AROUND THE IVIES: Week One Kicks Off With QB’s A Mystery

Harvard football fans are a spoiled bunch these days.

In the Crimson’s two-year run as Ivy League champion, the Harvard faithful could trek across the river five weekends a year and pretty much know what to expect: an athletic, aggressive, veteran defense; a well-rounded offense bolstered by a stalwart line, dependable backs, and gifted wideouts; and, of course, Chris Pizzotti ’08-’09.

After cementing himself as the Crimson’s starting quarterback in 2008, Pizzotti returned for a fifth year last season and torched the opposition, throwing for 2,490 yards and 17 touchdowns en route to winning the Ivy League Player of the Year Award.

But just because it felt like Pizzotti was around forever doesn’t mean that he was, or that he was going to be. He’s gone now, and in his wake is a gaping hole under center that Harvard will try to fill with a variety of intriguing, if unknown, commodities, from junior Collier Winters down the depth chart to freshman Colton Chapple.

If there’s any silver lining in this less than ideal predicament, it’s that the rest of the Ivy League is going through exactly the same thing. In the Ancient Eight, only Yale, Columbia and Dartmouth field quarterbacks who threw over 100 passes last season, and there’s not one signal caller in the league whom you could call a legitimate star.

That’s not to say one won’t emerge, and as we run through the weekend slate in this first edition of Around the Ivies, we’ll take a close look at which QB’s could become true field generals, and which should go back to cleaning latrines, or at least holding a clipboard on the sidelines.

CORNELL VS. BUCKNELL

I’m going to miss Nathan Ford. One of my favorite athletes in the Ivy League—not only was Ford an exciting quarterback for the Big Red who would routinely throw up 60 or so passes in a game, he was also a devastating slugger on Cornell’s baseball team. Not to mention that Dwight name-dropped him on “The Office.”

Now that Ford’s graduated, former JV starter turned varsity benchwarmer Ben Ganter will take the snaps for Cornell while the guy who might be the team’s best quarterback, Stephen Liuzza, is playing wide receiver. Go figure.

Prediction: Bucknell 21, Cornell 17.

DARTMOUTH VS. COLGATE

Even as far as losers go, Dartmouth is a hard team to love. But in keeping in line with the theme of this column, I will say this: the Big Green is pretty stable at quarterback. Alex Jenny showed a modest degree of talent last season, and that’s enough to get him the starting job this year. Good for him.

Unfortunately, while the defense is on the field Jenny will be stuck watching Colgate’s Greg Sullivan, a versatile QB with a rocket for an arm and jets on his legs. Bold prediction: Sullivan gains more yards rushing than Jenny does throwing.

Not So Bold Prediction: Colgate 34, Dartmouth 10.

YALE AT GEORGETOWN

As difficult as it is to lavish a Yalie with platitudes, I have to say I like new Bulldogs coach Tom Williams. The former Jacksonville Jaguars assistant took over the team from Jack Siedlecki and immediately put a fire in his players by declaring every roster spot open to competition, including quarterback.

So while Brook Hart played well in a platoon with the graduated Ryan Fodor last year, he’ll have to withstand a challenge from sophomore transfer Patrick Witt—brother of former Harvard quarterback Jeff Witt—if he wants the starting job all to himself.

Prediction: Yale 28, Georgetown 14.

PRINCETON VS. THE CITADEL

Some guy named Tommy Wornham will get the starting nod behind center for the Tigers, but it really doesn’t matter. Princeton running back Jordan Culbreath was the best player in the Ancient Eight not named Pizzotti last season, rushing for 1244 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he’s as good a pick as any for Ivy League Player of the Year this time around.

Prediction: Princeton 31, Citadel 27.

BROWN AT STONY BROOK

Like Harvard, Brown lost its star quarterbac