Week 8 Ivy League Football Preview

Dartmouth Big Green vs. Princeton Tigers - Saturday 12:00 pm 

Last week's win over Harvard was not just a win in the column but it was a full on display of what the Big Green can be when it all comes together. Their defense was excellent and the offense was able to make the right plays at the right time. Grayson Saunier threw two touchdown passes and had another on the ground, along with over 100 yards rushing, showing off his dual skill set all day. Dartmouth not only won but exercised some demons along the way, beating Harvard for just the 4th time in the past 23 games. The defense though led the way, and they have really started to develop into the defense we believed they would be in the preseason. They have now had 10 interceptions in the past three games, including the five in this one. 

Princeton's defense wasn't quite as dominant in their 21-20 win over Cornell as they have been, but shutting down Cornell might have been their most impressive win of the year. They have now held all but one team to 21 or less points this season and the Big Red were rolling offensively scoring 29+ points in five straight before running into the Tigers wall. The Princeton offense started out slow once again, trailing 13-7 at the half, but were able to put up 14 in the second half. 

Dartmouth is in a typical let down spot here, but their defense is playing so well it's hard to imagine that.

Princeton is a solid defense and will be a challenge for the Big Green but the lack of scoring from the Tigers should be the difference here. Sure, it's a letdown spot, but with two defenses playing at this elite level you have to lean on the team who has the better offense and can crack the defensive wall, that is Dartmouth. 

Brown Bears vs. Yale Bulldogs - Saturday 12:00 pm  

Brown just kept scoring and the defense kept playing at that elite level this weekend. The Bears have put their early season scoring problems to rest the past few weeks and more specifically the past two weeks. Brown has scored 36 and 38 points in back-to-back weeks and 28 just one week prior to that. This is after their offense had just four TDs in the first three games. Defensively they have been pretty on point all year. They once again held a team to 17 or less points. This is now the 6th time in seven games. 

Yale got back on track like we believed they would. The Bulldogs offense was once again efficient, not spectacular, like they had been, but they didn't have to be. The Bulldogs defense stepped up in a big way after being the worst defense in the conference all season long. This defensive effort was much like they had against Dartmouth a few weeks ago and that also led to their last win. After allowing teams to score 65 points in the past two weeks they only allowed 8 to Columbia. Reno only completed 14 passes for 134 yards but he did toss two touchdowns as this offense was a ground attack much of the day, showing teams that they can be dangerous in both facets of the game.

This is one of the more interesting games of the year. Brown's defense against the Yale offense is a matchup dream for fans. On the other side Brown's offense has picked it up lately and faces a questionable defense. This is simple for Yale, if their defense comes to play, they will win, but if we see the kind of defense that has allowed five teams score into the high 20's it'll be tough to get that against the Brown defense. 

Penn Quakers vs. Cornell Big Red - Saturday 1:00 pm 

The Big Red lost yet another heartbreaker last week and this is becoming a tough trend now for this team. They lost two weeks ago in overtime to Brown, last week by 1 point to Princeton and played well against Harvard in their only other loss. Their defense played possibly the best game of the season and still came up short which can be disheartening for this team. They allowed just 21 points after allowing 38,38, and 41 the three weeks prior. Offensively they were held to their lowest point total of the year since opening day although they did push the Tigers defense as much as they have been pushed in recent weeks. 

Penn also dropped their game, but they met a machine in Brown that just has been holding teams down. After looking like the offense had turned a corner the scoring problems resurfaced against a very good defense and they couldn't get much going at all. Penn had just 3 points heading into the 4th quarter and the game was out of reach when they put up their two scores late. Their defense had their worst game of the year after perhaps their best against Yale last week. 

This is a confusing game to judge because we don't know if the Penn game was a one game fluke for that defense or was that something that Penn now has to be concerned with. We also have to question Cornell's sudden offensive issues. I believe that Cornell's offense will be just fine because they went up against Princeton's defense and I can give them a mulligan for one game and Penn can also get a mulligan for their defense. This is a case of which team can recover from their "fluke' last week. I think we see both offenses play better and it should be a fun game. 

Columbia Lions vs. Harvard Crimson - Saturday 1:00 pm 

The Crimson fell miserably and it was self-inflicted wounds that did their perfect season in. I spoke very highly of this team and could not be more impressed but that was quickly thrown away this past weekend, figuratively and literally. Charlie Smith has been excellent the past few weeks but there isn't a word strong enough to say how bad this game went for him. Smith attempted 37 passes, which is a problem in itself, and he did throw for nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns, but anytime you throw five, yes five, interceptions it's going to be hard for your team to win. The defense was also gashed on the ground by a running QB and while they were put in losing situations all game, you can't have a QB running on you the way they did. On the bright side we can just give the Buchannan award to Xaden Benson now. He had three more interceptions and has already broken the Crimson record for picks in a season with nine. Harvard as a team have 14 total picks and that is a strength they have to be able to lean on. 

Columbia came crashing back down-to-earth last week in a beatdown by Yale. The Bulldogs defense has been an issue all season and they completely shut down the Lions. Columbia had a nice start to the season, but many questioned if it was a fluke and after the past two weeks it certainly seems like it. The Lions have now scored just 26 points the past two weeks and they haven't played a good defense in either of those games. The last time they played a good defense Princeton held them to just one score. The defense was also on their heels and now have allowed 26 or more points in all but one game this year. 

This has bloodbath written all over it. The Lions enter hostile territory against a Harvard team looking for revenge. Smith won't throw 5 picks again but the Crimson defense might get that many on their side. Harvard knows that they have no room for error anymore in conference and I expect a complete game from both sides in this one. It wouldn't shock me if the Crimson scored into the 40's and it also wouldn't be a shock to see the Lions held scoreless.