The third week of the NCAA’s college football season is just around the corner, which also signals the start of the Ivy League’s involvement in this year’s football festivities.
The Yale Bulldogs were one win away last season from becoming Ivy co-champions, so you can bet that they will take out all of their frustrations against their first opponent of the season. That foe happens to be the Colgate Raiders, who are coming off of a stinging loss against the Navy Midshipmen to kick-off their season.
Will Yale still prove to be the offensive savants that they were in 2014, or will Colgate win one in Hamilton to support their own run to the top of the Patriot League? Read on as we look closer at this riveting FCS matchup. For more coverage on the preppy-est conference in the nation, check out our complete Ivy League season preview as well our extensive preview of Yale’s 2015 season here.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Yale Bulldogs vs. Colgate Raiders Preview
Where: Andy Kerr Stadium, Hamilton
When: Saturday, September 19, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Yale Bulldogs vs. Colgate Raiders – view all NCAA Football lines
Betting on the Yale Bulldogs
A highly-potent offense was not enough for the Yale Bulldogs to nab the school’s 15th Ivy League title and its first since 2006, as they fell 31-24 to current conference champions, the Harvard Crimson, in the team’s final game last season.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]Since the Bulldogs and the rest of their conference rivals only have the Ivy League title to play for every season (the conference is ineligible for a bid at the national title), you can bank on quarterback Morgan Roberts to come out guns-blazing next Saturday. Roberts threw for 3,220 yards and 22 touchdowns last year, helping the Bulldogs finish as the best team in the FCS in total offense with 571.5 yards per game.
Roberts will be more than happy to have wideout Bo Hines as part of Yale’s program being a transfer from North Carolina State, where Hines had 45 receptions for 616 yards. Hines’ experience playing for an FBS school should prove to be invaluable to the team’s already prolific passing game. Another Bulldog receiver in Robert Clemons III needs to step up his game, especially after the departure of the team’s more viable targets during the offseason. He merely had 26 receptions for 282 yards primarily as the third option in Yale’s passing game.
However, the team’s defense remains suspect after not making any huge changes to its lineup in the offseason. A relatively vulnerable test in the Colgate Raiders for the Bulldogs’ first game of the season, however, will be an early indication of just how much or how little improvement needs to be done for them to put an end to Harvard’s two-season reign at the summit of their conference. Yale allowed a dismal 539.1 yards per game to the opposition last season.
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Betting on the Colgate Raiders
The Colgate Raiders actually got their 2014 season off on the right foot, going 2-0 in the Ivy League and 4-2 overall. However, a five-game skid after the strong start ended the team’s hopes of winning an eighth Patriot League title.
The main reason behind the Raiders’ mid-season last year free fall was the absence of their starting quarterback Jake Melville. Melville was absent in all of Colgate’s five loses from last season, but did make it back in time for the season finale against the Bucknell Bison (which the Bulldogs won).
Unfortunately, the junior signal-caller had a rough outing in his first start this year, going 14-of-26 for 127 passing yards and a single score in the 48-10 beating at the hands of ever-daunting Navy. His lone touchdown drive came with a little under ten minutes remaining in that game, which resulted into a 24-yard touchdown pass to 2014 All-Patriot League tight end John Quazza.
Going up against a leaky Yale D could very well mark the return of the formidable Melville-Quazza connection. And if Colgate’s passing game doesn’t get going then, expect the backfield tandem of John Wilkins and Demetrius Russell – who combined for 133 yards on 26 carries in Week 1 against the Midshipmen – to take matters to the ground with equal power and speed.
The Raiders will also gladly welcome the lack of a running game from Yale. They surrendered 371 rushing yards to Navy’s workhorses this past Saturday, so its D can focus on containing Roberts’ aerial assault instead.
Writer’s Prediction
Yale wins a close one, 33-28.
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