Before Saturday’s loss to Holy Cross, the last time Harvard lost a non-conference game was in 2011, also against the Crusaders. The Crimson won 16 straight out-of-league games before falling to Holy Cross over the weekend, becoming the last Ivy League team to lose a game this season. Aside from Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Yale and Brown also lost over the weekend, while Dartmouth and Princeton picked up victories.
Holy Cross set the tone early, scoring 21 points in the first quarter against Harvard. With Tim Stewart making his first career start, Harvard struggled to put points on the board, failing to score in the second half. The Crimson ended with just 245 yards of offense and converted only four of 15 third down attempts, which had proved to be one of the team’s strengths this season. Holy Cross maneuvered past Harvard’s usually stalwart offensive line to sack Stewart six times. Up next for the Crimson is a road game against Princeton.
Two field goal blocks in the final minutes of Dartmouth’s clash against Towson powered the Green to a 20-17 win over the Tigers. Dartmouth’s defense struggled throughout the game, giving up a season-high 470 yards to Towson, but the special teams played at its best when the game was on the line. Despite just 253 yards of offense from the Green, Dartmouth was able to come away with the victory in the first-ever matchup between the programs. The Green will square off against Columbia in New York City next week.
Princeton beat up on Brown, nearly shutting out the Bears for the Tigers’ fourth win of the season. Princeton led 31-0 until the final minute when Brown was finally able to score. The Tigers scored two touchdowns in the game’s first 10 minutes and did not look back from there. Brown welcomes Cornell to Providence on Saturday in search of its first Ivy League win this season.
A week after an impressive victory over Dartmouth, Yale lost to Fordham, 44-37, in the Bronx. The Bulldogs’ 14 fourth-quarter points were not enough to overtake the Rams, who led by as many as 18 points at one point. Yale and Fordham traded leads in the first half, with the Bulldogs leading midway through the second quarter, before the Rams scored 20 straight points to put the visitors out of reach. Yale drops to 1-4 on the year and will play Penn.
Despite a slow start, Penn blew out Columbia, 35-10, to earn its third straight win of the season after starting the year 0-2. The Quakers led by just seven points at the half before scoring four touchdowns in the final two quarters to send the Lions to 1-4. Tre Solomon rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown for Penn and earned Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors.