This may look like a matchup of Ivy League doormats, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Compare, for instance, “Cars 2” and “Bucky Larson,” two box-office flops that came out this year. Although “Cars 2” did not earn much love from the critics and it’s probably still Pixar’s worst film, it wasn’t half-bad. Certainly entertaining, if goofy, and it definitely has its moments.
Then you have “Bucky Larson,” a movie I didn’t see because it looked so awful in the previews. You know how some movies fall into the so-bad-it’s-good category? Apparently this film was way, way past that point.
Dartmouth is “Cars 2”—some weaknesses for sure, but some highlights as well.
And Columbia? Falls a little bit more on the “Bucky Larson” end of things.
Actually, the Lions are coming off a game in which it contended against Penn, but Columbia couldn’t hold on in the end. And I think that the closeness of that one had more to do with serious Quaker weaknesses and lackluster performance in the first three quarters than any strengths that Columbia might have.
Penn has made a habit of pulling off those wins like that. And the Lions just haven’t shown much promise yet.
Dartmouth was clearly better last week than it was the week before when the Big Green was shut out by Yale, but its defense needs work. It surrendered 426 total yards to Holy Cross quarterback Ryan Taggart—and that’s tough to overcome.
Pick: Dartmouth 24, Columbia 17
PRINCETON (1-4, 1-1) at HARVARD (4-1, 2-0)
I’m not sure whether he’s eating his spinach or his Wheaties. Maybe he’s been watching inspirational sports movies back-to-back that are giving him that extra drive.
Whatever junior quarterback Colton Chapple is doing, it’s been working. His last two games have been nothing short of extraordinary.
In addition to being the first Harvard quarterback to throw four touchdowns in consecutive games, he’s just the second to throw for five TDs in a contest. The last time a Harvard passer did that, neither Hawaii nor Alaska was a state.
And that’s not all. He threw five in just over two quarters before he was taken out. Had he played the whole game, I honestly believe he could have thrown eight touchdowns.
If Chapple plays like he has in the last two weeks against Cornell and Bucknell, I don’t think Princeton has a shot.
Pick: Harvard 38, Princeton 13
RECORD LAST WEEK: 4-2 (To date: 12-6)