NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Merrimack College football team will try to extend its win streak as the Warriors return to the road and travel to Yale on Saturday.
The Bulldogs, who recently ranked inside the top-20 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, dropped out of the ranking after a 38-25 loss to Cornell over the weekend. The Warriors are coming off a 17-10 win over New Haven on Homecoming, Reunion and Alumni Weekend.
"We're excited about the opportunity to compete against Yale," head football coach Mike Gennitti said. "They're a blue blood college football program with incredible history and tradition. They're a very talented football team. We'll have our hands full preparing for them."
The Warriors, who have played two opponents in the FCS top-25 (Rhode Island, Tarleton State) and one in the FBS (Delaware), are coming off arguably their most complete game of the season. Merrimack compiled 403 yards of offense against New Haven while limiting the Chargers to 170 yards of offense at a rain-soaked Duane Stadium. The Warriors pulled out the win with a game-sealing fumble recovery in the final minutes.
Merrimack senior running back Matthias Latham enters the contest against Yale having just totaled 216 yards of offense on 28 touches, including 176 rushing yards on 27 carries.
"The true momentum comes from our preparation this week," Gennetti said. "If we prepare the way that we need to, then we'll allow ourselves to play well on Saturday at the Yale Bowl. Our preparation is our focus."
Yale (1-1, 0-1 in Ivy League) will host Merrimack in its first home game of the season, despite the calendar reading October. The Bulldogs earned a road win over the College of Holy Cross in their season opener before dropping last week's contest to Cornell.
First-year head coach Kevin Cahil and the Bulldogs entered the season ranked No. 18 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and No. 19 in the FCS Preseason Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs qualified for the FCS playoffs during the 2025 season and advanced to the second round after a 28-point comeback in their opening-round win.
Through two games, the Yale offense has averaged 31.5 points per game on 442.5 yards of offense while the defense has allowed 33 points per game on 293 yards of offense. Yale quarterbacks Dante Reno and Charles Hewitt have split time during the early going. Reno, who transferred to Yale from South Carolina, was named Ivy League Player of the Week after he threw for 454 yards and five touchdowns during Yale's season-opening win against the Crusaders.
The head-to-head matchup will mark the first time in program history that Merrimack has faced Yale.
Kickoff from the Yale Bowl is set for 12 p.m., and you can watch it on ESPN+.
