Harvard fell from the ranks of the unbeaten as a number of Ivy League squads found themselves in tight games this weekend.
After starting the fourth quarter behind by two touchdowns, Lehigh beat the Crimson 36-35. Cornell survived the embarrassment of blowing a 17-point final period lead with a field goal in the second overtime to defeat Towson. Princeton outlasted Columbia 35-32 in another close contest. The University of Pennsylvania and Yale both remained undefeated as the Quakers romped over Dartmouth, while Brown failed to pick up its first win, losing to the University of Rhode Island.
Lehigh 36, Harvard 35
Despite passing for 289 yards on 22 of 36 attempts, Neil Rose’s replacement at quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, could not lead Harvard (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) to a win.
Facing a two-game losing streak, Lehigh rallied to score 15 points and hold Harvard scoreless in the fourth quarter. Mountain Hawks’ tailback Jermaine Pugh scored his third touchdown of the day with 48 seconds remaining to complete the comeback.
Pugh finished the contest with 122 yards rushing and 224 total yards. His teammate Michael Sutton caught 11 balls for 204 yards, and one touchdown.
Harvard’s star wide-out Carl Morris caught seven passes for 129 yards in the losing effort.
Cornell 34, Towson 31 (2 OT)
Cornell (1-2, 0-1) salvaged its first win on a 19-yard field goal by Trevor MacMeekin in the second overtime.
After holding Towson scoreless in the first three periods, the Big Red defense collapsed, allowing 24 fourth-quarter points. Both teams scored in the first period of overtime, but on the first possession of the second extra period, Joel Sussman blocked a 24-yard Towson field goal attempt. MacMeekin finished the job in Cornell’s ensuing possession.
Brian Ulbricht of Cornell rushed for 159 yards on 27 carries to set a new personal career high.
Princeton 35, Columbia 32
After Columbia (1-2, 0-1) broke the ice with a first quarter touchdown pass, the two teams traded scores to reach a 14-14 tie at the half. The game remained close with four lead changes and two ties. But Princeton (2-1, 1-0) hung on, despite a late Lions’ touchdown, to win.
Tiger running-backs Cameron Atkinson and Jon Veach combined for three touchdowns and 180 yards on the ground.
Penn 49, Dartmouth 14
Dartmouth (0-3, 0-1) managed to hold Penn (3-0, 1-0) under wraps until a 21-point explosion in the second quarter.
Quaker quarterback Michael Mitchell completed 72 percent of his passes for 428 yards, which ranks in the top 20 aerial outputs in Ivy League history. Mitchell also threw four touchdown passes, leading his team to 601 total yards.
The Quakers held the Big Green to a paltry 23 rushing yards, but Brian Mann threw for 297 yards in the loss.
Rhode Island 38, Brown 28
A dazzling performance by Chad Gessner of Brown (0-3, 0-1) was not enough to compensate for the disparity between his team’s rushing game and that of Rhode Island. The Rams outdid the Bears by 461 yards on the ground.
Gessner tied Jerry Rice’s NCAA record for receptions in a game with 24 for 207 yards. His quarterback, Kyle Slager, connected on 44 of 59 attempts for a school-record 497 yards.
But Rhode Island’s freshman quarterback, Jayson Davis, ran for 194 yards to bring his team back from a 14-3 second quarter deficit.