Ivy League Week 2 2011 - pick'ems and discussion thread

[bonarae]

My record heading into this week: 3-5. Most surprising: Lafayette beat Penn.

Brown at Harvard - this game is make or break for us. Maybe this is not going to be our year if we lose. xbawlingx
Cornell at Yale - should be close
Albany at Columbia - I don't have words for Columbia.
Dartmouth at Sacred Heart - Oh my. I think we need fresh opponents (see my post in the Penn-Lafayette thread). I've seen enough of these kinds of games.
Penn at Villanova - can 'Nova's season be anymore meaningful if they lose to the Quakers?
Bucknell at Princeton - Princeton played tough against Lehigh; let's see if Bucknell can hang on, just like they did (and lose) against Cornell.

[danefan]

Albany better right the offensive line ship or else we're heading towards an 0-3 start.

Penn should easily beat Nova.

Dartmouth will destroy a BAD Sacred Heart team.

[Ivytalk]

Harvard (we've never lost at night in Cambridge)
Yale
Albany
Dartmouth
Penn (Nova sucks)
Princeton

[bulldog10jw]

Harvard (we've never lost at night in Cambridge)
Yale
Albany
Dartmouth
Penn (Nova sucks)
Princeton

Agree with all except I will take Villanova in the hopes that Penn is the team that sucks.

[DJOM]

Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Dartmouth
Villanova - Just hoping Penn is so depressed they can't forget loss
Princeton ----PLEASE, PLEASE no more field goals. Push the ball down the field, score a touchdown--stay in game and possibly win. PLEASE don't push ball down field, get into red zone just to settle for a field goal.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Princeton will be no where near 1-9 this year. They have a good amount of talent and team speed. Overall, i thought Lehigh played a solid game on offense and defense yet the Tigers hung in.

I will be shocked if Princeton doesn't beat Bucknell by double digits.

[Go...gate]

Brown 27, Harvard 24
Yale 28, Cornell 20
Albany 44, Columbia 10
Dartmouth 35, Sacred Heart 7
Penn 23, Villanova 17
Princeton 20, Bucknell 16

[Go...gate]

Princeton will be no where near 1-9 this year. They have a good amount of talent and team speed. Overall, i thought Lehigh played a solid game on offense and defense yet the Tigers hung in.

I will be shocked if Princeton doesn't beat Bucknell by double digits.

PU needs to work on that O-line and their pass defense. I think they will beat Bucknell but it will be close.

[kDex86]

Harvard
Yale
Albany
Dartmouth
Villanova
Princeton

Went 5-3 last week.

[Wildcat80]

Come on Quakers beat nova!

[bulldog10jw]

Come on Quakers beat nova!

I guess wildcats don't stick together xlolx

[Bogus Megapardus]

So what happens if Penn doesn't actually suck this year? Assuming it does, however - could this actually be Yale's year?

[crusader11]

So what happens if Penn doesn't actually suck this year? Assuming it does, however - could this actually be Yale's year?

I was more impressed with Brown than Yale this past weekend. Kyle Newhall is the real deal...just as good as Patrick Witt.

[Bogus Megapardus]

I was more impressed with Brown than Yale this past weekend. Kyle Newhall is the real deal...just as good as Patrick Witt.

This weekend at Harvard Stadium ought to tell us for certain. I've been looking over the Brown stats from last weekend (we have Stony Brook next). Not just Newhall - the Brown defense did a very impressive job vs. Stony Brook's running attack. Brown almost completely shut down their passing game, such as it was (which was not much). Now it's time to see how the Bears D handles a sophisticated passing game.


Brown at Harvard
Cornell at Yale
Albany at Columbia
Dartmouth at Sacred Heart
Penn at Villanova
Bucknell at Princeton

[alvinkayak6]

Who is better Alex Tounkara-Kone or Kyle Newhall-Cabellero? Patrick Witt is great, I'm sure, but I don't think he has the receiving options of Saros & Tounkara.

Dartmouth's Schwieger won the Bushnell Cup last year. Maybe Dartmouth should be mentioned along with the other Ivy League favorites. I don't see him or All-American Punt Returner Shawn Abuhoff on any NFL draft boards, but they can sure make an impact for the Big Green.

Has Penn disintegrated? How could a team get so bad so quickly, or was that just a blip loss on the radar? If I didn't know any better, I'd say Penn was Princeton, and vice-versa.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Has Penn disintegrated? How could a team get so bad so quickly, or was that just a blip loss on the radar?

No way to tell. It's only been one game. Penn won the IL last year and they were predicted to repeat this year. They had a stinker last week but Lafayette has won 4 of the last 5 vs. Penn, so Coach T. might know something that others don't about The Toast.

In recent years Penn has been able to sweep the Ivy even after losing to the Pards. Remember, the Maroon Pinata is just a warm up for the Whartons; in Penn's mind we don't even count as a loss, so they're not taking it seriously.

Look for an inspired performance vs. Villanova this weekend. I think the Quakers will break the 100-year drought at Franklin Field (which, oddly will be a home game for the Wildcats - don't ask me why. Affirmative action, maybe?)

[Wildcat80]

I guess wildcats don't stick together xlolx

New Hampshire Wildcats do! Otherwise I like Quakers....and Bulldogs too.

