Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 96

LEAVING Yale Happy To Jump On It Ivy League Standings WITH A KICK Owls Snap Losing Streak ircq 1 nv Conf All I PF PA Harvard 6 0 9 0 304 131 Perm 5 1 7 2 218 131 Cornell 4 2 4 5 153 161 Yale 3 3 5 4 176 172 Brown 2 4 5 4 194 173 Princeton 2 4 4 5 194 197 Columbia 1 5 1 8 119 232 Dartmouth 1 5 1 8 98 188 Big East Standings Conf All PF PA W.Virginia 4 1 8 2 330 200 Boston Coll. 3 1 7 2 208 119 Pittsburgh 3 2 6 3 259 226 Syracuse 3 2 5 5 230 276 UConn 2 3 5 4 254 215 Rutgers 1 4 4 5 213148 Temple 1 4 2 8 221 365 ASSOCIATED PRESS spot in the first quarter against and two touchdowns. Fumbled Punt "Changes Luck iv By TOMMY HINE COURANT STAFF WRITER 1 NEW HAVEN As the losses and Yale's second-half scoreless streak stretched into its fourth week, coach Jack Sie-jilecki kept talking about getting a break. Bulldogs got one Saturday "when a fumbled punt return led t1 to a back- YALE 21 breaking PRINCETON 9 fourth-quar-' ter touch down and a 21-9 victory over Princeton. "That was a huge, huge play," Siedlecki said.

"No question. We didn't take advantage of the first one Chandler Henley's big 41-yard punt return. "We made some plays that gave us some opportunities." No opportunity was larger than Tyson Crawford's punt that Greg Fields bobbled at the Princeton 27. Princeton initially recovered but the ball squirted loose and Yale's Matt Baker recovered at the Tigers 17. Two plays later, Robert Carr scored from 5 yards out for Yale's First second-half touchdown in five games and its first second-half points in four weeks.

"We were clawing our way back into it, and that changed the momentum," Princeton coach Roger Hughes said. "That changed how we were playing and how Yale was playing, too." Yale (5-4, 3-3 Ivy League) could have grabbed the momentum earlier, but it couldn't capitalize Associated Press PHILADELPHIA Walter Washington gave Temple a Big East memory worth remembering. Washington ran for 185 yards and three touchdowns, and threw for an- TEMPIE 34 0ther SCOTe' SYRACUSE 24 to help Tern- pie snap a six- game losing streak with a 34-24 win over Syracuse on Saturday. "We deserved it" he said. "We knew we could win going into all the games, but we were able to-come out with this one." Washington set the Big East season record for yards rushing by a quarterback with 816, breaking the mark set by West Virginia's Rasheed Marshall (666) in 2002.

Washington has 2,740 yards overall (1,924 passing) this season, breaking the school record of 2,577 set by Henry Burris in 1994. Washington's 15 rushing touchdowns this season also tied the school record set by running back Paul Palmer in 1986, when he finished second in the Heis-man Trophy voting. "I don't care about the records at all I care about the wins," he said. He should like the records. Washington now has more records (3) than wins (2) this year.

Washington had his fifth career 100-yard rushing game and third this season. Washington's performance this season has been a rare highlight for the Owls (2-8, 14 Big East), who have had 13 straight losing seasons and were kicked out of the Big East The Owls, who had lost 12 straight conference games, will be an independent next year. Temple has one last Big East YALE'S ROBERT CARR picks his Princeton. He rushed for 160 yards on Henley's third-quarter punt return to the Princeton 22. The Tigers (4-5, 2-1) then started to nibble at Yale's 14-3 halftime lead.

Derek Javarone's 19-yard field goal at the end of an 83-yard drive cut Princeton's deficit to 14-6. Javarone's 22-yard field goal after a fumble by Yale quarterback Al-vin Cowan at the Bulldogs 44 made it 14-9 six minutes later. "We have to score touchdowns down there," Hughes said. "We made too many mistakes penalty-wise that put us in third-and-long situations." The three times Princeton advanced inside the Yale 10, it settled for field goals. "Our defensive play was phenomenal," Siedlecki said.

