Ivy League football teams seek to dethrone Quakers from their perch

Two Ivy League titles in three seasons. This year, the Penn football team looks to make it three out of four, and two in a row.

A hefty task? Definitely.

But this year's Quakers squad seems loaded for success.

Back at quarterback is senior Gavin Hoffman, who in three years at Penn has broken numerous records and was honored as Ivy League Player of the Year last season.

Returning at running back is a healthy Kris Ryan, a senior captain who has twice been named to the All-Ivy team.

And senior wide receiver Rob Milanese, who caught a school-record 76 passes for a Penn-record 936 yards last season, will be back at Franklin Field for his last season.

And that's just the beginning.

All in all, the Quakers return 18 starters from last year's 6-1 Ivy League championship team.

But despite Penn's heavily favored status to repeat in the Ivies -- out of 16 media members polled during the preseason, 11 picked the Quakers to capture the championship -- the Red and Blue can take nothing for granted.

After all, there are seven other schools gunning for the title.

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Penn opens up its season against Patriot League foe Lafayette before its Ivy schedule begins at Dartmouth's Memorial Field on Sept. 29.

The Big Green, a team that went undefeated in '96, has found itself struggling recently, and last year went 2-8 for the third consecutive season, finishing 1-6 in the Ivies.

Dartmouth will look to its 33 returning lettermen to turn the team around and bring them back into Ivy League contention.

Leading the charge for the Big Green will be senior captain Matt Mercer. The middle linebacker, who led the team with 113 tackles and garnered first team All-Ivy honors last year, was recently named a preseason All-American by The Sports Network.

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After facing off against Holy Cross on Oct. 6, Penn continues its Ivy season in New York, looking for its fourth straight win over Columbia on Oct. 13.

The Lions, who joined Dartmouth last year at the bottom of the Ivies, were picked in a preseason media poll to repeat as Ivy doormat.

Adding to Columbia's worries are a string of graduations, which left the team without two All-Ivy linebackers, Kirby Mack and Joe Cook, All-Ivy punter Ryan Kiernan and seven offensive linemen, including four starters.

Despite the graduations and previous abysmal play, the Lions' do have one ray of light -- senior running back Jonathan Reese. Last year, he ran the ball 263 times for 1,330 yards and 18 touchdowns.

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After meeting the Ivy lightweights, Penn's schedule will get noticeably tougher when the Quakers welcomes Yale to Franklin Field on Oct. 20 for their sixth game of the season and first Ivy home game.

Yale -- which finished last season at 4-3 in the Ancient Eight -- has beaten Penn in the last two meetings.

The Elis will look to make it a bona fide winning streak with the help of 10 returning starters, including senior quarterback Peter Lee. Last season, Lee passed for 2,179 yards, including 328 yards and two touchdowns in Yale's come-from-behind win over Penn.

While the Elis will have recent history on its side, they will be hindered by the loss of numerous skill position players. Gone is Yale's leading rusher from a year ago, Rashad Bartholomew, as well as starting wide receivers Eric Johnson and Tommy McNamara.

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Last season, defending Ivy champ Brown was ineligible to compete for the Ancient Eight crown due to recruiting violations.

No such impediment exists now.

While gunning for their second Ivy League title in three years, the Bears will welcome Penn to Providence, R.I., on Oct. 27.

Brown, which finished last season at 4-3 in the Ivies, had the most potent offense in the Ivy League. The Bears amassed an Ancient Eight-record 4,832 yards, with 3,381 of those yards coming from passing and 1,451 from rushing.

While the Bears will need to replace quaterback Eric Webber, they return All-Ivy honoree Michael Malan -- a tailback who set a school record last year for yards rushing with 1,213 -- and four of their offensive linemen, including All-Ivy honorable mention recipients Dan Startsman and Nick Bardo.

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On Homecoming weekend, Nov. 3, the Quakers welcome the Tigers for one more chapter of the storied Penn-Princeton rivalry.

While Penn is on a three-game winning streak against the Tigers, Princeton has history on its side -- leading the all-time series, 61-30-1.

In its quest to snap Penn's current streak, the Tigers will look to sophomore quaterback David Splithoff, who got the starting nod last year after injuries felled Tommy Crenshaw and Jon Blevins. Splithoff proved he was up to the task, throwing 31 completions for 543 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in two games.

However, while Princeton's offense is on the upswing -- the Tigers passed for 2,198 yards last season -- their D-line looks to be in trouble.

Of 14 defensive linemen at Harvard, 13 are underclassmen.

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On Nov. 10 in Cambridge, Mass., Harvard will be out for blood.

The Crimson, who finished last season in third with a 4-3 record, narrowly lost out on the Ivy championship by missing two late-game field goals.

Against Cornell, a 27-yard Crimson field goal was blocked as time ticked down, and Harvard lost by one. Later in the season, history repeated itself as the Crimson lost at Franklin Field after missing a 33-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the contest.

But Harvard, picked to finish second to Penn this year, will look to disprove its critics. The Crimson return their top five rushers and four of their five top receivers.

And returning to lead the prolific offense -- which scored more than 20 points in every game but one and reached 40 points in three contests -- is senior QB Neil Rose.

In his junior season, Rose set 11 Harvard records, including the mark for passing yards, with 2,655, and touchdown passes, with 18.

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To close out the season, Penn welcomes Cornell to Franklin Field on Nov. 17.

The Big Red will be looking for revenge after last year, when the Quakers and Cornell met at Schoellkopf Field in the last weekend of Ivy play with the Ancient Eight title on the line.

The Quakers walked away after a 45-15 drubbing of the Big Red with their second Ivy title in three years, consigning Cornell to bridesmaid status.

Cornell will look to returning quarterback Ricky Rahne, who threw for 2,944 yards last season, to lead the assault against the Quakers.

Senior returnees Evan Simmons, who rushed for 611 yards last season, and Justin Dunleavy --ÿwho scored Cornell's first touchdown against Penn last year -- will vie for the Big Red's starting tailback position.

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