Ivy Roundup

John McCombs added field goals of 45 and 18 yards and the Big Red defense forced three turnovers and made one outstanding fourth-down play to avenge a season-opening 6-0 loss to the Tigers last year. Rahne, who threw just four passes last season, hit Edgar Romney on a five-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. He gave Cornell breathing room in the fourth with a 31-yard score to a wide-open Mike Parris on a play in which the Princeton defense blew a coverage on the tight end. Rahne finished 19 of 33 for 307 yards and an interception. Joe Splendorio had seven catches for 101 yards and Keith Ferguson had three for 93. The play that seemed to ignite Cornell came late in the first quarter when Princeton tailback Kyle Brandt was stopped on a fourth and less than a yard at the Big Red 30, with lineman Tom Crone appearing to make the big stop. Rahne then drove Cornell 69 yards in six plays, hitting Romney for 39 yards on the first play. The touchdown came on a quick slant pass to Romney. Consecutive passes of 18 and 19 yards from Rahne to Splendorio set up McCombs' 45-yarder that just barely got over the crossbar 7:13 before halftime. After McCombs missed a 39-yarder in the third quarter, Jon Blevins hit consecutive passes of seven, nine and 36 yards to Phil Wendler to set up a 37-yard field goal by Princeton's Taylor Northrup with 57 seconds to go in the third quarter. However, Rahne moved Cornell 72 yards in eight plays, finding Parris for a touchdown and a 17-3 lead. BOSTON -- Troy Jones ran for two touchdowns and Terrence Patterson scored on a 30-yard reverse as Harvard beat Columbia, 24-7, Saturday in the season opener for both teams. The Lions had defeated Harvard in three of the Ivy League teams' last four meetings, including a 24-0 victory last season. Chris Menick led Harvard with 85 yards on 18 carries while Jones picked up 83 yards on 10 carries. Crimson senior quarterback Brad Wilford, who made his first start, completed 12 of 22 passes for 190 yards. Jonathan Reese paced Columbia with 83 yards on 31 carries while Jeff McCall connected on 12 of his 20 passes for 141 yards. Columbia took a 7-0 lead at 11:08 of the first quarter when Mark Stoutenberg tossed a six-yard touchdown pass to Armand Dawkins. But Jones tied the game on a 16-yard run with 6:19 left in the opening quarter. The touchdown came two plays after Harvard linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski intercepted a Stoutenberg pass at the Columbia 27-yard line. Harvard took the lead for good with 3:04 remaining in the first quarter as Jones scored on a five-yard dash. The Crimson put the game away, on their first possession of the second half, with a four-play, 70-yard scoring march capped by Patterson's dash. NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Last year it was Brown that was on the losing end of the Ivy League's most improbable finish. Saturday, it was Yale's turn. With 14 seconds remaining, Brown quarterback James Perry (38-for-57, 279 yards) connected with tight end David Brookman on a seven-yard touchdown pass to pull the Bears within one. Mike Murawczyk's extra point attempt was blocked by Yale's Ben Blake. But Brown's Mike Powell scooped up the bounding ball and pitched it to Rob Scholl, who ran it in for two points to give the Bears (1-0) a 25-24 win over Yale (0-1). "As soon as it happened I thought about last year," Brown coach Phil Estes said. "Somebody was looking over our shoulder today.'" Last season, Yale's Jake Borden caught a 27-yard touchdown pass with no time remaining as the Elis beat Brown in Providence, R.I.