Ivy wrap-up: Pennsylvania leads a tight race

JULIA TIERNAN/YH CLIMB ON: Running back Jim Finn '99 (7) has carried the Quaker offense to the tune of 1,262 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Parity. It's every conference com-missioner's dream. And, given the progression of this year's Ivy football season, Jeff Orleans and the other folks down at the Ivy League office in Princeton, N.J. must be in heaven. Though Pennsylvania has emerged as the odds-on favorite to capture the Ancient Eight crown this weekend, the season hasn't been easy--or predictable.

The helter-skelter of this year's race began on Sat., Sept. 19, the season's opening day. While there have been many games since, that first weekend's contests set the tone for the remainder of the year.

One particularly notable opening game was Pennsylvania's 17-14 triumph at Dartmouth. The Quakers were coming off a disappointing third-place finish in 1997 after having been predicted to win the league. Their hopes for rejuvenation rested in the sturdy hands of tailback Jim Finn '99, a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection the season before. Dartmouth, who had run up a 13-1 league record over the previous two seasons, hoped to overcome the loss of four first-team All-Ivy performers. Unfortunately for the Big Green, the contest belonged to Finn. The 6'1", 215-pound back carried the ball 41 times for 151 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Quakers to the narrow victory. And a telling victory it was. Pennsylvania has ridden the back of Finn to the top of the league, as he nonchalantly shook off would-be tacklers, averaging 32 carries and 140 yards per game and scoring almost half of the Quakers' touchdowns. Dart-mouth, meanwhile, has been close in all of its league games but has only won one.

While Pennsyl-vania's initial win proved significant, it was a game in New York--between Columbia and Harvard--that garnered immediate attention. The Crimson, picked in a preseason poll to repeat as outright champions for the first time in the school's history, were throttled by the Lions, 24-0. This rude surprise forced Harvard to play from behind in its bid to repeat.

That same day, Brown, picked to finish second in the preseason media poll, suffered an equally shocking upset to Yale. The Bulldogs, coming off their first-ever winless Ivy season, had the league's worst scoring offense and defense in 1997, and were picked to finish last for the third straight season. Yet they managed to escape Providence with a last-second, 30-28 victory that immediately disrupted Bears' title hopes and established Yale as a legitimate dark horse in the Ivy League race.

Despite the Bears' early loss to Yale and their equally disappointing defeat at the hands of Princeton three weeks later, Brown emerged in the late season as one of the premiere teams in the league. Led by quarterback James Perry '00, Brown features the best passing offense in recent Ivy history. Perry has racked up such impressive numbers that he needs only 210 passing yards--well below his season average--in the Bears' season finale at Columbia to break the Ivy single-season record.

The combination of Brown's and Pennsylvania's offensive prowess led many to expect an explosion when the two teams met in Providence on Sat., Oct. 24. The game did not disappoint. The 58-51 Brown win was one of the wildest offensive displays in football history, featuring 58 fourth-quarter points, a 259-yard, six-touchdown stalwart effort from Finn, and a 470-yard, five-touchdown passing extravaganza from Perry. The Bears' win still left them a game back of the Quakers, however, and the teams have matched each other win for win since their epic meeting. In the process, they have combined to eliminate Harvard from title contention, routing the Crimson in consecutive weeks by a combined score of 68-16.

So, nine weeks after a topsy-turvy opening weekend, only three teams retain a chance at the Ivy crown: Pennsylvania, Brown, and a resurgent Yale. If all goes as expected on Sat., Nov. 21, all three teams will win their games and Pennsylvania will win its third Ivy championship of the decade. But while Pennsylvania is heavily favored to defeat Cornell and clinch the title, remember that Cornell beat Dartmouth, who beat Yale, who beat Columbia, who beat Harvard, who beat Princeton, who beat Brown, who beat Pennsylvania. Are the Quakers a lock to win and capture the title Saturday? In this season of parity, don't be too sure.

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