McLeod Running Away With Yale Records

McLeod Sets Pace for Bulldogs

Last weekend brought another series of awards and records for Yale running back Mike McLeod. The junior out of New Britain, Conn. ran roughshod over Holy Cross on Saturday. McLeod ran for a school-record 256 yards on 40 carries, burning the Crusaders for five touchdowns on the day. Those five scores tied a school record set by Joe Crowley back in 1931; the 256 yards eclipsed the previous mark of 235, set five years ago by Robert Carr.

McLeod has broken the 150-yard mark in all three Yale games this season and has 12 touchdowns so far on the season, six more than second-place Luke Siwula of Cornell. McLeod’s 188 yards-per-game average is 70 ahead of Columbia’s Jordan Davis, and his 102 rushing attempts is far and away the highest total in the league. The junior’s 37 career touchdowns is a new Yale best, breaking John Pagliaro’s 30-year-old record, and his 24 points per game leads the nation.

For his accomplishments, McLeod was named Offensive Player of the Week by the Ivy League, national co-offensive player of the week by The Sports Network, and College Sporting News National Player of the Week. He also received the Gold Helmet Award from the New England Sports Writers Association.

Next up for Yale is Dartmouth, a team that McLeod torched for 198 yards on 33 carries last season. Whether or not the Big Green will be able to find a way to slow down the Ivy League’s top rusher remains to be seen.

Gross, Wilson Lead Weekly Awards

Columbia linebacker Alex Gross picked up his second straight Rookie of the Week award, while Dartmouth strong safety Ian Wilson was named Defensive Player of the Week. Gross recorded 13 tackles and one sack against Princeton, while Wilson put up 13 tackles, including one-and-a-half for a loss in a win over Penn.

Cornell kicker Peter Zell rounded out the weekly awards as Special Teams Player of the Week. The senior hit a 40-yard field goal against Georgetown in a 45-7 Cornell win, while extending his streak of consecutive made extra points to 33.

URI Tops Brown Once Again; Georgetown Falls Flat

Saturday’s Governor’s Cup showdown between Brown and URI in Providence was another close and exciting battle, as the Rams topped the Bears 49-42 in two overtimes. Both teams are no strangers to shoot-outs—in the 92-year history of the Governor’s Cup, URI and Brown have combined for one shutout. The Rams have scored 27 points or more in five of the last six match-ups, while the Bears have scored in the single digits only once in the last 14 years.

The teams combined for 91 points and 1,122 yards of total offense, with URI racking up 479 yards on the ground and Brown starting quarterback Michael Dougherty throwing for 407 yards and two touchdowns. The 49 points broke the previous Governor’s Cup high for URI, set back in 1998 when the Rams beat the Bears 44-16.
But while one nonconference team put together an impressive offensive display, another continued to struggle against Ivy teams. Georgetown’s 45-7 loss to Cornell, the Hoyas’ fifth straight loss of the season, was the team’s second loss to an Ivy League team this year. The defeat is the sixth straight for Georgetown against the Ancient Eight, with the Hoyas’ last win over an Ivy League opponent coming back in 2003 against the Big Red.

Georgetown will have one last chance this season to beat an Ivy foe with next week’s matchup against 0-3 Penn. A Hoya win in Philadelphia would send the Quakers to their first 0-4 start since the 1991 season.