2017 Yale Bulldogs football team

The 2017 Yale Bulldogs football team represented Yale University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, winning the Ivy League title. The season marked the Bulldogs' 145th overall season. The team played its home games at Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut and were led by sixth-year head coach Tony Reno. They finished the season 9–1 overall and 6–1 in Ivy League play to become Ivy League champions for the first time since 2006 (when they shared the title) and to earn their first sole league title since 1980. Yale averaged 18,939 fans per game.

2017 Yale Bulldogs football
Ivy League champion
Conference	Ivy League
Ranking
STATS	No. 24
FCS Coaches	No. 24
Record	9–1 (6–1 Ivy)
Head coach	Tony Reno (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Conlin (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Sean McGowan (1st season)
Home stadium	Yale Bowl
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Ivy League football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 24 Yale $		6	–	1					9	–	1
Columbia		5	–	2					8	–	2
Dartmouth		5	–	2					8	–	2
Penn		4	–	3					6	–	4
Harvard		3	–	4					5	–	5
Cornell		3	–	4					3	–	7
Princeton		2	–	5					5	–	5
Brown		0	–	7					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

The 2017 season consisted of five home games and five away games. The Bulldogs hosted Ivy League foes Cornell, Columbia, Brown, and Harvard for the 134th edition of The Game, and traveled to Dartmouth, Penn, and Princeton.

Yale's non-conference opponents were Lehigh, Fordham, and Holy Cross, all of the Patriot League.^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 16	12:30 p.m.	at Lehigh*	Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA	PLN	W 56–28	4,996
September 23	1:00 p.m.	Cornell	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	ELVN	W 49–24	10,926
September 30	6:00 p.m.	at Fordham*	Coffey Field Bronx, NY	PLN	W 41–10	3,988
October 7	1:30 p.m.	at Dartmouth	Memorial Field Hanover, NH	ESPN3	L 27–28	8,114
October 14	1:00 p.m.	Holy Cross*	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	ILN	W 32–0	8,709
October 21	1:00 p.m.	at Penn	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	TCN	W 24–19	6,408
October 28	1:00 p.m.	Columbia	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	SNY	W 23–6	15,422
November 3	8:00 p.m.	Brown	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	NBCSN	W 34–7	8,216
November 11	1:00 p.m.	at Princeton	Powers Field at Princeton Stadium Princeton, NJ (rivalry)	ELVN	W 35–31	11,229
November 18	12:30 p.m.	Harvard	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT (rivalry)	CNBC	W 24–3	51,426
*Non-conference game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Lehigh (Yank Townsend Trophy)

See also: 2017 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team and Yank Townsend Trophy

Yale vs. Lehigh – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Yale	14	14	14	14	56
Lehigh	7	6	8	7	28

at Goodman Stadium • Bethlehem, PA

• Date: September 16
• Game time: 12:30 p.m.
• Game weather: 81 °F (27 °C); sunny, hot
• Game attendance: 4,996
• Referee: C. Bloh
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter (13:43) YALE - Melvin Rouse II 37 yd pass from Kurt Rawlings (Alex Galland kick), (Drive 3 plays, 70 yards, 1:17; 7-0 Yale) (09:58) YALE - Christopher Williams-Lopez 43 yd pass from Kurt Rawlings (Alex Galland kick), (Drive 2 plays, 43 yards, 0:45; 14-0 Yale) (00:01) LEHIGH - Nana Amankwah-Ayeh 4 yd run (Austin Henning kick), (Drive 14 plays, 70 yards, 6:22; 14-7 Yale) Second quarter (09:25) LEHIGH - Gatlin Casey 11 yd pass from Brad Mayes (Austin Henning kick blocked), (Drive 10 plays, 91 yards, 4:58; 14-13 Yale) (04:13) YALE - Deshawn Salter 1 yd run (Alex Galland kick), (Drive 12 plays, 79 yards, 5:06; 21-13 Yale) (00:21) YALE - JP Shohfi 11 yd pass from Kurt Rawlings (Alex Galland kick), (Drive 7 plays, 25 yards, 2:57; 28-13 Yale) Third quarter (14:04) LEHIGH - Gatlin Casey 66 yd pass from Brad Mayes (Sasha Kelsey pass), (Drive 2 plays, 72 yards, 0:50; 28-21 Yale) (12:31) YALE - Melvin Rouse II 31 yd pass from Kurt Rawlings (Andrew Johnson rush failed), (Drive 4 plays, 63 yards, 1:28; 34-21 Yale) (06:16) YALE - Zane Dudek 69 yd run (Kurt Rawlings Pass to Christopher Williams-Lopez for Two-Point Conversion), (Drive 4 plays, 80 yards, 2:00; 42-21 Yale) Fourth quarter (08:55) YALE - Zane Dudek 29 yd run (Alex Galland kick), (Drive 1 plays, 29 yards, 0:11; 49-21 Yale) (06:07) LEHIGH - Jorge Portorreal 53 yd pass from Brad Mayes (Austin Henning kick), (Drive 5 plays, 62 yards, 2:38; 49-28 Yale) (03:40) YALE - Andrew Grinde 2 yd run (Alex Galland kick), (Drive 4 plays, 45 yards, 2:24; 56-28 Yale)

