Penn, Princeton Win Ivy Openers

Thrilling finishes and offensive shootouts were par for the course this past weekend in college football, and the Ivy League contributed its share of both.

Four games involving Ivy teams were decided by four points or less, including three games decided in the final two minutes, and five Ivy offenses, including Harvard, put more than 30 points on the board.

Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Princeton all opened their Ivy campaigns this week. All eight league squads now have one conference matchup under their belts. Harvard, Penn, Yale and Princeton stand at 1-0, while Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia and Brown dropped their league openers to fall to 0-1.

Next weekend, Dartmouth travels to Yale for the only Ivy intraleague matchup while the other six teams take on non-conference opponents. The main portion of the Ivy schedule begins in two weeks.

Penn 21, Dartmouth 20

Penn sophomore Kyle Chaffin blocked a Big Green extra point attempt with 1:36 remaining in the game as Ivy favorite Pennsylvania (2-0, 1-0 Ivy) avoided a huge upset at the hands of last year’s Ivy doormat, Dartmouth.

Dartmouth running back Michael Gratch plowed into the end zone from two yards out to bring the Big Green (0-2, 0-1) within one before Chaffin blocked kicker Tyler Lavin’s attempt.

After both teams hit paydirt on each of their first two possessions, a defensive struggle ensued with Penn running back Kris Ryan providing the game-winning score with a two-yard touchdown plunge in the second quarter.

Ryan, fresh off a 159-yard performance against Lafayette, finished the day with 134 yards on 34 carries and all three Quaker touchdowns. He scored on runs of one, two and two yards. All-Ivy quarterback Gavin Hoffman was shut down by the Dartmouth defense and managed only 155 yards on 17-of-31 passing with an interception.

The Penn defense, which allowed only 178 total yards in blanking Lafayette in its first game, was picked apart by Big Green quarterback Greg Smith, who racked up 275 yards and two touchdowns while going 24-for-41 with an interception.

Penn hosts Patriot League opponent Holy Cross next weekend while Dartmouth travels to the Yale Bowl for a showdown with the Bulldogs.

Princeton 44, Columbia 11

Sophomore quarterback Dave Splithoff accounted for four touchdowns as Princeton scored 34 unanswered points en route to a 44-11 pasting of Columbia Saturday at Princeton Stadium.

Following an early Columbia field goal, Splithoff scored on runs of two and 12 yards, and the Tigers led 17-3 at the half.

The onslaught continued in the third quarter as Splithoff hooked up with Chisom Opara for a 78-yard touchdown and Brendan Dillon for a 31-yard score.

Ivy Defensive Player of the Week Princeton linebacker Chris Roser-Jones, who led Division I-AA linebackers in interceptions last season with six, scored from 41 yards on one of his two picks in the fourth quarter.

Offensively for the Tigers, Splithoff finished with 204 yards through the air and 51 on the ground. Running back Cameron Atkinson had 115 yards on 18 carries, and Opara led all receivers with 126 yards on 3 receptions.

For Columbia, Johnathan Reese picked up 66 yards rushing and the lone Lion touchdown. Wide receiver Doug Peck caught six passes for 116 yards.

Next weekend, Princeton hosts Colgate, and Columbia plays at Lafayette in non-league contests.

Rhode Island 42, Brown 38

Bears quarterback Kyle Rowley and wide receiver Chas Gessner set new Ivy League standards for passing and receiving yardage, respectively, but Brown (0-2, 0-1 Ivy) fell to No. 9 Rhode Island of the Atlantic 10 on a touchdown with seven seconds remaining in a game that featured 960 yards of total offense.

Rowley piled up 474 yards through the air while going 36-for-54 to break Princeton’s Doug Butler’s record of 469 yards in a non-conference game set against Lafayette in 1983. The all-time Ivy record for passing yards in any game is 501, set by Princeton’s Bob Holly in 1981.

Gessner, who had 12 catches for 226 yards against Harvard last week, hauled in 19 balls, including two touchdowns, and shattered the Ivy record for receiving yards in a non-conference game with 292. The record of 229 yards had been held by Penn’s Paul Scull since 1928. For his outstanding performance, Gessner garnered Ivy Offensive Player of the Week and Sports Network National Offensive Player of the Week awards. He now leads the nation with 15 catches and 243 yards per game.

The Bears took a 38-35 lead with 1:03 remaining in the game on a 24-yard touchdown hookup between Rowley and Gessner.

But the Rams (4-0) stormed back and went ahead 42-38 with seven seconds to go when running back David Jamison, who finished with 197 yards on the ground, scored one of his three touchdowns from 17 yards out

Next weekend Brown hosts non-conference foe Fordham, and Rhode Island travels to Hampton.

Yale 23, Holy Cross 22

Bulldog kicker Justin Davis booted a 28-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to propel Yale (2-0, 1-0 Ivy) to a come-from-behind win over Patriot League entry Holy Cross.

With Holy Cross ahead 22-14 and just over three minutes left, Yale quarterback Peter Lee hit wideout Billy Brown, last week’s Ivy Offensive Player of the Week, with a seven-yard scoring strike. A failed two-point attempt left the Bulldogs trailing by two.

After the Crusaders were forced to punt, Lee took advantage of a pass interference penalty to drive the Yale offense from its own 11 to the Holy Cross 11 to set up Davis’ winning kick.

Lee finished 25-for-55 with 236 yards and three touchdowns to pick up the slack for a running attack that managed only 45 yards on the day. Brown caught 10 balls for 83 yards, and Keith Reams hauled in 9 catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs.

For Holy Cross (2-1), Brian Hall racked up 241 yards through the air.

Yale hosts Dartmouth in a critical early season Ivy matchup next Saturday. Holy Cross travels to Ivy League frontrunner Penn.

Colgate 35, Cornell 32

A late fourth quarter rally came up short as Cornell (0-2, 0-1 Ivy) dropped a shootout to non-conference opponent Colgate Saturday.

Trailing by 17 with under six minutes remaining, Big Red quarterback Ricky Rahne threw touchdown passes to receivers Chad Nice and John Kellner in a span of 1:24 to bring Cornell within three. However, Colgate recovered an onside kick to hold off the Big Red surge.

Colgate running back Nate Thomas piled up 222 yards on 25 carries and scored on runs of 76, 21, and seven yards to pace the Red Raiders (2-2).

For Cornell, Rahne led the offense, going 21-for-35 with 263 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a score by Colgate’s Mauric Robertson. Kellner caught six passes for 116 yards on the day.

Cornell hosts nationally-ranked Patriot League powerhouse Lehigh next, while Colgate travels to Princeton.