YALE at PRINCETON
Sat., Nov. 11 – Noon
Powers Field at Princeton Stadium
TV: ESPNU
ESPNU Video | Live Stats | Yale Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Team 150 wraps up the road (albeit only three games) portion of the 2023 schedule with a trip to Princeton on Saturday. Kickoff at Powers Field at Princeton Stadium is slated for noon and ESPNU has the national telecast with Eric Frede and Jack Ford on the call.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
 
• Since opening the season with a pair of losses, the Bulldogs (5-3, 3-2 Ivy) have won five of their last six games and remain very much in the hunt for the Ivy League title. Victories over Princeton and Harvard would earn Yale at least a share of the championship.
 
• Harvard is 4-1 in league play, one game ahead of Yale, Penn, Princeton and Dartmouth. The Crimson host Penn on Saturday, while Dartmouth is at home against Cornell.
 
• The Bulldogs are coming off a strong 36-17 victory at Brown last Saturday. The second half, when Yale outscored the Bears 20-7, may have been the team's most complete of the season. The high-powered Bears didn't score an offensive touchdown, Yale's special teams contributed a blocked punt and a 47-yard kickoff return from Joey Felton, and the offense after scoring three third-quarter touchdowns held the ball for 11:52 of the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
 
• Felton, who was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll on Monday, returned three kickoffs for 129 yards against the Bears. His 47-yard return to start the second half set up a 45-yard Tre Peterson touchdown reception. Felton is now ninth all-time at Yale with 768 career kickoff return yards.
 
• Mason Tipton had a career-high three touchdown receptions last Saturday at Brown. His 10 receiving touchdowns on the season are second in the nation, trailing only Holy Cross's Jalen Coker, who has 13, and the ties for the fourth most in a season in school history. Tipton, whose 19 career TD receptions are third all-time at Yale, has caught at least one touchdown pass in every game except the Penn game this season.
 
• Quarterback Nolan Grooms threw four touchdown passes, matching his career high, for the second time this season in the win over Brown. He also had four in the victory over Morgan State. Grooms' 19 TD throws on the season lead the Ivy League and are 11th nationally. He also leads the league in passing efficiency at 155.4, which is 12th in the nation. In his career, Grooms has thrown 49 touchdown passes which is second all-time at Yale, trailing only Kurt Rawlings, who threw 60 from 2016 to 2019. Grooms' 19 TD tosses this season are tied with Rawlings (2017), Peter Lee (2000) and Brian Dowling (1968) for the fifth most in a season in school history.
 
• Linebacker Jermaine Baker, who tallied his first career interception and also recovered a fumble last Saturday, joined Tipton, Grooms and Felton on the Ivy League Honor Roll this week.
 
• Joseph Vaughn, who had a team-high eight tackles last Saturday, is tied for third in the league with 66 total tackles. Clay Patterson is second in the league with 4.5 sacks. Patterson's 22 career sacks are third all-time at Yale.
 
• The Bulldogs' defense is yielding 19.1 points per game, which is 14th in the nation.
 
• Yale leads the league and is 21st nationally in red zone offense (.893).
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
The winner of the Yale-Princeton game has earned at least a share of the Ivy League title in every season since 2016. Last year at Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field, the Tigers came in with a 5-0 league record and a No. 16 national ranking, but the Bulldogs came away with a hard-fought 24-20 victory that wasn't sealed until Blake Stenstrom's 52nd pass of day fell incomplete in the end zone on the final play. Yale had 297 rushing yards on the day. Nolan Grooms (152 yards) and Joshua Pitsenberger (108 yards) did a majority of the damage. The teams have split six meetings since 2016. Two of Yale's three wins in that stretch came at Princeton Stadium. This is the 145th meeting between the teams, and the Bulldogs hold a 79-55-10 advantage all time.
 
SCOUTING PRINCETON
 
The Tigers (4-4, 3-2 Ivy) have allowed just 10 touchdowns and 60 points this season, both the fewest in the FCS. Princeton has not given up more than 30 points in 20 straight contests, dating back to Nov. 5, 2021, at Dartmouth. All four of the Tigers of the losses have come by three points or fewer, including 23-21 last Friday at Dartmouth. Quarterback Blake Stenstrom currently sits first in program history in lowest interception percentage (1.55), third in completions (420), fourth in passing yards (4,638) and passing yards per game (201.7), sixth in completion percentage (65.2) and is tied for seventh in touchdown passes (26). AJ Barber and Luke Colella lead the team with 36 catches each. They both have shattered their career marks in receptions and yards. Barber has posted 530 yards while Colella has 461 yards.