THE DRIVE Caps A Big Weekend

HANOVER (Oct. 6 BGA) – You are going to have to watch an awful lot of football before you see a more satisfying drive that ends up with a running back being stuffed on fourth-and-one at the goal line.

Clinging to a three-point lead Saturday after a Penn field goal with 10:41 left in the fourth quarter of the Ivy League opener, Dartmouth strung together a march for the ages. In an absolute master class of keep away, the Big Green converted no fewer than five third downs while holding the ball for a whopping 20 plays. When the visitors were finally able to get a stop it was on the one-yard line with 11 seconds and no timeouts remaining.

Two harmless snaps later Dartmouth had a dramatic 20-17 win in the first game at the newly named Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field.

To listen to senior quarterback Jackson Proctor, who completed all six of his throws on the winning drive, the way the Big Green finished the game shouldn’t have surprised anyone.

“That’s who we are,” he said almost matter-of-factly of the 10-minute, 30-second march. “That’s what we’ve been doing for years and years.”

With the win Dartmouth improves to 3-0 on the young season, but more importantly, 1-0 in the Ivy League. The Quakers fall to 1-2 and 0-1 in the conference.

For head coach Sammy McCorkle, winning the way the Big Green did one day after the stadium was dedicated in honor of the man who brought him to Hanover in 2005, was special.

“We wanted to make sure that we went out there and we represented Dartmouth the way that Buddy Teevens would want us to represent it,” he said. “Our players, they did that. Our coaching staff and our players.

“I thought, ‘That's Dartmouth football.’ That's what we did out there today.”

Particularly in the second half after an up-and-down opening 30 minutes.

The Big Green got the jump on Penn when Proctor (24-for-31 for 232 yards and two touchdowns) hit tight end Chris Corbo with a 10-yard scoring pass to take a 7-0 lead with 1:35 left in the opening quarter.

After the Quakers’ Malachi Hosley knotted the score on a two-yard run midway through the second quarter Dartmouth regained the lead on Owen Zalc’s 42-yard field goal.

But Penn would take a 14-10 lead into the locker room thanks to Hosley’s one-yard run with 1:55 left in a half that saw Dartmouth unable to hold on to a couple of sure interceptions, commit six costly penalties and lose a fumble. But they never lost their way.

“I thought we did a good job of staying on the script,” McCorkle said. “I challenged the guys at halftime, man. ‘Let's finish. Let's finish each play and let's come out and let's finish this game.’ ”

Which is exactly what they did, starting with the opening drive of the third quarter. Taking over at its own 25, the Big Green marched 75 yards in nine plays, converting all three of its third downs, the last a 12-yard touchdown pass caught by Paxton Scott, who slipped a final tackler to give Dartmouth a 17-14 lead.

When the Big Green defense allowed the Quakers to gain just three yards on their first drive of the third quarter the die was cast for the rest of the game. Thanks to Dartmouth’s ball-control offense, Penn would not touch the ball again until the fourth quarter, and by that time the Big Green had added a 39-yard Zalc field goal for a 20-14 lead. 

“Our offense coming out on that first drive to start the second half, we were sending a message,” said McCorkle. “And our defense did a great job responding from there and shutting them down.”

In the fourth quarter – like the third – Penn had just one full possession and this time the Quakers made it count. Although they hurt themselves with a couple of big penalties, they eventually made it to the Dartmouth 26 where kicker Sam Smith booted a 43-yard field goal to make it a three-point game.

With a strong breeze at their backs, the Quakers were in position to tie the game with a hold and just a modest drive if quarterback Aidan Sayin, held to an uncharacteristic 11-for-27 for 123 yards by the Big Green defense, could finally get going.

He would never get the chance as Dartmouth’s final possession evolved into the time-consuming monster.

“You run your normal offense,” McCorkle said of the approach to the drive that would clinch the game. “I mean, there’s a lot of time left on the clock. . . .

“But as we start to get to a certain part of the field and the clock gets down to a certain range, that’s when you get to be a little bit more strategic on what you’re doing.”

A big part of that strategy was getting the ball to Scott, who caught four passes on the drive, including three on third down that kept the march going. Scott finished the afternoon with 10 receptions for 75 yards.

“We just have a connection,” Proctor said of his ability to find Scott. “We've had it for the last couple of years. But I mean, it wasn't just him. It was all the other guys who were making blocks or blocking up front. … It’s a culmination of what everybody else is doing. 

