Tom Columns

As the Ivy League season goes into full swing today with four conference games on the schedule, it appears that the Bulldogs of Yale have established themselves as the early favorites to win the title.

With two impressive non-league wins already under their belts, the powerful Elis will be at home today in scenic New Haven to face a rugged Brown football team. The Bruins, 1-2 on the year, opened their Ivy slate last weekend with a tough 14-9 loss to Penn.

What makes the Yale squad worth writing about are the achievements of senior captain Rudy Green, who is doing to Bulldog rushing records what Pat McInally is doing to those for receiving at Harvard. Each week, records fall or at least tremble, as the irrepressible halback moves through another defense.

Green currently ranks fourth among the nation's leading rushers, averaging about 135 yards per game. In Yale's first two games, he bulled for 269 yards in 35 carries, or 7.7 yards per shot. The Colgate and New Hampshire defenses will attest to the senior's vast abilities.

For the sake of comparison, Green has already surpassed the ball-carrying feats of the amazing Calvin Hill at Yale, having amassed 1593 yards in his career so far, to Hill's lifetime total of 1512.

What all this amounts to is that Rudy Green is a fantastic football player, may be the best in the Ivies since Cornell had Ed Marinaro. And ballplayers of Green's caliber create championship teams. Yale will be in the thick of things all year long, and may well be on the verge of a title when The Game rolls around on November 23.

Possibly the most interesting contest today will take place in the wilds of New York, as two undefeateds go at it in Ithaca. Pennsylvania will be there to take on the Big Red of Cornell, in a good preview of things to come in the Ivies.

Cornell has put a lot of things together this year, and while they may not yet be ready to challenge for the championship, it seems as though they are powerful enough to make themselves felt this season.

Kevin Sigler has inherited the quarterback position for the Cornellians from rubber-armed Mark Allen (52 passes against Harvard last year), and has hit on 22 of his first 34 attempts of the year.

The big gun in the attack, though, is junior halfback Don Fanelli, who has picked up 177 yards and scored six touchdowns in two games this season. Fanelli spent most of his sophomore year on the bench nursing various injuries.

In the other two Ivy matchups, Princeton will visit Dartmouth and Harvard will perform a mercy killing down at New York City.

NCAA statistics show that Harvard's great split end McInally has moved into second place in the nation for receiving with a 6.5 reception per game average, and into third place in scoring (behind Fanelli) with a 12.0 clip per contest.

Crimson quarterback Milt Holt, meanwhile, has grabbed fifth place on the national list of passers, with 31 completions in 56 attempts. Holt also ranks 14th in the nation in total offense with a 173-yard average.

And thus, we arrive at this week's selections:

PENNSYLVANIA-CORNELL--For all intents and purposes, Penn was a loser last week until Adolph "Beep Beep" Bellizeare uncorked a 61-yard punt return. Penn is favored in this one, but the Big Red could be tough. Very tough. Cornell 24, Penn 20.

DARTMOUTH-PRINCETON--I'm tempted to pick another upset here, but I can't quite see it. The Tigers' 40-13 win at Columbia looks impressive enough, but it seems like a disorganized bunch of drunks could beat the Lions. Dartmouth's drive for another title begins here. Darmouth 23, Princeton 16.

BROWN-YALE--This week, for a change, Rudy Green will see a team that can play defense on the other side of the line. But that won't be enough. A hardfought battle with a predictable outcome. Yale 26, Brown 16.

HARVARD-COLUMBIA--New Lion coach Bill Campbell is still looking for his first win. Next year, maybe. As for now, the poor fellow must suffer the trials and tribulations of coaching a pack of losers. Another dull rout. Harvard 40, Columbia 9.

Last week--Four right, two wrong. On the year, 10 for 13,. 769.