Battle of Ivy Unbeatens Set For Weekend

After a dominating 45-33 win over Ivy doormat Columbia, Harvard remains undefeated on the season (7-0, 5-0 Ivy) and looks ahead to a matchup with fellow undefeated Ivy rival Penn. The matchup this Saturday will be the last battle of unbeatens in college football for the calendar year and will only be the fifth Ivy matchup since 1910 between two teams who have remained undefeated this far into the season.

The other half of this marquee game was sealed with Penn’s 21-10 win over Princeton. The rest of the Ivy League action also featured a pair of exciting come-from-behind wins, some Brown offensive trickery, and a one-handed game winning touchdown.

Pennsylvania 21, Princeton 10

Penn, Harvard’s closest Ivy competition, rallied from a 10-7 third quarter deficit against Princeton (1-6, 1-4) to remain undefeated. Penn (7-0, 5-0) has the longest winning streak in Division I-AA at 11 straight games.

Princeton quarterback David Splithoff carried most of the offense load for the Tigers, completing 19-of-34 passes for 217 yards as well as scoring on a three-yard touchdown run for their only touchdown of the game.

Princeton was leading 10-7 nearing the end of the third quarter when the Tigers mounted an 80-yard drive. That drive came to a halt at the Penn 2-yard line with less than three minutes left in the third quarter. Penn then assembled an impressive 18-play, 98-yard drive that culminated in a two-yard touchdown dive from running back Kris Ryan. Ryan finished the day with one touchdown on 36 carries for 166 yards.

Penn’s Adam Koslosky also had a two-yard touchdown run, good for the game’s final score.

Cornell 28, Dartmouth 24

Evan Simmons and the Cornell defense propelled the Big Red over the Big Green on Saturday in Hanover. Dartmouth (1-6, 0-3 Ivy) was hurt by two turnovers that sparked Cornell (2-5, 1-3) scoring drives.

Michael Gratch led the way for Dartmouth, rushing for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Wideout Jay Bernard scored on a seven-yard pass from quarterback Joe Kinder, and Tyler Lavin added a 25-yard field goal for the Big Green. But it was the mistakes of Kinder—two interceptions—that ultimately lost the game for Dartmouth. One of the pivotal interceptions occurred at the end of the third quarter and led to a Simmons touchdown run that reduced the Dartmouth lead to 24-21.

While Simmons rushed for a modest 83 yards as compared to Gratch’s 141, it was the number of times he hit pay dirt that led Cornell to victory. Simmons most pivotal play came with 6:46 left in the fourth quarter and Cornell still trailing by three, 24-21. Simmons ran 11-yards on a right pitch, and extended his hand and the football into the endzone as he was being forced out of bounds. That touchdown proved to be the difference, as Cornell hung on for the 28-24 win.

Brown 37, Yale 34

In a game of high-octane offenses, Brown’s family connection ultimately proved to much for Yale (3-4,1-4). The Rowley brothers--quarterback Kyle and wideout Travis--hooked up for the game winning 37-yard touchdown pass that capped an exciting Bears (4-3, 3-2) rally.

The game was a match of quarterbacks, Brown’s Kyle Rowley versus Yale’s T.J. Hyland, who subbed for injured starter Peter Lee. Hyland completed 11-of-22 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown, and he rushed for 139 more yards, a team high. While not as mobile as his competitor, Rowley netted three touchdowns passes with 274 yards on 18-of-32 attempts.

Yale took an early 20-17 lead in the first half behind the rushing efforts of Jay Schulze, who scored two of his career-high four touchdowns before the bands hit the field. Schulze counterpart, Brown’s Mike Malan, was held in check with just 27 yards in the first half, and finished the game with a 112 total yards.

In the second half, however, Brown’s stingy defense and innovative offense led the way. With Yale going for it on fourth and inches leading 27-24 late in the third quarter, Brown outside linebacker Bobby Parisien stopped Schulze from reaching a first down. On the next play from scrimmage, Brown’s offense dipped into its bag of tricks and came up with a doozy. Kyle Rowley handed off to Malan, who proceeded to lateral back to Rowley, who in turn fired a strike to his brother Travis for the 37-yard touchdown pass that put Brown ahead for good.