For the second straight year, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard will face each other to determine the Ivy League championship.
This year the championship match will be featured on ESPN’s nationally televised “College Gameday,” which will air live from Penn’s Franklin Field. This week Harvard (6-2, 5-0 Ivy) had no problems against Columbia (1-7, 0-5), while Penn (7-1, 5-0) rolled over Princeton (5-3, 3-2). Cornell (3-5, 2-3) defeated Dartmouth (3-5, 2-3) in a game that featured over 650 yards of passing offense.
Harvard 28, Columbia 7
Columbia took the first lead of the game after Harvard quarterback Neil Rose threw his first interception in 231 attempts this season. Columbia’s Steve Hunsberger, who completed 21 of 46 passes for 228 yards, threw a 20-yard touchdown to wide receiver Steve Cargile.
The lead, and Rose’s inaccuracy, was short-lived. Rose threw for two touchdowns in the first half as Harvard took control of the contest. He finished the game completing 25 of 35 passes for 257 yards. His favorite target, all-American wide receiver Carl Morris, had 10 catches for 98 yards and 1 touchdown.
Harvard’s freshman running back Ryan Tyler rushed for 120 yards on only 19 carries. Both he and Rose recorded rushing touchdowns.
Penn 44, Princeton 13
The Quakers’ defense proved too stingy, as they held Princeton’s Cameron Atkinson, the second leading rusher in the Ivy League, to only 30 yards. The tone of the game was set when Penn sacked the Tigers’ second-string quarterback Mike Verbit for a safety and the first score of the contest.
Five different Quaker players found the endzone, including two rushing touchdowns by running back Michael Recchiuti and a 30-yard interception return by Fred Plaza. Plaza’s score put Penn ahead 30-0 at the end of the third quarter.
The lone bright spot for Princeton was wide receiver Chisom Opara’s 109-yard performance.
Cornell 21, Dartmouth 19
Dartmouth lived by the pass all day, but they died by it too when Cornell’s Jordan Hase intercepted Big Green quarterback Brian Mann with 49 seconds remaining as the Big Green attempted a late comeback.
Mann completed 37 of 58 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns. Dartmouth’s all-Ivy tight end Casey Cramer caught 8 passes for 114 yards.
After Tyler Lavin missed a first quarter PAT, Dartmouth was forced to go for two following their second fourth quarter score. The conversion would have tied the score at 21, but Cornell’s Jamie Moriarty stopped Dartmouth’s Scott Wedum short of the goal line.
Cornell’s Mick Razzano passed for 302 yards and a touchdown. Keith Ferguson’s 175 receiving yards, tops in the Ivy League this week, also made him the first Cornell player to surpass 2,500 career receiving yards.