Football

Final Stretch to the #IvyFootball Title Starts with Two Key Matchups

Complete Football Weekly Release in pdf format

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Two big games – a matchup of preseason favorites on NBCSN and a contest between unbeatens on Eleven Sports, the Ivy League Network (ILN) and Twitter – highlight week 6 of #IvyFootball.

To read more about the successful results from year one of the Ivy League's experimental kickoff rule, click here.
 
LEAGUE NOTES
  • The preseason poll featured a tie for first-place for the third time in Ivy League history, and Harvard and Princeton will settle the score Friday night on NBCSN.
  • On Saturday, the last remaining undefeated Ivy teams square off when Dartmouth (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) hosts Columbia (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) on Eleven Sports, Ivy League Network and Twitter.
  • It marks the third time this season Dartmouth will take on a fellow unbeaten Ivy squad that is tied with the Big Green at the top of the standings (Penn, Yale). The Lions are looking to continue their best start since 1996.
  • Three of this week’s games will be broadcast live on ILN, now available on Apple TV, Roku and the ILN app on Apple and Android devices.
  • #IvyFootball finished 18-6 in non-conference play in 2017, its best overall out-of-conference record since 1994, when it went 19-3-1. The Ivy League went 10-2 over its first two weeks this season, its best non-conference start since 1970, when it opened 12-0.
  • The Ivy League’s .750 non-conference winning percentage leads the FCS and ranks fourth overall in Division I, trailing the SEC (.821), Pac 12 (.794) and Big Ten (.762).
  • Of the League’s 18 wins, three have come against the 2016 Pioneer and Patriot League champions, including two wins by the Ivy League over Lehigh (Penn, Yale) and one victory over a San Diego team that reached the second round of the 2016 NCAA FCS Championship last season (Princeton). The Ivy League also has a win over a ranked team thanks to Dartmouth’s 27-26 overtime victory over then No.-25 Holy Cross on Sept. 23.
  • Three teams appear in the national rankings. Dartmouth is receiving votes in both polls, No. 27 overall in the STATS FCS ranking, while Columbia and Princeton are receiving votes in the STATS FCS poll.
  • Princeton at Harvard marks the second of six Ivy games on the NBC family of networks this season, including the Dartmouth’s matchup with Brown on Friday, Nov. 10, at Fenway Park in Boston on NBCSN and culminating with The Game, Harvard at Yale on Saturday, Nov. 18 on CNBC.
  
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Columbia sophomore wide receiver Josh Wainwright (Austin, Texas) scored the game-tying touchdown with just over eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and the gamewinning touchdown in overtime to help propel the Lions to a 34-31 win over Penn. Wainwright finished with a career-high 193 yards receiving and matched his personal-best with 10 receptions and two touchdowns.
 
Wainwright was a three-sport athlete in high school, also competing in basketball and track & field. He is the second Lions receiver to be named Offensive Player of the Week this season, joining Ronald Smith II (Oct. 2). It marks the first time Columbia received two Offensive Player of the Week honors since 2010, when Sean Brackett earned the award three times.
 
Wainwright’s Statistics for the Week
10 rec., 193 yds., 19.3 avg., 2 TDs; 1 rush, 3 yds.; 2 PR, 11 yds. vs. Penn
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Columbia sophomore linebacker Michael Murphy (Tampa, Fla.) made his presence felt against Penn on Saturday, setting career-highs in tackles (12), tackles for loss (4.5) and fumble recoveries (two). He also recorded a sack in the come-from-behind win. Murphy was no stranger to #IvyFootball growing up, as his father Jeff played for Penn from 1978-80.
 
Murphy is the first Lion to be named Defensive Player of the Week since current NY Jets linebacker Josh Martin on Nov. 12, 2012.
 
Murphy’s Statistics for the Week
7 tckls., 5 assisted, 12 total, 4.5 TFL, 24 yds., 1.0 sack, 2 FR vs. Penn
 
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Harvard junior wide receiver/kick returner Justice Shelton-Mosley (Sacramento, Calif.) has a knack for finding his way to the end zone. Shelton-Mosley scored twice for the Crimson in its win over Lafayette on Saturday, including an 85-yard punt return for a TD to open the scoring. He also scored on a four-yard run as Harvard went on to win, 38-10.
 
