AROUND THE IVIES: Football Faces One Final Obstacle

By Samantha Lin, Crimson Staff Writer November 20, 2015

PRINCETON AT DARTMOUTH

According to The Daily Princetonian, a tiger statue on the Princeton campus was defaced last week with expletives. I highly doubt the Dartmouth football players made the 316 mile trek to New Jersey (and if you are going to flee Hanover, would you really go to Jersey?), but they’ll get their own chance to embarrass the Tigers this weekend in what likely will be a rout.

Look for Big Green quarterback Dalyn Williams to have a statement performance as he has a final game-time opportunity to impress the NFL scouts who drew the short straw on scouting games.

Prediction: Dartmouth 42, Princeton 24

CORNELL AT PENN

For the second year in a row, the saving grace for the Big Red is the week nine contest against Columbia, which will probably—once more—be Cornell’s only victory of 2015. The Big Red has about as much of a chance of winning in Philly as my beloved Dallas Cowboys have of making the playoffs—the odds are, in a word, horrendous.

Then again, miracles do happen, and perhaps a win knocking Penn out of the title hunt will be enough to save Cornell coach David Archer’s job after a 2-17 tenure.

Prediction: Penn 38, Cornell 3

HARVARD AT YALE

If it wasn’t for The Game, I would bet a lot of money that the majority of Harvard students would not set foot in a football stadium all year. Indeed, the amount of grumbling I’ve heard that tickets “actually cost money” makes me wonder how much attendance is driven by peer pressure, an excuse to consume alcohol an hour after waking up, versus by an actual desire to watch football.

Students that remain sober enough to turn their attention to the gridiron Saturday may be in for a real treat, however. Although Yale has no Vince Young, this contest will likely be the closest of the three that will decide how many shares of the Ivy League title will be parsed out. Still, I think the Crimson football team is already too angry at having to share the title to let the Bulldogs steal this one.

Prediction: Harvard 34, Yale 17

—Staff writer Samantha Lin can be reached at samanthalin@college.harvard.edu.