Brown, Yale Preseason favorites to challenge Penn for Ivy Title

Last November the goal posts were torn down at Franklin Field and the Ivy League title returned to West Philadelphia for the first time since 1994. Without Jim Finn's 1,450 rushing yards and Matt Rader's 2,025 passing yards, things may not come as easy the second time around. Repeating is difficult enough as it is -- just ask Harvard, which lost four Ivy League games last year following an undefeated Ivy season -- and there are seven teams waiting to knock Penn from its perch atop the Ancient Eight. In only his second year at Brown, Phil Estes is looking to become the first head coach since '76 to lead the Bears to an Ivy Championship. Brown finished in a tie for second place last year and is projected to be near the top of the Ancient Eight once again. Despite losing first-team All-Ivy wide receiver Sean Morey to graduation and the New England Patriots, the Bears offense is still loaded with weapons, including two more first-team All-Ivy honorees. Senior quarterback James Perry set a school record with 3,165 yards passing in '98, just 20 yards shy of the Ivy record. Perry needs 1,810 yards to break the League record for career passing yards -- a feat he may accomplish in his sixth game of the season at Penn. Perry's main target will be junior wide receiver Stephen Campbell, who caught 61 passes last season for 710 yards. Campbell is also Brown's all-time career punt returner with 518 yards, which were amassed over only two seasons. While Brown's offense was throwing for over 300 yards per game, the Bears pass defense held opponents to under 200 aerial yards per game. Three defensive backs return, including senior captain Azibo Smith, who made 80 tackles last fall, and Jason Lucas, twice named Ivy League Rookie of the Week in 1998. One weak link for Columbia will be inexperience at quarterback. Senior Mike Glynn, juniors Ryan Kiernan and Mark Stoutenberg and sophomore Jeff McCall all will contend for the starting job. Combined, the four quarterbacks have completed three varsity passes. The supporting cast should help ease the transition. Both senior Norman Hayes and sophomore Jonathan Reese gained over 400 yards on the ground last year. Reese was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year not only for his rushing ability but also for his 22.9 yard kickoff return average. Reese was the first Lion in 10 years to win the honor. The defense is led by two second-team All-Ivy choices. Senior inside linebacker Kevin Wright recorded the most tackles for the Lions in 1998 with 82, including eight tackles for a loss. After switching from the tailback position last season, senior captain Jason Bivens anchored the Columbia defense. Used as both an outside linebacker and a rover, Bivens forced four fumbles for the Lions. Hiring Pete Mangurian, an NFL assistant coach under Dan Reeves, did not translate into instant success for Cornell, who is still in a rebuilding process. In Mangurian's first season at the Big Red helm, Cornell's lone Ivy League victory came against Dartmouth by a meager three-point margin. Cornell, however, did win all three of its non-Ivy games, including one against Division I-A Buffalo. The offense returns nine starters but also lacks a quarterback with playing experience. Senior John Algeo has the most experience with 10 career pass attempts but his job will be challenged by three sophomores. Senior halfback Deon Harris, the Big Red's leading rusher from a year ago, returns, as does junior wide receiver Joe Splendorio. Splendorio led Cornell in receptions and receiving yards with 46 and 677, respectively. In 1998, Cornell was awesome against the pass, allowing just 173 yards per game. The problem was that the rushing defense allowed more yardage than the passing defense -- 185.3 yards per game. Last year's 2-8 season was an anomaly for Dartmouth, a perennial Ivy League powerhouse. The Big Green finished 1-6 in the Ivy League, putting them in a tie for last place for only the second time in school history. If the Big Green are to return to Ancient Eight glory, they will need help from their inexperienced starters on offense. In 1998, Dartmouth finished seventh in the Ivy League with 14.2 points per game and last in total offense with 240.2 yards per game. Sophomore Brian Mann is expected to get the nod over fellow sophomore Greg Smith at quarterback. Mann has thrown only 38 career