Here's how a wacky Week Eight went in the Ivy League and among Dartmouth's other opponents:
Harvard 45, Penn 43
One of the craziest final minutes of the year saw Harvard drive 40 yards in the final 22 seconds to set up a career-long, game-winning 53-yard field goal by Kieran Corr. With the win the Crimson remain undefeated and earned at least a share of a third consecutive Ivy League championship.
Penn had taken a 43-42 lead on a 30-yard field goal that the Quakers kicked on third down because they were out of timeouts and didn’t dare try what coach Ray Priore termed a “fast-break” field goal. Crimson quarterback Jaden Craig needed just 17 seconds to complete three passes and advance his team from its own 25 to the Penn 35 where it called time with five seconds left. Carr came on and booted his longest career field goal – by 15 yards – to salvage the win for Harvard.
The Crimson (9-0, 6-0) got 390 yards and three touchdowns from Craig and 103 yards and two touchdowns on the ground from Xaviah Bascon. Penn (5-4, 3-3) got 271 yards and three touchdowns through the air from Liam O’Brien, who ran for 100 yards and one touchdown. All three of his TD passes went to Jared Richardson. The game drew 8,256 to Harvard Stadium.
Yale 13, Princeton 10
The Bulldogs kept their Ivy League title hopes alive thanks to a 37-yard Noah Piper field goal with 3:50 remaining. Yale needs a win over Harvard Saturday in New Haven to wrest a slice of the Ivy League championship away from its arch rival.
As it did a week ago at Dartmouth, Princeton (3-6, 2-4) won the battle everywhere but on the scoreboard, topping the Bulldogs in first downs (18-12), total offense (313-273) and time of possession (almost nine more minutes), but again lost by three points. After tying the score at 10 with 8:46 remaining, the Tigers saw Yale drive 55 yards for the winning field goal.
Princeton’s bid to answer ended with an interception at the Yale 35 with 1:04 left and the Bulldogs proceeded to run out the clock in front of 4,704 at Princeton Stadium. Josh Pitsenberger ran for 106 yards and one touchdown for Yale. Super freshman Josh Robinson caught seven passes for 113 yards for Princeton, which intercepted Yale QB Dante Reno two times and sacked him three times. The Bulldogs limited Tigers quarterback Kai Colón to 11-of-23 passing for 177 yards with one interception and sacked him six times.
Brown 32, Columbia 29
The Bears got 340 yards and four touchdown passes from James Murphy, whose five-yard scoring strike with 1:53 left proved to be the game-winner when Columbia lost a fumble on its ensuing possession and Brown proceeded to run out the clock.
The Bears jumped out to a 15-0 first-half lead only to see Columbia run off the next 15 point to tie the score midway through the third quarter. There would be five scoring changes the rest of the way with the final one erasing a 29-25 Columbia lead and lifting the Bears to 4-5 overall and 1-5 in the conference. Columbia, which got 123 yards rushing from Michael Walters, fell to 1-8 and 0-6.
New Hampshire 42, Bryant 14
Matt Vezza threw for 328 yards with five touchdown passes as the Wildcats (7-4, 5-2 CAA) kept their playoff hopes alive by cruising to their fourth consecutive victory.
Leading, 14-7, after a Bryant touchdown early in the second quarter, UNH ran off the next 21 points to stretch its lead to 35-7 before the teams traded touchdowns in the final six minutes. The 42 points and 28-point margin were both season highs for New Hampshire, which punted just one time while outgaining Bryant (3-8, 1-6) 467 yards to 234. Attendance at the game in Smithfield was listed as . . . zero.
Duquesne 38, Central Connecticut 33
The Blue Devils got a school-record 423 yards through the air from quarterback Brady Olson but lost a chance to lock up the Northeast Conference automatic bid to the FCS playoffs on an interception in the end zone in the final minute.
Central Connecticut (7-4, 5-1) can still clinch a playoff appearance with a win in its finale Saturday against Mercyhurst in New Britain, or with a loss by Duquesne (6-5, 4-2) in its final game at Robert Morris.
Olson tossed four touchdown passes but was intercepted twice. Elijah Howard ran for 108 yards and one touchdown for CCSU, which hadn’t loss since falling to Dartmouth, 35-28, on Sept. 27. The game drew 1,150 to Arthur Rooney Field.
Georgetown 14, Fordham 0
The Hoyas scored touchdowns in the first and second quarters as they dealt the Rams their first shutout loss since 2018 in front of 1,596 in Washington, D.C.
Gunnar Smith completed 22-of-36 passes for 208 yards and one touchdown for Fordham, but was sacked seven times. The Rams’ leading rusher gained just 17 yards as they finished with 26 total yards on the ground.
With nine tackles, Fordham linebacker James Conway ran his career total to 585, breaking the old NCAA record of 577. The Rams are 1-10 overall and 1-6 in the Patriot League. Georgetown (6-5, 3-3) now has its most single-season wins since 2011.
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EXTRA POINT
We headed over to the Vermont capital of Montpelier Friday night to see the biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere with That Certain Nittany Lion '16, who is a big fan of The Boss. I have to say I agree with the critics who praise the performance of Jeremy Allen White in the title role more than the movie itself.
