The Harvard football team finally won a close game last weekend, leaping ahead of Holy Cross last Saturday before hanging on to win, 28-25.

Freshman quarterback Rich Linden, subbing for an injured Jay Snowden, turned in a solid performance in his debut as the starter, completing 12-of-22 passes for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns as Harvard (2-3 overall, 0-2 Ivy) displayed an effective passing game for the second straight week.

Linden, who was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week, completed a 46-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to junior Colby Skelton, who had seven receptions for 111 yards.

Skelton, who also topped the 100-yard mark against Cornell, was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll and has proven to be one of the most surehanded receivers in the conference.

The Crimson travels to Princeton this weekend in search of its first Ancient Eight win this season.

Around the Ivy League

The league-leading Columbia Lions (5-0, 2-0) continued to defy the Laws of Football last weekend with a 3-0 win over pitiful Lafayette.

The Lions forced 12 fumbles in a sloppy, rain-soaked game, before winning in the fourth quater behind sophomore place kicker Matt Linit's 24-yard field goal.

If Columbia is able to beat Yale on the road this Saturday, the 6-0 start would be the Lions best since 1945.

Tied with Columbia, Ivy League pre-season favorite Dartmouth (5-0, 2-0) blew out Yale, 40-6, in Hanover.

Dartmouth place kicker Dave Regula established a new school record in the blow-out, scoring 16 points in the game on four field goals and four extra points.

The Big Green travel to play at Cornell this Saturday.

Speaking of Cornell, the Big Red (2-3, 2-0) suffered a loss to the lowly Red Raiders of Colgate, 31-21 Saturday. Although Cornell is tied for the Ivy lead, the Big Red has lost all of its out-of-conference games this season.

Cornell's All-Ivy running back Chad Levitt tore apart the Red Raiders run defense, carrying the ball for 209 yards and two touchdowns, one of which came on an 88-yard scamper. Levitt was named Offensive Co-Player of the Week for the third time this season and has now surpassed the 4,000-yard career rushing mark.

Following a dismal start, Brown (2-3, 1-1) has recovered nicely with back-to-back wins against Princeton and Fordham.

The Bears quarterback Jason McCullough threw for 298 yards to lead Brown over Fordham, 27-14.

Yale (2-3, 1-1), which suffered an embarrassing 40-6 defeat at the hands of Dartmouth last week, is tied with Brown for fourth place in the Ivy League, despite having been outscored 142-78 by its opponents.

Following a 30-0 thrashing of Brown in the first week, Carm's squad has lost three out of its last four games by an average of 32 points.

Joining the Crimson in the Ivy League basement, perennial powers Penn and Princeton have been tossed from the penthouse and into the outhouse.

The Quakers' poor record (2-3, 0-2) is deceptive; Penn lost it's first game by two points at Dartmouth and fell to Columbia by a point in overtime.

The Tigers (1-4, 0-2), like the Quakers, have lost each of their four games by six points or less, including a heartbreaking overtime defeat at Cornell.