Week 5 Ivy League Football Preview

Harvard Crimson vs. Merrimack Warriors - Saturday 12:00 pm 

The Crimson had their worst game of the season last week. They scored the fewest points of the year and won by their smallest margin of victory. With all that said let's be honest most of it is tongue in cheek because they still scored 34 points and won the game by 24. 

That is what the Crimson have been all season long. They are playing otherworldly defense and their offense has been among the best in the FCS. With the win Harvard continued to climb the list of ranked FCS teams and they are forcing the rest of the country to pay attention to how they are beating teams down. Jaden Craig once again led Harvard with a TD pass and run but it was everyone who got involved last week. The defense caused a scoop and score fumble on just the fifth play of the game and that set the tone of the day. The defense didn't allow a TD until the second half, which has been the case in three of their four games this year. Getting ahead and leaning on their opponents has been a coaching masterclass thus far and now they face Merrimack. 

Harvard once again comes in as a four TD favorite and playing the 3-4 Warriors the line makes sense. Merrimack isn't terrible as much as Harvard is good but there are some alarming issues with the Warriors. They only scored 13 points last week against Maine and 10 two weeks before that against Stony Brook. In fact, they have scored 17 or less points in five of their seven games this year. That is ominous against this Harvard defense that might very well pitch a shutout this weekend. 

Dartmouth Big Green vs. Fordham Rams - Saturday 1:00 pm  

Dartmouth's defense finally looked like we believed they would for the first time all year last week, and they needed every yard to defeat Yale 17-16. The win pushes Dartmouth's record to 3-1 and the Big Green can breathe a little easier. The Big Green had allowed 74 points through the previous two games, which was a shock for anyone who was banking on their superior defense to carry them this season.

The offense though has been a big surprise and has Big Green fans thinking they can have a huge year because of the growth on that side of the ball. Grayson Saunier ran for nearly 100 yards last week and had two touchdowns as he continues his ascension. 

Fordham's defense was among the worst in the country for much of the year but they have looked better the last two weeks. After allowing 41 or more points in four straight games to begin the season the Rams now have allowed 21 and 24 the past two weeks. If Dartmouth plays any semblance of defense like they did last week this could turn into a laugher but if they revert back to their leaky defense they could be in for a tight game they didn't expect. 

Columbia Lions vs. Penn Quakers - Saturday 1:30 pm 

The Lions have to find some way to generate offense this week if they want a win and with the Ivy's worst offense that might be asking a lot. The Lions came into the season with high hopes after shocking everyone last year and their defense has certainly lived up to that billing. The offense though feels like it still hasn't left summer camp and they are the predominant reason for their 1-3 start. 

The Lions have yet to score more than 19 points this year. They have not scored more than two touchdowns yet this season and have scored a total of six touchdowns in their four games. After being held to just 228 yards total last week and a chunk of that came on a 74 yard score, things actually could have been worse. Now they take on a Penn team that is 3-1 and played a complete game last week. Their defense was working, holding Marist to just 9 points, while the offense scored four touchdowns for the third week in a row. Liam O'Brien continues to sling the ball and look just as good as his preseason hype with two more TD passes last week and he has shown a knack for stepping up late in the game. 

Columbia will play some tough defense in front of their raucous crowd but it's all on the offense here to see if they can produce enough to pull the home upset of a Penn team looking for a big season. 

It's homecoming week for the Lions which should spark them a bit 

Yale Bulldogs vs. Stonehill Skyhawks - Saturday 12:00 pm 

The Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker last week by one to Dartmouth in a big time defensive battle. Even in the loss this Yale team can take away positives and they should use them to play better this week. The Bulldogs offense has been a concern for two weeks now scoring just 29 points in the two games. Yale's offense was looking good after Cornell but has hit the skid and the reason has been key mistakes in key spots. Dante Reno threw a big pick last week and two the week before that. 

The other issue that they need to correct is being able to come out of the locker room in the second half and keep the same momentum as the first half of the game. Yale was only down 14-7 against Lehigh but then they were outscored 17-6 in the second half. Last week it was more of the same where they were up 10-0 heading into the 4th quarter before blowing the lead. 

Stonehill sits at 2-4 overall and their offense has been weak. They have scored just 24 points in the past two games, have scored more than 14 points just twice all season and lost both of those games with their high water mark being 26 points back on September 6th. This looks like it will be an old school defensive game where Yale has the edge with the better offense, if they can hold onto the ball and close out the game late. 

Brown Bears vs. Princeton Tigers - Saturday 12:00 pm 

The Bears are 3-1 overall and off to its best four-game start since 2013. They have started to get attention as Brown is receiving votes in both the Stats Perform and AFCA FCS Coaches Top 25 polls this week for the second straight week. Their defense has been the calling card and the Bears lead the Ivy League with 12 sacks and five fumble recoveries through the first three games. In fact, Brown is seventh in the FCS with 3 sacks per game and have allowed 20 points per game this season, second-best in the Ivy League and 16th in FCS. They are also playing very disciplined football with the fewest penalty yards per game in the FCS and 3rd fewest in penalties taken per game. 

Last week they were able to shut down Bryant and get a comfortable ten point win. The defense was again on display but James Murphy stole the headlines with his offensive performance. Murphy threw for nearly 350 yards as he led the comeback. The Bears produced more than 350 second half yards. 

The Tigers dropped a tough game to a very good Mercer team. Mercer is now 5-1 on the season with their only loss coming to Presbyterian, so the loss isn't a bad look for this Tigers squad. This will be the real test to see if Brown is for real and what this Princeton team is. The Tigers are 2-2 and their defense has looked very bad in their two losses allowing 80 combined points. It's their offense that has to step up here though and they have to be better than the past two weeks. Against Mercer they only put up 14 points and that was just one week after posting just 17 against Columbia. 

Beating Brown on the road is going to take a much better offensive effort from the Tigers. The Bears are playing sound, mistake free, and defensive led football which can be daunting. This could prove to be another low scoring game that could vault Brown into the top 25 even more so with a win. But Vegas odds makers have listed Princeton as the favorite, so we are set for one heck of a Saturday Ivy League tilt. 

Cornell Big Red vs. Bucknell Bison - Saturday 1:00 pm 

The  Big Red came into the season with bigger hopes than what they have shown and this year has gone off the rails, but this could be their get right game. The Big Red dropped their 4th game in a row to send them to 0-4 on the season after their defense once again fell short in the loss to Harvard. 

To their credit the high flying Crimson were only up 14-0 at the half and they were able to play Harvard closer than any team has thus far this season, but that's little consolation when you still lose the game by 24 points. Cornell managed just one touchdown, which they have now done in two games, but it's their defense that has to get off the field more often. This defense just allowed 34 points, that was after allowing 41 in back-to-back weeks coming into the contest against the Crimson. 

Bucknell has some similar defensive issues. They are 4-3 on the season but their defense just gave up 62 to Lafayette and have allowed 41+ in three games this year, all losses. Even in their wins they have failed to stop anyone from scoring at least 23 points. Cornell could get right and get their first win of the seaso in front of the home crowd here, but to do so the offense better be clicking in what I expect to be a high scoring shootout.