Coming off its first road and Ivy League victory over Dartmouth last weekend, the football team heads south on I-95 into the City that Never Sleeps to battle the Fordham Rams this Saturday.
The contest — Yale’s final one in its non-conference schedule — is slated for a 1 p.m. start at Jack Coffey Field.
Although it’s against a non-conference opponent and it does not have an effect on the Bulldogs’ standing in the Ivy League race, the squad is still looking forward to seeing how it stacks up against one of the region’s best. Since no Ancient Eight teams are given a chance to participate in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, these opportunities are not common for the Bulldogs.
The Rams (2-3) are off to a rough start — they’ve dropped their last two games — after being selected as the Patriot League favorites. Despite that, they will be a tough opponent for Yale (3-1, 1-1 Ivy). Fordham, the reigning Patriot League champions, earned an automatic bid to last season’s FCS national playoffs.
“We have played Lehigh over the past five years and our players liked the fact that they were getting an opportunity to play against a team that was going to the national playoffs on a regular basis,” head coach Jack Siedlecki explained. “Fordham won the Patriot League last year and went to the playoffs, so it is an opportunity to measure ourselves against a playoff-caliber team.”
On offense, the Rams are averaging 22.6 points and 398.6 yards of total offense per game.
The team is led by captain and quarterback John Skelton, who at six-foot-five and 230 pounds, isn’t your typical quarterback. The El Paso, Texas native has averaged 251 yards per game through the air and has thrown for six touchdowns and five interceptions. The junior isn’t afraid of scrambling either — Skelton has also rushed for two scores.
Skelton’s go-to-guy has been fellow classmate Asa Lucas, who has caught 30 balls for 391 yards and three touchdowns.
Behind Skelton lies a formidable tailback. Sophomore Xavier Martin has averaged over 105 yards per game through the squad’s five contests to go with five touchdowns.
“They do a number of things exceptionally well,” captain and linebacker Bobby Abare ’09 said. “They have a great pair of running backs and a quarterback who is probably one of the better ones we’ll see this year. Overall they’re a great team that’s capable of making a big play at any given time.” Read more..
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