[Bogus Megapardus]

For your viewing pleasure:

Harvard (-2.5) vs Brown o/u 45

Yale (-12.5) vs Cornell o/u 41

Albany (-2) at Columbia o/u 44

Lehigh (-3) vs Liberty o/u 63

Rhode Island (-13.5) vs Fordham o/u 43

Georgetown (-5.5) at Marist o/u 38

Dartmouth (-20) at Sacred Heart o/u 45

Princeton (-5.5) vs Bucknell o/u 44

Villanova (-5) vs Penn o/u 42.5

Stony Brook (-4.5) vs Lafayette o/u 48

Towson (-14) vs Colgate o/u 51

* * * * * *

Other games of interest:

William & Mary (-2.5) vs James Madison o/u 28.5

Boston College (-11) vs UMass o/u 45

Richmond (-1) vs New Hampshire o/u 44.5

[HailSzczur]

A century of dominance over the Quakers is on the line tomorrow, and I think Penn is going to pick up their first win over us since 1911. It was a good 100 years though

[carney2]

A century of dominance over the Quakers is on the line tomorrow, and I think Penn is going to pick up their first win over us since 1911. It was a good 100 years though

I could look it up, but I'm lazy and have hopes that one of you has the answer. Anyway, how many Penn-'nova games were played during the last 100 years? I'm betting not too many during the 20s, 30s and 40s when Penn was the equivalent of Alabama, Southern Cal, Texas today.

[HailSzczur]

I could look it up, but I'm lazy and have hopes that one of you has the answer. Anyway, how many Penn-'nova games were played during the last 100 years? I'm betting not too many during the 20s, 30s and 40s when Penn was the equivalent of Alabama, Southern Cal, Texas today.

A 69 year hiatus certainly helps things. Regardless, this will most likely be their first win over us in a century, and its not as though they haven't had at least a few chances.

Year Site Score
1905 at UP UP 42, VU 0
1906 at UP UP 22, VU 12
1907 at UP UP 16, VU 0
1908 at UP UP 11, VU 0
1911 at UP UP 22, VU 0
1980 at UP VU 34, UP 3
1999 at UP VU 34, UP 6
2002 at VU VU 17, UP 3
2004 at UP VU 16, 13
2005 at UP* VU 28, 24
2006 at UP VU 27, UP 20
2007 at VU VU 34, UP 14
2008 at UP VU 20, UP 14 (OT)
2009 at UP VU 14, UP 32
2010 at VU VU 22, UP 10

[Bogus Megapardus]

A 69 year hiatus certainly helps things. Regardless, this will most likely be their first win over us in a century, and its not as though they haven't had at least a few chances.

OK, now I'm calling foul on this whole 100 year thing. That's like saying that the Pards are "undefeated against Villanova since 1898" - which we are, but we've only played the Wildcats 4 times since then!

Try playing Penn 87 times, through the 20s, 30s and 40s, and through the present, and see how you come out.

[crusader11]

6-2 on the year...

Brown at Harvard
Cornell at Yale
Albany at Columbia
Dartmouth at Sacred Heart
Penn at Villanova
Bucknell at Princeton

[Ivytalk]

Big difference in Harvard's win over Brown was turnovers. Bears had 5, including two inside the Harvard 2, while Harvard had only 1. Almost precisely the opposite of last year. Total yards and first downs were almost identical.

[jayhawkdaddy]

Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Dartmouth
Penn
Princeton

[Ivytalk]

Whatever happened to brownbear?

[bonarae]

Oh well... xoopsx

Harvard 24, Brown 7 - is the Ivy League having a weird season too just like the rest of the FCS?
Yale 37, Cornell 17
Albany 44, Columbia 21
Sacred Heart 24, Dartmouth 21 - proof of the above
Bucknell 34, Princeton 9 - xsmhx
Villanova 30, Penn 21 - at least I'm right.

My record for this week: 3-3
Total record: 6-8

[VUCats02]

OK, now I'm calling foul on this whole 100 year thing. That's like saying that the Pards are "undefeated against Villanova since 1898" - which we are, but we've only played the Wildcats 4 times since then!

Try playing Penn 87 times, through the 20s, 30s and 40s, and through the present, and see how you come out.

It's not quite the same thing. Nova and Penn are cross town rivals. Whenever you hear anything about Nova vs. UPenn football, whether it be the media or the broadcasters, the "100 year" thing always gets brought up. It is still crazy that with the two schools playing in such close games every single time they play each other that UPenn couldn't pull away with at least one of them...

Anyways, the streak continues!

[HailSzczur]

It's not quite the same thing. Nova and Penn are cross town rivals. Whenever you hear anything about Nova vs. UPenn football, whether it be the media or the broadcasters, the "100 year" thing always gets brought up. It is still crazy that with the two schools playing in such close games every single time they play each other that UPenn couldn't pull away with at least one of them...

Anyways, the streak continues!

I mean this is 11 straight times over 21 years, thats still pretty impressive. While the 100 years claim is very inflated its hard to deny that we have had their number recently. I mean even in our down year we rise to the occasion for this game.

[VUCats02]

I mean this is 11 straight times over 21 years, thats still pretty impressive. While the 100 years claim is very inflated its hard to deny that we have had their number recently. I mean even in our down year we rise to the occasion for this game.

I feel that UPenn should be Villanova's number 1 rival rather than Delaware. While the Delaware game is usually a better atmosphere because of their fan base compared to UPenn's, and usually a great game too, from a pure football perspective, UPenn vs. Nova is just awesome to watch, no matter how bad or good either team is. Something about the city rivalry changes the whole game. I watched the whole game tonight, and thought to myself - I do not get to see this type of football in CAA play.

While no game will ever top the Delaware vs. Nova game of last year for me, I love watching the Nova UPenn game more than anything because it's just a different style of football that I'm not used to witnessing. UPenn will definitely beat us one of these years. Their attendance was a shame tonight, but it was a home game for Nova, meaning UPenn students had to pay to go even though it was at Franklin Field, and Nova students had day of service today (90% of students participate). I wish they would have just made UPenn the home team and played in a date when more people could attend..