Maybe Harvard should learn from what Brown did this weekend: to ensure victory against Cornell, build a 36-point lead before halftime.

The Brown Bears (4-2, 1-2 Ivy) established their offensive dominance early Saturday and hung on to defeat Cornell (2-4, 2-1 Ivy) 56-40 in Providence.

The Bears rocketed to a 42-0 lead by the middle of the second quarter following six unanswered touchdowns to start the game.

Brown scored with all aspects of its offense in the first half. Senior quarterback Eric Webber threw two touchdown passes in the first half hour, one for 63 yards, while junior tailback Michael Malan recorded rushing touchdowns of one, five and 12 yards and also threw for a touchdown.

Though down by six touchdowns, the Big Red offense finally awoke at the end of the first half when junior quarterback Ricky Rahne connected with wide-receiver Keith Ferguson on a 33-yard touchdown pass.

After the break, a resilient Cornell team pressed on, as Rahne threw two more touchdown passes in the second half, including a 54-yard toss to Ferguson. Trying to close the insurmountable gap, the Big Red also got three short touchdown runs from tailback Justin Dunleavy.

The early six-touchdown deficit cemented Cornell's fate, however, as even the comeback kids from Ithaca could not pull off the impossible. Brown continued their offensive onslaught in the second half, as Webber added two more touchdown passes in the third quarter to extend the lead to 56-21.

Two fourth quarter touchdowns by Cornell made the final score respectable, but the Big Red obviously suffered from a porous secondary and inability to establish its running game early.