Ivy Football Roundup: Princeton Drops Out, Harvard in Four-Way Tie

Two blowouts and a pair of nail-biters later, the five-way logjam atop the Ivy League football standings ended. Harvard, Yale, Penn, and Cornell remain tied for first with 3-1 records, while Princeton fell to 2-2.

In a close and exciting game, Cornell (3-4, 3-1 Ivy) edged Princeton (2-5, 2-2), 25-24. The win kept Cornell in the race for the Ivy title and dropped Princeton to a game behind the Ivy leaders.

The Big Red tallied the game-winning score with 1:56 remaining on a four-yard touchdown pass from Ricky Rahne to Mike Paris. That tally put Cornell ahead, 25-18, and set the stage for the game's dramatic finish.

The Tigers drove down the field in a little over a minute and a half and pulled within one when Brian Danielewicz, the reserve quarterback, connected with wideout Chisom Opara in the back of the endzone for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

Trailing by only one-point with just under 11 seconds on the clock, the Princeton special teams unit took the field. Kicker Taylor Northrop, who won the Ivy League special team player of the week earlier in the year and had sixteen straight extra points through Saturday, slipped while running to plant his foot and the Tigers' extra-point attempt failed.

The winning Cornell drive started with 5:47 remaining in the fourth, and encompassed eight plays for 36 yards.

The Big Red ruled the day on the play of Evan Simmons, who carried five times on the game's winning drive and had 106 yards on 18 carries for Cornell.

Rahne was 23-for-46 with two touchdowns and two interceptions for 279 yards. He connected with sophomore wideout Keith Ferguson eight times on the day for 164 yards.

Yale 41, Columbia 0

Keeping pace with the Crimson atop the Ivy League, Yale (6-1, 3-1) pounded Columbia (3-4, 1-3) on the strength of its run defense and without the help of star tailback Rashad Bartholomew.

Columbia tailback Jonathan Reese entered the game with an Ivy League leading 14 touchdowns. Yale's defense held Reese to a mere 86 yards and more importantly kept Reese out of the Elis' endzone. Yale safety Ryan LoProto did his part on the defensive end, returning two interceptions for touchdowns.

On a day with wind gusts up to 45 mph, Yale's balanced offense took over. Elis quarterback Peter Lee threw for only 169 yards on 15-of-20 passing, but connected for four touchdowns on the day.

The weather certainly played a part in the game's development, and the Elis were the first to benefit.

On the first Lion possession, the Yale defense pinned Columbia back at its own 12-yard line. Facing fourth down, Columbia punted for a mere 16 yards. Yale made the most of its opportunities, going the requisite 28 yards on three plays, with wide receiver Eric Johnson pulling down the touchdown pass.

But the wind also worked against Yale during the day. After its first touchdown, Yale was unable to convert an extra point thanks to the gusting wind. But three downs later the wind set up an Elis touchdown when the Lions could only manage a 14-yard punt.

Yale took over on the Columbia 27 and Lee capped a six-play drive with a two-yard TD pass to tight end Jeff Dittman. The Elis later cracked the game open on 67-yard and 17-yard interception returns for touchdowns by LoProto. Yale plays at Brown and then hosts Princeton in New Haven before The Game.

Penn 41, Brown 38

Penn (4-3, 3-1) remained tied atop the Ivy League standings with a last second, come-from-behind win over Brown (4-3, 1-3).

With 40 seconds remaining in the game, Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman connected on a seven-yard TD pass to wide receiver Rob Milanese.

That touchdown was the last score during an improbable and impressive Penn comeback that began with just five minutes and four seconds remaining and the Quakers trailing, 38-20.

Beginning a drive on his own 39-yard line, Hoffman tossed a 48-yard pass to Milanese and later connected with Jason Battung on an eight-yard score to cut the Bears' lead to 11.

Penn's defense forced Brown to punt, and the Quaker offense returned to the field with less than four minutes left on the clock. On a quick drive, Hoffman hit wideout Doug O'Neil on a long pass before taking the ball into the endzone on a one-yard quarterback scramble with 2:49 remaining in the game.

With 1:41 remaining, Penn started its final drive on its own 38-yard line. Hoffman completed four passes on the drive before connecting with Milanese for the game winner.

Brown quarterback Eric Webber, the leading passer in Division I-AA, completed 35-of-53 passes for 422 yards and three touchdowns, but was outshined by Hoffman, who completed 39-of-53 passes for 472 yards, three touchdowns, and the win.