Not surprisingly, the deciding factor in the dramatic 23-22 comeback win by Yale (4-3, 2-2 Ivy) over Columbia (2-5, 1-3) was money.
But it has nothing do with the financial means of the players on the teams.
Instead, it was Bulldogs junior cornerback Adam Money, who stopped a 75-yard run at the two-yard line to prevent a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Add the fact that he was chasing Columbia’s Leon Ivery from behind, and the native of Whiteland, Ind., looked like a million bucks.
But Money wasn’t just money on defense. He also broke a 48-yard kickoff return to set up an Elis field goal at the end of the first half.
His stellar play helped rip out the hearts of Columbia players and coaches alike.
“It hurts to lose games like this,” Columbia ace receiver Austin Knowlin told the Yale Daily News. “Really, I’m lost for words right now.”
A two-headed monster. Despite playing without starting halfback Cheng Ho, Harvard (5-2, 4-0) proved it can still run opponents ragged, thanks to its two-part rushing attack of Gino Gordon and Treavor Scales.
No one knows this better than Dartmouth (1-6. 1-3), which gave up 233 yards on the ground to just Gordon and Scales in a 42-21 loss.
The junior and freshman, respectively, were the first Crimson backs to reach 100 rushing yards in the same game in the last decade.
Gordon was especially impressive, notching his 119 yards on just eight carries — a 14.9-yards per rush average.
In addition to his superior ground performance, Gordon displayed terrific pass-catching abilities en route to 103 receiving yards to go along with his three rushing scores.
“A lot of it came down to physical strength,” Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens told The Crimson. “They’re a stronger football team than we were.”
The freshman Scales was a big part of the strength, putting up a reliable six yards per carry.
He had by far the most rushes on the team (20) and picked up two touchdowns on the ground.
Talk about one-dimensional. While Princeton junior receiver Trey Peacock was showing off with 113 yards in the air and a pair of touchdowns, the Tigers’ running game seemed to have atrophied and died.
But it didn’t matter as Princeton successfully completed a 17-13 comeback win over Cornell (2-5, 1-3),
Princeton (2-5, 1-3) posted just 107 total yards on the ground — a number that the Big Red more than doubled — and didn’t have one back break a run longer than nine yards.
Maybe the unusual identities of the Tigers’ top two rushers from the game can offer some explanation.
Meko McCray, who ran for 44 yards, and Tommy Wornham, who scampered for 29, are a cornerback and quarterback, respectively.
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