What better way to top off the highest-scoring Ivy League season ever than with some notable offensive accomplishments?
Penn won its second Ivy title in three years over Cornell 45-15 powered by 628 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, Brown's Stephen Campbell broke the NCAA I-AA record for receptions in a season, catching 14 on Saturday to give him 120 on the season.
It was a fitting end to a season that has seen its share of shootouts and all-out air attacks.
Pennsylvania 45, Cornell 15
The Quakers (7-3, 6-1 Ivy) proved that they belonged on top on Saturday, with a convincing 45-15 win over Cornell (5-5, 5-2) on the Big Red's home turf.
Leading the way for the Quakers was Kris Ryan, who rushed for 243 yards and four touchdowns. Gavin Hoffman completed 27 of 34 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns.
Penn scored early and often in the first half, sprinting to a 28-7 halftime lead. Ryan had scoring runs of 39 and five yards, while Hoffman hit Jason Battung and Adam Keslosky with touchdown passes.
The Quakers put the game away in the fourth quarter, as Ryan scored his final two touchdowns, opening a 42-7 lead before Cornell got on the board again.
The Penn defense was successful at stopping the run, holding Cornell to only 53 yards rushing.
Ricky Rahne was 28 of 60 for 306 yards, but threw three interceptions.
The win gave Penn its 11th Ivy League title.
Yale 34, Harvard 24
The 117th inception of The Game took on a deeper political meaning, as the alma maters of both presidential candidates took to the field in Cambridge on Saturday to renew their storied rivalry. Much to the chagrin of Al Gore (Harvard '69) and the rest of the Harvard partisans in the crowd of 30,898, the Elis came out on top, 34-24.
A 45-yard interception return by Ray Little with 3:22 left in the game set up Rashad Bartholomew's knockout blow for Yale. Bartholomew's five-yard touchdown run was his second of the game.
Bartholomew's 119-yard game gave him 3,016 career yards to break the Yale record held by Dick Jauron, the Chicago Bears' current head coach.
The quarterback-receiver tandem of Peter Lee and Eric Johnson also wreaked havoc on the Harvard defense. Lee went 25 for 37 for 219 yards and two touchdowns, while his favorite target, Johnson, made 13 catches for 113.
On the Harvard side of the ball, Neil Rose completed 28 of 52 passes for 310 yards but managed to throw four interceptions. Carl Morris caught 13 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
The game was played evenly before Yale (7-3, 4-3 Ivy) outscored the Crimson (5-5, 4-3 Ivy) 17-7 in the final quarter.
Harvard was knocking on the door early, but Rose fumbled out of bounds inside the Yale five. The Elis then marched down the field to set up Bartholomew's first touchdown from 28 yards out.
Harvard took a 17-14 lead into halftime after freshman kicker Robbie Wright barely made a 34-yarder with two seconds remaining in the half.
After Rose was picked off by lineman Stuart Satullo to give the Bulldogs the ball on the Harvard 25, a field goal by Mike Murawczyk tied the game.
The Crimson took a one-touchdown lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when Rose hit Morris with a 19-yard touchdown, but Yale answered with a Lee-to-Johnson connection to make it 24-24.
The Yale win may have ramifications in the political arena, as the winner of The Game usually is a good predictor of a Republican or Democratic victory. In every election since 1980, a Yale win has coincided with a GOP victory, while Harvard wins have come with Democratic wins.
The trend has worked 12 of 15 times since 1936.
With the win, Yale increases its overall record against the Crimson to 64-45-8.
Brown 45, Columbia 27
Stephen Campbell became the Division I-AA record-holder in receptions in a season as the Bears tamed the Lions on Saturday.
Campbell caught 14 passes for 137 yards to give him 120 catches on the season. The previous record was 115, set by Rhode Island's Bob Forster in 1986.
Campbell also finished second in I-AA in career receptions with 305. He surpassed San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice, who made 301 catches at Mississippi Valley State.
Columbia (3-7, 1-6 Ivy) lost the game in the fourth quarter, when they were outscored by a 24-13 margin.
The Bears were powered by Michael Malan's four touchdowns, split evenly between receiving and rushing. Malan carried 27 times for 138 yards.
Brown (7-3, 4-3 Ivy) quarterback Eric Webber went 35 of 45 for 315 yards, while his counterpart for Columbia, Jeff McCall, completed 17 of 29 for 307.
Jonathan Reese and Jarel Cockburn both had stellar games in a losing cause. Reese rushed 24 times for 106 yards and a touchdown, and also made one catch for 54 yards. Cockburn made six catches for 131 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown.
