second on the team with 35 tackles and is tied for first on the team with three sacks.