With just two weekends left, Ivy race going down to wire

"Who would have thought..." seems to be a constant refrain in football. It is a phrase that encompasses the true beauty of the sport in which upsets happen on any given Saturday, unexpected stars rise and surprise finishes seem like the rule rather than the exception.

That phrase is also the perfect description of the Ivy League football season to date, with Princeton (6-2 overall, 4-1 Ivy League) — picked to finish sixth in the league in the preseason — controlling its own destiny while perennial powers Harvard (5-3, 3-2) and Penn (5-3, 3-2) trail behind. Without further ado, the 'Prince' presents a rundown of the fates and fortunes of the Tigers' Ivy League competition so far.

Brown (7-1, 4-1)

The Bears are currently tied with Princeton for a share of the Ivy League lead, which means that Brown also holds its future in its hands in the coming weeks. Winning the rest of its games would mean owning at least a share of the Ivy League title, a fitting end to the career of one of the Ivy League's greatest running backs: Nick Hartigan.

Behind Hartigan's dominant 192-yard, four-touchdown performance, the Bears beat Yale last weekend on national television to remain atop the standings.

The senior running back, a finalist for the Walter Payton award as the top player in Division I-AA football, has gained more than 1,300 yards already on the year, for an astonishing average of more than 160 yards per game.

Hartigan's ground game has paved the way for the league's most fearsome offensive attack — Brown currently leads all Ivies in scoring offense (36.3 points per game) and total offense (415.6 yards per game).

Columbia (2-6, 0-5)

A season that began with promise for Columbia has soured considerably, which will cause seniors like wide receiver Brandon Bowser, who is fourth in the Ivy League in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game, and cornerback Prosper Nwokocha to depart on a bittersweet note. Though the team was hot out of the gate, winning its first two games, the Lions lost to Princeton, 43-3, in the third game of the season. It was the first of a now six-game losing streak.

Columbia has suffered home losses to Yale (3-5, 3-2), Harvard and Penn — games in which the Lions scored a combined 26 points compared to their opponents' 136. Most of the team's problems have centered on the offense, which has averaged a mere 11 points per game.

The lone bright spot for the team has been rookie kicker Jon Rocholl, who opened the season by making his first seven field goals and has twice been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Cornell (4-4, 2-3)

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The Big Red has relied on its strong running game all season and currently leads the league with more than 235 rushing yards per game. Despite lacking the big names such as Nick Hartigan, Cornell features a tandem of very able runners: tailback Luke Siwala and elusive quarterback Ryan Kuhn, who are third and fourth in overall rushing yards in the Ivy League.

The team's strong ground game led the Big Red to an early season upset victory over Harvard and nearly allowed it to defeat Princeton in an overtime thriller two weeks ago. Despite giving up a 100-yard rushing game to Kuhn, the Tigers held on to win a 20-17 nailbiter on senior Derek Javarone's game-winning field goal.

Dartmouth (2-6, 1-4)

In a season in which coaches seem to be experiencing tremendous success in returning to their original programs (see Charlie Weis at Notre Dame), Buddy Teevens, Dartmouth's Class of 1979, has encountered a little more difficulty during his second coaching stint with the Big Green.

At least Dartmouth has improved over its pervious year's record, a dismal 1-9. The team won its opener against Colgate (6-3) and enjoyed its first Ivy League victory of the year against Columbia three weeks ago. Nonetheless, the team currently sits near the bottom of every statistical category — which will give Teevens plenty to work on throughout next summer.

Harvard (5-3, 3-2)

Despite winning two of the last four Ivy championships, it does not look like the Crimson will be able to capture another trophy this year. First team All-America tailback Clifton Dawson has remained consistent throughout the year, averaging roughly 120 yards a game — on pace for his second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.

Harvard's two Ivy League losses have come at the hands of Cornell and Princeton. While Dawson put up a subpar effort, gaining barely over 50 yards, in the loss to the Big Red, no one can blame him for the home loss to the Tigers — a game in which he carried the ball 35 times for over 200 yards and two touchdowns. The Crimson's greatest weakness this season has been its disappointing defense, which has allowed a league-worst 27 points per game.

There is little doubt that Dawson will return for his senior year with renewed determination, but Harvard won't return to the top of the Ancient Eight next season without a defense that can match his effort.

Penn (5-3, 3-2)

The Penn-Harvard football game will be played this weekend in Boston, but the most shocking fact about the game is that this year it probably will not decide the Ivy League title. In past years, the confrontation between the Quakers and the Crimson has been the defining game of the season. In fact, no team other than Penn or Harvard has won the title since 1999.

If Quaker fans were upset about their early season loss to Villanova, they must have been outraged at the team's two losses to current league leaders Brown and Princeton — the latter coming during the Penn's homecoming game.

Quarterback Pat McDermott, normally a good decision-maker, was flustered in those games, tossing four interceptions last week against the Tigers. Because of those errors, this will be the first time in years that the Quakers cannot guarantee at least a share of the title by winning their remaining games.

Yale (3-5, 3-2)

What kind of record would you expect of a team that features the league's top-ranked scoring defense (17.9 points per game) and top-ranked passing game (261 yards per game)? Certainly a better one than Yale has put up so far this season. Though the Bulldogs are tied with Penn and Harvard for second place in the Ancient Eight, they have struggled mightily against teams outside of the Ivies.

The reason may be a weak ground attack that is ranked sixth in the league. Since the team cannot take time off the clock, it is no coincidence that it is also sixth in the league in possession time.

This deficit puts a lot of pressure on quarterback Jeff Mroz to perform to the utmost of his ability. Mroz has stepped up and leads all quarterbacks in the league in passing offense by a wide margin with over 250 yards per game, but he has not been able to lead Yale to victories over Penn or Brown, the team that beat the Bulldogs last week in a crucial showdown for first place in the league.

With Mroz departing after this season, Yale will have an even more pressing need to develop an effective running game.