Cornell

See also: 2017 Cornell Big Red football team

Cornell vs. Yale – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornell	3	7	0	14	24
Yale	7	7	14	21	49

at Yale Bowl • New Haven, CT

• Date: September 23
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C); sunny, warm
• Game attendance: 10,926
• Referee: T. Kichline
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter COR – Zach Mays, 21 yard field goal, 10:11 (COR 3–0) YALE – Carlson Hayden, 19 yard interception return, Alex Galland XP good, 1:45 (YALE 7–3) Second quarter COR – Chris Walker, 14 yard pass from Dalton Banks, Zach Mays XP good, 4:13 (COR 10–7) YALE – Kurt Rawlings, 14 yard run, Alex Galland XP good, 0:37 (YALE 14–10) Third quarter YALE – Deshawn Salter, 3 yard run, Alex Galland XP good, 11:50 (YALE 21–10) YALE – Deshawn Salter, 1 yard run, Alex Galland XP good, 1:18 (YALE 28–10) Fourth quarter YALE – Jaeden Graham, 4 yard pass from Kurt Rawlings, Alex Galland XP good, 14:56 (YALE 35–10) COR – Harold Coles, 90 yard run, Zach Mays XP no good, 14:33 (YALE 35–16) COR – James Hubbard, 57 yard pass from Dalton Banks, James Hubbard pass from Dalton Banks for 2-point conversion, 8:23 (YALE 35–24) YALE – Deshawn Salter, 82 yard run, Alex Galland XP good, 8:12 (YALE 42–24) YALE – Zane Dudek, 14 yard run, Alex Galland XP good, 5:38 (YALE 49–24)

Fordham

See also: 2017 Fordham Rams football team

Yale vs. Fordham – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Yale	21	7	13	0	41
Fordham	0	3	0	7	10

at Coffey Field • Bronx, NY

• Date: September 30
• Game time: 6:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C); cloudy and windy
• Game attendance: 3,988
• Referee: C. Jebran
• Box Score

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Dartmouth

See also: 2017 Dartmouth Big Green football team

Yale vs. Dartmouth – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Yale	7	17	3	0	27
Dartmouth	0	7	7	14	28

at Memorial Field • Hanover, NH

• Date: October 7
• Game time: 1:30 p.m.
• Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C); overcast
• Game attendance: 8,114
• Referee: W. Gillis
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter YALE –. Christopher Williams-Lopez, 46 yard pass from Kurt Rawlings (Alex Galland XP good), 3:59 (YALE 7–0) Second quarter YALE – Melvin Rouse II, 4 yard pass from Kurt Rawlings (Alex Galland XP good), 14:14 (YALE 14–0) YALE – Zane Dudek, 22 yard pass from Kurt Rawlings (Alex Galland XP good), 7:39 (YALE 21–0) DART – Isiah Swann, 47 yard interception return (David Smith XP good), 2:24 (YALE 21–7) YALE – Alex Galland, 29 yard field goal, 0:00 (YALE 24–7) Third quarter DART – Drew Hunnicut, 30 yard pass from Jack Heneghan (David Smith XP good), 12:18 (YALE 24–14) YALE – Alex Galland, 20 yard field goal, 6:07 (YALE 27–14) Fourth quarter DART – Dylan Mellor, 40 yard pass from Jack Heneghan (David Smith XP good), 6:10 (YALE 27–21) DART – Drew Hunnicut, 15 yard pass from Jack Heneghan (David Smith XP good), 0:34 (DART 28–27)

Holy Cross

See also: 2017 Holy Cross Crusaders football team

Holy Cross vs. Yale – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Holy Cross	0	0	0	0	0
Yale	3	22	7	0	32

at Yale Bowl • New Haven, CT

• Date: October 14
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C); mostly cloudy
• Game attendance: 8,709
• Referee: S. Cadorette
• Box Score

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Penn

See also: 2017 Penn Quakers football team

Yale vs. Penn – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Yale	7	11	0	6	24
Penn	7	3	0	9	19

at Franklin Field • Philadelphia, PA

• Date: October 21
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C); sunny
• Game attendance: 6,408
• Referee: T. Marcella
• Box Score

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Columbia

See also: 2017 Columbia Lions football team

Columbia vs. Yale – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Columbia	0	0	6	0	6
Yale	13	0	3	7	23

at Yale Bowl • New Haven, CT

• Date: October 28
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C); mostly sunny
• Game attendance: 15,422
• Referee: J. Pumphrey
• Box Score

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Brown

See also: 2017 Brown Bears football team

Brown vs. Yale – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Brown	0	0	0	7	7
Yale	20	7	7	0	34

at Yale Bowl • New Haven, CT

• Date: November 3
• Game time: 8:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C); partly cloudy
• Game attendance: 8,216
• Referee: T. Boyd
• Box Score

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Princeton

See also: 2017 Princeton Tigers football team and Princeton–Yale football rivalry

Yale vs. Princeton – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Yale	0	14	14	7	35
Princeton	7	17	7	0	31

at Powers Field at Princeton Stadium • Princeton, NJ

• Date: November 11
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 37 °F (3 °C); cold, clear
• Game attendance: 11,229
• Referee: M. Sechris
• Box Score

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Harvard ("The Game")

See also: 2017 Harvard Crimson football team and Harvard–Yale football rivalry

Harvard vs. Yale – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Harvard	3	0	0	0	3
Yale	0	17	0	7	24

at Yale Bowl • New Haven, CT

• Date: November 18
• Game time: 12:30 p.m.
• Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C); cloudy
• Game attendance: 51,426
• Referee: H. Johns
• Box Score

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

NFL draft

One Bulldog was selected in the 2018 NFL draft following the season.^[2]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
6	200	Foyesade Oluokun	S	Atlanta Falcons