Harvard football won its first game of the season Saturday which only prompts one question--where does that leave them? After all, records are pretty irrelevant as long as the team is in the Ivy League basement. With that first win secured, it is now permitted to look around the Ivy League.
Harvard's 0-3 start belies its actual position. Only its first loss to Columbia was intra-divisional. Among it Ivy foes, only Princeton walked out of week four with a 2-0 record. Columbia, Penn, and Yale won their only Ivy contest, putting Harvard square in the middle of the division at 1-1.
Clearly, the Crimson has some ground to make up. This is a look at how its competitors are faring, in order of the current standings. (Harvard sits between Yale and Dartmouth.)
Princeton (2-2, 2-0 Ivy): Princeton won its second game of the season Saturday over Brown 31-17. The Tigers broke the game open with a 21 point third quarter highlighted by a 51-yard touchdown pass by senior quarterback John Burnham. Senior placekicker Alex Sierk connected on a 51 yard field goal--the second longest in school history. Fresh-man Drew Babinecz earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors with four tackles and a sack in the game.
The Tigers snapped a two game losing streak with that win, having dropped two straight decisions in overtime--34-38 to Lehigh and 20-17 to Fordham. It opened the season with a 6-0 victory over Cornell.
Burnham has had a magnificent senior season completing more passes this year than he attempted all of last year. The rushing attack has blossomed averaging 120.7 yards a game entering Saturday's game; the offense is matched by a run defense fourth in Division I-AA.
Pennsylvania (3-1, 1-0 Ivy): Penn continued a terrific opening to the season edging Fordham 34-31. Senior running back Jim Finn rushed for a career high 195 yards on 29 carries and two TDs with a career high 69-yard touchdown run. Senior quarterback Matt Rader moved into ninth place on the Quakers' all-time list with his 256-yard effort Saturday in just his second year as a starter. Fordham, though, did bust through for 31 points against the Division 1-AA's leading defense.
Saturday's win over the Rams gives the Quakers a two game win streak which includes a 20-10 victory over Bucknell. Penn's lone defeat came on September 26 against Richmond, 34-18--the only game Finn has failed to rush for 100 yards. The Quakers lone Ivy game was a 17-14 victory at the Big Green.
Columbia (2-2, 1-0 Ivy): Columbia narrowly lost to Lehigh Saturday 20-19 on a Jaron Taafe 47-yard goal that barely flew over the crossbar. Columbia had been ahead 19-17 since the end of the third quarter on Kirby Mack's one-yard touchdown run, but junior placekicker Kirby Mack hit the right post on the point-after. The Lions set a team defensive record holding the Engineers to 30 rushing yards on 19 carries. Captain free safety Chris Tillotson led the Lion defenders with nine tackles and two fumble recoveries.
Columbia has split its non-Ivy schedule, losing 27-20 to Bucknell while beating St. Mary's 20-17. Of course, Columbia has won its only Ivy game, dominating Harvard 24-0.
Yale (2-2, 1-0 Ivy): The school that most concerns Harvard fans defeated Holy Cross 15-7 Saturday. The Bulldogs broke through the Crusaders' second-ranked run defense tallying 217 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, Yale's defense turned in a strong effort led by junior defensive end Peter Sarantos who registered four sacks and six tackles. Junior running back Rashad Bartholomew narrowly missed 100 yards for the third straight time with 91.
Junior quarterback Joe Walland has led the Bulldog attack this year, averaging 256 yards of total offense per game--good for second in the Ivy League. Bartholomew, a transfer from Air Force and the best running back Yale has had in years, has darted through holes in the line for an average of 4.6 yards per carry.
Yale opened the season with a 30-28 Ivy League win over Brown. It followed that win with a 63-21 drubbing against Connecticut and a 35-17 loss against Colgate.
Dartmouth (1-3, 0-1 Ivy): Dartmouth traveled up to Colgate Saturday and received what most Ivy teams have this year--a big loss. Red Raider quarterback overwhelmed the Big Green with 19-of-30 passing for 365 yards en route to a 45-24 victory. Dartmouth's 322 yards of total offense, led by junior tailback Reggie Belhomme's 88 yards on 22 carries, simply was not enough against Colgate's attack.
It has been a long season so far for the Big Green. While senior quarterback Mike Coffey has averaged 371 yards passing per game, the team simply has been unable to get into the endzone. Dartmouth broke a two game losing streak with a 13-10 overtime win against Lafayette. Before that game it had lost to Maine 14-3 and Penn 17-14.
Cornell (2-2, 0-2 Ivy): Cornell picked up its second Ivy loss of the season against Harvard Saturday. Rookie coach Pete Mangurian's squad faces the daunting challenge of winning the remainder of its divisional schedule of it hopes to have a chance at a title. Senior quarterback Mike Hood has been the brightest spot for the team, earning Ivy League Player of the Week honors for the previous week against Buffalo.
Cornell lost its other Ivy game to Princeton on opening day. The Big Red has swept its non-league games besting Holy Cross 17-9 and Buffalo 34-31.
Brown (1-3, 0-2 Ivy): Despite falling to Princeton 31-17, senior wide receiver Sean Morey earned the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week award catching 12 passes for a whopping 215 yards. His 12 receptions gave him 205 for his career, a new Ivy League Record and 12th best in NCAA I-AA history. On the strength of Morey's 215 yards, junior quarterback James Perry threw for 442 yards, completing 33 of 60 passes.
The Bears have really hit hard times. It opened the season splitting two close games, a 30-28 home loss against Yale and a 23-21 win at Lafayaette. However, its past two games have been awful with the Princeton loss and a 44-16 defeat at URI the previous week.
Read more in Sports
The Newest Varsity in Town
