Cameron Pollack | Sun Photography Editor

Princeton's trouncing off Cornell was the team's third in-conference win. The Tigers rank behind Penn and Harvard in the Ivy League standings.

October 31, 2016

Around the Ivy League: League Leaders Penn, Harvard Escape With Wins

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With three Ivy League games remaining for each Ancient Eight school, Penn and Harvard remain in the driver’s seat in the race for the conference crown. The Quakers and Crimson escaped with wins to continue to lead the league with 4-0 in-conference records, while Yale held on against Columbia to earn its second Ivy win of the season. Princeton’s trouncing of the Red brought its league record to 3-1. Cornell, Brown and Columbia all have one conference win, while Dartmouth is still looking for its first.

On Friday night, after a scoreless first period, the Bulldogs hung up 24 points on Columbia in the second quarter on route to the team’s 31-23 win. All of the Lions’ points came in the fourth quarter, when the game was all but over. Yale forced five turnovers against Columbia, including a fumble in the second quarter that was returned 61 yards for a touchdown to begin the night’s scoring. Up next for Yale is Brown in Providence. Columbia travels to Harvard to play the defending co-champions.

Penn continued its hot streak with a 21-14 win over Brown. The Quakers, led by Justin Watson’s 210 receiving yards, scored the game’s first 21 points, before the Bears added two touchdowns of their own in the third quarter. Brown drove downfield in the fourth quarter, attempting to tie up the game, but quarterback TJ Linta’s pass was intercepted and the Bears dropped to 2-5 on the season. Penn squares off with Princeton in a highly anticipated matchup in New Jersey.

A week after losing to Columbia, Dartmouth almost shocked Harvard but the Green’s comeback attempt fell short and left Dartmouth still winless in the league. The Crimson appeared in control to start the game, picking off Dartmouth on its first possession of the game and scoring on the ensuing drive. But the Green scored a touchdown in the second, third and fourth quarter, pulling to within two points with under three minutes to play. Yet, Harvard’s offense killed enough time on the clock and hung on for the win, 23-21. Dartmouth is set to play Cornell next weekend.