FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION

• Around FCS: Starting a new tradition for the Ivies

  
  

  By David Coulson, FCS Executive Director Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Sitting in the rather rustic press box at Franklin Field, watching Penn and Harvard play for a share of first place in the Ivy League on Saturday afternoon, I pondered a rather simple question.

  Imagine if this game had determined an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championships? Riding down on the train from Sports Network headquarters in Hatboro for an hour to historic Franklin Field on a crisp Saturday morning in the fall, there is a certain feeling of anticipation as you engross yourself in the traditions of Ivy League football.

  But one tradition that I've never understood, nor care to figure out, is why the Ancient Eight does not allow their teams to play postseason football? "Harvard sponsors 43 sports and the athletes get to play for national championships in 42 of them," said Jay Mills, the former Crimson offensive coordinator and now the head coach at Charleston Southern. "It's really a shame that they don't get to compete for a national championship in football." Obviously, this issue isn't about the balance between athletics and academics.

  One Harvard official said on Saturday: "The college hockey season seems like it lasts for eight months. You would think they could let the football team play for a few extra weeks." The issue has its roots in the 1950s, when big-time college programs began to embrace scholarship football and an outlaw mentality of other financial incentives began to corrupt and pollute college football.

  The Ivy League was founded officially in 1956 and the council of presidents made a bold decision to pull their schools away from the worst elements of the game.

  But over a half-century later, the Ivies find themselves in the Football Championship Subdivision, a collection of 125 schools that represent all of the purity and unblemished excitement that this great game once displayed, even at its highest level of competition.

  The very thing that the council of presidents feared is evident every day as the Bowl Championship Subdivision chases after its own tail in search for more money.

  The same isn't the case among the schools that the Ivy League now associate with, however.

  When I watch teams like Montana, Appalachian State and James Madison, I see universities that work hard on the field and in the classroom.

  These teams and many others pursue excellence academically and athletically, maybe not at the exact same level in the classroom as Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth or Cornell, but close enough to allow them to share the gridiron.

  Why wouldn't Harvard, Penn, Columbia and Brown, or the other Ivies, not want to compete for national honors against such like-minded institutions? The game on Saturday was as worthy of a playoff decider as any being played in the Colonial Athletic Association, the Southern Conference, or the Missouri Valley Football Conference on this sun-splashed afternoon.

  No. 19-ranked Harvard, using its high-octane attack, spurted to a 17-0 lead midway through the third quarter. But Penn's gritty, injured-plagued team battled back, cutting the lead to three points twice in the fourth period.

  The Quakers (5-4, 4-2 Ivy) looked like they were done for again when the supremely dependable place kicker Andrew Samson (13-of-15 on field goals before Saturday) barely missed a bad-angle kick from 23 yards to leave Harvard with a 24-14 lead with 7:26 remaining.

  But quarterback Kieffer Garton came to the rescue, accounting for 229 of Penn's 231 fourth-quarter yards either rushing or passing.

  Garton, starting just his second game as a sophomore with the Quakers' top two signal-callers sidelined with injuries, had already scampered 63 yards for one touchdown in the fourth period when he darted in from the 13 with 4:36 left to cut the Crimson advantage to 24-21.

  Penn's defense, which limited Harvard?s NFL-caliber quarterback Chris Pizzotti to 156 yards and two TDs, forced the Crimson into a three and out to give the Quaker offense the ball back again with 3:23 to play at their own 25.

  Harvard (8-1, 5-1) was held to 261 yards of total offense, its first time under 300 yards all season. Penn piled up 445 yards in an unusual display of offense.

  "We did everything exactly as we wanted to do," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said of the final drive.

  Garton (21-of-37 for 193 yards passing, 22 carries, 174 yards rushing) converted one 4th-and-6 with a 20-yard completion to Kyle Denham and ran two yards on a fourth and one to keep Penn's hopes alive. Another 17-yard strike to Denham gave the Quakers another first down at the Harvard 12 and Garton spiked the ball with 17 seconds remaining.

  But Garton's attempt to fire a potential game-winning pass in the end zone went awry on the next play when he overshot his receiver and Harvard safety Ryan Barnes leaped for his third interception of the afternoon with 10 seconds on the clock to clinch the game and a 24-21 final.

  "If it wasn't for Keiffer, we wouldn't have been in the position to play for the title," said Bagnoli. "When you are fighting for first place, this late in the year, this is the kind of game you expect. It just didn't work out. Harvard made one or two plays more than we did." As awesome as the 79th encounter in this incredible series was, if it had been a game to decide a playoff berth, FCS fans would have been talking about this contest and the fourth-quarter fireworks for years.

  "It was a great college football game and Penn made it great," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. "We were fortunate to finish it off. We're not a dominant team, we just find ways to win." Harvard survived this instant classic to head back home next week with a chance to win a share of the Ivy League title for the second straight year when it hosts arch-rival Yale in the 125th edition of a matchup that is simply called "The Game." With Brown (6-3, 5-1) battling Columbia (2-7, 2-4) at the same time for its piece of the title, wouldn't it be great to see one, or both of the Ivy League champs moving on to the playoffs? Instead, it will be the end of the road for a couple of quality teams and many fantastic seniors.

  Hopefully, the next time I witness a first-place showdown in the Ivy League, there will be more at stake. The Ivy League has won more national championships in football than any other conference.

  Princeton and Yale played for the 131st time on Saturday with Yale winning 14-0. Between the two of them, 26 national crowns have been won. Harvard and Penn have seven titles each to their credit.

  I want to be there when the first playoff game comes to Franklin Field, the Yale Bowl or Harvard Stadium and I can't wait for the day in Chattanooga, TN. when one of those Ivy League teams finally plays for an FCS championship.

  Hopefully, it won't be a long wait.

  11/16 02:38:13 ET