Ivy League Championship: Penn and Harvard Lose 2011 Season Openers

The Penn Quakers were selected as the overwhelming favorite to win the 2011 Ivy League Championship, receiving 12 of 17 first-place votes in the preseason media poll.

However, in week one, Penn suffered a 37-12 beating at home to Lafayette.

The Harvard Crimson, selected to finish second in the Ivy League by the preseason poll, also lost their season opener. In fact, Harvard essentially self-imploded, blowing an 11-point lead and allowing Holy Cross to score 27 unanswered points on the way to winning 30-22. 

The good news for both Quaker and Crimson fans is that Lafayette and Holy Cross are not Ivy League members and thus the losses don’t count toward the league standings. 

The bad news is that both teams lost their games due to interceptions.

Penn’s offensive attack was relatively balanced against Lafayette as they rushed for 185 yards and threw for 170. 

Unfortunately, such balance was thrown off by junior quarterback Billy Ragone, who tossed two interceptions during the game, both of which led to Lafayette touchdowns.

Harvard’s quarterback Collier Winters also tossed two interceptions at critical moments in the game. 

The first interception was picked off and returned 97 yards for a touchdown while the second came in the last minute of the game, ending any chance Harvard had at tying the score.

Yale and Brown were selected to finish third and fourth respectively and both won their openers against non-Ivy League competition. 

However, Brown faces Harvard this coming weekend while Yale hosts Cornell. If both Yale and Brown can pick up victories, they will be 1-0 in Ivy League play and 2-0 overall. 

Furthermore, a victory for Brown would mean the Harvard Crimson fall to 0-1 in Ivy League play and 0-2 on the season. 

Travis Normand can be followed on Twitter here!