Four weeks after the rest of college football, the Ivy League finally got into the swing of things this past weekend. The Ancient Eight went 5-3 in its first week of play.
Fordham 37, Columbia 30
Behind a school-record three rushing touchdowns by Kirwin Watson, Fordham cruised past the Lions in the battle of New York City rivals. The bright spot for Columbia in new head coach Bob Shoop’s debut was quarterback Jeff Otis, who went 26-for-47 for 300 total yards. Otis’ performance, though, was overshadowed by Fordham’s Kevin Eakin, who passed for 336 yards plus two touchdowns.
Colgate 31, Dartmouth 9
Colgate improved to 3-0 on the season and extended its winning streak to nine games with the dominating victory over the Green. Jaamal Branch stole the show for the Raiders, scoring three touchdowns on 211 rushing yards. Tyler Lavin kicked three field goals for Dartmouth, including a 52-yarder, the second longest in school history. The Green had difficulty in the red zone against Colgate, failing to capitalize twice.
Yale 62, Towson 28
Alvin Cowan’s return from breaking his leg last year was certainly memorable, as he went 16-of-25 for 289 passing yards and three touchdowns in Yale’s thrashing of Towson. The 62 points were the most ever allowed by Tigers, as well as the most scored by the Bulldogs since 1920. Rob Benigno scored three touchdowns on five receptions for Yale. The Elis also scored on defense when Fred Jelks returned an interception 49 yards to score.
Harvard 43, Holy Cross 23
Ryan Fitzpatrick set a Harvard record with 471 total yards, as he passed for two touchdowns and ran in a third to lead the Crimson. Harvard struck early and often, racing out to an early 13-0 lead. Fitzpatrick’s yards broke a team record of 449 set last season by quarterback Neil Rose. Harvard totaled 636 yards of offense in the season-opening victory.
Brown 21, Albany 3
Brown also got in front early and took advantage to cruise to the road win. Nick Hartigan rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bears’ balanced offensive effort. Quarterback Kyle Slager went 16-for-23 for 188 yards, while Jarrett Schreck caught nine passes for 91 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Craig Young had nine tackles and a fumble recovery.
Penn 51, Duquesne 10
The Quakers extended their home winning streak to 15 games with the dominating Saturday night romp over Duquesne. Mike Mitchell had four touchdown passes and moved to seventh place on the Penn all-time passing yardage leaderboard. Penn held Duquesne’s Division I-AA leading passing game to 116 yards. The Quakers dominated the second half, turning a 13-point lead into the 41-point margin of victory.
Lehigh 21, Princeton 13
Chad Schwenk passed for 301 yards and four touchdowns to lead Lehigh over the Tigers Saturday night. The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 14-0 first-half lead before allowing Princeton back into the game in the second half. Lehigh is now 3-0 on the season and has beaten the Tigers seven straight times. Princeton quarterback Matt Verbit went 16-for-36 to total 296 yards in the losing effort. However, Verbit’s three first-half fumbles eventually spelled the Tigers’ doom.
Archived article by Owen Bochner