Around the Ivy: Yale, Brown in First with Two Weeks Left

Heading into last weekend's Ivy League football match-ups, four schools were tied for first place in the league. By late Saturday afternoon, however, only two of those teams--Brown (7-1 overall, 4-1 Ivy) and Yale (7-1, 4-1)--remained atop the conference, while the weekend's tough-luck losers, Harvard (5-3, 3-2) and Cornell (5-3, 3-2), watched their Ivy League title hopes become considerably remote.

Harvard's 17-10 loss to Brown on Saturday all but eliminated the possibility of an Ivy League Championship for the Crimson in 1999.

In order for Harvard to now win the league outright, it will not only have to defeat defending league champion Pennsylvania this week and then Yale on the road, but both Yale and Brown will also have to lose twice, and Cornell once. This scenario appears particularly unlikely considering that Brown's two remaining opponents are Dartmouth and Columbia, two squads that boast a combined record of 4-12.

Like Harvard, Cornell also fell one game back of first place Saturday after dropping a 37-20 decision to Yale. In a game that featured two prolific passing offenses, Yale, led by senior quarterback Joe Walland, eventually outlasted the Big Red, and earned itself a share of the Ivy league's top spot.

Yale 37, Cornell 20

Walland passed for two touchdowns and broke school records for career attempts and completions as the Elis swept to victory at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.

Following two Cornell scoring drives of 98 and 65 yards, Yale trailed the Big Red, 14-7, in the second quarter. But the Elis went on to score 30 unanswered points, and successfully kept the ball out of Cornell's hands for much of the second half.

In the third quarter, Walland led an 85-yard Yale scoring drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Josh Phillips. The score gave Yale a comfortable 30-14 advantage, and its ball control offense prevented the Big Red from making a comeback.

For his part, Walland--who was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week--completed 24 of 33 passing attempts for 244 yards. He is now just 77 yards shy of breaking the Yale record for career passing yards.

Also for Yale, wideout Eric Johnson caught 8 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Yale tailback Rashad Bartholomew complemented the Eli air attack by gaining 123 yards on the ground on 23 carries.

Yale now looks ahead to next weekend, when it will attempt to maintain its position atop the Ivy standings at Princeton.

Penn 41, Princeton 13

On its homecoming weekend, Penn (4-4, 3-2) outscored Princeton 35-7 in the second half to record its third league victory of the season. Sophomore defensive back Kunle Williams returned two interceptions for touchdowns to lead the Quakers.

A pair of field goals for each team accounted for all the scoring in the first half. In the third quarter, however, Penn struck three times in the span of 5:14 to put the Tigers (3-5, 1-4) away.

Sophomore Rob Milanese scored the team's first touchdown when he caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Gavin Hoffman.

Later in the same quarter, with the Quakers leading 20-6 and the Tigers' starting quarterback Tommy Crenshaw knocked out of the game with an injury, Williams intercepted backup Princeton quarterback Jon Blevins and ran 41 yards for the score.

Williams, the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, later intercepted Blevins a second time in the final minute of play. After catching the ball in his own end zone, Williams trudged 100 yards in the other direction for the touchdown, tying an NCAA record.

Led by the play of Williams, the Penn defense was the story of the game. The Quakers sacked the two Princeton quarterbacks eight times, and picked off three passes. Additionally, the Tigers were held to just 85 yards on the ground.

Fresh off this impressive drubbing of Princeton, Pennsylvania will travel to Harvard this weekend to take on the Crimson at The Stadium.

Columbia 21, Dartmouth 14

In its final home game of the year, Columbia (3-5, 1-4)capitalized on two blocked punts by sophomore linebacker Quenton Unsworth to beat Dartmouth (1-7, 1-4). The victory was the Lions' first Ivy win of the year.

On two occasions--one late in the second quarter, and the other early in the second half--Unsworth broke through the line of the Big Green and blocked a punt deep in Dartmouth territory.

The blocks helped an otherwise lackluster Columbia offense, which gained a mere 245 total yards, score its second and third touchdowns of the day and put the Lions ahead, 21-0.

Dartmouth would spring back to life midway through the third quarter. The Big Green scored twice on consecutive possessions off an 11-yard TD reception by Bob Bun and a nine-yard TD run by Reggie Belhomme. The scores trimmed the Columbia lead to 21-14.

From that point on, however, the Columbia defense took over and prevented Dartmouth from inflicting any further damage. The Big Green did engineer a threatening drive to the Columbia 25-yard line with just over a minute to play in the game. However, on first down, Dartmouth QB Brian Mann fumbled the ball on an errant pitch attempt. The Lions recovered, and went on to win their first league victory of the season.

For his efforts, Unsworth was honored as the Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week.