“But yeah, (Scott’s) been doing that for a long time. I don't know what he is in the record books or whatever, but that's just what he does. He comes up in clutch moments. ... We definitely needed those those three conversions to get down there.”

Scott’s final catch on third-and-three brought a first down at the Penn 20 with just over two minutes remaining. The Big Green would snap the ball eight more times. And with the clock winding – and Penn burning timeouts – the home team would run the ball eight more times behind a road-clearing offensive line that would help Q Jones (22 carries for 101 yard) and Desmin Jackson (14 for 98) put up big numbers and keep the Penn offense on the sidelines.

The only disappointment in the final drive was that the Big Green couldn’t punch the ball in on two tries from the one, but thanks to the almost-period-long drive, that didn’t matter.

“We knew as a team that offensively we're going to take what they give us,” said McCorkle. “And if that means we're going to throw a three-yard route or a four-yard route, we're going to do that. (If) that means we're going to run the ball inside. We're going to do that.

“The key was to keep the sticks moving, keep the chains moving, control the ball, keep their offense off the field as much as we possibly can. And I thought pretty much (throughout) the game we did that.”

Likewise, they kept Penn from moving the sticks. In addition to Sayin's struggles, standout wide receiver Jared Richardson managed just two catches for 18 yards and Hosley had his streak of 100-yard rushing games snapped while carrying 15 times for 82 yards. Penn managed just 211 yards of total offense.

“Obviously disappointed,” said Quakers' coach Ray Priore. “Our kids prepared well and hard for a typical Penn-Dartmouth battle … Coming into the game our offense passing the ball was pretty efficient, and running the ball, we were pretty efficient there. They changed up some of their schemes.”

Because they did, and because they dominated on both sides of the ball, they go into next week’s game at Yale Bowl atop the Ivy League standings.

“I just can’t say how proud I am of this football team,” McCorkle said. "I mean, just the way they came out in the second half.

“The first half, they were prepared, they were ready, came out and battled. You know we had some opportunities to make some plays in the first half that we didn't, and it cost us, but we didn't panic.”

Added the second-year coach: “The guys did a great job across the board. They stayed plugged in the entire game and they didn’t flinch.” 

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Scouting Penn

 

Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field is unveiled.

HANOVER (Oct. 4 BGA) – So far this young season Dartmouth has beaten one opponent missing both its preseason All-America quarterback and 1,000-yard tailback (Fordham), and a second team playing absent its preseason All-America kick returner/wide receiver (Merrimack).

That’s a lot of missing talent at quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

There will be star power at all three positions to contend with when Dartmouth (2-0) opens Ivy League play against Penn Saturday at newly dedicated Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle said of the 1-1 Quakers. “You’ve got to be very disciplined and you’ve got to make sure you take care of your assignments because if you make a mistake they'll make you pay for it.”

Penn, which had undefeated and FBS-bound Delaware on the ropes before a touchdown with 1:44 left allowed the Blue Hens to escape with a 29-22 win two weeks ago, is led by record-setting quarterback Aidan Sayin. Twice selected to the All-Ivy honorable mention team, the 6-foot-2 Sayin completed 29-of-41 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-17 win over Colgate last week. Along the way, he broke the school record for completions, which now sits at 665.

The older brother of Ohio State freshman Julian Sayin – widely regarded as the No. 1 high school quarterback in the country last year – Sayin is completing 66.7 percent of his throws this fall with five touchdowns and two interceptions.

“He’s got a lot of experience,” said McCorkle. “He knows their offense and is very relaxed and composed at that position. Nothing’s new to him.”

Sayin threw for 357 yards (36-of-55) with two touchdowns and no interceptions last year in Penn’s 23-20 overtime loss to Dartmouth at Franklin Field. In the Quakers’ last visit to Hanover in 2022 he was 25-of-38 for 204 yards and one touchdown without an interception as he helped his team to a 23-17 two-overtime win. Although he would take over the starting position later in the season, he did not play against the Big Green in his freshman season.

When Sayin is handing the ball off it’s almost always to the 5-foot-10, 205-pound sophomore tailback Malachi Hosley, voted the Ivy League Rookie of the Year last fall when he was a finalist for the FCS Freshman of the Year honor. Hosley ran for 176 yards on 26 carries at Delaware and is averaging 153.5 yards per game after collecting 131 last week. He’s averaging an impressive 7.1 yards per carry. His number has been called for 43 of the 46 rushing attempts by a Penn running back.

