With three games remaining on the schedule, the Penn football team is in prime position to repeat as Ivy League champions.
Penn (7-0, 4-0 Ivy) will face rival Princeton tomorrow at Franklin Field for its annual Homecoming game. After Princeton, Penn will be on the road to face Harvard before closing out the season against last place Cornell.
Princeton (2-5, 2-2 Ivy)
The Tigers will come into this week's game riding the momentum of their second win of the season a 28-6 decision over Cornell. However, the Tigers' wins have come against Brown and Cornell, two of the worst teams in the Ivy League.
Despite their subpar 2-5 record, the Tigers took then-undefeated Harvard into overtime before losing by three points, 43-40.
Against the Crimson, the Tigers were able to use a balanced offensive attack to score 40 points. Running back Jon Veach had 205 yards on 34 carries and quarterback Matt Verbit threw for 354 yards.
Junior running back Branden Benson had been receiving the bulk of the carries for Princeton, but with the emergence of Veach as a viable option in the running game, Princeton's offense is much more explosive.
Harvard (6-1, 3-1)
Heading into this past week, the Ivy League seemed to be shaping up similar to the previous two years, when the Penn-Harvard game has been the deciding match for the league championship.
However, Dartmouth effectively changed the entire outlook of the league by walking into Boston and handing the Crimson their first Ancient Eight loss of the season.
Yale and Harvard are also scheduled to meet each other in the final weekend in "The Game." The two teams are currently tied for second -- behind Penn -- with one loss each.
Of the three teams still remaining in legitimate contention for the Ivy League title, Harvard has the toughest remaining schedule. In their final three games, Harvard will face teams that have a combined .667 league winning percentage. Yale's opponents, have a .500 percentage while Penn's remaining opponents are winning just .417 percent of their league games.
For Penn, the key against Harvard will be stopping quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who leads the team in passing, but is also a great weapon running the football. He has missed time with injury but played in Harvard's loss to Dartmouth.
Replacing the graduated Carl Morris as Harvard's go-to wide receiver is Brian Edwards. Freshman running back Clifton Dawson is also averaging 123 yards per game rushing the football.
Cornell (1-6, 0-4)
In its final game of the season, Penn will face Cornell at home. Perennially league doormats, Cornell has once again played the part this season.
After beating Bucknell in their season opener, Cornell lost their next six games by an average of 17 points.
Josh Johnston and Mick Razzano have led the way for Cornell offensively this season. Johnston has run for 249 yards on the season and Razzano has thrown for 711 yards, while completing 50 percent of his passes.
No Cornell player ranks in the top five among Ivy League players in any offensive category.
As a team, Cornell has not fared much better. They are currently ranked in the bottom three in the Ivy League in almost every team stat, both offensive and defensive, and are ranked out of the top 100 nationally in many of these same categories.
The defensive secondary has been one of the few bright spots for a bad Cornell team. The Cornell defense is allowing only 149.7 yards passing per game, good enough to rank them first in the Ivy League and 12th nationally.
The rush defense has not been quite so dominant. They are allowing almost 224.6 yards per game on the ground which is the worst total in the Ancient Eight.
However, junior punter Mike Baumgartel has done his best to help his teammates as he is the second in league in average yards per punt (40.0) and is first in punts attempted with 45.
Yale (5-2, 3-1)
Led by a dynamic offense and an improving defense, the Elis still have an outside chance to win the Ivy League title. With a 3-1 league record and a game still remaining against Harvard, Yale will have to win out and hope to receive help from other teams.
Quarterback Alvin Cowan has been the leader of the Yale offense all season and is beginning to receive national recognition for his performance.
Currently ranked third in the nation for total yards per game (331.0) and 12th for pass efficiency (146.1). Cowan has been listed as a possible candidate for the Walter Payton Award, given to the best player in Division I-AA.
In the final game of its season, Yale will face Harvard in what should be the best game of that final Ivy League weekend, and may still have some relevance in deciding the league champion should Penn fall in the coming weeks.
Dartmouth (3-4, 2-2)
A mediocre season was much improved with last week's shocking, 30-16, upset of then-undefeated Harvard.
Dartmouth has been hampered all season by its own mistakes. The Big Green are minus-five in turnover margin and rank dead last in the league, tied with Cornell, in this category.
With league cellar-dwellers Cornell and Brown along with Princeton the only remaining teams on their schedule, the Big Green have an opportunity to finish with a strong season and could close out their campaign as high as second place in the league.
Wide receiver Jay Barnard is the Ivy League's leader in both receptions (56) and yards (723) this season, despite the team's unsteady at times quarterback situation.
Columbia (2-5, 1-3)
After a strong start to their season, winning games over Bucknell and Princeton to move to 2-1, Columbia has lost their last four and are caught in a downward spiral.
With Harvard next on the schedule, it is unlikely that the Lions will be able to reverse their losing ways. However, since it closes out the season with Cornell and Brown, the Lions still have a chance to finish their season on a positive note.
Columbia currently has the best pass offense in the Ivy League and is ranked seventh in pass offense nationally.
They are averaging 286 yards per game through the air, but the Lions have lacked the balance needed to have a successful team. The Columbia rush offense is averaging 106 yards per game, which bests only Cornell in the Ivy League and places them 105th in the nation.
Brown (2-5, 1-3)
The Bears opened the season with a dominating 21-3 win over Albany but they have fallen on hard times since. Since its opening day victory, Brown has lost five of its last six, before finally showing some signs of life with a strong second-half showing against Penn this weekend.
Led by Nick Hartigan, the Ivy League's second leading rusher, and quarterback Kyle Slager, Brown will face Yale, Dartmouth and Columbia in its final three games of the season.
The offensive backfield will need some help from their teammates, however, as Brown is currently tied for sixth in the Ivy League, ahead of only Cornell.
Defensively, Brown has been able to hold their own. Brown is ranked second in the Ancient Eight in total defense behind only Penn.
The defense has also done a good job of forcing turnovers. Brown has forced 18 turnovers, second only to Penn, and recovered 12 fumbles, which leads the Ivy League.
