Week 2 Ivy League Football Preview

1. Harvard Crimson vs. Brown Bears -- Saturday 6:00 pm 

The Crimson will host Brown for this night affair and what more could anyone have asked from these teams in week 1? The Bears beat Georgetown 46-0 backed by a stellar defensive effort, while Qwentin Brown ran for two touchdowns on the day. James Murphy also threw for two alleviating any doubts about who would be the QB of this season to lead the team. It was their defense though that was most impressive. They held Georgetown to just 183 total yards. 

Harvard was similarly dominating. In a game that had the line set by odds makers at -38 the Crimson covered and won in a blowout. Harvard beat up on Stetson on the road 59-7. The Crimson had pro scouts in the stands and Jaden Craig showed them exactly why he is one of the best players in the FCS this season. Craig threw for 208 yards and 2 passes while having his way with Stetson all day. 

These two played a nail biter last season at Brown where the Bears walked away a 31-28 winner. Now in Cambridge the Crismon have to have the advantage but Brown really impressed in their opener. Harvard will get a lot of recognition for their offensive explosion but it's the defense that will win or lose this game. Craig will be Craig and the Crimson will get their points but can Brown run on this Harvard team will be where this matchup is won or lost. 

We are set for a good game at night in the Ivy's. 

2. Dartmouth Big Green vs. Central Connecticut State -- Saturday 12:00 pm  

Dartmouth came into the season with questions at QB and feeling like their defense would be their backbone but in game one it was the defense who looked sluggish at times.

The Big Green were down 10-0 early in the game and their mighty defense looked vulnerable against New Hampshire. On the positive side for Dartmouth is the fact that they were able to generate so much offense in the second half and if that is any indicator then this could be a special year. Dartmouth put up 20 second half points, which included two fourth quarter TDs to seal the game. Central Connecticut has already played four games this season and what we know about how their season has gone on is that this team has a dynamic defense. If you take away their first game against UConn they have allowed just three touchdowns in the next three games. 

Dartmouth's defense has to be better because Central will bring their defense. This game might play out much like their last game where they lost 16-14. If the Big Green stumble offensively in this one we could see a big early season loss. 

3. Yale Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red -- Saturday 12:00 pm 

The Bulldogs QB controversy wasn't exactly put to rest in the first game and the final score might be a little misleading but give Yale it's due they got a nice home win against a tough defensive team, all with QB questions surrounding the offense. 

Holy Cross has a good defense but it looked beatable in the second half and that's exactly when Yale shined. Josh Pitsenberger ran for over 120 yards and three touchdowns. Yale struggled some out of the gate as they went into halftime up 7-3 but you could see the offense was having success against this defense. 

Cornell didn't have the same luck losing on their opening night and they had no semblance of offense at all. They dropped a road game to Albany 13-10 in a game that didn't see a single TD until the 4th quarter. Cornell had a chance to win but with under 2 minutes to go threw a costly pick and Albany took home the victory. Both teams offenses looked more sloppy than the defenses looked good, as Abany even switched up QBs mid game. 

Yale is at home and is the expected favorite here and they should be. There was nothing offensively positive to take away from Cornell's loss, but if their defense can play well again Yale's first half offensive struggles could allow the Big Red to stay close enough for the upset. 

4. Columbia Lions vs. Georgetown Hoyas -- Saturday - 12:00 pm 

The Lions dropped their first game of the year, and no one panicked as they shouldn't. The Lions were a great story last season, and they brought back the bulk of their team, but they were facing a good Lafayette team on the road, and their explosive offense showed it once again. Lafayette scored 42 points in back-to-back games coming into this one and then dropped 38 on Columbia. 

If we can brush past that game and look at Georgetown these teams are nothing alike and the Lions should have much more success. The Hoyas were just shut out by Brown. Their offense was humming before that game however and that has to be something to watch here. Georgetown lives and dies on the big plays and have had quite a few already in the young season.  If Columbia can limit the big plays with the speed that Georgetown has and make them play from behind like Brown did they could right the ship and get back to .500 here. 

5. Princeton Tigers vs. Lafayette Leopards-- Saturday 3:30 pm 

Princeton started this year where it left off last season and that is with another loss. This home loss stung because there was a lot of talk of turning the page on last season and getting off to the right start. San Diego, and in particular their defense, seemed like the perfect first opponent for the Tigers and they couldn't capitalize on the weak defense enough to overcome their own bad defense. 

San Diego meanwhile put up 42 points after scoring 7 the week before that. Now the Tigers will try to stop Lafayette and their explosive offense that is coming off of a 38 point day against Columbia and has now scored 38 or more in three straight games. Princeton better hope their offense can make up for the defense here because it will be a hard job keeping Lafayette in check. 

6. Penn Quakers vs. Lehigh Mountain Hawks -- Saturday 12:00 pm 

The Quakers went right down to the wire but walked away winners on a game winning field goal to get the season off on the right foot. The right foot of their kicker that is. 

The Quakers came out of the locker room fired up and scored two quick touchdowns that included a 60+ yard punt return and a nearly 70 yard bomb from Liam O'Brien to Jared Richardson. O'Brien looked good at times but was also pretty inefficient going just 16 for 31. 

The defense almost gave the game away with two late TDs but ultimately held on. Penn now takes on a Lehigh team that has looked very crisp so far. This team is 4-0 and have improved their scoring each week, last week putting up 41 after 35 the week prior. The offense will be the key for O'Brien and Penn to stay close; he will have to be much sharper and that Penn defense has to look like their first half selves and not the team we watched in the 4th quarter.