PRINCETON, N.J. -- Dave Oliveira heard the optimistic shouts from the Brown football locker room. It wasn't hard with the Princeton Tigers preparing in quiet, business-like fashion. Oliveira saved his noise for the field, recording 4.5 of the Tigers' school-record 11 sacks as Princeton took a close game and turned it into a 31-10 rout Saturday at Palmer Field. It was a game both teams needed to win in order to keep hopes of an Ivy championship alive. It was a game the Tigers (3-1, 1-1 Ivy League) knew how to win, and Brown (2-2, 0-2) did not. An interception by Ryan Moore at the Princeton one-yard line, followed by an 85-yard scamper by Marc Washington broke the 10-10 game open. It led to a C.J. Brucato five-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter which put the Tigers up 17-10. "We just lost our confidence at that point," Brown coach Mark Whipple said. "We just haven't won that many games at Brown lately to overcome a big play like that." As much as anything, the difference in the game was experience. Yes, Brown returned 22 of 24 starters this year, and the Tigers less than half that, but Princeton knows how to win. Say what you want about Keith Elias, but he left a legacy of hard work. "We had guys stepping into starting roles who are seniors and juniors," Princeton coach Steve Tosches said. "And yes, they're inexperienced on the field, but they've been a part of this program. And they saw how an Elias got himself ready to play." Whipple, who has clearly revitalized Brown, does not have a championship-caliber squad yet, and will have to play spoiler. On the field, Brown quarterback Jason McCullough had little time to pass as the Tigers applied constant pressure. Talented Bears tailback Marquis Jesse missed the game after having surgery earlier in the week for a hernia. Tosches knew the Brown offense, which relies heavily on the pass, would be even more reliant on the air game. Jesse may be out as much as three to four weeks, in which case he will miss the Oct. 22 game against Penn at Franklin Field. Trevor Yankoff, who was demoted to second-string quarterback, played his second game at wide receiver for the Bears. He dropped a sure touchdown pass in the end zone that would have given Brown a lead early in the third quarter. "We built this game up as a big game," Whipple said. "We didn't make any bones about it -- if we lost it, we didn't have any chance of winning an Ivy League championship.?We have a really young football team mentally, and it really came down to the mental-toughness part." In other games around the Ivy League: Dartmouth 27, Lafayette 15 -- Big Green quarterback Ren Riley broke his arm in three places after he was hit by Rawle Howard. Riley will have surgery later this week. Jerry Singleton and Jon Aljancic will compete in practice for the starting quarterback spot. The Big Green improved to 2-2, 0-1. Lafayette is 0-5. Cornell 18, Harvard 13 -- Cornell won its fourth straight game for its best start since 1971 by defeating Harvard in Boston. Chad Levitt rushed 30 times for 227 yards and gave the Big Red (4-0, 2-0) the lead with a one-yard TD run with 1:06 to play. Levitt is the first Cornell player since 1988 to rush for 200 yards. Harvard is 2-2, 1-1. Columbia 24, Fordham 13 -- Jamie Schwalbe completed 21 of 27 passes for 257 yards leading the Lions (2-1-1, 0-1) to the victory in Bronx, N.Y. It is Columbia's first winning record this late in the season since 1978. Fordham is 0-6. Lehigh 36, Yale 32 -- Engineers quarterback Bob Aylsworth passed for a Yale Bowl-record 454 yards and three touchdowns. Yale led 12-0, as Lehigh (3-1-1) turned over the ball on its first four possessions. Yale (3-1, 1-0) suffered its first loss of the season. Keith Price rushed for 101 yards for the Elis, his second straight 100-yard performance.
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