Although he may not be quite as elusive at Merrimack tailback Jermaine Corbett, who had 137 yards against Dartmouth last week, Hosley is a lot bigger and might be better running inside.

“He’s fast and he’s physical,” McCorkle said. “He’s quick and and the thing is he’ll do a good job breaking tackles, and that makes it even harder.”

The final piece of the Penn skill-position triad is Jared Richardson, the 6-2, 215 wide receiver who plays even bigger. He was chose to the All-Ivy first team last year after catching 67 passes for 788 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s caught 11 balls for 194 yards and two touchdowns this season, with a long of 58.

“He’s a big athlete,” said McCorkle of Richardson, who had 17 catches for 191 yards last year against Yale. “He’s a physical player and does a good job of getting separation. He creates mismatches and you’ve got to be aware where he is at all times. He’s going to get his catches but you don’t want him to make the big plays because he’s really good at the deep ball.”

While Hosley has dominated at running back, Richardson has hardly been Sayin’s only target. Speedy 5-7 receiver Julien Stokes has come up big with 14 catches for 70.5 yards per game. Last week no fewer than eight players were on the receiving end of Sayin passes.

The Penn offense operates behind an offensive line that lost three starters and has sophomores projected to start just their third career games at right guard and right tackle.

Defensively, Penn has held opponents to 90.0 yards per game on the ground. The pass defense is surrendering 269.0 yards and 61.5 percent completions with four touchdowns allowed and one interception.

Notably gone from last year’s team is nose tackle Joey Slackman, a grad transfer at Florida. The strength of the defense is at linebacker where starters Jack Fairman and John Lista are back, although Lista missed last week’s game. Also absent against Colgate was returning defensive end starter Paul Jennings. Both are listed as starters on the two-deep this week (for whatever that’s worth).

Returning safety Shiloh Means leads the defense with 14 tackles, followed by Fairman with 13 and undersized junior linebacker Kadari Machen with 11. Julian Talley is back at free safety, giving Penn returning starters at both of the deep positions on defense. (Talley may miss the first half after a targeting call last week.)

Worth watching will be the play of the Penn corners, both sophomores in their first season as starters.

Although the Quakers don’t have as much star power as they have some years on the defensive side, McCorkle isn’t fooled.

“They’ve got physical guys up front who do a good job of taking care of their gaps,” he said. “Their linebacker crew plays fast and they do a good job of getting off blocks. And their secondary is very talented. They have the ability to come in to help on the run and at the same time, they can match up man-to-man.”

Sam Smith is 3-of-5 on field goals for Penn with a long of just 36 yards while Albert Jang is averaging 40.3 yards per punt.

McCorkle knows the Big Green is in for a struggle against a team whose reputation for playing hard-nosed, smash-mouth football is similar to Dartmouth’s.

“Every game we play against Penn, it’s a battle,” he said. “It’s like that every season. They’re a very talented team. A very physical team.”

While Dartmouth may have a little extra incentive wanting to win on the day of the rededication of the stadium, that’s more of a talking point than anything else McCorkle’s view.

“Our guys obviously understand it’s a special day,” he said. “We’re going to appreciate that and it’s a huge part of the day. But when the whistle blows, our guys are going to be ready to play. And that's what Coach T would want our guys to do.

“Penn is going to want to beat us. We want to beat them. It's pretty simple.”

Working Overtime

HANOVER (Oct. 4 BGA) – Since 2010 Dartmouth has gone to overtime in Ivy League games five times.

Four of those games have come against Penn. (The only non-Penn Ivy overtime was a 24-17 win over Yale in 2021.)

The Big Green has played nine overtime periods in conference games since 2010.

Eight have come against the Quakers.

Here’s a look at each of Dartmouth's four overtime games against Penn in the last 14 years:

2010 at Penn 35, Dartmouth 28 (1 OT)

Trailing 28-14 after a Penn touchdown midway through the third quarter, the Big Green rallies to tie the contest on a couple of touchdown passes in the final four minutes of the quarter, the first set up by a Chase Womack interception of Billy Ragone that he returns 16 yards to the Penn 20.

Connor Kempe then finds tight end John Gallagher with a four-yard throw to cut the difference to seven with Foley Schmidt’s kick. On Dartmouth’s next possession the QB hits Michael Reilly with a 10-yard pass at the business end of a 70-yard drive to tie the score.

