Week 10 Ivy League Football Preview

Harvard Crimson vs. Yale Bulldogs - Saturday 12:00 pm

The Crimson hung onto their unbeaten record with a last second, exciting field goal in their toughest game to date last week and now that they have claimed at least a share of the Ivy League title they face down their biggest rival. They travel to Yale for the 141st edition of The Game this week. It will be a nationally televised game as the Crimson, having already clinched a share of its third straight Ivy League title, will look to claim the outright crown and secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA FCS Playoffs. This season marks the first time the league will send its champion to the postseason.

Harvard's offense was once again brilliant last week scoring more than 40 points again but their defense was abused all day by O'Brien and the passing game. We saw some small cracks in the defense the week before against Columbia and that carried over. Jaden Craig was special again as he helped put Kiernan Corr in position to make the game-winner after going 40 yards in just 17 seconds. Craig had a career-high 390-yard afternoon, which also included three passing TDs and one on the ground. Craig could be the difference maker here as well as he is clearly the best player on the field week in and week out. Harvard's offense is a top-10 unit nationally, averaging over 40 points per game. Their defense comes in ranking close to the top in most categories as well but last week's performance has to have Crimson backers nervous. 

 Yale is also in the top 25 and being at home they are a live dog here. Yale has won five games in a row and once again their defense was simply on point last week. They held Princeton to just 10 points and the Tigers didn't get into the end zone until the 4th quarter. This team has now held four of the past five opponents to 13 points or less and the other one to just 22. Josh Pitsenberger is a must stop for the Crimson's defense. He has had one of the best seasons in the Ivy's and last week once again racked up the stats. He ran for over 100 yards and posted another TD. 

This game will really come down to which defense of the Crimson will show up. Yale's defense has looked outstanding lately but Craig and the offense will get their points. In order for Yale to win and split the title they will need the Crimson's defense to look more like it has the past two week rather than what they have for most of the season. Last week's defensive performance gives the Bulldogs hope in this one, but Craig is probably the difference maker. 

Brown Bears vs. Dartmouth Big Green - Saturday 12:00 pm  

The Big Green had a disappointing season but let's keep it in perspective they still are 7-2 and one of the best teams in this conference. Their only losses were to unbeaten Harvard in Cambridge and against the team who almost knocked off Harvard up in Penn. The Dartmouth defense has been their calling card for years and lately it's seemed like they are back to being that dominant force. 

The Big Green held Cornell to just 14 points, after Cornell put up 39 the week before that, and Princeton was held to 17 the game prior to that. In fact, outside of Harvard, no team has crossed 17 points since week three. The offense has been up and down and last week they had enough to get by Cornell once again. DJ Crowther had a pair of rushing TDs for the Green last week and they want to keep that ground game momentum going here against Brown. Crowther is the second leading rusher in the Ivy Leagues and will need to control the clock in this one. 

Brown finally stopped their losing streak with a 32-29 win over Columbia last week but their defensive issues still persist. Brown has now allowed 28 or more points in five straight games and in every game against their Ivy League opponents this season. Last week James Murphy was on fire as he threw four touchdowns including the game winner late. Murphy has been great despite the losing lately and will need his best game yet to crack this Big Green defense. 

Brown is at home which will help and Dartmouth has big scoring droughts, but unless the Bears find something on defense and Murphy plays above his head this looks like another tight Dartmouth win. 

Penn Quakers vs. Princeton Tigers - Saturday 1:00 pm 

Both of these teams wanted better years than they have had but both have shined at times. Penn shined the brightest in a loss last week against Harvard in a game where they had their hearts ripped out. That late game loss where the Crimson drove down the field in mere seconds to snatch victory away will be hard to recover from here in a quick turnaround and try to salvage the season. 

Penn's Liam O'Brien has been brilliant all season long and once again was on his game against the Crimson. O'Brien threw 40 times for 271 yards and three touchdowns but his defense let him down. That has been the case more than once this year where Penn has allowed 45 and 39 points in back to back games now and 35 two games before that. The offense has generally lived and died on O'Brien's performances and that is what they will try to do here. I expect the Quakers to come out firing on the Tigers to set the tone early. 

Princeton meanwhile, sit at just 3-6 on the season and have lost four games in a row and five of the past six. The Tigers offense failed them against a stingy Dartmouth D, but they haven't been able to generate much anyway lately. The Tigers have not scored more than 17 points in six of their last seven games and four in a row. This offense is flat out bad right now. For their part Princeton's defense has been good the past three games allowing 20,20, and 13 points. 

The Tigers weak offense faces the Quakers bad defense in a battle that will determine the winner. 

Cornell Big Red vs. Columbia Lions - Saturday 1:00 pm 

The Big Red saw their late season winning streak come to an end last week in a tough loss to Dartmouth but they still have turned their season around. This team was sitting with an 0-4 record and then turned it on winning four in a row before last week. They now sit at 4-5 and being at home you have to think it means something for them to end the year at .500 after that rough start that has to be considered a positive. They also have a chance to go over .500 in Ivy League play with a win. 

Expect to see a lot of Gannon Carothers here as they will look to establish the rushing attack and they have more than one who can do that. Two games ago Crothers, Garrett Bass-Sulpizio and Jordan Triplett all rushed for TDs and that ground game has been vital in their turnaround. 

The Lions played Harvard really well two weeks ago but as their season went they came away with a loss. The same thing happened last week when they lost by three to Brown in the final minutes and now sit with a 1-8 record and go on the road for the finale. This is a lost season for a team who had super high hopes after last year and we have to wonder how they will get up for a game like this. Their defense has allowed over 30 points in five of their last six games and that could be a recipe for disaster against the Big Red rushing attack. 

Cornell has all the motivation here and should be able to get up at home to take down Columbia, but the Lions have played close the past few weeks enough to give some doubt to this one.