BGA

Highlights from Dartmouth's 37-0 win over Columbia and Harvard's 56-39 win over Princeton

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The Harvard Crimson has a story about the pressure faced by quarterback Collier Winters when coach Tim Murphy reinstated him as starting quarterback after the tremendous play by Colton Chapple while he was hurt. From the story:

“Collier is a fifth-year senior, and he came back, was healthy, and showed that he could play in practice this week,” said freshman Ivy Special Teams Player of the Week Seitu Smith III. “It’s hard for the coaches to decide between two quarterbacks that have played so well, but I think it comes down to senior leadership.”

And this, which will give Dartmouth a little pause given the Big Green's difficulties this year with running quarterbacks:

“Collier’s rushing opened up the playbook and stretched the defense for the receivers,” Smith said.

Winters completed 34-of-42 passes for 403 yards and five touchdowns and ran for one touchdown.

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Harvard is averaging 36.0 points per game this year, first in the Ivy League and eighth in in the nation. Over the past three games Harvard has averaged 46.3 points. From a story in the Crimson about one of the ramifications of the scoring explosion:

The cheerleaders did a collective 8,589 pushups in a week.

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Harvard was unbeaten and ranked No. 15 in the country when Dartmouth upset the Crimson at Harvard Stadium in 2003, 30-16. Check out the YES Network video and John Sterling's call of most memorable play of the game below:



Read a story I wrote all about that catch here.

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Harvard is ranked No. 7 in the Lambert Meadowlands Football Poll, symbolic of Eastern supremacy in the FCS:

1. Maine
2. Lehigh
3. Towson
4. James Madison
5. New Hampshire
6. Old Dominion
7. Harvard
8. Massachusetts
9. (Tie) Brown, William & Mary, Albany

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In other polls, the FCS Coaches have Harvard at 23 nationally, Brown at 34 and Penn at 44, and The Sports Network/Fathead.com voting has Harvard 24 nationally followed by Brown (35), Penn (42) and Holy Cross (60).

Here's how the Gridiron Power Index (the FCS version of the BCS) has Ivy teams ranked among the 126 teams in the FCS:

16. Harvard
17. Brown
67. Yale
T-76. Penn
80. Cornell
94. Dartmouth
103. Princeton
124. Columbia

Dartmouth opponents:
29. Holy Cross
71. Colgate
100. Sacred Heart

Green Alert Take: Not quite sure what to make of Yale being ahead of Penn when they played just last week and Penn (4-2) beat the Bulldogs (3-3) by a 37-25 count.

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And finally, Saturday was a big day for Kyle Wilcox. The Penn freshman recovered a pooch kick in the fourth quarter of the Quakers' win over Yale and caused a turnover on another kick.

Now, a couple of plays like that by a reserve running back might normally be worth a quick mention at best, but Wilcox' story is remarkable and this line on the end of his Penn bio offers a hint: Brother and guardian, Justin Wilcox, plays football at South Florida

Originally recruited by Princeton, he was left at the altar by the Tigers before Penn came in and offered him a spot. When it seemed things were falling apart for him last winter, the Brighthouse Sports Network had a story headlined After Tackling Life's Blows, Armwood FB and Valedictorian Wilcox Looks for Alternatives After Princeton Hopes are Dashed, and a video report here.

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Green Alert premium will have a practice report today that includes a few thoughts about what the video of Saturday's win over Columbia showed. Also, the latest Green Alert podcast will be posted later today.