Harvard (4-0, 2-0 Ivy) emerged as the sole undefeated team in the Ancient Eight after outlasting Cornell (1-3, 1-1), while Princeton (3-1, 1-1) suffered an agonizing first loss to Colgate (3-2). Yale (3-1, 1-1) followed up on its comeback win against Colgate by besting Dartmouth (0-4, 0-2) in Hanover, N.H. In nerve-wracking games, Brown (3-1, 0-1) squeaked by Fordham (4-2) in overtime while Penn (3-1, 1-1) had to go to double overtime to take down Bucknell (3-2). Columbia (0-4, 0-2) suffered the worst loss of the Ivy League this weekend, losing by 21 points to Lafayette (4-2).
Harvard 34, Cornell 24
Playing at home, Harvard maintained its dominance of the Ivy League by displaying an aggressive offense led by senior quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick while putting up a stiff defense against a determined Cornell squad. Fitzpatrick dominated Cornell’s defense, breaking 300 yards passing and 100 rushing, throwing two touchdown passes and running one in himself.
Late in a contentious first half, Fitzpatrick threw a 51-yard bomb to Corey Mazza, putting Harvard up 21-14.
Cornell quarterback D.J. Busch made the most impressive play of the day with a 77-yard touchdown pass to Chad Nice that put Cornell up 24-21 in the third quarter.
The Crimson were undaunted as wide receiver Brian Edwards responded with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Corey Mazza and Fitzpatrick ran it in from 17 yards with under three minutes left.
Brown 27, Fordham 20, OT
Brown owes a great deal of its close win over Fordham to the remarkable performance of junior Nick Hartigan, who rushed 125 yards on 42 carries and scored three times, including on the game-winning 1-yard run in overtime.
Fordham did not yield an inch until overtime however, with quarterback Derric Daniels passing for 148 yards and one touchdown. Their tough offense was backed by Tad Kornegay, the Patriot League’s top defender, who racked up three interceptions.
Brown looked to win after going up 20-17 on a 45-yard field goal with six minutes left, but the Rams’ kicker Micah Clukey responded from 34 yards left with under one minute left to force overtime.
Colgate 29, Princeton 26
Princeton walked away shocked after a solid performance that nonetheless failed to shut down Div I-AA No. 20 Colgate, who came back from being down 19-14 at the beginning of the fourth quarter and 26-14 with only five minutes left.
Princeton running back Branden Benson ran 133 yards on 10 carries and scored on an 84-yard run.
But Colgate’s 2003 Walter Payton Award Winner Jamaal Branch would not be stopped, running 179 yards, including a 76-yard breakaway, and scoring twice to lead his team’s 11th hour rally.
Penn 32, Bucknell 25, 2 OT
On the edge of defeat in front of a record crowd of 10,602 at home, Penn forced overtime with a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and after trading field goals in the first extra period, won in the second on a 1-yard pass by quarterback Pat McDermott.
In a dominating performance, McDermott threw 384 yards, completing 32 of 55 passes, and rushed in two touchdowns in addition to his game-winning pass.
Bucknell suffered a tough setback in the last quarter as quarterback Daris Wilson rushed 20 yards to score only to have the touchdown discounted due to a holding penalty.
McDermott threw 12 yards to Gabe Marabella to tie it up at 22-22 with 5:15 remaining.
Bucknell kicker Ryan Korn then scored from 47 yards, but the score was quickly tied again as Evan Nolan kicked from 42 yards, pushing the game into the second period of overtime.
Lafayette 35, Columbia 14
Columbia, still looking for its first win, went down 21-0 at halftime to an aggressive Lafayette team and failed to close that gap for the rest of the game.
Lafayette quarterback Brad Maurer gave a dominating performance by passing for two touchdowns and running one in himself.
The game began poorly for Columbia when they turned over the ball on a fumble, after which Lafayette scored only two plays later.
Columbia quarterback Jeff Otis fought back with two touchdowns in the third, but Lafayette scored one as well and clinched the game with another in the fourth.