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January 4th, 2008, 01:39 AM
The CSN Way: Whew, 2007
Charles Burton, CSN Columnist
The 2007 season began -- and ended -- with historic achievements. Conference by conference, here’s a look back at the “year that was” in FCS football. The champions, the games of the year, the highest moments, the biggest disappointments, the best players and the unsung heroes, the "what if's" and the peeks forward. Whew, 2007!
Ivy League
Champions: Harvard Crimson
Game of the Year: November 17th, Harvard 37, Yale 6.
Like South Dakota State, Harvard had the opportunity most rivals only dream of: to ruin Yale’s shot at a perfect season and in the process win an outright league title. In the 124th meeting of “The Game,” the Crimson made it look really easy by shutting out their bitter rivals for three quarters and allowing quarterback Chris Pizzotti to pass for 316 yards and four touchdowns. Incredibly, Yale’s two-touchdown deficit would be the first time all year that the Bulldogs would be behind by more than a touchdown.
Highest Moment: Yale 38, Holy Cross 17.
The best out-of-conference win came from the Bulldogs, back when runningback Mike McLeod was in top form running for a then school-record 256 yards and five touchdowns. Their dominating win over the Crusaders – holding on to the ball 38 minutes in the win with 412 team rushing yards – was a prototypical Yale win on the year.
Biggest Disappointment: Princeton.
Tiger quarterback Bill Foran was supposed to step in seamlessly for the Ivy League player of the year last year in Jeff Terrell. Instead, he struggled mightily all year (five touchdowns and nine interceptions) as Princeton limped to a 4-6 record, only winning two of their last seven games.
Player of the Year: Yale runningback Mike McLeod.
Only a junior, his numbers over 10 games were downright scary: 1,619 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. When you stop to consider that he was suffering a broken toe in those last two games, it’s scary to think what he could do next year as well.
Unsung Player of the Year: Brown wide receiver Paul Raymond.
He didn’t get most of the accolades this year (probably since he only had four touchdowns on the year), but his steady 55 receptions and 978 yards receiving were a big reason why the Bears were in the upper echelon of the Ivy League this year.
What If: Penn runningback Joe Sandberg wasn’t injured all year?
Injured during the 8-7 defeat to Lafayette in week two, you have to believe that the Quakers would have pulled that game out – and you also have to believe that they would have made an awful good run at Harvard and Yale for the Ivy League title, too.
A Peek Towards 2008:
Yale, with McLeod and linebacker Bobby Abare returning will be scary once again, but Brown might be challenging them next year: the Bears return quarterback Michael Dougherty and do-everything wideout Bobby Sewall. As always you can never count out Harvard or Penn either, with the Crimson’s runningback Cheng Ho and the Quakers’ defensive lineman Joe Goniprow returning.
READ MORE... http://www.collegesportingnews.com/article.asp?articleid=89669
Charles Burton, CSN Columnist
The 2007 season began -- and ended -- with historic achievements. Conference by conference, here’s a look back at the “year that was” in FCS football. The champions, the games of the year, the highest moments, the biggest disappointments, the best players and the unsung heroes, the "what if's" and the peeks forward. Whew, 2007!
Ivy League
Champions: Harvard Crimson
Game of the Year: November 17th, Harvard 37, Yale 6.
Like South Dakota State, Harvard had the opportunity most rivals only dream of: to ruin Yale’s shot at a perfect season and in the process win an outright league title. In the 124th meeting of “The Game,” the Crimson made it look really easy by shutting out their bitter rivals for three quarters and allowing quarterback Chris Pizzotti to pass for 316 yards and four touchdowns. Incredibly, Yale’s two-touchdown deficit would be the first time all year that the Bulldogs would be behind by more than a touchdown.
Highest Moment: Yale 38, Holy Cross 17.
The best out-of-conference win came from the Bulldogs, back when runningback Mike McLeod was in top form running for a then school-record 256 yards and five touchdowns. Their dominating win over the Crusaders – holding on to the ball 38 minutes in the win with 412 team rushing yards – was a prototypical Yale win on the year.
Biggest Disappointment: Princeton.
Tiger quarterback Bill Foran was supposed to step in seamlessly for the Ivy League player of the year last year in Jeff Terrell. Instead, he struggled mightily all year (five touchdowns and nine interceptions) as Princeton limped to a 4-6 record, only winning two of their last seven games.
Player of the Year: Yale runningback Mike McLeod.
Only a junior, his numbers over 10 games were downright scary: 1,619 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. When you stop to consider that he was suffering a broken toe in those last two games, it’s scary to think what he could do next year as well.
Unsung Player of the Year: Brown wide receiver Paul Raymond.
He didn’t get most of the accolades this year (probably since he only had four touchdowns on the year), but his steady 55 receptions and 978 yards receiving were a big reason why the Bears were in the upper echelon of the Ivy League this year.
What If: Penn runningback Joe Sandberg wasn’t injured all year?
Injured during the 8-7 defeat to Lafayette in week two, you have to believe that the Quakers would have pulled that game out – and you also have to believe that they would have made an awful good run at Harvard and Yale for the Ivy League title, too.
A Peek Towards 2008:
Yale, with McLeod and linebacker Bobby Abare returning will be scary once again, but Brown might be challenging them next year: the Bears return quarterback Michael Dougherty and do-everything wideout Bobby Sewall. As always you can never count out Harvard or Penn either, with the Crimson’s runningback Cheng Ho and the Quakers’ defensive lineman Joe Goniprow returning.
READ MORE... http://www.collegesportingnews.com/article.asp?articleid=89669