The Patriot League already has more wins over the Ivy League than it compiled during the entire 2006 season.
Fordham, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh won on Saturday, at the expense of Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn and Princeton, respectively. Ivy wins in the series were Yale over Georgetown and Cornell over Bucknell.
The Patriot League only managed a 4-14 record in the series last year.
As the two leagues most closely related to each other in both academic and football terms, whoever wins the series this year gets an 8-month bragging period. Right now, it's advantage Patriot with 11 matchups to go.
All roar. The preseason buzz around Columbia was simple. Anemic offense, good defense, cream-puff nonconference schedule. A 27-10 loss at Fordham raised questions about all three assumptions.
Senior quarterback Craig Hormann's offense produced 254 yards through the air. The run defense - thought to be a strength with the likes of linebacker Drew Quinn (a junior captain) and safety/linebacker Andy Shalbrack (five interceptions last year as a freshman) - gave up 296 yards to the Rams' top two rushers.
Down to the wire. Fans were given some incentive to stick around until the end last weekend as the game-winning score was put on the board in the final seconds - or in overtime - in three contests.
Penn was on the wrong end of a 8-7 decision against Lafayette after coach Al Bagnoli's defense couldn't stop a Leopards field goal after Penn took an intentional safety.
Dartmouth allowed Colgate 28 unanswered points, but with the game tied and less than a minute left, the Big Green had the ball on the Colgate five-yard line. Dartmouth running back Milan Williams fumbled on third-and-3 and Colgate recovered, forcing overtime. A sack thwarted any potential Dartmouth score, and Mike Buck kicked the Raiders' winning field goal from 36 yards.
Harvard also couldn't hold onto the ball - the Crimson and Holy Cross were tied as well going into the final minutes.
With the possession going back and fourth, the Crusaders finally struck, nailing a field goal with 19 seconds left to win. A common sight this past week.
