FOOTBALL: Bulldogs face CCSU in home opener

The Yale football team will look to get back on the winning streak when it hosts Central Connecticut State University in its first home game in the Yale Bowl this Saturday.

Spencer King & Sienna Tejpaul

3:01 a.m., Oct. 4, 2024

Staff reporter and contributing reporter

Yale Daily News

After a tough loss to Cornell last weekend, the Yale Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1 Ivy) face the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils (2-2, 1-0 Northeast) in their first home game at noon. Saturday.

The Bulldogs will look to bounce back from their disappointing performance last weekend in the hope of coming home with their first home win of the season. Likewise, the Blue Devils will be hungry after letting the University of Massachusetts slip away from them late in the fourth quarter last Saturday.

CCSU has played two FBS opponents and achieved completely different results. In August, the Blue Devils faced Central Michigan University and were annihilated, with CMU winning 66-10.

More recently, however, CCSU faced UMass and had a real chance to beat the Minutemen, taking the lead twice in the second half. In the end, however, the Blue Devils fell short and UMass took the win 35-31.

The Blue Devils' offense likes to operate through the air and on the ground, but they were not very efficient in their passing game and barely completed more than 50 percent of the passes thrown. However, if they are successful, their quarterback Aidan Clark is more likely to look for their star receiver Micheal Plaskon, who has more than twice as many receptions and receiving yards as their next best receiver. Yale needs to lock down Plaskon to slow down the Blue Devils' passing game and remove their quarterback as a threat.

CCSU likes to create pre-snap movement by shifting its offense to get the defense out of the game and acclimatize to a new setup. This system has worked for them as their quarterback has only been sacked twice in the four games they have played this year.

Defensively, they prefer to keep it simple, but feature both 3-down and 4-down fronts as well as one and two high safety looks. Their defensive line plays aggressively, moves quickly and physically, and allows Yale to run the ball, which they have had a lot of success with this year.

Yale and CCSU will most likely look to exploit underthrows, and once they gain some confidence, they will play action shots on the court.

For Yale, running should be a focus throughout the day. Since Josh Pitsenberger '26 ran for 70 yards last week, the Bulldogs need to keep feeding him to loosen up the defense.

The run should particularly focus on the question marks surrounding the quarterback situation for Yale. Grant Jordan '25 is still recovering from injury. Brogan McCaughey '26 is also injured and his status is unclear for Saturday. If no one can go, it will be Marshall Howe '26 making his first collegiate start.

On defense, the Bulldogs will need to limit the explosive plays that have hurt them in the first two games this season. A focus for Yale has to be ensuring the Blue Devils string together long drives.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and kickoff is at noon at the Yale Bowl. Next Saturday, the Bulldogs return to the Yale Bowl to face Dartmouth as they continue their Ivy League play.