Three of the Ancient Eight came away with victories this weekend, but the league standings remained nearly unchanged because only two contests were league games.
Harvard rebounded from its first loss in two years with a thumping of Cornell in Cambridge, but the other Ivies did not fare so well against outside competition — only Princeton emerged victorious.
Villanova handed Penn its first loss of the season, Columbia lost at home, and Brown remained the league’s only winless team.
Harvard 52, Cornell 23
In his third start replacing injured senior quarterback Neil Rose, sophomore Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 24 of 32 passes for 353 yards, the fourth-highest total in school history, and the Crimson bounced back from last week’s loss to Lehigh, improving to 2-0 in the league.
Rose’s favorite target, Carl Morris, continued to thrive despite the quarterback change, reeling in 11 passes for 165 yards.
But Morris did not have the best performance at wideout in Cambridge. Leading the charge in the losing effort for Cornell (1-3, 0-2 Ivy) was receiver Keith Ferguson, who led the league in weekend receptions with 12.
Harvard extended its league winning streak to nine.
Princeton 14, Colgate 10
The Tigers prevailed at home thanks to a 73-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback David Splithoff to B.J. Szymanski with under three minutes to play in the game.
Szymanski led the league in receiving yards for the weekend with 170 on seven catches. Splithoff passed for 229 yards overall.
Flashing a balanced attack, Princeton running back Cam Atkinson snagged 104 yards on the ground.
After losing their opener to Lehigh, the Tigers (3-1, 1-0) have won three in a row and stand tied with Penn at second in the league standings, half a game behind Harvard.
Villanova 17, Penn 3
Villanova, ranked No. 6 in Division I-AA, knocked the No. 24 Quakers from the ranks of the unbeaten Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Despite poor field conditions because of rain, Penn receiver Rob Milanese managed to have a record-breaking day. In pulling down eight passes, Milanese became the Quakers’ all-time leading receptions leader with 202 career catches, moving into fourth-place all-time in the Ivy League in receptions and fifth in receiving yards.
Despite the loss, Penn (3-1, 1-0) remains undefeated in league play.
Lafayette 28, Columbia 21
The Lions (1-3, 0-1) squandered a 21-0 early-second quarter lead and fell at home to Lafayette.
Steve Hunsberger passed for 237 yards for the Lions, who have lost three straight since opening their season with a win over Fordham.
Fordham 24, Brown 17
The Bears (0-4, 1-0) fell to the Rams (5-1) in New York City and now must gear up for a trip to Princeton next weekend.
Tied 10-10 entering the fourth quarter, Ram quarterback Kevin Eaken threw for a touchdown and ran for a second. Brown finally cut the lead to one touchdown late in the game.