It's the Second Time Around

There are four weeks left to play in the 1987 Ivy League season, and Harvard, Brown, and Cornell (all 3-1) are all tied for first place. Yale (2-1) is only a half-game behind the front-runners. Despite having two losses apiece, both Penn and Princeton (2-2) still have an outside chance at the Ivy title.

Plenty of football is left to be played and, if last Saturday's action is any indication of how the rest of the season will shape up, then it should be a race that will go down to the wire.

While the Crimson defense was holding off a late Princeton comeback drive, the Elis had to rely on a Kelly Ryan 32-yard touchdown pass to Bob Shoop with six seconds left in the game to defeat the Quakers, 28-22. The Big Red even had its problems against Dartmouth before handling the Green, 21-14.

Sure looks like the makings of one good old-fashioned race. Here are some of the key matchups that will decide who will capture the Ivy crown.

October 31-HARVARD at Brown: Simply, it's the two first-place teams battling each other to take the other team out of the race. At least for now, this game is probably the most anticipated contest of the Ivy season. The Crimson is the last true opponent Brown will face all year because the Bruins close out their Ivy slate against Dartmouth and Columbia.

Princeton at Penn: Whoever wins still has an outside chance. Whoever loses joins Dartmouth and Columbia as disappointed spectators.

November 7-Cornell at Yale: Ryan was magical against the Quakers. Who knows what he'll do against the Big Red.

November 21-Cornell at Princeton: Another tough game for the first-place Big Red. This game is probably the Tigers' final hope if they are able to win their other remaining games.

The Game, New Haven, Conn.: It just might be possible that the Game will once again determine who will win the Ivy championship, as it did two years ago. Can this setting be any more appropriate?

The Yohe Watch: Crimson QB Tom Yohe is nearing several all-time Harvard passing records. Although Yohe finished the Princeton game with 187 yards passing--breaking his four-game consecutive streak of throwing for 200 yards or more--he did manage to connect for two touchdown strikes to raise his total to 14. The Harvard season record is 16, set in 1974 by Milt Holt.

With 1387 yards passing, Yohe needs just 188 yards to break Larry Brown's 1978 season mark of 1575 As for most completions in a season, the Crown Point, Ind. native can surpass Jim Stoeckel's 1973 record of 112 completions if he completes just 20 more passes.

Yohe has proven he is able to produce such numbers in a single game. The Brown game should be interesting to watch.

The Second Time Around: When Princeton QB Jason Garrett eluded the grasp of Harvard Captian Kevin Dulsky to pick up 11 yards in the fourth quarter, most defensive line-men would have been annoyed at themselves for not sacking the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage.

On the next play, Dulsky made sure Garrett didn't pick up any yardage on a scramble. This time, Dulsky pounded Garrett for the sack and an eight-yard loss. Just goes to show that linemen are not easy to fool twice.

Most Unnotable Notable Play of the Week: With 7:41 remaining in the second quarter, Harvard halfback Rufus Jones returned to the field for the first time in two years after being sidelined with a knee injury.

Jones lined up as a wingback. He covered his blocking assignment and went back to the sidelines. Since

Harvard had only 10 men on the field, Jones rushed out from the sidelines to fill the eleventh position.

As Coach Joe Restic said, "The first one off the bench is the first one on the field."

The return of Jones--who practiced in pads last week--was encouraging news for Restic, even though the running game has been doing an outstanding job. Jones might see some action against the Bruins.

The Swatter: Harvard cornerback Frank Caprio batted down four passes against the Tigers. Two of these occurred in the endzone and could have led to two Tiger scores. Instead, Princeton had to settle for two field goals. Caprio's last swat happened on Princeton's final drive of the game. What a difference those broken-up passes made.