FOOTBALL: Bulldogs fall to Lions in defensive battle
In a game dominated by the defenses, the Yale offense struggled to put points on the board as the Bulldogs fell to Columbia 13–10.
Courtesy of David Schamis
On most days, holding the opposing offense to 13 points is good enough for a win. Friday night in New York City was not one of those days for the Yale Football team (4–3, 1–3 Ivy).
After keeping the Columbia (5–2, 3–1 Ivy) offense out of the endzone all night with 4:39 remaining in the game and the Bulldogs up 10–6, the Yale defense cracked. Columbia’s star wide receiver Bryson Canty hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass to give the Lions a 13–10 win.
Columbia’s defense proved once again to be the best scoring defense in the Ivy League, as they held Yale to a third of their average 32 points per game.
Both quarterbacks struggled to gain yardage, with the Bulldogs’ Grant Jordan ’25 throwing 151 yards, and the Lions’ Cole Freedman only five yards ahead at 156.
On the ground, Yale’s star running backs, Josh Pitsenberger ’26 and Tre Peterson ’25 ran for 52 yards and 48 yards on the day. This is significantly lower than we are used to seeing from the two.
Clearly, this was a battle between the defensive units as both teams managed to put heavy pressure on the opposing offense.
The Yale defense played well most of the game, only allowing the one long touchdown. Especially stout was the pass defense for the Bulldogs that limited Columbia to only 156 passing yards on the night.
The play of the day for the Bulldogs also came from the defense. After the Lions took their opening drive 79 yards to the Yale 11-yard line, defensive back Da’Quan Gonzales ’26 came up and forced a fumble that was then recovered by Abu Kamara ’27. Kamara has been a star for the defense all year and continued to fill the stat sheet with his first fumble recovery of the season.
The game was a bit of an oddity for the Bulldogs in 2024, as it has often been the offense carrying the team to the finish line while the defense struggles. Both sides of the ball have shown how strong Yale can be, but they’ll have to start playing complimentary football if they’re going to finish the season strong.
Looking ahead, the Bulldogs have three games remaining, facing off against Brown (3–4, 2–2 Ivy), Princeton (2–5, 1–3 Ivy) and then Harvard (6–1, 3–1 Ivy).
The Bulldogs are returning to the Yale Bowl this Saturday as they enter the final stretch of the season. Kickoff is at noon and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.