Sunday, November 23, 2014

The Final Week


The final Ivy League standings are perfect, with each team losing to all the teams above it!
A look at how Dartmouth opponents fared on the final Saturday of the season:

Harvard 31, Yale 24
Story and stats
The Associated Press is calling it The Finish and with good reason. Tearing a page from the famed 29-29 tie, Yale (8-2, 5-2 Iv) stormed back from a 24-7 deficit with 17 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to knot the score with 3:44 left, only to have Harvard (10-0, 7-0) drive 78 yards for the winning touchdown with 55 seconds remaining. Conner Hempel's 35-yard TD pass to Andrew Fischer ended the scoring but not the game as Yale put together a furious drive that brought a first down at the Harvard 26. A Zach Hodges sack pushed the ball back to the 32 and forced a Yale timeout with 15 seconds remaining. On the next snap Scott Peters intercepted Morgan Roberts at the 15 to clinch the win and give Harvard sole possession of the Ivy League title. Tyler Varga carried 30 times for 127 yards with two touchdowns rushing and another receiving for Yale. Paul Stanton Jr., ran 22 times for 109 yards and one touchdown for Harvard, which got 18-of-28 passing for 191 yards from Hempel and 149 receiving yards and two touchdowns from Fischer. Roberts was 26-of-48 for 305 yards for the Bulldogs but was picked off twice.

Penn 34, Cornell 26
Story and stats
While Cornell (1-9, 1-6) was giving it a good shot Penn (2-8, 2-5 Ivy) was giving retiring coach Al Bagnoli one final win. After the Quakers ran off 20 consecutive points to turn an 18-14 deficit into a 34-18 lead, Cornell drove 65 yards for a touchdown and two-point conversion that made it a one-possession game. Penn then chewed up most of the clock before Cornell could finally get a stop with 35 seconds remaining. After hitting a 22-yard pass for a first down at the 42 the Big Red missed its next four passes, including a heave at the end. Alek Torgersen completed 26-of-37 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns for the Quakers, with Spencer Kulcsar grabbing 11 for 187 yards and three scores. Torgersen also ran for 86 yards. Rapidly developing Cornell quarterback Robert Somborn was 22-of-39 for 316 yards and three TDs. Luke Hagy had 111 rushing yards for the Big Red.

Brown 41, Columbia 7
Story and stats
Brown (5-5, 3-4 Ivy) got two passing touchdowns from Marcus Fuller and two rushing scores from Seth Rosenbauer and didn't give up a point until the final 1:05 of the game. Columbia (0-10, 0-7) lost for the 21st time in a row. The Bears reeled off 21 consecutive points in the first quarter and never looked back while piling up 483 yards of offense. Columbia managed just 11 first downs and 26 yards rushing.

New Hampshire 20, Maine 12
Story and stats
The nation's top-ranked team according to The Sports Network turned the ball over six times but UNH (10-1, 8-0 CAA) survived thanks to a stingy defensive effort that allowed Maine (5-6, 4-4 CAA) just 179 yards of total offense. After Maine pulled within eight points with 6:19 remaining a UNH drive stalled but the Wildcats downed a 45-yard punt at the Maine 1. The Black Bears made it only to their own 27 before an interception with exactly one minute remaining ended the rivalry game.

Georgetown 21, Holy Cross 16
Story and stats
A Crusader touchdown with one second left was window dressing as Holy Cross (4-8, 2-4 Patriot) fell to Georgetown (3-8, 1-5 Patriot), which had lost its last six games.

Central Connecticut State 22, St. Francis 17
Story and stats
Central Connecticut State (3-9, 1-5 NEC) drove 75 yards for a touchdown with 10 seconds remaining to top St. Francis (5-6, 3-3 NEC) and snap a six-game losing streak.