In the fourth quarter a Luke Hussey interception stops a Penn drive at the plus-28 and Connor Phillips keeps the score tied by blocking a 26-yard field goal attempt with 4:30 remaining in regulation. The Big Green has a final shot at winning on the ensuing drive, but after reaching the Penn 34 a false-start moves the ball back five yards. After an incompletion and a time out with 33 seconds left, Dartmouth punts and plays for overtime.

In the extra session it is Ragone completing a third-and-eight pass for a critical first down and eventually running for a one-yard touchdown in the top of the frame. In its half, Dartmouth gets a seven-yard run from Nick Schwieger on the second play before two incompletions – the second tipped up front – end the game.

2013 at Penn 37, Dartmouth 31 (4 OT)

 Dartmouth has its chances but the longest game in Ivy League football history goes to Penn when the Big Green has a field goal attempt blocked on the final play of the fourth quarter and then another that would to win it in the first overtime sails wide.

The overtime is set up when Dalyn Williams caps a 69-yard march with a two-yard run that ties the score at 21 with 10:18 remaining in regulation.

Penn has a chance to win in overtime but in a preview of what was to come, the kicking game plays a role in extending play. After stopping a Big Green drive with an interception at the Penn 25 with 3:06 left, the Quakers drive to the Dartmouth 34 before Troy Donahue blocks their 52-yard field goal attempt with 1:21 showing. Williams then drives the Big Green to the Penn four only to have a 21-yard field goal attempt blocked by David Park.

Now for the OTs in order:

• First OT – Elliot Kastner stuffs a Penn fourth-and-one run at the 5-yard line, meaning Dartmouth has only to kick a field goal to win. The Big Green gains just three yards before the 34-yard field goal attempt to win goes wide.

• Second OT – Dartmouth takes the lead on a 12-yard TD pass from Williams to Kirby Schoenthaler and Riley Lyons PAT. But QB Billy Ragone, who holds an unbreakable record of going 5-0 against Dartmouth (aided by a medical redshirt) runs 27 yards for the equalizer on a third-and-12 play.

• Third OT – Hampered by two penalties, Penn goes without a first down in the top half but still gets a Connor Loftus’ 38-yard field goal to give the Quakers the lead. Dartmouth doesn’t make a first down either before Lyons comes on and extends the game with a 40-yard field goal.

• Fourth OT – Two plays after Williams’ 12-yard touchdown pass to Dominick Pierre is negated by a personal foul the Big Green’s 42-yard field goal attempt sails left. Kyle Wilcox then wins it for Penn with a 20-yard touchdown run on a third-and-five play.

2022 Penn 23, at Dartmouth 17 (2 OT)

Defense rules the day in regulation as the teams finish 60 minutes knotted at 10 after a back-and-forth fourth quarter.

With Penn nursing a 7-3 halftime through three quarters Dartmouth comes alive in the fourth with a 62-yard drive capped by Nick Howard’s 11-yard TD run with 9:24 left. The Big Green has a chance to pad its lead but wide receiver Ivan Hoyt, who has shown a big leg on kickoffs, steps in as field goal kicker and misses a 48-yarder with 2:11 remaining.

Penn makes it hurt by driving 52 yards in 13 plays to set up Graham Gottlieb’s 35-yard kick on the final play to force overtime.

In the first OT it is Julian Sayin, who will be on the field this afternoon, finding Joshua Casulli from five yards out to make it 17-10 with the kick in the top half. Then it is Howard running in from four yards in the bottom to tie it again thanks to a review of the PAT that reverses the call on the field that the kick was low.

In the second extra session, Dartmouth manages one first down and then has its 28-yard field goal attempt blocked. Trey Flowers then wins it in the bottom with 24-yard burst to set up his own one-yard touchdown run.

2023 Dartmouth 23, at Penn 20 (1 OT)

The Big Green sees the Quakers come roaring back in the fourth quarter before finally getting an overtime win against Penn.

Dartmouth carries a 20-10 lead into the midway point of the fourth quarter before the Quakers come alive in dramatic fashion. Taking over at his own one with 10:16 left after a 49-yard Davis Golick punt, Sayin engineers a 99-yard drive. He caps it with 16-yard touchdown pass that makes it a 20-17 game with 5:52 remaining.

The Big Green’s ensuing drive never gets beyond its own 36 and Penn takes possession at its own 31 with just over three minutes remaining. Sayin runs for six yards on first down and then completes consecutive passes of 12, 4, 7 and 9 yards to move the ball to the Dartmouth 29.

After Patrick Campbell breaks up a pass, a Macklin Ayers tackle on third-and-one results in a five-yard loss. On fourth-and-six, Penn distance kicker Albert Jang nails a 51-yard field goal to tie the score with 57 seconds left.

