AROUND THE IVIES: Running Back Era Comes To Close

Yesterday morning, as I furiously typed away at a Spanish 50 composition that blatantly ripped off the plot of “Election”—the great Tom Perrotta high school novel and Reese Witherspoon’s career-launching movie—I thought to myself, “Has the recent era of great Ivy League running backs come to an end?”

The era can be traced back to 2003. That season, three Ivy League rushers ran for more than 1,000 yards. They included Brown’s Nick Hartigan and Harvard’s Clifton Dawson ’07, a duo that must be mentioned in any discussion of the conference’s all-time great tailbacks.

Hartigan turned in three ridiculous years for the Bears—including his 2005 campaign, in which he ran for 1,727 yards, which remains the second highest single-season total in Ancient Eight history.

In Dawson’s senior season, he singlehandedly rewrote the Ivy League record book, taking the career rushing record from Cornell legend Ed Marinaro and finishing with 60 rushing touchdowns.

After Dawson’s graduation, Yale’s Mike McLeod destroyed everything in his path (except Harvard) in 2007. The Bulldog ran for 1,617 yards and scored an absurd 23 touchdowns—just one shy of Marinaro’s single-season mark.

McLeod had a subpar senior season in 2008. Princeton’s Jordan Culbreath had him covered. He rushed for 1,139 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

But at the midway point of this season, it appears that the pantheon of great Ivy League running backs is full. Culbreath, who many assumed would run away with the league’s Player of the Year award, was diagnosed with anemia and has since played sparingly.

Columbia’s Ray Rangel has made the most of his limited touches, running for 420 yards on 72 carries. But you can’t really be considered a great back if you’re not the focal point of your offense.

And while Harvard has the best running game in town, averaging 153.4 yards per game, its success traces not to one latter day Marinaro, but to a trio.

Yes, I said trio. Junior Gino Gordon and freshman Treavor Scales have been good and deserve to continue taking the majority of the carries, but it’s a shame that senior Cheng Ho remains marginalized. Is he as athletic as the other two? No. But the guy has averaged five yards a carry in his career, and when Harvard had to start him against Lehigh in Week 3, he ran for 132 yards on only 21 touches. I’m just saying.

The league doesn’t feel right without a dominant back, and I’m keeping a vigil that the next Dawson or Hartigan breaks free for a 200-yard game this week. I’ll feel better, and my Spanish teacher will save some red ink.

BROWN (3-2, 1-1 IVY) AT CORNELL (2-3, 1-1 IVY)

The Ivy League might lack a dominant running back, but it sure as hell has a dominant wideout: Brown’s Buddy Farnham. He used to form a receiving duo with Bobby Sewall known as the “Killer B’s,” but now—like Prince—he’s flourishing as a solo act.

Farnham hauled in 10 catches last week against Princeton for 199 yards (199!). Maybe now he’s going to become the runaway Ivy League Player of the Year we expected.

Prediction: Brown 31, Cornell 24.

COLUMBIA (2-3, 1-1 IVY) AT DARTMOUTH (0-5, 0-2 IVY)

Time to jump off the Columbia bandwagon. My sleeper pick for Ivy League champion is just plain sleeping. The Lions’ long road back from their winless Ivy slate in ’07 brought them to the neighborhood of contending. But well-armed Penn was on the neighborhood watch and banished Columbia, 27-13.

Luckily for the Lions this week, they get Dartmouth.

Prediction: Columbia 38, Dartmouth 10.

YALE (3-2, 1-1 IVY) AT PENN (3-2, 2-0 IVY)

Nothing is set in stone, but it looks like the Ivy title will come down to Harvard and Penn. The Quakers have finally made me a believer.

Al Bagnoli’s squad has not played a stinker this season (the losses were both close, to No. 2 Villanova and a Lafayette team that left its tire tracks all over Harvard), and that shouldn’t change against milquetoast Yale.

Prediction: Penn 24, Yale 17

PRINCETON (1-4, 0-2 IVY) AT HARVARD (3-2, 2-0 IVY)

After that steamrolling by Lafayette, Crimson coach Tim Murphy reiterated that Harvard, despite its unbeaten Ivy start, hasn’t become dominant and needs all components to function smoothly.

Junior quarterback Collier Winters and his receivers must reestablish a rhythm; Gordon, Scales and the offensive line must resume netting positive yardage; the defense must remain resolute for four quarters. Princeton will provide the Saturday at the tune-up shop the Crimson needs.

Prediction: Harvard 27, Princeton 13

Last Week: 4-2

Record to Date: 20-12

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.