Two things inhibit success on the football field: turnovers and the inability to convert opponent’s turnovers into points.

The Red (0-2, 0-1 Ivy League) showed why turnovers and missed opportunities have a tendency to cost you significantly in a 21-7 loss to Yale (2-0, 1-0) on the Red’s homecoming Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field.

The loss to the Bulldogs marked the 10th straight for the Red dating back to last season, who are still winless in the Kent Austin era.

According to Austin, the Red is not a skilled enough team to win games where they cough up the football and allow their opponents to capitalize.

“We’re not good enough right now to turn the ball over and give up big plays,” said Austin.

The Red had two turnovers, and resulted in 14 points for the Bulldogs. The Red forced two turnovers, both picks by senior cornerback Emani Fenton, but failed to capitalize and turn those turnovers into points.

The Red trailed the Bulldogs 7-0, but tied the game on freshman quarterback Jeff Matthews’s 11-yard swing pass to junior running back Nick Booker-Tandy.

Matthews completed 23 of 35 passes for 248 yards and became the first freshman signal caller to start a game in school history. Matthews took over the top spot on the depth chart when junior Adam Curry suffered a broken arm in last week’s 41-7 loss at Wagner, ending his season.

According to Matthews, what means the most to him is getting that all-important “W.”

“It doesn’t mean much to be the first freshman to start a game [at quarterback] but I think it would mean a little something to be the first freshman [quarterback] to win a game,” said Matthews. “…That’s the goal. It’s not to start games, it’s to win them.”

Although the Red were tied at seven at the half, a Matthews interception and fumble on a punt return by Luke Tasker gave the Bulldogs excellent field position, and they capitalized scoring touchdowns on both drives to put the game out of reach.

According to Austin, winning the turnover battle is one of the most important factors that lead to a win.

“All studies show…that the two most important stats are turnover ration and the number of big plays,” Austin said. “If you win both those categories, your probabilities go through the roof of winning a football game and we’re losing both of them right now.”

The Red are looking to make some adjustments under Austin's regime, both offensively and defensively.

The Red have only scored 14 points in their first two games, and have given up over 500 yards on the ground defensively.

However, according to Matthews, success on offense comes down to leaving no long drive unfinished.

“We got to finish drives and that’s simple for us,” Matthews said. “We got to finish drives and once we do that, we’ll score a lot more points.”

The Red look to bounce back from a tough loss on homecoming when they travel to Bucknell to take on the Bison next Saturday, Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m.

And despite the 0-2 start, Austin has been impressed with underclassman taking over starting roles due to injuries, the most notable example being Matthews at quarterback.

“[We’re] proud of all of them,”Austin said. “…We’re challenging them to grow and we’re challenging them to get better.”