Walland, Yale scramble to top of Ivy standings

Senior Joe Walland, a mobile 5'11" quarterback, has helped make the Elis into an Ivy force. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. If you want proof of that, just look at Yale quarterback Joe Walland. At an unimposing 5'11", Walland has gained a reputation as one of the scrappiest dogs in the Ivy League football yard. His play has carried the Yale offense this season, leading the Elis to a 5-1 start, their best opening since their auspicious 8-1 opening to their last Ivy title campaign in 1989. Yale's five-game winning streak is also their first such spurt in 10 years. "He's been extremely important," Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. "He's an integral part of everything we're doing [and] understands our offense better than any kid I've ever coached." Not only does Walland understand the offense, but he is incredibly accurate. The senior has thrown 74 completions on 128 attempts this season, for a mark of 57.8 percent. Most importantly, though, Walland has completed nine touchdown passes while throwing just one interception. "[Accuracy has] been one of his great strengths and one of the reasons we've been real competitive with him at quarterback," Siedlecki said. "We led the nation in turnover ratio last year, which is a combination of offense and defense, but it's easy when your quarterback's not making a lot of mistakes." Another thing that helps Walland to excel is his ability to run. He is Yale's second-leading rusher this year and has become enough of a threat that his scrambling has become Yale's "draw play," according to Siedlecki. "It just brings another strength to my game," Walland said. "It gives me an ability that if I have a heavy pass rush against me, I can scramble, and it's a good quality to have. If you sit back in the pocket you're going to get hit a lot, and I'm not the biggest guy, so I've got to get away from those big guys rushing at me." Walland has scrambled for three touchdowns this season. His longest run was a 22-yard touchdown scamper two weeks ago against Dartmouth. "Even when you think you have the pocket collapsed, he finds a way to get out of it," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "He tucks it and runs, or he ducks under the rush and makes a positive play." As a scrambler and a small quarterback, Walland might draw comparisons to Doug Flutie. But as a scrambler and a southpaw, Walland's hero is Steve Young. His nickname, however, harkens to a much less mobile port-sider who led the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1980s. "I got my nickname when I was about two years old and it's stuck with me ever since," Walland said. "I got it in a weird situation. I used to carry around this little red bat and hit things with it. Someone said, 'That kid's going to be a little boomer.' So I got it from that." Hailing from the suburbs of Cleveland, "Boom" never was a big fan of Esiason, and Walland's play has never resembled the Monday Night Football commentator's style. On his high school team, Walland was part of a two-quarterback rotation with current Penn wide receiver Jason Battung, who did play more like Esiason. "He was kind of the dropback quarterback," Walland said. "And I was more of the bootleg, rollout kind of running quarterback. I'm not facing up against him but he is on the other team and you want to play good against your buddies." Playing a good game against Battung won't be Walland's only motivation this Saturday at the Yale Bowl. At 2-1 in the Ivies, the Elis are one of five teams in the league with just one loss. To beat Penn, Walland will need to have a good showing on Saturday. The Quakers bring a formidable defense and it is certain that they will be keying on the Elis quarterback. "I think his performance is crucial," Siedlecki said. "When he hits on all cylinders like last week, we scored the first four times we have the ball. He's got to have that kind of performance. Our biggest concern is that Penn has a tremendous pass rush and they're a great defensive team." At Yale, it often seems like the most important thing is The Game, the annual battle with Harvard at the close of each season. For Walland, this year's edition will only be important if something else is on the line. "People say, 'Oh, last year we beat Harvard,' and that's a great accomplishment," Walland said. "And that's great for the alumni because they make that game a big deal, but for the players, you don't have anything to prove from that. The only way to prove you have a good year is to win the championship and have that ring on your finger. And this being the last chance for me to get it, I'm going to try my best." To get to the championship, Walland and the Elis will have to go through the guys with the rings already on their fingers on Saturday.

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