Saturday's clash between Brown and Harvard in Boston was rightly billed as the "battle of the backs." In the end, however, it came down to the kickers.
The Bears raced out to a 16-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, thanks to two touchdown passes by Joe DiGiacomo and a 22-yard field goal by Steve Morgan. However, Morgan missed the second extra point -- a mistake which would later prove costly.
Harvard took its time coming back. With seven seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Crimson tied the game at 22 on a nine-yard touchdown reception by Corey Mazza, who finished with 97 receiving yards.
Mazza also ended the day with a sprained ankle because Clifton Dawson landed on him early in Harvard's last drive of regulation. Crimson coach Tim Murphy told reporters after the game that Mazza will be "out for a while."
Dawson kept running, though, and with 15 seconds left in regulation he scored his third touchdown of the day.
Remember that missed extra point? Had it gone in, Harvard might have had to try for a two-point conversion, just like it did on all its' other touchdowns. Instead, Matt Schindel sent the game to overtime with his only extra point of the day.
In the two overtimes, Brown and Harvard combined for a total of three first downs. After the Bears and Crimson traded field goals in the first extra session, DiGiacomo threw three straight incomplete passes, and Steve Morgan's 42-yard field goal was deflected at the line of scrimmage and sailed left. Then Schindel won the game with one last kick from 29 yards out.
Yale holds on
If you had checked the score of the Cornell-Yale game at the end of the third quarter, you would have noticed that the Elis were up 30-3 on a team that supposedly made a statement by routing Bucknell a week earlier.
But as is often the case in the Ancient Eight, the fourth quarter was worth sticking around for.
Big Red running back Luke Siwula scored two touchdowns in the final period, which at least made things worth paying attention to.
It's a safe bet, though, that the fans at the Yale Bowl were much more interested in the touchdown pass Jeff Mroz threw in between Siwula's scores.
It was Mroz's fifth touchdown pass of the day, giving him a share of the program record for touchdown passes in a single game.
The only Eli to have done that before was Pete Doherty, who set the record in 1968 against Columbia.
Mroz shared Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors with Dawson, as Yale went on to win 37-17.
McCareins steals show
At Princeton Stadium, defense was in the spotlight, and Jay McCareins was at center stage.
The younger brother of New York Jets wide receiver Justin McCareins broke up four passes and pulled down three interceptions against San Diego -- who was playing against its second Ivy League team in as many weeks.
McCareins returned the last pick 99 yards with 1:14 left in the game for the touchdown, sealing the win for the home team.
UNH wins Granite Bowl
There were two things of consequence from the Dartmouth-New Hampshire game.
First, the Wildcats, now ranked No. 1 in Division I-AA, put up 547 total yards of offense to the Big Green's 310.
Second, Dartmouth linebacker Josh Dooley told reporters after the 49-20 loss that "you can either let your past haunt you or fuel your future."
For what it's worth, the Big Green hasn't beaten New Hampshire since 1976 and hasn't started a season 2-0 since 1997.
Columbia undefeated
Columbia, on the other hand, is 2-0 for the first sime since 1996.
Then again, the Lions did beat Duquesne to get that lofty record, and they had to come back from a 6-0 halftime deficit to do so.
The only touchdowns in the 23-17 final score came in the fourth quarte. Both were on Craig Hormann passes to senior wide receiver Brandon Bowser.
