COLUMBIA at YALE
Sat., Oct. 28 – Noon
Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field
TV: NESN
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Tickets
Yale Game Notes | Game Day Central
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Team 150 closes out the month of October with another home game when Columbia visits Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field on Saturday for a noon kickoff. The game will be televised on NESN and streamed on ESPN+. Justin Gallanty and Jack Siedlecki have the call.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
 
• No clear favorite has emerged in the race for the Ivy League title after three weekends of play. There is a five-way tie for first place as Harvard, Penn, Cornell, Princeton and Dartmouth all sit at 2-1, while Yale and Brown are just one game behind.
 
• The Bulldogs are playing their third straight home game and following Saturday will have had six of their seven games at Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field. Yale won't be home again until the 139th edition of The Game on Saturday, Nov. 18.
 
• Yale saw its three-game winning streak snapped last Saturday vs. Penn. In a back-and-forth game that saw nearly 700 yards of total offense, the Quakers used a 15-play, 78-yard drive scoring drive in the fourth quarter to seal a 27-17 win. The drive that took over six minutes culminated with a Bryce Myers 15-yard TD reception with 4:26 left.
 
• Eight of the 12 Ivy League games so far this season have been decided by seven points or less, including six where the winning margin was three points or less.
 
• Quarterback Nolan Grooms has thrown at least two touchdown passes in each of the last five games, including four in the win over Morgan State. His 14 touchdown passes lead the Ivy League and are 13th in the nation. Two more TD throws would move him into the top-10 in a single season in school history, and he is on pace to finish in the top-five in a single season. Kurt Rawlings, who threw 27 touchdown passes in 2019, holds the all-time Yale single-season record.
 
• Mason Tipton was held without a touchdown reception for the first time this season against Penn. Still, his six touchdown catches lead the league and are fifth in the nation. One more TD reception would tie him for ninth in a single season in school history. Eric Johnson caught a school-record 14 touchdown passes in 2000. Tipton also has a rushing touchdown and his seven overall TD's also leads the league.
 
• Joseph Vaughn made a team-high 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops, last Saturday. His 5.8 solo tackles per game lead the league and are 12th in the nation. His 9.7 total tackles per game are second in the league and 21st in the country. In addition, Moore shares the team-lead in interceptions with Hamilton Moore and Sean Guyton. All three have two picks on the season.
 
• The Bulldogs are 16th in the nation and second in the league in third down conversion percentage (.455).
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale has won seven of the last nine meetings with Columbia, including 41-16 last year in a nationally televised Friday night game from New York City. In 2021 at the Bowl, the Bulldogs rallied from an early 17-6 deficit to defeat the Lions 37-30. Spencer Alston rushed for two touchdowns and also had a receiving TD. Yale has won three straight over Columbia at Yale Bowl. The Lions' last victory in New Haven came in 2015. Overall, the Bulldogs lead the series 75-22-2. Columbia was Yale's first ever opponent in November of 1872, a game the Bulldogs won 3-0.
 
SCOUTING COLUMBIA
 
The Lions, who have a pair of shutout victories on their resume, lead the nation in scoring defense (12.3 ppg.) and red zone defense (.556). Last week, Columbia built an early 9-0 lead before Dartmouth rallied for 20 unanswered points in a 20-9 victory. Quarterback Joe Green made his first start since last October for the Lions and completed 25-of-41 passes for 239 yards and also ran for a touchdown. The 254 passing yards on the day were a season high for Columbia. Two of Lions' three Ivy League losses have come by three points – 10-7 at Princeton on Sept. 29 and 20-17 at home to Penn on Oct. 14.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
 
Yale plays its next two games on the road – Nov. 4 at Brown and Nov. 11 at Princeton. The Bulldogs won their only road game of the season thus far, 31-24 at Dartmouth on Oct. 7.