Princeton’s shutout victory over Penn on Saturday leaves Harvard the only team in the league with an undefeated record. The Crimson triumphed over Columbia to move to 5-0 in the conference with two games remaining. The Quakers’ hopes for repeating as league co-champions hinge on next week’s clash against Harvard. A win over the Crimson would create a three-way tie for first place entering the final week of the season. In addition to Harvard and Princeton, Brown and Dartmouth also came away with victories this past weekend — the Bears over Yale and the Green over Cornell.
Flying high off a 56-7 thrashing of Cornell last Saturday, the Tigers welcomed Penn to Princeton, hoping to stay alive in the race for the conference crown. With a consistent offensive presence — Princeton scored a touchdown in each quarter — and a truly dominant defense, the Tigers downed the Quakers, 28-0, to move into a tie for second in the league. Princeton’s do-it-all quarterback John Lovett, who torched the Red for seven touchdowns last week, scored twice for the Tigers, as Princeton shut out Penn for the first time since 1978. The Tigers will face Yale next weekend, and the Red and Blue will play Harvard.
Brown held off a late rally from Yale to send the Bulldogs to a 27-22 defeat. The Bears led 20-5 in the third quarter, but 10 straight points from Yale got the Bulldogs back in striking distance. Brown scored once more in the fourth to keep Yale at bay and secure its second conference win of the season. At 2-3 in the league, Brown sits in a tie for fourth place in the league with the Bulldogs. Brown will face Dartmouth next week in Hanover, N.H.
Squaring off against Columbia — the league’s last place team three years running — Harvard seemed to be all but assured a victory. Yet, a pair of Columbia touchdowns in the second quarter gave the Lions a lead at halftime. Poised for a major upset, the Lions could not close out the Crimson and the second half was all Harvard. The Crimson shot down the Lions’ upset bid by scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter. Harvard would go on to win, 28-21. Columbia will play Cornell next week in the teams’ annual Empire State Bowl.