A Look Around The League

It Rips Your Heart Out
The Manchester Union Leader on Saturday's OT Dartmouth loss to Colgate.

Links to yesterday's game capsules and a comment on each ...

Brown 28, Duquesne 17
Great offense balance for the Bears, but it won't be until next week (Harvard) that we know if they are for real.

Fordham 27, Columbia 10Fordham broke in a newly eligible running back as the resurgent Rams ran all over the Lions. Columbia surprised some of us by starting and playing quarterback Craig Hormann, thought to be several weeks away from action as he recovers from a knee problem. (New York Times story)

Cornell 38, Bucknell 14
This isn't a top Bucknell team but the ballyhooed Cornell air game delivered as the Big Red had arguably the best opening day of any Ivy.

Holy Cross 31, Harvard 28
A shocking finish for the Crimson, which seemed in line for a win over a pretty good Holy Cross team.

Lafayette 8, Penn 7
More of the same old, same old for the Quakers as kicking woes and a struggling offense sabotaged a terrific defensive showing.

Yale 28, Georgetown 14
Not the walk-over many expected but a win is a win is a win.

Lehigh 32, Princeton 21
One game and the Netizens are calling for a QB change.

UNH 48, Marshall 35
Someone asked the Marshall coach if he could imagine his team picking up 562 yards and losing. He said: "No. Not unless we were playing Texas Tech or Hawaii." Hey coach. You were playing one of those teams, just one in FCS clothing. For the record, that's three wins in three ties against FBS (I-A) teams for remarkable UNH quarterback Ricky Santos.

From the Ivy League office:

SATURDAY'S STATISTICAL LEADERS

RUSHING YARDS
208 — Dereck Knight, Brown (33 carries)
179 — Milan Williams, Dartmouth (30)
157 — Mike McLeod, Yale (31)
116 — Cheng Ho, Harvard (24)
85 — Joe Sandberg, Penn (17)
81 — Luke Siwula, Cornell (21)

PASSING YARDS
288 — Nathan Ford, Cornell (31 of 45)
264 — Liam O'Hagan, Harvard (19 of 30)
254 — Craig Hormann, Columbia (23 of 43)
248 — Michael Daugherty, Brown (17 of 31)
193 — Matt Polhemus, Yale (14 of 22)
178 — Tom Bennewitz, Dartmouth (16 of 29)

RECEIVING YARDS
171 — Colin Cloherty, Brown (8 catches)
130 — Austin Knowlin, Columbia (9)
115 — John Sheffield, Yale (8)
105 — Corey Mazza, Harvard (7)
105 — Brian Evans, Dartmouth (5)
98 — Brendan Circle, Princeton (3)
84 — Braden Lepisto, Penn (7)
84 — Stephen Liuzza, Cornell (7)

Green Alert Take: It's nice to see a few Dartmouth names on that list. That didn't often happen last year.

From the College Sporting News:

The Patriot League didn’t have to resort to stealing opposing signals in their annual Ivy League battles. The league went 5-2 over the “Ancient Eight” in the Ivy League’s opening weekend in a battle between leagues that have academic standards for their admitted athletes.

Green Alert Take: That's a little harsh. Other Division I leagues have academic standards, (including the Big 10 by the way). They just aren't quite as high and aren't enforced as rigorously.

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Check Green Alert Premium this afternoon for a follow on Saturday's game against Colgate. Tonight: A recap of the junior varsity contest today against Middlebury.

And finally ... that certain Hanover High sophomore helped her field hockey team improve to 4-0 yesterday with a game at Oyster River (the high school serving the UNH area). Thanks for asking ;-)