Dartmouth’s final bid in regulation starts at the 25 only to have a false start penalty on first down. Jackson Proctor completes passes of 5 and 9 yards but Penn stonewalls a third-and-one run with time running down. After a Big Green timeout with three seconds Dartmouth eschews a punt and has Nick Howard kneel after running out the clock.

Kicking, as it has in so many times in Penn games, makes the difference in the extra period. After back-to-back-to-back incompletions in the top half of the OT, the Quakers miss a 42-yard field goal attempt.

 Now needing just a field goal to win, the Big Green leaves the ball in the steady hands of Howard, who runs for two and three yards before being stopped for no gain centered straight out from the goal posts. In trots freshman Owen Zalc who stripes a 37-yarder for the win.

2024 GAME NOTES

With five consecutive 100-yard-plus games, Malachi Hosley is the first Penn player to hit that mark so many times in a row since 2003. If he can get there against Dartmouth it will be the first such six-game streak for the Quakers since 1996. … Hosley, wide receiver Jared Richardson, tight end Bryce Myers, linebacker Jack Fairman, linebacker John Lista and defensive back Shiloh Means were all chosen by Phil Steele to the All-Ivy League preseason first team.

Head coach Ray Priore, who succeeded Al Bagnoli in 2015, has been at Penn since 1987 when he arrived as linebackers coach, meaning this is his 37^th season in West Philadelphia. He took over as defensive coordinator in 1998 and as assistant head coach in 2006. With a 49-33 record he can become the fifth Penn coach to hit 50 victories with a win over the Big Green. He’s 2-6 against Dartmouth as head coach and 15-14 in Ivy League games. … With Dan Swanstrom moving on to be Cornell’s head coach, Priore replaced him as offensive coordinator with Greg Chimera, one of four new coaches on the staff. Chimera came to Penn from Johns Hopkins, where he had been head coach for four years, compiling a 40-7, record.

Penn was picked third in the Ivy League preseason media poll with two first-place votes. Dartmouth was voted fourth.

Dartmouth is bidding for its first 3-0 start since 2001 ,when it began 5-0. The Big Green has won six of its last seven Ivy League openers. … Penn holds a 49-32-2 advantage in the all-time series between the teams which began in 1896. A Dartmouth victory would even the series since the inception of the Ivy League in 1956. The Quakers hold a 34-33 advantage in those games.

The Big Green has won five of the last six meetings and seven of the last nine. Penn won 15-of-16 games between 1998 and 2012. … The game matches up the two winningest teams in terms of conference titles. Dartmouth leads the pack with 21 Ivy League championships while Penn is tied with Harvard and Yale for second with 18 championships. The Quakers have won 13 outright titles with Dartmouth next at nine and Harvard and Yale claiming eight apiece.

Optimist-Pessimist After Week Two

HANOVER (Oct. 1 BGA) – The two fellows arrive at the usual place at the usual time and as they march to their usual table their server can't help but notice they are both smiling. That, you need to understand, is unusual.

They’ve been meeting this way each week of the football season for almost two decades and most of the time one is grinning and the other is sulking. Not this week.

The Optimist: The good guys are 2-0 heading into the Ivy League season and you can’t ask for more than that.
The Pessimist: I can.

The Optimist: Of course you can, but I’m telling you two wins over scholarship programs is exactly where you want to be.
The Pessimist: That’s two scholarship programs with a combined record of, let me add up their win total. Oh yeah, they’re 1-9.

The Optimist: What you conveniently left out is that three of our opponents’ nine losses came against FBS teams. The others have come against FCS opponents with a combined 15-9 record. Neither Fordham nor Merrimack has lost to an FCS team below .500. I’m pretty sure you’ll see those were two pretty good wins for us before the season is over.
The Pessimist: All wins are good wins my friend, although I’m not as confident as you that defeating Fordham is going to be terribly impressive when all is said and done. You might have noticed Monmouth slapped 63 points on ‘em last week. Add it up and they’ve been outscored 209-75 already this fall. I do, however, think the Merrimack win will look good on the resumé at season’s end.

The Optimist: You surprise me.
The Pessimist: Well, Merrimack surprised me. They were every bit as athletic as we were told. Their running back may prove to be the best we’ll see all year and I think they’ve discovered a quarterback. To be perfectly honest, I’m still not entirely sure how you won that game managing just one touchdown, but bully for you.

