While Harvard lived up to the preseason hype by defeating Cornell, 33-23, in Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday, Yale topped Dartmouth to keep up with the Crimson atop the league standings. Other Ancient Eight teams stepped outside the conference to face competition this past weekend, and all but Brown brought home a “W” against less familiar foes.
Yale 26, Dartmouth 14
Tailback Mike McLeod overcame off-field drama this weekend to rush for a career-high 198 yards to carry the Bulldogs (3-1, 2-0) to a 26-14 victory over the Green (0-4, 0-2) in Hanover, N.H., last Saturday. McLeod earned Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring three touchdowns for Yale. The visitors jumped out to a 13-0 lead at the half, but Mike Fritz led a brief Dartmouth rally by passing for two touchdowns in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 19-14. But Yale quarterback Matt Polhemus guided Yale back into the end zone with the help of McLeod, who converted a third down by making a 25-yard catch. McLeod then put the game out of reach with a 9-yard touchdown rush. Dartmouth linebacker Andrew Dete did his best to shut down the Yale offense, tallying six solo tackles and six assists along with a forced fumble and a tackle for a loss.
Columbia 24, Iona 0
The Lions (3-1, 0-1) earned their first shutout since 1998 with a 24-0 win over Iona (1-5) in New York City on Saturday. A year after going 2-8 overall and 0-7 in the Ivy League, Columbia completed a 3-0 sweep of its nonconference opponents in 2006. Quarterback Craig Hormann threw for 215 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, and the defense came up big in the second half for the Lions. Darren Schmidt recovered a fumble in the end zone after Iona quarterback Matt Biehl was sacked to push the Columbia lead to 17-0 in the third stanza, and Chad Musgrove iced the win by returning an interception 75 yards for a touchdown.
Holy Cross 35, Brown 30
Senior Joe DiGiacomo became the first Ivy League quarterback in nearly two years to pass for more than 400 yards, but it wasn’t enough for the Bears (1-3, 0-1), as Brown lost to Holy Cross, 35-30, in Worchester, Mass., on Saturday. DiGiacomo was 28-for-51 and finished with 401 yards and three touchdowns in the loss, while his Holy Cross counterpart, Dominic Randolph, connected on 30-of-39 passes for 329 yards and four touchdowns. The Crusaders (4-2, 2-0 Patriot) held a 21-10 lead at halftime, and stretched the advantage with another touchdown with just under five minutes gone in the third quarter, but the Bears clawed their way back into the game with 61 and 22-yard touchdown passes from DiGiacomo to Lonnie Hill and Paul Raymond, respectively. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Crusaders scored once more and a final touchdown for Brown on a 1-yard rush by Akin Oyalowo wasn’t enough to pull even. Hill finished with 11 catches for 206 yards in the losing effort.
Penn 34, Bucknell 24
Penn (3-1, 1-0) weathered a late Bucknell (3-3, 0-1 Patriot) rally to extend its winning streak over Patriot League teams to 10 straight games with a 34-24 win over the Bison in Lewisburg, Pa. Robert Irvin threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns for the Quakers, including an 11-yard pass to Josh Koontz early in the fourth quarter to give Penn a 34-10 lead. However, the Bison struck on a 4-yard run by Kevin Mullen with just under seven minutes to play, and then posted another score with an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marcello Trigg to Peter Kaufman with 2:42 left in the game. Penn’s offense was led by Braden Lepisto, who caught seven passes for 140 yards, and running back Joe Sandberg, who carried the ball a dozen times for 112 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Britton Ertman forced two fumbles, tipped a pass, and had seven solo tackles for the Quakers.
Princeton 27, Colgate 26
The Tigers (4-0, 1-0) needed a 34-yard field goal from Connor Louden to secure overtime, but they capitalized on the extra session to post a 27-26 win over Colgate (2-3, 1-0 Patriot) in Hamilton, N.Y., on Saturday. Princeton quarterback Jeff Terrell punched in a 4-yard run for a touchdown in overtime, and Tom Methvin stopped an attempted two-point conversion by the Raiders to lead the Tigers to victory. Methvin stopped Colgate quarterback Mike Saraceno in the backfield after Saraceno had connected on a 26-yard touchdown catch to Jordan Scott. Terrell completed 17-of-32 passes for a career-high 293 yards to move into 10th place on the all-time passing list for Princeton, while Louden earned Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his game-tying heroics, as well as a 33-yard field goal earlier in the game and a perfect day on PATs.