Dudek, Lamar ready to rumble

NEW HAVEN — Since Kurt Rawlings arrived on the Yale campus, it has been hard to find fault with a talented quarterback who strives for success both on the field and in the classroom. However, he admitted there is one habit of his that occasionally draws the ire of his coaches.

Whether it is Alan Lamar or Zane Dudek taking one of his handoffs, Rawlings can’t resist the temptation of seeing the two dynamic runners do their thing from the best seat in the house.

“I’ve always said it is the greatest show on earth,” Rawlings said. “I get yelled at a lot because I should be carrying out my fake and not paying attention to what the running backs are doing but it is hard not to turn back and watch them because they are both extremely generational talents at the position.”

They are also two players who in their first two seasons together have been healthy at the same time for one quarter of football.

Yale football coach Tony Reno has taken the unusual step of having both of his backs donning no contact jerseys during preseason drills as he is doing everything in his power to make life miserable for opposing defensive coordinators by unleashing both Lamar and Dudek on opponents beginning with Saturday’s 1 p.m. season opener against Holy Cross at Yale Bowl.

Reno knew he had something special when Lamar and Dudek committed to Yale 11 months apart back in 2016.

Lamar tore through defenses for nearly 2,400 yards and 38 touchdowns in 12 games as a senior at DeSoto Central High School in Southaven, MS. Dudek topped his future college teammate’s gaudy rushing stats with 2,936 yards in 11 games the following year as a senior at Armstrng High in Kittanning, PA. The possibilities seemed to be endless with the two in the same backfield, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way as Lamar was sidelined for the entire 2017 season

while Dudek missed four games and was severely hampered in several others a season ago.

Countless hours spent in the training room weren’t the best of the times but now they are ready to roll, both believing they are a little bit stronger, quicker and ready to hit the ground running in their own way.

“Zane has a more finesse style than me,” Lamar said. “I am more of a put my head down and lower my shoulder where Zane is really good at jump cutting, he can really jump around people, he is a better receiver and better at route running. Off the field, we are probably the same, we are quiet guys who like to hang around with our teammates.”

They also typify the teamfirst attitude that the offensive stars appear to relish.

When Reed Klubnik was on his way to setting Yale’s singleseason record with 1,143 receiving yards, nobody celebrated more than fellow starting receiver JP Shohfi. That selfless attitude can also be seen at quarterback. After leading Yale to the 2017 Ivy League title, Kurt Rawlings’ junior season ended in the seventh game. Freshman Griffin O’Connor set Yale’s singlegame passing mark while filling in for the injured Rawlings.

Two former starters on the offensive line are listed as reserves on the first depth chart of the season. While Yale has an embarrassment of riches on offense, including linemen Dieter Eiselen and Sterling Strother — considered to be the top pro prospects among a talentladen senior class — there doesn’t appear to be any sense of the quest for individual glory interfering with the Bulldogs’ goal of winning the Ivy League title.

“We could be yelling at each other, we could be mad that we aren’t in some plays or mad that we aren’t getting the ball more but we just love winning and love each other,” Dudek said. “We want to see each other succeed, we want to see the team succeed and I think that is what is different about us. We love to win and love each other so we don’t care who scores, we don’t care who gets the yards, we just want to see the team do well and see each other do well because we like each so much.”

A year ago Princeton took the Ivy League by storm by scoring a leaguerecord 470 points, including 303 in seven league games and, predictably, the NFL scouts took notice, inviting multiple offensive stars to training camps. However, no Ivy League team has what Yale does going into the season as the 2019 Bulldogs are the first Ivy team going into a season with a player with at least 4,000 passing yards, two 1,000yard rushers and two 1,000yard receivers.

“Our potential is through the roof but what we have to keep in our mind is that it is potential,” Dudek said. “We didn’t do anything yet, we have to go out there and show we can come together as a full 11 (man offense) and do what we know we can do. We can put up points every time and we have to be really physical every single play. We can’t take plays off and take plays for granted because we think we have it. The potential is crazy. We have the best two receivers I have ever seen, the best quarterback I have ever seen, an amazing front five, we have five or six running backs who can play right now so we have guys everywhere, it should be fun to watch.”

The fun starts on Saturday afternoon.