Dartmouth-Yale Showdown Tops Ivy Gridiron Action

The focus of Ivy League attention stays with Dartmouth this week as the still undefeated Indians travel to New Haven. Just as last Saturday's Harvard-Dartmouth game was to be the definitive showdown for the League title, so today's Yale-Dartmouth contest has taken on winner-take-all proportions.

Off its early games the Elis didn't figure to be in title contention. Holy Cross made mincemeat of the Bulldogs in the season opener, 26-14, a week before the Crusaders bowed themselves to Dartmouth 24-8. Then Yale registered three victories, two of them unconvincing, against Connecticut, Columbia, and Brown--three weak teams.

Now the Elis have seemingly jelled behind Brian Dowling, their oft-injured but talented and charismatic quarterback. No one knows what to make of their 41-6 upset of Cornell last week, but it is safe to say that Dartmouth will be as up this week as the Big Red was down last.

If the Bulldogs win again today, then long put-off re-evaluations will have to be faced and the Ivy League will be faced with a rip-roaringly exciting and unpredictable final three weeks. But the suspicion here is that if Dartmouth is going to lose this year, it will be at Princeton in the fall finale. Yale will fumble away its share of the lead, 21-10.

Brown broke through to its first victory under Coach Len Jardine last week, but the Bears seem stuck with a maximum one-touchdown per game output. That is far from a sufficient offense to take down to Princeton's Palmer Stadium. The Tigers, getting better and better each week as they build up to next Saturday's Dartmouth clash, should romp today, 38-0.

Cornell Favored

Up-again-down-again Columbia visits up-again-down-again Cornell in a game I would like to pick as an upset, but reasonably can't. The Lions have improved since their loss to Harvard and have found a sophomore halfback, Paul Burlingame, o take up the slack expected standout Jim O'Connor was leaving. The Ithacans are back at home, shooting to rebound from two straight defeats. The chance of a Big Red runaway exists, but I'll pick it close, 28-24, Cornell.

That leaves Harvard down in Quaker country, looking for its first win in the Keystone state since 1961. Penn quarterback Bill Creeden completed 15 passes against Harvard last year but has had five below-par games so far this season. Coach Bob Odell is the only Ivy Leaguer among the loop's eight head coaches, but he is one of four who has never beaten Harvard. Both those strings will continue today as the Crimson scores a 21-7 victory.

Last week: 2 right, 3 wrong.

Overall: 16 right, 4 wrong.