Critics too harsh on Yale for 38-point loss

The Yale Daily News NEW HAVEN, Conn. (U-WIRE) --The worst season-opening loss in school history. The most points ever allowed against an Ivy League opponent and the third-most ever scored against Yale. The most total yards allowed against Brown in the school's 102-year history. Yale's 52-14 loss against Brown was as one-sided a game as you could possibly find. Freshman quarterback Mike McClellan did not complete a pass until the last play of the first quarter, giving Yale its initial first down of the game. Meanwhile, Brown seemed to move the ball at will in scoring three touchdowns on the beleaguered Yale defense. At halftime, Yale trailed 35-0 and Brown had already racked up over 300 yards passing, while McClellan threw four interceptions. As sorry as these statistics appear, the loss was not all that bad. For those who watched the entire game, and that is not very many people, there was a recurring theme from start to finish. Yale is young -- real young. Sure, all the offensive linemen had some experience last year, and the defensive front seven is arguably as solid as any in the league. But Yale is inexperienced in every single skill position. Because of injuries to the only two quarterbacks who participated in spring practice last year, McClellan and Chris Whittaker -- who returned to school this fall after two years away from school and football -- played the most important position on the field with hardly anytime to acclimate themselves to the system. Elis coach Jack Siedlecki said during the week that he pared down the intricate offense he runs so that both quarterbacks understood exactly what they were calling. What the casual spectator saw all too often was an ill-advised pass to a waiting Brown defensive back. But what most people did not consider was that on several occasions, it appeared that some of the receivers may not have run the precise pattern required of the play. And a few times, receivers simply dropped passes right in their hands. With the graduation of wideouts Clint Rodriguez and Heath Ackley, James Paci has switched from defense to offense and now starts at receiver. For the others at the position -- namely Ken Marschner and Jake Borden -- it is easy to understand how nerves might affect their play, as anxiety undoubtedly did to McClellan and Whittaker. It is essential to give a quarterback starting his first college game confidence from the beginning to ease his bubbling nerves and allow his natural talent to show. McClellan did his job on his first pass, a 15-yard out pattern to Borden, but the sophomore receiver missed a catchable ball. While it might be easy to fault Borden, one must remember that he didn't exactly get a whole lot of playing time last year as a freshman. Who knows how the game would have materialized had Yale completed that 15-yard pass and picked up the first down? Without the experienced and accomplished senior running back, Jabbar Craigwell, Jake Fuller showed his youth in his first varsity game. Fuller seemed tentative from the get-go and even confused at times. It wasn't until the second half when the more experienced Derek Bentley entered the game that the running game started gaining some yards. This theme carried over to the other side of the ball as well. The only starting defensive back with any experience is Nate Boxrucker, who started five games at cornerback last year and now plays free safety. The two cornerbacks are green sophomores, and Brown's All-Ivy wide receiver Sean Morey made that abundantly clear.

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