WORCESTER, Mass. — Behind standout offensive performances from quarterback Dante Reno and wide receiver Jaxton Santiago, the No. 19 Bulldogs opened their season Saturday with a hard-fought 38-28 victory over Holy Cross. The win marked the first at Yale for head coach Kevin Cahill.
Down 28-21 with 9:36 left in the fourth quarter, Reno led the Bulldogs on a furious rally, scoring 17-unanswered points to end the contest.
Key Performers
- Reno and Santiago nearly broke several Yale single-game records against the Crusaders.
- In the passing game, Reno went 30-43 for 454 yards and five passing touchdowns, shattering all of his previous career bests. Santiago caught 12 of Reno's passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns, cruising to new career highs as well.
- Wide receiver Lucius Anderson also reaped the benefits of Reno's arm, catching nine passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
- Defensive back JP Schmidt led the Bulldogs in tackles on the day, with a career-high 10 overall for the junior.
- Defensive back Osize Daniyan nabbed the game-sealing interception for Yale to go along with eight total tackles on the day.
Turning Point
After the Crusaders scored a touchdown to secure a 28-21 lead in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs responded on the following drive with a 47-yard completion from Reno to Santiago on 3rd & 12. Reno tied the game two plays later with an 18-yard touchdown strike to Santiago.
Yale scored 10 more points to close the game out in its favor, including a 28-yard touchdown from Reno to tight end Graham Smith.
Game Notes
- Reno was 11 yards from breaking the Yale single-game passing yards record (465), set by Griffin O'Connor against Princeton in 2018. He is now No. 2 on the list.
- Santiago was 24 yards from breaking the Yale single-game receiving yards record (258), set by Ralph Plumb against Brown in 2004. He is now tied with Reed Klubnik for No. 3 on the list.
- Reno secured the first 400-yard passing game by a Yale quarterback since Grant Jordan threw for 412 against Dartmouth in 2024.
- Reno also became the first Yale quarterback to throw for five touchdowns since Jordan threw for six touchdowns against Brown in 2024.
- 524 total yards for the Bulldogs is the most for the team since getting 532 against Dartmouth in 2024.
- Team captain Abu Kamara led the team with two tackles for loss on the day.
- Smith scored his first touchdown of the season, and the third of his Yale career.
- Kevin Cahill picked up his first win at the helm as Yale's Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach.
- The game was Yale's seventh-straight regular season win going back to last season.
Hear From The Bulldogs
- "It's great that we started the season 1-0," Cahill said. "Winning on the road to start the season was nice. We found out a lot about ourselves in this game. Some good and some opportunities to fix a lot of our issues. Now we have to get to work and be better tomorrow than we were today."
- "It was a tough, gritty win, and we found a way to get it done," Kamara said. "I'm proud of this team, and we know there's still a lot of work ahead if we want to keep moving in the right direction. Tonight we grabbed a piece of our identity back by battling the way we did, and that's something we can build on."
- "[Holy Cross] has had a rough start to the year, and we knew that they were going to come in here and give us their best," Reno said. "They came out here and played really hard. They have a bunch of great players and a great coach. So they used that in the first half and we came out and just played our game in the second half."
Up Next
Team 153 will be back in action next Saturday, Sept. 26 at 1 p.m., where they will open Ivy League play on the road against Cornell.
