Yale marches past Colgate at Yale Bowl

After sluggish start, Yale erupts for 35 points in second half

The Yale football team erupted for 35second-half points in a win over Colgate on Saturday at Yale Bowl.

Colgate bottled up Tyler Varga. Quarterback Morgan Roberts couldn’t manufacture much in the passing game and Yale looked nothing like one of the top-ranked offenses in the nation.

Over a combined four-quarter span — the final two quarters last week against Dartmouth and the first two quarters Saturday — the Bulldogs high-powered attack managed just 17 points. It appeared as if they were losing some of their offensive luster.

Then in the second half of Saturday’s 45-31 victory over the Raiders, they found their swagger once again.

“I thought we did a great job in the first half of keeping the points low and keeping the explosive plays to a minimum,” Colgate coach Dan Hunt said. “I feel like they wore us out a little bit. They started getting their run game going. That’s a really good offense with a lot of weapons. They have the ability to score a lot of points in an offense that can take a lot of time off the clock. We knew it was going to be challenging.”

Yale (4-1) scored 35 points after halftime and finished with 633 yards of total offense in front of 8,788 at the Yale Bowl on Saturday.

Both offenses traded touchdowns like baseball cards for much of the second half. Then with the game tied 31-31, Robert Clemons beat the Colgate secondary and Roberts hit him in stride for a 68-yard touchdown. Tyler Varga put the finishing touches on the win when he found a hole and sprinted for a 69-yard touchdown with 4:42 left. One Colgate defender ran down the bruising back, but Varga knocked him to the ground and finished to the end zone.

Varga finished with 25 carries for 184 yards (168 came in the second half) and four touchdowns. He also caught an 8-yard score. He ran for 236 yards and a touchdown against Colgate last season. Joe Crowleywas the last player to score five touchdowns in a game at the Bowl prior to this season. That was 83 years ago. Varga has done it twice in the last four weeks.

“Give the kid credit,” Colgate linebacker Kris Kent said. “He has

great balance. You take out his legs he does a great job of keeping himself up and fighting for extra yards.”

Varga has been onethird of a remarkable trio for the Bulldogs this season.

Coming into Saturday, Roberts ranked No. 2 in the FCS in total offense (355.5 ypg). He threw for 379 yards and two touchdowns on 23-of-33 passing and did not throw an interception. Then there is Deon Randall. He finished with seven catches for 114 yards and is No. 2 on the Bulldogs all-time reception list.

“That’s the great thing about our offense,” Roberts said. “If they take away one option we can go with another.”

Yale’s ability to move the ball in the second half was perhaps some reassurance

“We got in rhythm. And once we get in rhythmwe can be pretty good.”

— Yale coach Tony Reno

for head coach Tony Reno and the Bulldogs coming off a 38-31 loss to Dartmouth, in which they managed just a touchdown in the final two quarters. The Bulldogs simply couldn’t move the ball and picked up where they left off on Saturday. Against Colgate in the opening half, Yale crossed midfield just twice and Yale managed just 31 rushing yards. An effective attack is especially critical with Yale’s young defense continuing to grow.

Yale insisted on establishing its ground attack to start the third, going to Varga on the first five plays. That opened things up.

“We got in rhythm,” Reno said. “And once we get in rhythm we can be pretty good.”

Colgate (4-2) came in riding a four-game winning streak. The Raiders’ two losses came to Ball State of the FBS and FCS power Delaware. They battled back to knock off Ivy League preseason favorite Princeton 31-30 last week.

But Colgate was without starting quarterback Jake Melville on Saturday. Melville, who leads the teamin passing and rushing, was injured late in last week’s win over Princeton. Freshman Bret Mooney got the start and his first action in his absence. He finished with 225 passing yards and was sacked three times. John Wilkins rushed for two touchdowns for the Raiders.

With the victory, Yale finishes its non-conference schedule and enters the heart of its Ivy League schedule. And they do with an offense that is rolling once again.