Elis Upset Midshipmen, 23-19

Yale tailback Rich Diana only ran for 69 yards on Saturday in New Haven, down almost 100 from his season average. But that's okay, because his Elis only beat very highly regarded Navy, 23-19. Remember, Navy lost by just five last week against Michigan.

At the outset, it didn't look as if the Elis were headed for their third straight win. Navy hit for the cycle in the first quarter, using touchdown, extra point, safety and field goal to build a 12-0 lead.

The Elis bounced right back before the home crowd of 38,000 at the Yale Bowl, scoring nine unanswered second quarter points, including the first of three John Rogan touchdown passes.

Survival

Trailing 12-9, Rogan fired his second TD pass at 12:56 of the third quarter, a 22-yarder to Curtis Grieve. Then it was the Midshipmen's turn to come back.

Following the second Navy-blocked punt of the game, halfback Richard Clouse opened the fourth quarter by scooting 16 yards for the go-ahead score.

With less than four minutes remaining, Yale forced Navy to punt from its own end zone, and the Elis received excellent field position at the Navy 24 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Rogan found Grieve alone in the corner of the end zone one more time, and the Elis walked off with a 23-19 win. Ivy league teams are not supposed to be this good.

In the other non-conference games, the Ivies didn't fare nearly as well. Along with Harvard's loss to Army, Dartmouth tumbled badly before Holy Cross, 28-0, and although it turned in its best performance of the still-young season, the Big Red of Cornell lost its third straight, 31-17 to Rutgers.

Outrushing the Big Green, 247-87, the Cross scored a touchdown in each quarter in Hanover. Mark Covington led the Crusaders with 98 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The return of stellar wide receiver Brian Kelley--who caught a TD pass-also boosted the Holy Cross cause. Dartmouth dropped to 1-2 overall.

Cornell suprised Rutgers by taking a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Rutgers outscored the Big Red, 17-0 in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.

In the two intraleague games on Saturday's slate, both Princeton and Columbia left the ranks of the winless. The Tigers suprised Brown in Providence, 20-17, while the Lions marched past withering Penn, 20-9, in New York.

Princeton's win marked the first time Brown head coach John Anderson had ever met defeat at the hands of a Tiger squad, after running up an 8-0 streak.

The Tigers were led by quarterback Bob Holly--who completed 22 of 36 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns. Brown had a chance to tie the game with 24 seconds left, in a fourth-and-ten situation at the Princeton 28. Bruin quarterback Hank, Landers even signaled to the sideline for a field goal. But Anderson elected to try for the win and came up empty-handed instead.

In the Columbia-Penn game, sophomore quarterback John Witkowski completed 12 of 23 passes, including one for a touchdown, to lead the Lions to victory. The win for Coach Bob Naso's squad ended the nation's third longest major college losing streak.

After three weeks, Brown and Cornell, normally two of the league's powers--remain the only Ivy teams without a win. And the Elis--always powerful--continue to roll.