The Optimist And The Pessimist After Week Three

 HANOVER (Oct. 8 BGA) – The Optimist arrives at the usual place a little earlier than usual. He’s very much looking forward to this week’s back-and-forth with The Pessimist, although he has been around long enough to know the other guy isn't going to roll over.

The Optimist: Well that was fun. Another down-to-the-wire win against Penn. We are on a roll. Bring on Yale!

The Pessimist: As the great Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend.”

The Optimist: C’mon. I grant you the final margin against the Quakers was just three points, but it’s always a tough, competitive game with those guys. That’s a very good team.

The Pessimist: I have one word for you. Two.

The Optimist: Do you mean one word or two.

The Pessimist: Just one word and it is this: Two.

The Optimist: OK, I give up. Two what?

The Pessimist: Two touchdowns. That’s all you managed against Penn. You’ve now scored a whopping three touchdowns in your last two games combined. That’s not going to cut it.

The Optimist: Well it did. We won both of those games. And for the record, we probably should have had at least a couple more TDs against Penn. Don’t forget, we dropped a couple of sure interceptions and made it all the way to the 1-yard line on our last drive.

The Pessimist: Oh, trust me. I haven’t forgotten. I haven’t forgotten that you had a first-and-goal at the seven and then two cracks from the one and you couldn’t push it in. Your offense had a chance to put the game away and couldn’t do it.

The Optimist: Au contraire. You are right that we didn’t score there. But make no mistake, holding the ball for 10½ minutes and leaving the Quakers 99 yards to go with no timeouts and only 11 seconds left did, in fact, put the game away. And because of our win over Penn, and with HYP all having a league loss, I have to believe we are in the Ivy League driver’s seat.

The Pessimist: Slow down there, hoss. You still have all three of those usual suspects in the Ivy League ahead of you, and as the early season results around the Ivy League and the country have shown – I’m looking at you, Alabama – take nothing for granted.

The Optimist: I’m not, but you can’t blame me for feeling pretty good heading down to New Haven this week. Sure, the Bulldogs are 2-1 but their wins are by 38-31 over a bad Holy Cross team and by a whisker over lowly Central Connecticut last week, 23-22.

The Pessimist: I’ll take them in order. A bad Holy Cross team? Last week the Saders put a 38-7 hurt on the same Colgate team that played Penn to a 10-point game. I’d argue beating Holy Cross in Worcester actually says something pretty good about Yale. And while a one-point win over Central Connecticut doesn’t look impressive, keep in mind that’s the same “lowly” Central Connecticut team that pounded Fordham, 33-3, and took FBS UMass to the gun in a 35-31 loss. Yale’s wins tell me that is a better team than you think.

The Optimist: OK then, what does their loss tell you? Wait, I’ll tell you what their 47-23 humiliation at the hands of Cornell says to me. It says defending Ivy League Yale is living on reputation. They are a shadow of their former selves without the quarterback who was so good for them the last few years. In addition to QB, they’ve got their usual problems in the secondary where receivers have once again been running free. I’m expecting a big day for our pass game.

The Pessimist: Say what you will, they are 2-1 and will be the first team you’ve played with a winning record.

The Optimist: Let’s revisit the “1.” The loss, I mean. How good can you be when you lose to Cornell?

The Pessimist: Ding, ding, ding. Yale lost to Cornell last year and I seem to recall the Bulldogs were pretty good. Not only did they win a share of the Ivy League title, but they beat you.

The Optimist: Gee, thanks for the reminder. The difference is last year they barely lost to the Big Red, 23-21. This year Cornell pummeled ‘em, 47-23.

The Pessimist: All I know is Yale has beaten you two times in a row. If they beat you again, you better look out for Central Connecticut the next week.

The Optimist: Thanks for the warning. After taking care of the two teams from the Nutmeg State we have a breather at Columbia, which is 2-1 although I just can’t get over that ugly loss to Georgetown.

The Pessimist: I’m going to guess Connecticutians prefer Constitution State, which is the official nickname. But I digress. True, Columbia stubbed its toe in DC, but its starting quarterback didn't play. The Lions have wins over a good Lafayette team and Princeton, and your game is down in the Big Apple, so beware.

The Optimist: We’ve got Harvard up here after we tame the Lions and the 31-28 loss they suffered against Brown is impossible to ignore.

The Pessimist: Just like their win over No. 16 New Hampshire last week, right?

The Optimist: New Hampshire is always overrated. Princeton is next after Harvard and they haven’t been impressive at all. Losing by 15 to Lehigh and by 17 to Columbia? Yikes.

 The Pessimist: If they continue to struggle a win over you guys down there would salve a lot of wounds. Beware wounded Tiger.

The Optimist: From there we’re on to Cornell. That’s not a trip anyone really likes, except for the usual outcome, of course. Sure, they pounded Yale but you’ll see how little that means this week. Their other two games were a 17-point loss to Colgate and a 21-point loss to Albany. And remember, the Colgate team that punished the Big Red lost to Penn.

The Pessimist: What I also remember is that you have back-to-back trips to Princeton and Cornell. Combine that with a trip to Columbia and you have 1,664 miles of bus rides in a matter of four weeks. I know you guys take an extra bus and travel well, but it’s a lot to ask not to stumble before that stretch is over. You know, like happened the last time you played at Schoellkopf, a 17-13 Cornell win.

The Optimist: That's ancient history. I'm looking forward –  not back. After winning in Ithaca, we’ll be playing for another Ivy League championship in The Tussle against Brown in our finale at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field.

The Pessimist: You are right. It could be a championship game. Brown is off to a terrific start with that 31-28 win over Harvard, which is part of a 2-1 start that suggests the Bears may indeed be playing for a title on Teevens.

The Optimist: Very funny. But seriously, I don’t see a team on the schedule we wouldn’t be favored against over the rest of the way.

The Pessimist: Uh, Sagarin has Yale as a two-point favorite this week. And Massey has Yale winning, 27-24, with 56 percent confidence.

The Optimist: You like that computer stuff, huh? Well how about this: Dartmouth beat Penn. Penn beat Colgate. Colgate beat Cornell. And Cornell beat Yale. The My Team is Better Than Your Team site proves Dartmouth is better than Yale.

The Pessimist: Very funny. See you next week.