Ivy League ready for its revenge

After a disastrous start against Lehigh, the football team (1-1 overall) bounced back for a 20-14 road victory over No. 22 Lafayette last weekend. Princeton will open its Ivy League season on Saturday with a home game against Columbia at 3:30 p.m. on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium. The Tigers were picked to finish No. 4 in the preseason Ivy League media poll after last year's championship season.

The Daily Princetonian takes a look at how the rest of the Ivy League has fared during the first two weeks of the season, in order of the teams' preseason rankings.

No. 1 Yale (2-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy League)

The Ivy League co-champions are off to a running start — literally — thanks to standout performances from All-American candidate, tailback Mike McLeod. In No. 21 Yale's first game of the season, it handily defeated Georgetown by a score of 28-14.

In an astounding effort, McLeod rushed for all four Bulldog touchdowns and 157 yards on the ground. A team doesn't need much of an aerial attack when it has a back that can shut down opposing defenses like McLeod can. But adding insult to injury against the Hoyas, tight end John Sheffield caught eight passes for 115 yards to counterbalance McLeod's rushing assult.

The defense also looked sharp, holding Georgetown to a total of 191 offensive yards. Yale committed no turnovers in the game.

Over the weekend, the Bulldogs had their first Ivy League test against Cornell. They passed with flying colors, coming away with an impressive 51-12 victory. Continuing his success from week one, McLeod ran for three more scores and 293 total yards. The Tigers will have to gear up to stop him when they face Yale on Nov. 10.

Putting together another solid defensive outing, linebacker Bobby Abare led all Bulldog defenders with nine tackles and an interception.

No. 2 Penn (0-2, 0-0)

The Quakers were picked to finish second in the preseason poll, and they have been a bit of a disappointment thus far. On opening day, they lost a close 8-7 defensive battle against No. 22 Lafayette.

The special teams woes that Penn suffered last season seem to remain. With five minutes left in the game, backed up at their own goal line, Quaker punter Anthony Melillo stepped out of the back of the end zone, resulting in a safety for the Leopards. Then, Lafayette scored a game-winning field goal with five seconds remaining.

Despite the loss, the Quakers' defense looked impressive against Lafayette, keeping the Leopards out of the end zone. First team All-Ivy linebacker Joe Anastasio had a team-leading 14 tackles.

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In week two, Penn caught the turnover bug, throwing seven interceptions against Villanova in a 34-14 defeat. The lone bright spot on the day was wideout Braden Lepisto, who had 11 catches.

The Penn offense has played without starting running back Joe Sandberg, who is out indefinitely with a leg injury. His replacements earned just 25 yards on the ground against the Wildcats.

No. 3 Harvard (1-1, 1-0)

The Crimson opened its season with a last-minute 31-28 loss to Holy Cross, which scored a game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds remaining.

Against the Crusaders, Harvard's defense allowed 31 first downs and 492 total yards, including 339 through the air. Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph picked apart the Crimson secondary in the winning effort.

In its second week, Harvard enjoyed a 24-17 victory over Brown. The secondary fared much better in this outing. Defensive back Steven Williams was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after collecting two of the Crimson's three interceptions in the game.

Quarterback Liam O'Hagan, back for his final season, threw for three scores. In the first two games of the season, the accurate passer has thrown no interceptions.

But the Tigers have been able to pick off O'Hagan in the past. One of these interceptions came last season, when linebacker Luke Steckel '07 intercepted an O'Hagan pass, leading to a go-ahead score for Princeton en route to a 31-28 victory over the Crimson.

No. 5 Cornell (1-1, 0-1)

The only team to beat Princeton last year looked good in its first game against Bucknell, a 38-14 victory. For a team that averaged 18.9 points per game last season, the offensive performance against the Bisons was quite an improvement.

In the game, two-time All-Ivy running back Luke Siwula surpassed the 2,000-yard mark for his career and also reached the end zone three times.

Quarterback Nathan Ford, a mobile quarterback who presents a threat outside the pocket, ran for two touchdowns.

Linebacker Graham Rihn has emerged as a leader on defense, and he was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Bisons.

In week two, however, the Big Red could not give Yale a contest, and they suffered a 51-12 shellacking to the Bulldogs.

Ford threw two interceptions in the game and was held to 16 rushing yards, proving that he can be contained with a solid defensive effort.

No. 6 Columbia (1-1, 0-0)

In their season opener on the road against Fordham, the Lions lost by a score of 27-10. Rams running back Xavier Martin plagued a porous Columbia defense, rushing for three touchdowns in his first career collegiate game.

Stopping the run is a definite concern for the Lions this season, and they are certainly missing the presence of defensive back Tad Crawford, who was drafted into the Canadian Football League after the 2006 season.

One of Columbia's main weapons is wide receiver Austin Knowlin, the 2006 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. In the loss, he racked up 130 receiving yards. He also had 73 return yards on special teams.

Over the weekend, the Lions bounced back and defeated Marist by a score of 31-7. They were playing at home, where they have won five of their last seven games.

The defense was still a concern, however, as Columbia allowed 262 yards on the ground against the Red Foxes. The Lions weak run defense may be exploited by the Tigers this weekend, when Columbia visits Princeton Stadium.

No. 7 Brown (1-1, 0-1)

Led by four-year starting kicker Steve Morgan, who ranks third all time in the Ivy League record book with 212 career total points, Brown's special teams unit has been its strong suit over the past couple years. Morgan has the ability to kick long field goals through the uprights. Last season, he scored a 45-yarder against Princeton.

Along with a formidable kicking game, in its first game of the season the Bears exhibited a balanced rushing and passing attack en route to a 28-17 victory over Duquesne. Brown gained 262 yards through the air and 248 on the ground against the Dukes.

In his debut as a starter, quarterback Michael Dougherty passed for three touchdowns. Running back Dereck Knight earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors after racking up 208 yards on his home turf.

In the second week of the season, however, Dougherty didn't fare as well against a much-improved Harvard secondary, throwing three interceptions in the fourth quarter.

The Crimson contained Knight, holding him to zero net rushing yards.

No. 8 Dartmouth (0-2, 0-0)

Picked to finish dead last in the Ivy League, the Big Green is not off to an impressive start.

On opening day, Dartmouth suffered a close 31-28 loss to Colgate. The Raiders came back from a 28-0 deficit to win the game in overtime.

The Big Green came up empty in its overtime possession due to an interception by quarterback Tom Bennewitz. Despite the loss, running back Milan Williams had a breakout performance, running for a career-high 179 yards.

The stronghold of Dartmouth's defense, two time All-Ivy safety Ian Wilson, had an interception in the game.

Though the Big Green lost a close game in the first week, its second game was a different story. Dartmouth lost to the University of New Hampshire by a score of 52-31. The Wildcats scored two touchdowns in two minutes of play to put them ahead for good.

Continuing his inaccurate passing, Bennewitz threw three interceptions and the Dartmouth offense lost two fumbles. A slowed-down Williams racked up just 56 yards on the ground.

The Tigers end their season against the Big Green for the second year in a row. Princeton is certainly hoping that this year's game against Dartmouth has the same result as last year's title clinching victory.