One Win and Counting

Is it possible? Can the Columbia Lions, riding a modest one-game winning streak, rock the universe one more time and win its second game in a row?

Saturday, the Lions will face Yale in New Haven. Yale (0-3-1 overall, 0-0-1 Ivy) has had a horrible three weeks, losing badly to Connecticut, Army and Navy. The closest thing to a victory the Elis could muster was a 24-24 tie against Brown during the first week of the season.

With the Bulldogs having a doghouse type of season, odds were good that Columbia would defeat Yale this weekend and end The Streak. Calm down, Yalies, the honor went to Princeton last week in New York.

But Columbia still has a good chance to win two games in a row for the first time since 1978. That year, the Lions defeated Harvard, 21-19, at The Stadium in the season-opener and Lafayette, 21-0, the next week at Baker Field.

Columbia has not won two consecutive Ivy games since 1971, when it ended the season with three straight Ivy victories. After edging out Dartmouth, 31-29, the Lions ran through Penn, 17-3, and dominated Brown, 24-6.

After 17 years, is the Ivy League ready for Columbia to win two Ivy games in a row?

Roar, Lions, roar.

The Big D: The Crimson defense, with the help of the rain gods, gave up only 241 yards (105 rushing, 136 passing) against Cornell. It was Harvard's best defensive performance of the season.

In four games, Crimson opponents have averaged 362.5 yards of total offense. The Harvard offense, however, has averaged 404 yards per game.

Quaker Power: Coach Joe Restic appropriately summed up the Ivy League race last Saturday.

"Penn has the edge," Restic said.

The Quakers (4-0 overall, 3-0 Ivy) are alone in first place. Led by Bryan Keys' 558 rushing yards (139.5 yards per game), Penn has returned to the Ivy elite after going on hiatus last year.

Although the Qaukers have yet to play any of the Ivy's top four teams, they still have one of the better balanced offenses in the Ivies (337.3 yards per game). Their defense isn't that shabby, either (297 yards per game).

Dynamic Duo:The Harvard linebacker duo of Greg Ubert and Brian Burns combined for 27 tackles against Cornell. Ubert recorded 12 solo tackles, while Burns led the Crimson with 15 tackles. With 39 total tackles, Ubert is Harvard's top tackler.

Rainy Thoughts: How bad was the weather last Saturday at The Stadium?

Well, the Big Red Bear, Cornell's mascot, was wearing a red raincoat to keep his fur dry.

Most of the fans preferred to watch the game in the covered sections of The Stadium's top level.

The scoreboard went out for the last few minutes of the second quarter. Yes, even scoreboards hate bad weather.