Liza Kaufman, Contributing Photographer

The Yale football team (5–3, 2–3 Ivy) will square off against the Princeton Tigers (1–4, 2–6 Ivy) in their final home game of the season on Saturday with hopes of climbing the Ivy League standings. 

While the Bulldogs are out of Ivy Championship contention, they can still climb the standings and end the season with a winning conference record if they win their final two games against Princeton and then Harvard. For now, though, the focus is squarely on the Tigers.

Taking care of business on defense

Saturday should provide an opportunity for the much improved Yale defense to flex their muscles against what has objectively been the worst offense in the Ivy League this season.

Princeton enters the game bottom of the conference in points per game (21.0), yards per game (260.4), rushing yards per game (96.5) and passing yards per game (163.9). With the Tigers trailing every other team by at least 100 total yards per game, the Bulldogs should be in for a big day.

In addition to limiting yards, the Yale defense will also certainly be looking to take the ball away any way they can. The Bulldogs’ defense has excelled at forcing turnovers this season and leads the Ivy League in interceptions, forced fumbles and fumbles recovered. 

All in all, the Yale defense has turned their opponents over 16 times, led by Joshua Tarver ’26 with three interceptions and Abu Kamara ’27 with three forced fumbles.

Feeding Pantelis the ball

Sometimes offensive play calling can be made very difficult, with coordinators working to scheme up complicated plays to move the ball down the field and put points on the board. Other times, it can be very simple, like it should be for the Yale coaches.

Getting the ball to David Pantelis ’25 should sum up much of the Yale offensive plan for the rest of the season as the senior wide receiver has exploded in his final year for the Bulldogs. Pantelis leads the Bulldogs in every relevant receiving stat, racking up more than 90 yards per game and scoring eight touchdowns so far this year. 

Whether on deep throws where he’s given the chance to track the ball and convert big yardage plays, or on short intermediate routes to pick up critical first downs, Pantelis has been the go-to player for the Bulldogs all season and needs to continue to be so in the final stretch of the season.

Pass protection dominance

Offensive lines don’t usually get much of the attention but this Yale line certainly deserves to. The offensive line for the Bulldogs has been one of the best in all of FCS football this season, tied for third in the nation in sacks allowed at only five on the season.

The Bulldogs offensive line has done an excellent job keeping quarterback Grant Jordan ’25 off the ground, giving receivers time to get downfield for the deep throws he has shown an ability to make this season. Without having to worry about getting hit by defenders, Jordan is able to keep his eyes downfield which is a big reason for his 67 percent completion percentage this season.

The final kickoff of the season at the Yale Bowl will be at noon on Saturday with the Bulldogs hoping to send the home crowd off with a good result against the Princeton Tigers.