Monday, October 14, 2013

Around the League


Teevens lives to fight another day 


This past Saturday was the opposite of the “separation Saturdays” you here TV analysts talk about in college football.

That’s because two of the mightiest-looking Ivy teams, Penn and Yale, lost. Harvard did not exactly dominate Cornell. Columbia looked like it had a pulse vs. a powerful Lehigh team. Brown looked very good, but against a so-so opponent in Bryant. Ditto for Princeton against Lafayette.

It’s certainly not clear if this trend will continue, but it looks like we’ll see a more of a competitive Ivy season going forward.

My top game of the week was Dartmouth’s 20-13 win over Yale at Memorial Field. Buddy Teevens really needed that win, and so did the entire program. What I was most impressed with was the way the Dartmouth defense played, especially against Tyler Varga who was held under 70 yards rushing. As long as Dalyn Williams is healthy, the Big Green have a chance to win games.

Harvard’s 34-24 win over Cornell definitely leaves me wondering about how good this Crimson team really is. Backup QB Michael Pruneau definitely played well, but Head Coach Tim Murphy clearly doesn’t want to rely too much on his running game. RB Paul Stanton did a fine job, but was only given the ball 16 times. Cornell’s QB Jeff Mathews had another super game and the Big Red aren’t even pretending to run the ball anymore.  But with Cornell obviously throwing on every down, why couldn’t the Crimson do a better job of stopping them? But until they lose, Harvard is still my pick to win the title.

Princeton’s offense still looks killer, but the defense is really off its game. Clearly, the Tigers got lucky when they faced a still unprepared Columbia offense last week because Lafayette racked up a lot of yards in the 42-26 PU win. Princeton goes to Brown this coming Saturday night and the Bears could hang some serious damage on the scoreboard.

Speaking of Brown, QB Patrick Donnelly had another stellar day with four TD passes and 339 yards in the air in the 41-14 win over in-state opponent Bryant. It’s starting to look like RB John Spooney is really just there to mix things up a bit and the Bears are still very much a “pass first” team.

I won’t read too much into Penn’s 27-14 loss to William & Mary. I said last week that the Quakers have a pretty good way of not putting too much into these out of conference games. Plus, it was a rainy day in Williamsburg. But I still have questions about the Penn run defense, which gave well over 200 yards rushing. It does seem like the Quakers have found the post-Lyle Marsh answer in their own running game with Spencer Kulcsar, but  he doesn’t have Marsh’s nose for the end zone or his ability to really burn defenses as a receiver coming out of the backfield.  Penn’s pass rush is getting better though.


IVY POWER RANKINGS

1.       Harvard
2.       Princeton
3.       Brown
4.       Penn
5.       Dartmouth
6.       Yale
7.       Cornell

8.       Columbia

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Delaney and Garrett both made the ivy league honor roll

Anonymous said...

Looked at the Yale vs Dartmouth game on TV and neither looked like "world beaters".

Anonymous said...

but certainly looked like they could beat Columbia

Anonymous said...

Not so fast with the losses. Any old QBs read the blog? Please confirm time to get used to receivers speed and moves. We will see much better stats in each upcoming game. Regardless of O line improvement.
GP

Anonymous said...

Lane Kiffin is the answer

Anonymous said...

completely agree with the qb/wr hook ups. our skill guys will only get better as will the line…but what is the ceiling? and who's responsible for it? our qb's/wrs will get better timing etc.... but a follow on question is are our wr's not getting separation because of route running, athletic ability or combo routes that are being absorbed by a better def secondary scheme?

Anonymous said...

#15 and #13 are obviously faster because most of the balls thrown to them are behind them. I haven't seen a pass yet thrown to them when they were led by the ball. A catch and run situation with them will end like #19 and his TD.

Anonymous said...

Wrong. There are several receivers who posted faster 40 times. Those were just bad balls.

oldlion said...

Nottingham, got most of the reps, I would imagine, in training camp and probably in informal drills over the summer with the WRs. In the first half of the Fordham game, you could tell he was in sync when he had even a little time. Hilinski hasn't had the reps as of yet. He does seem to have a big arm, however.

Anonymous said...

Heck of a tumble by Yale in your power rankings. Didn't realize that losing to Dartmouth was such a dishonor. :)

Anonymous said...

Who? Where does your info come from? Where was the data posted? The announcer said #15 was fastest on team.

Anonymous said...

I honestly believe this team has three wins in it. Dartmouth and Cornell certainly look beatable, and I wouldn't be shocked if they gave Penn a run next weekend at homecoming. The loss last week was much closer than the score indicated, and the defense keeps getting better.

As far as QBs/receivers getting in sync, in the patriots system (which I believe M is running, based on the line of scrimmage calls from the qb), it takes a little longer to be totally on the same page because so much is based on the WR and the QB being able to read the defense in the same way, and predict the other's actions. Not unlike how the actual patriots seem to just be getting on the same page due to rookie WRs and injuries. I can see this group doing a lot of damage at the end of this year and definitely next year.

Anonymous said...

40 speed has nothing to do with getting open and catching the ball. 40 speed is great after the catch. Why are so many posters on this site so combative?
GP

Anonymous said...

How does Dartmouth look beatable?

InwoodTiger said...

From the Daily Princetonian liveblog - "Epperly’s pass complete to Bostic, because it wouldn’t be a Princeton game if one QB didn’t complete passes to two others."

The Tigers put three quarterbacks on the field at one point on a 3rd and 10, and got the first down. They swap them out like mad, still scored 40+ points for three consecutive games -- first time that happened since 1950. Extremely entertaining to watch, and the Princeton Band gets a lot of practice playing after first downs and touchdowns (field goal attempts not so much).

Will indeed by very interesting when they run into a tough defense like Brown or, in theory, Harvard. Will the trickery blow up in their faces or will they keep this wacky offense going? In any case there might be some things here for the Lions to try - at this point, why not?

Mitch S.'68CC said...

I love the way Princeton plays football! Genuinely creative, even whimsical, and they've been winning their share. Had I not shed my blood for Columbia, had I not dropped out of school for a year because I was so depressed at the cynicism and loser's mentality of the football program, I might even be a Princeton fan. But no!

Al's Wingman said...

Can't expect stellar results every week from your RB. Varga will be back and probably rack up 200 in one game before the season is over.

Princeton at #2 is generous but they do look pretty good this year.

Anonymous said...

varga doesnt like to run inbetween the tackles. he is ultimately soft and can be contained. Dartmouth is a much better team than Yale and much faster, which will cause problems for our thin yet fleeting a foot team.