Shelton-Mosley receives his second weekly Special Teams award of the season and fourth career Player of the Week honor, matching, among others, Penn’s Justin Watson and Princeton’s John Lovett.
 
Shelton-Mosley’s Statistics for the Week
2 PR, 84 yds., 42.0 avg., 85 long, 1 TD; 1 KR, 41 yds., 41.0 avg.; 1 rush, 4 yds., 1 TD vs. Lafayette
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Columbia freshman linebacker Justin Woodley (Chula Vista, Calif.) made big plays in key moments, finishing two tackles, a quarterback hurry and two interceptions in the Lions’ overtime win over Penn. Woodley finished with two tackles, one quarterback hurry and two interceptions – all of which came on third down to stop Quakers’ drives. His two interceptions came in the fourth quarter and his last tackle came in overtime, forcing a Penn field goal and setting the Lions up for the gamewinning touchdown.
 
Woodley was busy in high school, not only with his class work but also with sports, as he earned 11 varsity letters in football, lacrosse, basketball and volleyball.
 
Woodley’s Statistics for the Week
1 tckl., 1 assisted, 2 total, 1 QBR, 2 INT, 2 PD vs. Penn
 
HONOR ROLL
Dalton Banks, Cornell (Jr., QB – San Antonio)
17-28-0, .607 comp. %, 160 yds., 1 TD vs. Bucknell
 
Charlie Booker, Harvard (Jr., RB – Houston)
23 rushes, 159 yds., 6.9 avg., 1 TD vs. Lafayette
 
Collin Eaddy, Princeton (Fr., RB – Raleigh, N.C.)
10 rushes, 77 yds., 7.7 avg., 1 TD at Brown
 
Jack Heneghan, Dartmouth (Sr., QB – Atherton, Calif.)
14-21-1, .667 comp. %, 247 yds., 4 TDs at Sacred Heart
 
Kurt Holuba, Princeton (Sr., DL – Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.)
4 tckls, 2 assisted, 6 total, 2.0 TFL, 6 yds., 2.0 sacks, 6 yds., 1 PBR, 1 PD at Brown
 
Jesper Horsted, Princeton (Jr., WR – Shoreview, Minn.)
7 rec., 92 yds., 13.1 avg., 1 TD at Brown
 
Maxwell McCormick, Cornell (Jr., LB – Holland, Ohio)
4 tckls., 7 assisted, 11 total, 1.5 TFL, 3 yds. vs. Bucknell
 
Kyran McKinney-Crudden, Dartmouth (Sr., DB – Glastonbury, Conn.)
5 tckls., 8 assisted, 13 total, 1 INT, 1 PD at Sacred Heart
 
Nick Miller, Penn (Jr., LB – New Market, Md.)
8 tckls., 3 assisted, 11 total, 2.0 TFL, 9 yds., 1.0 sack, 8 yds., 1 PBR, 1 INT, 1 TD, 2 PD at Columbia
 
Matthew Oplinger, Yale (Sr., LB – Summit, N.J.)
6 tckls., 3.0 TFL, 26 yds., 3.0 sacks, 26 yds., 1 safety, 2 pts. vs. Holy Cross
 
Thome Parker, Columbia (Sr., P – Hortonville, Wis.)
6 punts, 288 yds., 48.0 avg., 56 long, 1 FC, 2 in20 vs. Penn
 
Kurt Rawlings, Yale (So., QB – Bel Air, Md.)
27-39-0, .692 comp. %, 316 yds., 2 TDs; 2 rushes, 21 yds. vs. Holy Cross
 
Emory Thompson, Dartmouth (Sr., WR – Lexington, Ky.)
6 rec., 49 yds., 8.2 avg., 2 TDs; 1 rush, 5 yds. at Sacred Heart
 
Charlie Volker, Princeton (Jr., RB – Fair Haven, N.J.)
16 rushes, 163 yds., 10.2 avg., 4 TDs at Brown
 
Justin Watson, Penn (Sr., WR – Bridgeville, Pa.)
7 rec., 78 yds., 11.1 avg., 1 TD; 2 rushes, 9 yds. at Columbia