Liza Kaufman, Photography Editor

Team 152 (4–2, 2–1 Ivy) will host the Columbia Lions (1–5, 0–4 Ivy) this weekend at the Yale Bowl in the last leg of the Bulldogs’ three-game homestand. 

The Bulldogs are coming into the matchup looking to build upon their momentum after two straight wins, including a 40-point win over Stonehill and a 22-point victory over Penn. Meanwhile, Columbia enters the contest desperate to pick up a win after losing their fourth game in a row, the last loss being a 49–3 shellacking against Dartmouth. 

Take advantage of a weak offense

On paper, the separation between the two teams’ playmakers is clear. Throughout its rocky season, Columbia’s offense has struggled to find a go-to quarterback to rely upon. Five different players have been used at the position so far this year. Chase Goodwin and Caleb Sanchez have split the majority of the reps so far, combining for 900 yards while only completing about half of their passes. 

On the ground, the Lions’ gameplan of running the ball by committee has yet to achieve much success. Currently, Columbia is averaging less than 100 rushing yards per game and has only three running touchdowns on the year.  On the ground and in the air, the offense has struggled greatly.

“I’ve never walked off a field and felt the way I do right now,” Columbia head coach Jon Poppe said in a news release following their loss to Dartmouth. “And that’s not to take anything away from Dartmouth, but we gave them 21 points early and just weren’t able to respond with enough consistent execution to even put ourselves in position to make it an entertaining football game.”

This week, the Lions will match up against a strong Yale defense, so Poppe, his offensive staff and their players will have to make big changes if they hope to find more success. By both creating turnovers and holding strong on critical downs, the Bulldogs have been stout on the defensive end of the ball all season. Playmakers such as Abu Kamara ’27, Ezekiel Larry ’27, and Inumidun Ayo-Durojaiye ’26 will look to wreak havoc all over the field and shut down a weak Columbia offense. 

“Our defense has really come together to work as one cohesive unit this season,” sophomore defensive lineman Mack Johnson ’28 said. “When everyone does their job, it lets our guys go make big plays and take control of ballgames.” 

Build momentum

Early on in the season, Yale’s offense had the tendency to stall out in the middle of drives, and it sometimes struggled to put points on the board. Without overlooking the Lions too much, the Bulldog offense could use the Columbia game as a tune-up before their last three games of the season — road games at Brown (3–3, 0–3 Ivy) and Princeton (3–3, 2–1 Ivy) before hosting The Game against 15th-ranked Harvard (6–0, 3–0 Ivy). 

Quarterback Dante Reno ’28 could play a large role in determining how much success the Bulldogs will have in the final stretch of the season. In Yale’s last two games, Reno has thrown for a combined 480 yards and four touchdowns while completing 70 percent of his passes. 

Though he got off to a slow start at the beginning of the season, Reno has settled in and built connections with his two star receivers, Jaxton Santiago ’28 and Nico Brown ’26. Brown, in five games this season, has hauled in six touchdowns and over 500 yards, while Santiago has gone for 346 yards and three scores. 

“Building a connection with Dante, and just as an offense as a whole, has been awesome,” Santiago wrote to the News. “I feel like we’re all getting so much better every single day and it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of. I think we’re only going to continue improving from here so I’m really excited to see where that takes us.” 

Against Columbia, the Bulldogs will have an opportunity to put up another impressive offensive showing and build confidence for the rest of the season. 

Yale kicks off against the Lions at noon at the Yale Bowl on Saturday.