Advertisement

Crimson Looks to Clinch Title in Season’s Penultimate Week

The Tigers’ offense is entirely erratic. In every game this season, the team has either scored fewer than 10 points or more than 20. Against Harvard, Princeton somehow managed to put up 39 points, but the Tigers have scored seven and nine in the two weeks since.

It might just be a tune-up for Yale, but quarterback Patrick Witt will still be there—which is more than we can say about Harvard-Yale. The Rhodes can be such a roadblock sometimes.

Prediction: Yale 35, Princeton 7

DARTMOUTH (3-5, 2-3) at BROWN (7-1, 4-1)

Coming into the season with quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero healthy once again, Brown was a team to watch in the Ivy League. But I don’t think anyone could have anticipated that after playing Harvard, Yale, and Penn, the Bears would still be a contender in the league.

Advertisement

After a shaky performance in the second week of the year in Cambridge, Brown has rolled through the Ivy League. Two weeks ago, it handed the Quakers their first Ivy loss since 2008. Last Saturday, the Bears beat the Bulldogs in New Haven to all but end Yale’s shot at an Ivy title.

Despite all this success, Brown still has to win out. If the Bears lose and Harvard wins, the Crimson clinches the Ancient Eight title outright.

Though Dartmouth has struggled all season, it had one of its best games of the year last week. Running back Nick Schwieger ran like he was scared to be too close to his own quarterback, rushing for 257 total yards and breaking the program record.

But the way Brown has played since mid-September, I think that the Bears stay in the Ivy League title hunt for at least one more week.

Prediction: Brown 24, Dartmouth 20

COLUMBIA (0-8, 0-5) at CORNELL (3-5, 1-4)

The matchup between these two schools is commonly known as the Empire State Bowl. But just because it has a cool name doesn’t mean this game matters for much.

Let me give you a list of bowls that mean more than the Empire State Bowl. The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. A bowl of chicken gumbo. Lawn bowling.

With that said, both of these teams are better than their cumulative 1-9 league record would indicate. Columbia, at 0-8, has still been competitive with Penn, Yale, and Harvard this season. Likewise, Cornell’s offense can be a real threat if firing on all spheres, and it demonstrated its ability against the Crimson in early October.

The Big Red might be a better team next year, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the team contend. As for the Lions, success might be a few more years down the road.

Tags

Recommended Articles

Advertisement