Throughout the Quakers 59-28 thrashing of Columbia, their offense, special teams, and rush defense were nearly flawless.
Yet they allowed Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann to pile up a career-high 417 passing yards, and during both halves, the pass coverage appeared to be the weakest part of the Quakers' game.
"When a team comes out and their only game plan is to try and throw the ball, it's really inevitable that they're going to complete some passes," senior linebacker Joe Anastasio said, unconcerned. "Really, I think overall [our secondary] played okay."
But head coach Al Bagnoli had a different analysis. After Saturday's game he said that he would need to look at film to see what went wrong. The tape revealed that while Columbia used their skilled players to create their own chances, "obviously there were some pretty poor plays on our part."
The Quakers, up 45-7 at the half, relaxed their coverage after the break. But Bagnoli didn't think that was the only cause of the Lions' passing success in the second half.
Sometimes, he said, "the secondary didn't react to the ball, didn't reroute kids, didn't make plays where they had a chance to make it."
Practice this week naturally focused on stopping the run since Yale brings star running back Mike McLeod to Franklin Field this Saturday.
But while, in the words of cornerback Greg Ambrogi, "obviously, Yale's receivers aren't as good, and their quarterback doesn't have as good an arm" as Columbia's, the secondary will still have to step up. As the Quakers send out their bigger personnel to handle the league's leading rusher, it will be even more challenging to defend against play-action and bootleg passes.
"You have to read pass first," Ambrogi said. "But you have to be quicker to come up on the run. It's all about playing the right gaps."
Bagnoli said that his defense will have to "do a lot of different things" to avoid getting beaten by a big play, through the air or on the ground.
Walk on. Joe Sandberg received most of the post-game accolades following one of the best performances of his career.
But Bryan Walker has steadily settled in to the starting quarterback role, taking over for the injured Robert Irvin.
Walker completed 16 of 24 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns - solid numbers, but not gaudy ones, considering the score.
But as long as Sandberg is healthy, Walker does not have to be spectacular; solid is more than sufficient.
"He's been a lot more confident, a lot more poised," Bagnoli said. "Certainly his whole demeanor has improved."
Moreover, Bagnoli pointed out that the Quakers have been able to run an offense tailored to Walker's specific strengths.
"We're not asking him to go in the shotgun, get in a five wide receiver spread, and throw the ball vertically all over the place."
Instead, they're able to use his legs, moving the pocket, and running bootleg and some option plays. With Walker flourishing, the Quakers now have two main threats which, Bagnoli said, "feed off each other."
Keep looking. Irvin's MRI on his injured shoulder came back negative, revealing no structural damage. Irvin, who has already been shut down for the season, will have an arthroscopy on his shoulder today or tomorrow to try to find out what has been causing his ailments.
