PRINCETON, N.J. – Ivy League football kicks off this weekend with a full slate of matchups, beginning Friday evening. Columbia visits Princeton in a nationally televised game on ESPNU, while Brown faces No. 8 Rhode Island in the Governor’s Cup.
 
Saturday’s action features one conference showdown as Penn hosts Dartmouth. Non-league contests include Yale at No. 9 Lehigh, Cornell hosting Colgate and No. 25 Harvard traveling to Holy Cross.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3

TIME	GAME	COVERAGE
7 p.m.	No. 8 Rhode Island at Brown	ESPN+ | Stats
7:30 p.m.	Columbia at Princeton	ESPNU | Stats

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

TIME	GAME	COVERAGE
12 p.m.	rv Yale at No. 9 Lehigh	ESPN+ | Stats
1 p.m.	rv Dartmouth at Penn	ESPN+ | Stats
2 p.m.	Colgate at Cornell	ESPN+ | Stats
2 p.m.	No. 25 Harvard at Holy Cross	ESPN+ | Stats

QUICK HITS

• Harvard entered the national rankings this week at No. 25 in the Stats Perform media poll. Dartmouth and Yale are receiving votes. All three programs are 2-0.
• Ivies are 8–4 in non-league play this fall. Since 2017, the league has gone 127–53 (.706) outside of conference. Ivies went 16–8 last season, the 12th time in 14 years they’ve finished .500 or better.
• The league posted a 5–3 record on opening weekend and has achieved a winning record in Week 1 in 14 of the last 15 years (76–44, .633 since 2010).
• Each of the past two seasons have ended with three Ivy League champions—something that has happened just six times overall (1966, 1969, 1982, 2015, 2023, 2024). Over the last eight years, six different programs have claimed at least one Ivy title.
• Six Ivy players were named to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000: Dartmouth TE Chris Corbo, Harvard DB Ty Bartrum, Harvard QB Jaden Craig, Penn OL Netinho Olivieri, Penn WR Jared Richardson, and Yale RB Josh Pitsenberger. The league's six selections were the third-most among FCS conferences.
• Three Ivies were featured in FCS Football Central’s Preseason Top 10 FCS Prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft: Corbo (No. 5), Richardson (No. 9) and Craig (No. 10).
• Craig was also one of five FCS prospects – and the only FCS quarterback – named to the Panini Senior Bowl Top 300.
• The Ivy League will begin competing in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs this season. The decision was approved by the Ivy League Council of Presidents in December 2024, following a proposal from the league’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
• Twenty-two former Ivy League standouts are currently on NFL rosters, with all eight schools represented.
• Three of the league’s head coaches were Ivy League football players: Brown’s James Perry (Brown, 1996-99), Harvard’s Andrew Aurich (Princeton, 2002-05) and Princeton’s Bob Surace (Princeton, 1987-89).
• 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 SEMIFINAL
Brown	John Starman
Columbia	Mark Chapman
Cornell	James Reinbold
Dartmouth	Delby Lemieux
Harvard	Ryan Osborne
Penn	Liam O'Brien
Princeton	Justice Musser
Yale	Mason Shipp

 

• Several Ivies rank in the Top 10 of national statistical categories:

 

