BROWN (4-3, 1-3) vs. YALE (4-3, 2-2)
Last year, the Bulldogs shredded the Brown defense, moving up and down the field en route to a 44-point performance.
And they still lost by double digits.
The Bears’ 55-44 win in the Yale Bowl last season came just minutes after Columbia closed out a 16-13 win over Harvard and had seemingly given Yale the inside track for a second-place finish and an outside chance at the Ivy title.
But the loss to Brown dropped the Bulldogs to 3-2 in the league and after falling to Harvard in The Game, Yale finished among a clump of teams tied for second behind Penn.
This year, the title hopes for both teams have already been dashed, leaving each with the sole prospect of playing for a winning league record.
The question coming into this contest is how the Bears will respond after coming within a minute of ending Penn’s four-year home conference winning streak. Without a steady quarterback, Brown could be primed for a let-down game. But running back Nick Hartigan has been a rock for the Bears, and his 179-yard performance against Penn—the league’s top rushing defense—should carry over into a solid showing versus a weaker Yale run defense.
The Bulldogs, however, don’t necessarily come into this contest on an emotional high either. Yale staved off a desperation drive by Columbia to hold on for a 21-14 last weekend. Everyone from quarterback Alvin Cowan (172 yards, two TDs, two interceptions) to running back Robert Carr (21 rushes, 97 yards, one TD) had an average day, leading to an average result against a terrible opponent. If the Bulldogs can’t snap out of this offensive slump, they could close out the season 0-3.
On that note, there’s a good chance they’ll start out 0-1. Hartigan runs for 150 yards and two scores in a 20-17 Brown win.
CORNELL (2-5, 2-2) vs. DARTMOUTH (0-7, 0-4)
Could Cornell be one of only three Ivy teams with a winning league record after tomorrow?
In one of the more bizarre stories of the 2004 season, the Big Red not only still has a chance at an Ivy title (though very, very slim), but it also has held a lead in the second half of each of its first four league contests.
The key has been run defense—something that won’t help Cornell this weekend, because Dartmouth can’t run the ball anyway. The Big Green has trouble passing the ball as well, and, at 0-7, has had tremendous difficulty winning.
New Big Red quarterback Ryan Kuhn is beginning to feel comfortable in the pocket, and that should spell trouble for a Dartmouth defense that gives up big chunks of yardage.
The Big Green gave everything it had last weekend in a heartbreaking 13-12 loss to Harvard. Cornell blows apart the remaining shreds of Dartmouth’s dignity in a 21-7 win.
—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu. His "Around the Ivy League" appears every Friday.