League Gridders Shine On

The 1994 football season has seen a major turnaround by the Ivy League. Long dominated by their Patriot League rivals. Ivy teams have jumped out to a 15-3-1 non-league record, paving the way for one of the best league races in recent memory.

In keeping with the league's overall improvement, Harvard has gotten superb efforts from junior quarter-back Vin Ferrara and sophomore tail-back Eion Hu. Despite Saturday's 18-13 loss to first-place Cornell, the Crimson's 1-1-0 record (2-2-0 overall) ties it for fourth place with Princeton.

Cornell has jumped to the top of the league standings with a league record of 2-0-0 (4-0-0 overall). In addition to Saturday's victory over Harvard, the Big Red also handled a strong Princeton team easily, 31-16, and defeated Pariot League rivals Fordham and Lehigh.

Sophomore tailback Chad Levitt has carried Cornell thus far, leading the league in rushing yards per game (142.5), all purpose yards per game (148.3), and tying for the lead in points per game (9.0). He won league Offensive Player of the Week honors for his 227-yard, 30-carry performance against Harvard, in which he scored the game winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:06 left in the game.

Freshman tailback Terry Smith won Rookie of the Week honors, running for 102 yards on 17 carries, including a key 31 yard run on Cornell's final drive.

The University of Pennsylvania (1-0-0, 3-0-0) has also looked strong in the early going. On Saturday it routed Holy Cross, 59-8, in a game in which it built a 45-0 halftime lead.

Penn's defense has dominated up to this point, giving up just 8.7 points a game and ranking first in total yards allowed per game (194.0). Quaker sophomore quarterback Mark DeRosa has been solid thus far on the offensive side of the ball, passing for 285 yards and three touchdowns in just one half of Saturday's game and leading the league in pass efficiency with a rating of 153.3. Junior wide receiver Miles Macik also leads the league in receptions per game with 7.00.

The rest of the league race is blurry, with many teams that could easily move up in the standings putting forth strong showings in recent weeks. Despite Saturday's 36-32 loss to Lehigh. Yale (1-0-0, 3-1-0) has played well overall, beating Holy Cross, Connecticut and league rival Brown.

Yale's offense has been particularly potent so far, leading the league in points per game with 33.5. Senior back Keith Price is tied for the league lead in points per game (9.0), and is rushing for 87.8 yards per game. Junior quarterback Chris Hetherington is third in total offense (177.5 yards per game) and had a strong showing in Saturday's loss, throwing for 276 yards and rushing for 67 more.

Princeton (1-1-0, 3-1-0) has rebounded from a disappointing loss to Cornell to run off three straight wins over Colgate, Bucknell and Brown. Junior defensive end Darrell Oliveira has dominated defensively, recording Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week in the victory over Brown. Princeton is second in the league defensively, allowing 210.3 yards per game.

Harvard (1-1-0, 2-2-0) has received some outstanding individual efforts thus far in the season. Ferrara has more-than-replaced the departed Mike Giardi, leading the league in total offense (210.8 yards per game) and ranking third in passing (720 total yards). He won Offensive Player of the Week honors for the Crimson's opening week 39-32 win over Columbia.

Hu has been one of the league's major surprises, ranking third in rushing yards per game (97.3) and fourth in points per game (8.0). He has won Rookie of the Week honors in Harvard's victories over Columbia and Holy Cross.

Harvard's defense has been erratic thus far, ranking last in the league in yards allowed per game (456.0). Freshman defensive back Jeff Compas has been one of the few bright lights, recording three interceptions in just four games. Senior defensive tackle Brian Johnson also turned in a strong performance against Cornell, recording 11 tackles, two sacks, and recovering a fumble.

Hu feels that the Crimson is starting to pull together, citing Saturday's game in which the defense gave a superb effort.

"I see no weaknesses now that the defense has come together," he said. "We have good team spirit, and everything is going good."

Although Harvard is tied for fourth in the league, Hu says he still holds the hope of capturing at least a share of the league title, and cites games against Penn and Princeton, whom he has "something against", as key to achieving this goal.

Despite these goals, Hu is focused on this Saturday's game against Colgate. Although Penn and Cornell are the top-ranked teams, he admits that, this year, "everyone is going to be tough."