Ivy Football Notebook | Abare-y good game from Yale LB

There's no doubt where the game ball went after Yale's 31-28 double-overtime victory over Holy Cross.

Senior linebacker Bobby Abare, playmaker extraordinaire, did what he does best on Saturday - get the ball back to the Elis.

Not only did the All-Ivy first-teamer lead his team in tackles with 10 (nine solo), but he also had two picks, both of which came at crucial times.

The first came at the beginning of the second quarter, when Abare took a Dominic Randolph pass 32 yards for a touchdown.

Later in the quarter, Abare hauled in another. This time it was in the Yale endzone, quelling a Crusaders' scoring threat, swinging the momentum 180 degrees and keeping the Elis in the game.

Abare was a no-brainer for Ivy Defensive Player of the Week honors.

McLeod is McHurt. Yale running back Mike McLeod has had a tough year so far. In three games, the All-Ivy back has picked up just 266 yards rushing, and that's including a 131-yard effort against Holy Cross on Saturday.

(His 89 yard-per-game average is actually tops in the Ivy League, but a far cry from the 162 he averaged last season.)

However, he carried it 39 times against the Crusaders, for an average of 3.4 yards per attempt. The heavy workload took its toll: McLeod left the game after rolling his ankle in the fourth quarter.

Elis coach Jack Siedlecki told the Yale Daily News that the injury is not serious, and with winless Dartmouth next up for Yale, McLeod should have plenty of time to rest.

Cardiac Cornell. With a nail-biting 25-24 win over Lehigh on Saturday, Cornell moved to 3-0 and is the last unbeaten team in the Ivy League. However, that unblemished record hides a seedy underbelly: Those three wins have come by a combined five points.

This marks the first time since 1999 that the Big Red have won their first three games. They went 4-3 the rest of the year to finish 7-3 and third in the Ancient Eight.

It ain't easy being Norries. First it was the weather. Then it was himself. This weekend, Columbia coach Norries Wilson was left rueing another decision that put his team in the loss column.

Down 21-17 at the end of the third quarter, Wilson brought out his field goal unit, trusting kicker Jon Rocholl with a 39-yard attempt. The senior has the leg to do it, but his coach didn't give him the chance.

Holder Jason Pyles pulled up running with the ball, leaving Rocholl to go out for a potential pass. But Pyles pulled it down and was dropped after gaining just two yards.

The play made the difference, as Columbia fell 27-24, seeing its record go to 0-3.

"Might still be playing overtime now if I had allowed a pretty good kicker to go out there and kick a field goal," Wilson told The Columbia Spectator.

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