IVIES IN THE TOP 10 (TEAM)
Brown	Fewest Penalties Per Game (1st, 3) Team Sacks (1st, 4.5) Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game (2nd, 27.5) Kickoff Return Defense (4th, 11.4) Red Zone Defense (6th, 0.667) Team Tackles for Loss (10th, 7.5)
Columbia	Tackles for Loss Allowed (1st, 2.5) Passing Yards Allowed (2nd, 116.5) Team Passing Efficiency Defense (2nd, 89.2) Fewest Penalty Yards (7th, 112)
Cornell	Team Passing Efficiency Defense (3rd, 89.88) Passing Yards Allowed (4th, 127)
Dartmouth	3rd Down Conversion Pct (1st, 0.625) Sacks Allowed (1st, 0) Winning Percentage (1st, 1) Passing Offense (3rd, 325.5) 3rd Down Conversion Pct Defense (4th, 0.238) Fewest Penalty Yards (4th, 88) Rushing Defense (4th, 77) Fewest Penalties Per Game (8th, 4) Total Offense (8th, 478) Completion Percentage (9th, 0.703)
Harvard	Red Zone Defense (1st, 0.5) Sacks Allowed (1st, 0) Scoring Defense (1st, 7) Tackles for Loss Allowed (1st, 2.5) Team Passing Efficiency Defense (1st, 87.17) Total Defense (1st, 181) Winning Percentage (1st, 1) Fewest Penalty Yards (2nd, 60) Rushing Defense (2nd, 57) Team Passing Efficiency (2nd, 201.98) Turnover Margin (2nd, 2) Passing Yards Allowed (3rd, 124) Scoring Offense (3rd, 50) Time of Possession (3rd, 34:42) Fewest Penalties Per Game (4th, 3.5) Passing Yards per Completion (4th, 16.16) 3rd Down Conversion Pct Defense (5th, 0.24) Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game (5th, 30) Blocked Punts (6th, 1) Completion Percentage (6th, 0.712) Passing Offense (6th, 299) Kickoff Return Defense (8th, 14) Blocked Kicks (9th, 2) Total Offense (9th, 476)
Penn	4th Down Conversion Pct (1st, 1) Punt Return Defense (2nd, 0) Punt Returns (4th, 20.5) Fewest Penalty Yards (6th, 98)
Princeton	Red Zone Offense (1st, 1) Fewest Penalty Yards (3rd, 66) Fewest Penalties Per Game (4th, 3.5) Turnover Margin (6th, 1.5) Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game (8th, 33)
Yale	Winning Percentage (1st, 1) Team Sacks (3rd, 3.5) Blocked Punts (6th, 1) Turnover Margin (6th, 1.5) Team Passing Efficiency Defense (7th, 93.58) Blocked Kicks (9th, 2) Scoring Defense (10th, 17)

 

IVIES IN THE TOP 10 (INDIVIDUAL)
Elias Archie, Brown DB	Passes Defended (10th, 1.5)
Tommy Dunn, Brown LB	Sacks (2nd, 1.5)
Ike Odimegwu, Brown DL	Sacks (2nd, 1.5)
John Perdue, Brown LB	Passes Defended (10th, 1.5)
Jack Smiechowski, Columbia LB	Interceptions Per Game (1st, 1)
James Reinbold, Cornell LB	Sacks (6th, 1.25)
D.J. Crowther, Dartmouth RB	Scoring (2nd, 15) Rushing Yards Per Game (8th, 114.5) All Purpose (9th, 141)
Grayson O'Bara, Dartmouth WR	Receiving Yards Per Game (4th, 117) Receptions Per Game (10th, 6.5)
Grayson Saunier, Dartmouth QB	Passing Yards Per Game (2nd, 325.5) Total Offense (2nd, 354.5) Completions Per Game (3rd, 26) Completion Percentage (10th, 0.703)
Jaden Craig, Harvard QB	Completion Percentage (1st, 0.773) Passing Efficiency (1st, 222.5) Yards per Pass Attempt (2nd, 11.93) Passing Yards per Completion (7th, 15.44) Points Responsible For Per Game (7th, 18) Passing Yards Per Game (10th, 262.5)
Carter Janki, Penn LB	Tackles For Loss (2nd, 2)
Liam O'Brien, Penn QB	Passing Yards Per Game (3rd, 277) Total Offense (6th, 295.5) Completions Per Game (7th, 22)
Bisi Owens, Penn WR	Receptions Per Game (4th, 8)
Jared Richardson, Penn WR	Receptions Per Game (2nd, 8.5) Receiving Yards Per Game (3rd, 122)
Julien Stokes, Penn RS/RB	All Purpose (1st, 206.5) Punt Return TDs (1st, 1) Punt Returns (1st, 20.5) Kickoff Returns (8th, 32.2)
Chase Christopher, Princeton LB	Solo Tackles (3rd, 7.5) Total Tackles (4th, 12)
Brady Clark, Princeton P	Punting (1st, 51)
Marco Scarano, Princeton LB	Solo Tackles (9th, 6) Passes Defended (10th, 1.5)
Inumidun Ayo-Durojaiye, Yale LB	Total Tackles (3rd, 13.5) Solo Tackles (9th, 6)
Abu Kamara, Yale DB	Interceptions Per Game (1st, 1) Passes Defended (1st, 2.5)
Josh Pitsenberger, Yale RB	Scoring (1st, 18) Rushing Yards Per Game (2nd, 134.5) Points Responsible For Per Game (7th, 18) Rushing TDs (9th, 6) All Purpose (10th, 136.5)