The Optimist: Think about this. We won a road game over a pretty good team on a day when we made it to the end zone just one time. Our talented stable of running backs had a hard time getting traction and our QB was under 50 percent throwing the ball. And still we won.
The Pessimist: Better keep that field goal kicker healthy! If I recall correctly, last fall you needed that kid to boot three field goals, including the game winner in overtime, to sneak past a Penn team that limped home with a 3-4 Ivy League record. This Penn team is looking a lot better than that one.

The Optimist: Seriously? They come in with a 1-1 record and the win was by just 10 points over struggling 1-4 Colgate last week. Nothing terribly impressive with that.
The Pessimist: You do realize that in their opener at Delaware the Blue Hens needed a 75-yard drive and 13-yard touchdown run with 1:44 left to escape with a come-from-behind game against the visiting Quakers, right?

The Optimist: Delaware may be 4-0 but the last time I checked they weren’t even in the FCS top-25 so why should we be impressed that Penn game them a fight?
The Pessimist: The Blue Hens aren’t eligible for the polls because they are transitioning to the FBS. But by just about any metric they are one of the best FCS teams in the nation this year. They have wins this young season by scores of 49-0, 48-17 and 42-13. But they needed a TD at the end to escape Penn. You are in for a test this week, my friend.

The Optimist: After we take care of the Quakers we’ve got Yale and you saw what happened to them last weekend. Cornell crushed them, 47-23. I mean, Cornell! And if the Boodogs don’t get a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining in their opener they’d be 0-2 right now.
The Pessimist: Boodogs. I like that. What you conveniently did not mention is who they beat in their opener, so I will. It was FCS powerhouse Holy Cross, and that ought to tell you something.

The Optimist: Your FCS powerhouse Holy Cross is 1-4 this fall. Now after Yale all we have to do to get to 5-0 is beat Central Connecticut, one of those overmatched Northeast Conference schools.
The Pessimist: For your information, Central Connecticut gave up fewer points trouncing Fordham than you did, allowing just a field goal in a 33-3 win. And oh by the way, the Blue Devils didn’t look particularly overmatched in their last game, a 35-31 loss to Massachusetts. That's FBS Massachusetts.

The Optimist: Barely FBS I'd say. Then we’ve got Columbia and Harvard back-to-back and I’m not sure which of those games will be more challenging.
The Pessimist: No that's a sentence that may never have been uttered before.

The Optimist: I was ready to believe in Columbia after they popped Patriot League favorite Lafayette in their opener but then they reverted to form last week by losing at Georgetown. As for the Cantabs, they should be almost as embarrassed about beating woeful Stetson as they should be about losing to Brown last week and how it happened.
The Pessimist: People all around the Ivy League were either cheering or laughing after Harvard coughed up two 18-point leads and then gave up the go-ahead touchdown after they botching an insurance field goal with 28 seconds left. That was a devastating way for the Crimson to lose, but discount them at your peril. Remember, they were my pick to win the Ivy League and they are Harvard, after all.

The Optimist: Then it’s Princeton, Cornell and Brown. The Tigers have been very good for a while now, but after losing their opener to Lehigh they switched quarterbacks and the new-and-improved guy went 5-for-19 for 80 yards last week.
The Pessimist: You fail to mention Princeton actually won the game and it wasn’t particularly close – 30-13.

The Optimist: My bad. They beat a 2-3 Howard team whose two wins came against Mercyhurst and Morehouse and I can’t even tell you what division they are in. As you said, a win is a win but I don’t think beating Howard has anyone shaking in their shoes. Once we take care of the Tigers we finish with traditional also-rans, Cornell and Brown. They both had nice wins last week but they are a little like Columbia. They show occasional flashes and then revert to the mean.
The Pessimist: While I’m not sure you are using “revert to the mean” quite right I know what you are trying to say. Either way, I don’t expect that to happen. Those teams have two of the best quarterbacks in the Ivy League and a top quarterback is one of the keys to success in this conference. In any conference, actually. Speaking of which, you’ll be seeing maybe the best in the Ivy League this weekend when Penn comes to town.

The Optimist: I seem to recall Brown had the best QB in the Ivies in years and the two times he faced us he never sniffed a win. A great quarterback doesn’t guarantee anything.
The Pessimist: You better hope that’s holds true this weekend.

The Optimist: As Dan Rowan would always tell Dick Martin at the end of Laugh-In, Say Good Night.
The Pessimist: Good night and I’ll see you next week.