Football's Ivy League Hopes Still Alive

Saturday's Ivy League gridiron action was typified by inexplicable games where momentum could turn around a game in a heartbeat.

And when the dust settled, there was a five-horse race with no unbeaten teams remaining.

The Harvard football team's (3-2, 1-1 Ivy) contest with Fordham may have been the clearest example of these drastic turnarounds as a 34-3 lead was whittled down to 37-30 before time expired.

This outcome seemed to be the rule, not the exception on Saturday, as almost every game was a case of two very different halves of football.

In its contest against Rhode Island Brown jumped out to a 27-3 halftime lead. Despite the commanding lead, however, the Bears ended up needing a dropped two-point conversion pass by the Rams to ensure a 27-25 victory.

On the very afternoon that reports claiming that URI is considering dropping its football program surfaced, the Bears showed little mercy, striking for four first-half touchdown passes.

Brown's senior quarterback James Perry broke two Ivy League career records in the win. His four touchdown tosses gave him 60 for his career, passing the previous mark of 58, and he also finished the day with the career record for completions with 634.

It was Perry's four interceptions, however, that enabled the 0-6 Rams to make a valiant comeback behind sophomore backup quarterback Vince Nedimyer. His 16-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute to play gave URI a chance to tie with the 2-point conversion. Sophomore tailback Moses Tajong dropped the ball in the end zone, however, extending the Rams' nine-game losing streak.

Penn received a memorable performance from sophomore quarterback Gavin Hoffman, as he led the Quakers' potent offense to a 41-17 victory, spoiling Columbia's homecoming. Hoffman--the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week--was nearly perfect. He connected on 25-of-32 passes for a school-record 399 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception.

The Lions (2-3, 0-2) could muster only 241 yards of total offense compared to Penn's 626. Columbia, however, still hung tough trailing only 21-17 at the break. The Lions were unable to keep pace in the shootout in the second half, though, as Penn dominated both sides of the ball.

The Quakers (3-2, 2-0) had too many weapons for the Lions, moving the ball on the ground as well as through the air. Sophomore running back Kris Ryan rolled up 172 yards and a touchdown rushing, keeping Penn within a half game of first place Cornell in the conference.

Cornell's bubble finally burst this weekend as it suffered their first loss of the season, a 55-16 blowout by Colgate. The Big Red (4-1, 3-0) actually led 3-0 early on, and only trailed by 11 early in the third quarter. Then the floodgates opened.

Colgate poured it on behind a ground game that racked up 370 yards and a defense which only allowed 198 total yards to Cornell.

The Red Raiders' (6-1) junior tailback Randall Joseph rushed for 217 yards and three scores. Colgate senior quarterback Ryan Vena was masterful in directing the offense, hitting on 12-of-15 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown while not throwing any interceptions.

Cornell's sophomore quarterback Ricky Rahne--whose heroics led a late comeback over Harvard just a week earlier--was not as fortunate. Rahne completed just 10-of-20 passes for 131 yards and an interception. The Big Red line did not help his cause, as he was knocked back for -32 yards on the day.

Additionally, the line's inability to open up holes for the running game made the one-dimensional offense easy to stop for the powerful Red Raiders.

One bright spot was the play of junior wide receiver Joe Splendorio, whose 65 yards on three catches allowed Cornell to hang in for the first half. Despite the lopsided loss, the Big Red still remains in the driver's seat in the conference with its undefeated league record.

Meanwhile, up-and-coming Yale (4-1, 1-1) jumped back into the Ivy race with a one-sided 44-3 victory over winless Dartmouth (0-5, 0-2). Late in the second quarter, the Big Green trailed just 10-3 when the Eli converted a crucial 4th down keeping alive a drive deep in Dartmouth territory. After Yale senior quarterback Joe Walland capped the drive with a 13 yard scoring strike before the half, the rout was on.

Walland ended up passing for 287 yards, also keeping the Big Green defense off-balance with 42 yards rushing with a touchdown.

Though the offense piled up 512 yards on the day, it was the defense that made a statement. The Bulldogs tallied eight sacks, as well as a defensive touchdown on junior defensive back Todd Tomich's interception return.

Dartmouth's three points for the game gives it a total of 36 in five games, by far the lowest total in the conference. The Big Green is now just searching for a win while Yale will have a chance to take over first place as it plays both Penn and Cornell in the next three weeks.

In New Jersey, Princeton enjoyed a non-league contest win over Lafayette by the count of 22-10. The Tigers (2-3, 0-2) saw the emergence of sophomore quarterback Tommy Crenshaw who went 21-of-35 through the air for 218 yards and a touchdown. All of these numbers were career highs for Crenshaw, whose consistent play helped Princeton to extend its dominance over Lafayette in their series, running its record to 32-2-3.

The Tigers balanced their attack with 147 yards rushing from senior running back Derek Thiesan, 102 yards receiving from senior wideout Danny Brian and seven catches from senior receiver Phil Wendler. However, the most impressive Tiger performance actually came from the sophomore kicker/punter Taylor Northrup.

Northrup garnered Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honors with a well-rounded performance. He connected on field goals of 42, 44, and 47 yards, boomed three punts an average of 40.3 yards and made a touchdown saving tackle, which maintained the Tigers' 12-point cushion.

The only thing that Saturday's games proved was that nothing has been resolved in the Ivy League. Penn and Cornell lead the pack, but have little margin for error with Brown, Yale and Harvard all waiting to capitalize on any slip up. Virtually every game from now until season's end will be league contest, and with five teams in the running and no clear-cut favorite, the race is still wide-open.

Offensive Player of the Week

Gavin Hoffman, Pennsylvania sophomore quarterback: Hoffman shattered the school record of 360 yards in the air as he completed 25-of-32 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Quakers' 41-17 rout of Columbia.

Defensive Player of the Week

Isaiah Kacyvenski, Harvard senior linebacker: Kacyvenski was all over the field, racking up 20 tackles and a sack, as well as breaking up two passes and grabbing his fourth interception of the season in Harvard's 37-30 victory over Fordham.