Ancient Eight shaping up before Ivy play

This weekend the football team kicks off its Ivy League schedule with a matchup against Columbia. Before the Tigers start their foray into Ancient Eight competition, here's an overview view of where the other teams in the league sit heading into the third week of the season:

COLUMBIA (2-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy League)

With convincing wins over Fordham and Georgetown to start their season, the perennially poor Lions are 2-0 and feeling like they may have turned the corner under first-year head coach Norries Wilson.

It must be noted, though, that Columbia was undefeated through two games last season as well. In their third game, the Lions suffered an embarrassing 43-3 loss to Princeton — the first of an eight-game losing skid to close out 2005.

Columbia hosts Princeton on Saturday, knowing that its defense is the unit that could potentially turn things around this year, as the Lions have already intercepted four passes and forced five fumbles.

BROWN (1-1, 0-1)

While the offense of the defending champion Bears hasn't been quite so unstoppable without tailback Nick Hartigan — last year's Ivy League Player of the Year — scoring points hasn't been Brown's problem.

Akin Oyalowo has run for three touchdowns through two games as Hartigan's primary replacement, and Lonnie Hill — the third-most prolific receiver in Division I-AA last year — continues to come up with big grab after big grab.

The Bears' defense has instead let them down, allowing opponents to rack up 394 yards per game. In a 38-21 loss to Harvard last Saturday, Brown surrendered a touchdown in every quarter.

HARVARD (2-0, 1-0)

Perhaps Brown's best response to their defensive shortcomings in their Ivy League opener is the fact that they were matched up against the Crimson and All-American running back Clifton Dawson.

Singled out by Princeton head coach Roger Hughes during pre-season Media Day as the lone exception to the parity in the Ivy League, Dawson has done nothing over Harvard's first two games to call his greatness into question.

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In two Crimson wins, Dawson has amassed 351 yards — with an average of 7.2 yards per carry — and found the end zone six times.

CORNELL (0-2, 0-1)

The Big Red is the only team in the conference yet to notch a touchdown, having been outscored 41-14 in back-to-back losses against Bucknell and Yale to open its season.

Cornell has actually outgained its opponents 821 to 611 in yards of total offense, thanks to its heavily used ground game. Tailbacks Luke Siwula and Shane Kilcoyne, as well as quarterback Nathan Ford, have each amassed 100 rushing yards on the season — a benchmark no Princeton player has reached.

The Big Red has crumbled, however, when forced to throw the ball, converting on just 27 percent of third-down opportunities.

PENN (1-1, 0-0)

For Tiger fans desperate to know where their team stands in relation to their perennial rival, satisfaction is just a few quick leaps away.

In its season opener, Princeton defeated Lehigh, a team that had beaten Villanova in its previous game. Last Saturday, that same Villanova team edged the Quakers 27-20, completing the Tigers' three degrees of superiority over Penn.

YALE (1-1, 1-0)

The Bulldogs evened their record last week with a 21-9 win over Cornell, erasing memories of a week one pummeling at the hands of San Diego and NFL quarterback prospect Josh Johnson.

In a 43-17 laugher, Yale let Johnson throw for 345 yards, four touchdowns and rush for 70 yards yielding another score. The performance stood in stark contrast to that of Bulldogs' quarterback Matt Polhemus, who completed just 11 of 28 passes in his first career start.

Against the Big Red, Polhemus' continued shakiness was overshadowed by the efforts of tailback Mike McLeod, who scored all three Yale touchdowns.

DARTMOUTH (0-2, 0-0)

The Big Green may not have a win, but it is the only Ivy squad to have made the front page of ESPN.com so far this season.

Kind of.

During a 56-14 Big Green loss to New Hampshire last weekend, opposing wideout David Ball drew headlines for tying Jerry Rice's Division I-AA record of 50 career touchdown receptions. The historic grab was Ball's third touchdown catch of the first half, and he played sparingly over the final 30 minutes — Dartmouth's ineptitude allowing him to wait another week to attempt to surpass Rice.