PRINCETON, N.J. – The Ivy League football weekend kicks off on the national stage with Cornell hosting Harvard at 6 p.m. Friday in a game that will air on ESPN2. League play continues on Saturday with Dartmouth and Yale clashing in a contest that features two teams that earned a share of the Ivy title last season. 

Saturday's non-league slate includes a pair ranked matchups for the league with Brown playing No. 19 Rhode Island and Princeton traveling to No. 7 Mercer. 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11

TIME	GAME	COVERAGE
6 p.m.	Harvard at Cornell	ESPN2 | Stats

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12

TIME	GAME	COVERAGE
12 p.m.	Dartmouth at Yale	ESPN+ | Stats
12 p.m.	Columbia at Wagner	NEC Front Row | Stats
1 p.m.	Brown at #19 Rhode Island	FloSports | Stats
1 p.m.	Bucknell at Penn	ESPN+ | Stats
3:30 p.m.	Princeton at #7 Mercer	ESPN+ | Stats

QUICK HITS

• Columbia and Dartmouth opened league play with wins last Saturday. The Lions topped Princeton for the first time since 2017 with a 34-17 triumph. The Big Green defeated Penn 20-17, using a 10:30 drive in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
• Each of the last two seasons, 16 of the 28 league games were decided by one possession. Last year five contests were decided in overtime, which was the most of any FCS conference.
• Ivies are 2-0 against ranked opponents. Columbia opened the season with 31-20 win over No. 14 Lafayette on Sept. 21. Harvard bested No. 16 New Hampshire 28-23 on Oct. 4.
• Ivies are 10-6 in non-league play this season. The league wrapped up last season with an overall record of 15-9, which marked the 11th time in the last 13 seasons that it finished with a winning percentage of .500 or better. Since 2017, Ivies are 113-47 (.706).
• Four current Ivies were named to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000: Brown CB Isaiah Reed, Columbia WR Bryson Canty, Penn S Shiloh Means and Princeton WR Connor Hulstein. The league’s four representatives were tied for the fourth most of any FCS conference.
• Reed was also one of 64 FCS prospects named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List.
• For the second consecutive season, the Ivy League collectively went 5-3 in the league’s opening weekend. Over the past 19 seasons, Ivies are 93-59 (.612) in season openers.
• The league welcomed three “new” head coaches this offseason: Columbia’s Jon Poppe, Cornell’s Dan Swanstrom and Harvard’s Andrew Aurich. All have extensive experience as assistant coaches within the league.
• Six teams ranked in the top 25 of the FCS in scoring defense in 2023: Princeton (6th, 17.5), Columbia (10th, 18.2), Dartmouth (14th, 19.3), Yale (17th, 19.9), Harvard (20th, 20.2) and Penn (25th, 21.7). Since 2018, at least two Ivies have finished in the top 10 of the category each season.
• Three of the league’s head coaches were Ivy League football players: Brown HC James Perry (Brown, 1996-99), Harvard HC Andrew Aurich (Princeton, 2002-05) and Princeton HC Bob Surace (Princeton, 1987-89).
• The 2024 Bushnell Cup presentation is set for Dec. 16 at the iconic Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center in New York City. The event will once again be co-hosted with the National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame (NFF) and sponsored by Bruin Capital. This year’s presentation will be emceed by ESPN’s Rece Davis and will include three finalists (up from two) for both offensive and defensive players of the year.
• The Ivy League was the only conference across all divisions to have a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy from each institution. Named after former Columbia football team captain and later head coach Bill Campbell, the award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.

 

WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALISTS
Brown	Caleb Moorhead
Columbia	Patrick Passalacqua
Cornell	Matthew Pilc
Dartmouth	Braden Mullen
Harvard	Dominic Young-Smith
Penn	Julian Talley
Princeton	Nasir Cook
Yale	Bennie Anderson

 

• Numerous Ivies (team and individual) rank in the top 10 of national FCS statical categories:

 

IVIES IN THE TOP 10 (TEAM)
3rd Down Conversion Pct	Columbia (3rd, 53.7) Dartmouth (8th, 50.0)
4th Down Conversion Pct	Penn (1st, 100.0)
4th Down Conversion Pct Defense	Princeton (7th, 16.7)
Completion Percentage	Cornell (4th, 71.4)
Fewest PenaltIes Per Game	Columbia (1st, 2.67) Harvard (5th, 3.33) Penn (6th, 4.00) Princeton (10th, 4.33)
Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game	Columbia (3rd, 26.67) Harvard (5th, 31.67)
Kickoff Returns	Penn (6th, 26.80)
Passing Offense	Brown (9th, 285.7)
Passing Yards Allowed	Dartmouth (7th, 140.3)
Passing Yards Per Completion	Harvard (1st, 17.54)
Punt Return Defense	Dartmouth (3rd, 0.00) Harvard (7th, 2.75)
Red Zone Defense	Columbia (10th, 66.7) Harvard (10th, 66.7) Penn (10th, 66.7)
Rushing Defense	Harvard (2nd, 60.0)
Sacks Allowed	Cornell (1st, 0.33) Yale (1st, 0.33) Harvard (7th, 0.67)
Scoring Defense	Dartmouth (5th, 14.7)
Tackles for Loss Allowed	Cornell (3rd, 2.67) Columbia (5th, 3.00) Penn (7th, 3.33) Yale (7th, 3.33)
Team Passing Efficiency	Cornell (8th, 167.28)
Team Passing Efficiency Defense	Dartmouth (5th, 97.25)
Time of Possession	Dartmouth (7th, 33:38)
Total Defense	Dartmouth (4th, 256.0) Harvard (6th, 275.3)
Turnover Margin	Brown (10th, 1.00)
Winning Percentage	Dartmouth (1st, 100.0)

 

IVIES IN THE TOP 10 (INDIVIDUAL)
All Purpose	Malachi Hosley, Penn (6th, 142.67)
Completion Percentage	Jameson Wang, Cornell (6th, 71.1)
Completions Per Game	Jameson Wang, Cornell (8th, 23.0)
Field Goal Percentage	Hugo Merry, Columbia (1st, 100.0) Alan Zhao, Cornell (1st, 100.0 Jeffrey Sexton, Princeton (1st, 100.0)
Field Goals Per Game	Owen Zalc, Dartmouth (2nd, 2.0)
Interceptions Per Game	Hayden McDonald, Columbia (1st, 0.7)
Kickoff Returns	Julien Stokes, Penn (10th, 27.5)
Passing Efficiency	Jameson Wang, Cornell (7th, 165.7)
Passing Yards Per Game	Jake Willcox, Brown (5th, 284.0)
Passing Yards Per Completion	Jaden Craig, Harvard (1st, 17.62)
Points Responsible For Per Game	Jameson Wang, Cornell (3rd, 18.0)
Punt Returns	AJ Barber, Princeton (9th, 14.5)
Receiving Yards Per Game	Brendan Lee, Cornell (6th, 100.0) Jared Richardson, Penn (10th, 97.0)
Receptions Per Game	Paxton Scott, Dartmouth (9th, 6.7)
Rushing Yards Per Game	Malachi Hosley, Penn (5th, 129.7)
Solo Tackles	Abu Kamara, Yale (1st, 9.3)
Tackles For Loss	Caleb Moorhead, Brown (6th, 1.7)
Total Offense	Jake Willcox, Brown (3rd, 314.3) Jameson Wang, Cornell (5th, 297.7)
Total Tackles	Abu Kamara, Yale (3rd, 11.0)
Yards per Reception	Solomon Miller, Brown (3rd, 23.88)