After one weekend of non-league competition, Ivy football has taken on its familiar pattern, surprising only those who expect to find reason in an irrational structure.

Princeton rolled up nearly 500 yards total offense on mediocre Rutgers but still lost to the Knights for the third time in four years, 33-18. Brown, with its best backfield since the late '50's, was embarrassed by weak neighbor Rhode Island, 35-21--only the eighth time that has happened in 57 years. Columbia's best team since 1961 was shut out by Lafayette, 3-0. And so it went. Plus ca change, plus c'cst la meme chose.

Some things, however, don't change. Penn, which may finally have put together a respectable squad after two years of disappointment, put down Lehigh for the 52nd consecutive year. Yale, still dangerous with halfback Dick Jauron, rubbed out Connecticut for the 21 time in 23 attempts. And Dartmouth, although decimated by graduation and working with a new coach, rumbled past Massachusetts, 31-7, for its tenth straight victory. The Ivy power structure--built around Harvard, Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale--is basically intact, with the addition of Cornell this year to make things interesting.

Princeton, a notoriously slow starter, visits Columbia this weekend, and the victim probably will continue on to a losing season--which would be a novelty for the Tigers, but nothing new around New York. Don Jackson, the Lions' ace quarterback, damaged a knee last Saturday, and his loss will severely hamper Columbia's passing threat.

It has been a while since a Penn-Brown contest was any kind of a feature event, but next weekend, it will be the main attraction of a doubleheader, at which Drexel Tech and Lafayette will also perform. Penn welcomed prodigal quarterback Ron Dawson back into the fold last Saturday, and he scored two of the Quakers' four touchdowns. Brown, which has not beaten Penn since 1964, has two of the league's best backs in Tom Spotts and Gary Bonner, but not a whole lot else.

Holy Cross, which won its first game since 1968 in Cambridge last week, will have a more difficult task at Hanover. Dartmouth may have lost coach Bob Blackman and a bloc of lettermen, but there is plenty of talent left, and Jake Crouthamel has retained the Blackman system almost in its entirety.

Cornell, led by All-American tailback Ed Marinaro this fall, is a definite contender in the Ivy race. Marinaro is the core of the Big Red attack; he carried 43 times for 246 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-20 rout of Colgate last week. The Cornell defense is suspect, however, and it will face a Rutgers attack that exacted five touchdowns from Princeton. A victory would put the Big Red in quite a tolerable position.

Yale, which spells Marinaro J-A-U-R-O-N, has not had problems with Colgate since the pre-Dowling days, and should not have any at New Haven this weekend.