passes but one of them was caught for the first touchdown in Dartmouth history to be thrown by a freshman. Mann, however, will have an experienced backfield. Senior tailback Reginald Belhomme gained 366 yards, which was tops at Dartmouth. Junior fullback Bob Bunn is the Big Green's top returning receiver with 17 receptions. The Dartmouth defense is led by second-team All-Ivy senior linebacker Steve Varney, who led the Big Green in tackles last fall. Although the defensive backfield loses All-Ivy selection Brad Verber, the Big Green still have junior safety Brad Eissler, who led the Ivy League in interceptions with six. After winning all of its Ivy League games in '97, Harvard suffered a major setback in '98 by going 3-4 in league play. Notwithstanding, the Crimson will still have three key components from the '97 squad that will lead Harvard this season. Senior quarterback Rich Linden is second in career passing yards with 4,199 and needs merely 209 more yards to break the record. His 26 consecutive starts dates back to his freshman season, when he completed 58.6 percent of his passes. Another Crimsonite looking for his spot in the Harvard record book is senior running back Chris Menick. Menick needs 713 yards to pass Eion Hu's career rushing record of 3,073 yards. Menick, who missed two games to injury in '98, will need to record numbers like he did in Harvard's championship season -- 1,390 total yards -- to bring the title back to Cambridge. On the other side of the ball, senior inside linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski will lead the defense while trying to become the first player in Crimson history to start all 40 games of his college career. Last season, Kacyvenski did a little bit of everything, leading the Crimson in tackles with 108 while picking off two balls, recovering two fumbles and sacking the quarterback once. Princeton's 1998 campaign was highlighted by the opening of its new stadium. The Tigers finished 4-3 in the Ivy League but had the luxury of playing five of its seven games at Princeton Stadium. The Tigers, like Dartmouth and Columbia, lack a veteran quarterback. Junior Jon Blevins leads the candidates in experience with three career pass attempts. Regardless of who is taking the snaps, the Princeton quarterback will have plenty of people to carry his handoffs and catch his passes. Princeton alternated four rushing backs in '98 -- Nathan McGlothin, Derek Theisen, Damien Taylor and Kyle Brandt -- who rushed for a combined 1,400 yards. The Tigers still have their top receiver in yardage from one year ago, senior Phil Wendler, who had three 100-yard receiving games last year. Although they were last in passing defense last year, Princeton allowed only 72.9 yards rushing per game, giving Princeton the best total defense in the Ivy League. The defense is anchored by senior defensive end David Ferrara, who had 66 tackles and 12 sacks last year. Ferrara's output of 12 sacks gave him 23 for his career and, in turn, the school mark for career sacks. Along with Brown, Yale is expected to challenge Penn for the Ivy League title. After being projected by the media to finish dead last, the Elis proved everyone wrong by going 5-2 in the League, good for a second place tie with Brown. Only one 1998 starter returns to the Yale offensive line, but the Elis' leading passer, leading rusher and three of their top five receivers return. Senior quarterback Joe Walland posed a double threat for opposing defenses by throwing for 1,858 yards and rushing for an additional 348. Junior running back Rashad Bartholomew had the most rushing yards in 1998 of any returning rusher. Bartholomew had the sixth-best rushing game in Yale history against Columbia when he ran for 192 of his 936 yards. The wide receiver corps will be led by the Jakes -- seniors Jake Borden and Jake Fuller -- who combined for 59 receptions and 786 yards in 1998. All four starters return on a defensive line that recorded 27.5 sacks by its four starters. Senior defensive end Peter Sarantos led the pack with 10 sacks, followed by senior defensive tackle Andy Tuzzolino who sacked the quarterback eight times and also led the Elis with 12 tackles for a loss. Todd Tomich and Ben Blake, who each picked off five passes last season, lead the defensive backfield. Blake led the team in solo tackles with 47 and also broke up 11 passes.

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