The Week That Was . . .

Well now that was an interesting opening day of Ivy League football with both of the teams thought to be favorites losing. The wrapup and a few pithy thoughts:

Lafayette 37, Penn 12
On the one hand, Penn barely survived Lafayette last year, coming from behind to win, 19-14, and then taking the Ivy League title. On the other hand, Lafayette was 0-2 with a loss to perennial Patriot League cellar-dweller Georgetown. It was the second-worst home loss ever for Penn under Al Bagnoli. link

Holy Cross 30, Harvard 22
The Crusaders vaulted out of a 14-3 hole by scoring 27 consecutive points. Harvard was mistake-prone in its preseason game at Dartmouth and it continued against Holy Cross with a fumbled punt at the 4 setting the Crusaders up for a field goal and a 97-yard interception going for a touchdown.

Brown 21, Stony Brook 20
You can look at it two ways. Stony Brook is winless. Or Stony Brook took Texas El Paso of the FBS to overtime in the first game of the year. Either way, it was an impressive win for the Bears and an impressive return from injury by Kyle Newhall-Caballero who completed 22-of-37 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.

Yale 37, Georgetown 27
Patrick Witt had three TD passes and ran for a fourth. The Bulldogs needed a touchdown on the final play of the game to beat the Hoyas a year ago, and this Georgetown team came in unbeaten. Of course, it's still Georgetown.

Cornell 24, Bucknell 13
Another of those "this way" or "that way" games. On the one hand, Jeff Mathews rebounded from a pair of early interceptions to pass for 332 yards as the Big Red beat a previously unbeaten opponent. On the other hand, that opponent was Bucknell.

Lehigh 34, Princeton 22
Speaking about returns from injury, Tommy Wornham was 23-for-41 for 232 yards for the Tigers, who managed almost 400 yards of total offense against a very good Lehigh team. Looks as if Princeton may have found its missing link in freshman running back Chuck Dibilio, who had 86 yards on 14 carries.

Fordham 21, Columbia 14
Much of the hope/hype surrounding Columbia rests on the shoulder(s) and legs of quarterback Sean Brackett who was 18-of-38 passing with two interceptions (and two touchdowns) and was held to 21 yards on the ground. The difference in the game: a 100-yard touchdown return by Fordham's Nick Womack.

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The official Dartmouth news release on yesterday's win can be found here and the Colgate release is here.

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WCAX TV out of Burlington, Vt., had a nice report last night on Dartmouth's win. It hasn't been posted on the station's site yet, but here's a pregame report it did.

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Check BGA Premium for a follow story today and a look at the junior varsity game against Middlebury. Tomorrow on BGA: The Optimist and The Pessimist.