Harvard, Penn still best in Ivy League

The football team will face the same 10 teams in 2005 as it did in 2004. Here's a rundown of what the Tigers can expect from each foe, along with the score of last season's contest.

Lafayette

2004: Princeton 35, Lafayette 18

In the first two contests of their 2005 campaign, the Leopards demonstrated their ability to dominate on both offense and defense, emerging with a 2-0 record after facing Marist and Richmond.

Against the Red Foxes on Sept. 4, tailback Jonathan Hurt rushed for three touchdowns as the defending Patriot League champions rolled over their opponent for a 40-21 victory.

Six days later, facing the Spiders, it was the Lafayette defense's turn to dominate, as they posted a 7-0 shutout in a closely contested battle. The Leopards played the best when it mattered most, holding Richmond to only 88 yards of total offense in the second half. San Diego

2004: Princeton 24, San Diego 17

Having opened their schedule with back-to-back wins in which they beat their opponents by a combined score of 81-6, the Toreros have reason to be confident that a pair of surprise stars in their backfield can continue to push them down the road to a dominating season.

Tailback JT Rogan, a redshirt freshman last year, averaged 102.5 yards on the ground in the two games and maintained an impressive mark of 5.1 yards per carry.

The man handing him the pigskin, quarterback Joshua Johnson, did not fare too poorly either when he kept the ball to himself. A sophomore — who at six feet, three inches and just 180 pounds does not fit the physical profile of the typical quarterback — threw for 460 yards and five touchdowns in the wins. Columbia

2004: Princeton 27, Columbia 26 (OT)

The Lions' transition from defense to offense will be fueled in large part by one player's personal desire to show that he can excel in two very different facets of the game.

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Free safety Tad Crawford posted 94 tackles last season, the sixth most in the league. He anchored a pass defense which was one of the few bright spots for Columbia last year, allowing a league-low 174 yards in the air each game.

But Crawford's duties did not end after he and the defense managed a stop. As a punt returner, he was third best in the league with an average return of 9.4 yards. In the all-important battle for field position, the Lions can be confident that Crawford will keep them one step ahead of their foes — and after going to 1-9 (1-6 Ivy League) last season, they'll need every advantage they can get. Colgate

2004: Colgate 29, Princeton 26

The Raiders' 2005 season opened with question marks at each of the skill positions on offense, with the team having lost its all-time leading receiver, second all-time leading rusher and three-year starter at quarterback to graduation.

The uncertainty of how Colgate could fill those positions made the shock even greater when the Raiders surprised the then-No. 15 ranked Massachusetts Minutemen on Sept. 10. Taking advantage of the eight Massachusetts turnovers forced by their defense, Colgate claimed an impressive 17-14 win.

Touchdowns by a pair of defensive stalwarts — safeties Geoff Bean and Andrew Moore — meant that questions about the Raider offense that was held scoreless in the game could be pushed into the background for at least one day. Brown

2004: Princeton 24, Brown 10

The Bears' losing league record last season (3-4) was not the type of effort expected from a squad as balanced as Brown's team was and continues to be.

On offense, Brown features the All-America tailback Nick Hartigan, who is 500 yards away from becoming his school's all-time leading rusher after totaling 1,263 yards on the ground last season. Joining him are two of the league's best wide receivers, Jarrett Schreck and Lonnie Hill, and all-Ivy second-team tight end David Turner.

Defensively, the Bears can lay claim to linebacker Zak DeOssie, who last season was the only sophomore picked for the all-Ivy first-team defensive unit. DeOssie had 98 tackles last year, fourth best in the league, and contributed four sacks to Brown's league-high total of 32.

After last year's disappointment, Brown hopes to challenge Penn and Harvard for Ivy supremacy this season. Harvard

2004: Harvard 39, Princeton 14

With the incomparable junior tailback Clifton Dawson leading the way for the Crimson out of the backfield, the last thing Ivy League foes want to hear about is the surplus of alternate offensive weapons Harvard will wield as it tries to duplicate last year's undefeated campaign.

But, even in the shadows of the 2004 campaign put together by Dawson — which saw him amass an incredible 1,302 rushing yards to go with 17 touchdowns and all-Ivy first-team honors — the Crimson's other offensive stars are hard to ignore.

After a season away from football, wide receiver Rodney Byrnes returns to the Harvard squad looking to move up from the sixth-place spot he currently holds on the school's career receptions list with 92. Additionally, Harvard boasts the most dangerous kicker in the Ivy League, Matt Schindel, who set the school single-season record with 13 field goals as a freshman.

The biggest question of the offseason was who would replace graduated quarterback Matt Fitzpatrick — now a member of the St. Louis Rams — but the Crimson appear to have found the answer with sophomore Richard Irvin, a transfer from Tulane. Cornell

2004: Cornell 21, Princeton 20

If the Big Red is going to make the leap from respectable Ivy also-ran — it finished with a 4-3 league record last season — to championship contender, it will literally do so behind its formidable offensive and defensive lines.

The offensive line is anchored by Kevin Boothe, a three-time All-Ivy honoree who many consider to be the best player in the league and a legitimate NFL prospect. At six feet, five inches and 315 pounds, Boothe's blocking and leadership abilities will be given a considerable test this season, as three of his linemates will be first-year starters.

While lacking the star power of their offensive counterparts, the Cornell defensive line may be the Ivy's best, as it allowed no opposing back to run for 100 yards last season. Penn

2004: Penn 16, Princeton 15

Picked by the Ivy League media as the preseason favorites — topping Harvard by one point in the poll — the Quakers will look to meet this season's lofty expectations on the strength of a roster filled with proven playmakers on both sides of the ball.

When not looking for major gains downfield, quarterback Pat McDermott, last season's league leader with 221 passing yards per game, can be content in handing the ball off to tailback Sam Matthews, a second-team all-Ivy pick last year.

The goto players on defense are a pair of linebackers: last season's leading tackler, Kory Gedin, and Ric San Doval, who lost his 2004 season to injury but will look to add to his pair of all-Ivy selections. Yale

2004: Yale 21, Princeton 9

Last season, the Bulldogs were able to overcome the failings of a suspect defense and come away with a .500 record thanks to a trio of school career record holders on offense.

This season, those three offensive standouts have departed, but at each vacated position there is a onetime backup primed to step into a starring role. Quarterback Jeff Mroz, a starter back in 2002, should combine with nimble wideout Chandler Henley and multi-skilled tailback David Knox to form a potent attack.

Throw in a defense that can only improve on last season's showing, and Yale figures to bring a good amount of hope into the first week of the season. Dartmouth

2004: Princeton 17, Dartmouth 10

For the Big Green to move out of the Ivy cellar following last season's 1-9 effort, its defense, which showed significant improvement in the second half of last season, must lead the charge.

Dartmouth managed to hold its opponents to five touchdowns over its final five games, and it will be the job of Buddy Tevens, who returns for another stint as the school's coach after three years at Stanford, to ensure that similar results can be maintained throughout this season.

Tevens will look to defensive end Anthony Gargiulo to set the tone for games by using the pass-rushing skills he displayed in notching an Ivy-best 12 sacks last season. Every sack Gargiulo manages this year will take pressure off a pass defense that ranked last in the league last year.