"We made play after play after play. The effort level was tremendous. "We just had to believe good things were going to happen. We Pitt Tops Irish In Final Second Temple 34. Syracuse 24 Boston College 36, West Virginia 17 Georgia Tech 30, UConn 10 Next Saturday Buff alo at UConn, noon Boston College at Temple, noon Rutgers at Navy, 1:30 p.m.

game against Boston College. "It's so easy for us to take Walter Washington for granted," coach Bobby Wallace said. "Gosh, what a performance. What a great player." The Owls led 21-3 at halftime, then held on when Syracuse (5-5 3-2) rallied in the third quarter. Syracuse did not seem to miss leading rusher Walter Reyes, out with a torn shoulder muscle.

Da-mien Rhodes comfortably filled his spot running for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Rhodes nearly led the Orange back in the third quarter with a 31-yard TD run down the left sideline, then another 16-yard scoring run to make it 24-17. He had a 2-yard score in the fourth. "WeknewDamienhadtohave a big day," Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "He made some big plays, but I'm sure Damien would have traded some of his yards for more touchdowns." Defensive back DeMarco Dod-son sealed the victory with an interception on Syracuse's final possession.

"We've never been able to finish it in the fourth quarter and today we were able to hang on," Wallace said. Oops, Palko Lets One Slip Associated Press SOUTH BEND, Ind. Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko used an expletive during a live postgame interview with NBC after beating No. 24 Notre Dame 41-38 Saturday. He used the four-letter word while being interviewed immediately after the game.

Meeting later with reporters, Palko apologized. "Before I start, I lost my composure on the field and said something in the heat of the moment" Palko said. "That's not me. That's not Tyler. It was just a heat of the moment kind of thing.

I apologize to my teammates, my family and anybody that was watching." NBC announcer Tom Hammond apologized on air after the interview. "We apologize for Tyler Palko's language in the heat of the moment after the brilliant game he had," Hammond said. "Too bad it was marred by that moment" Pitt coach Walt Harris did not know about Palko's comments, but said it was out of character for the quarterback. "That shocks me," Harris said. Six weeks ago, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

used a vulgarity in a post-race interview on NBC at Talladega Superspeedway. Saturday Yale 21, Princeton 9 Harvard 31, Penn 10: In Philadelphia, Clifton Dawson ran for 160 yards and a touchdown and Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 186 yards and two scores as Harvard clinched at least a tie for the Ivy championship and ended Penn's record 20-game winning streak in league play. Penn quarterback Pat McDermott did not start because of a collarbone injury, and saw limited action in the second half. After a 24-yard field goal by Derek Zoch gave Penn the early lead, Harvard scored 31 straight points, starting with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick to Brian Edwards with 2:20 left in the first quarter. Harvard hadnt won at Penn since 1980.

Dartmouth 20, Brawn 7: Chad Gaudet ran for 137 yards and a touchdown, and Dartmouth's defense had six sacks and an interception in Hanover, N.H. Cornell 32, Columbia 26: DJ. Busch's 38-yard scoring pass to Brian Rom-ney with 37 seconds left capped a 25-point fourth quarter for Cornell in New York. Columbia led 26-7 with 11:29 left Next Saturday PennatCornell.noon Columbia at Brown, 12:30 p.m. Yale at Harvard, 12:30 p.m.

Dartmouth at Princeton, 1 p.m. talking about wins, and that's a lot more fun." Carr finished with 160 yards on 32 carries the fifth time this season he has rushed for 160 yards or more. "The word I would use to describe him is slippery," Princeton linebacker Justin Stull said. "You think you've got him wrapped up, maybe even causing a fumble, and he slips out of your grasp for another 5 yards. "It's very frustrating." -A ---V V.

MCANDREWS THE HARTFORD COURANT (2) and Warren Clanton. TRINITY: 22 IN A ROW 39 13 35 "22 21 26 Hamilton Tufts Bowdoin Middlebury Amherst Wesleyan 0 12 14 20 14 10 30 10 45 23 51 16 20 53 Colby Williams Hamilton Tufts Bowdoin Middlebury Amherst Wesleyan 6 0 7 3 0 0 14 0 49 30 55 36 41 28 31 40 Bates Williams Hamilton Tufts Bowdoin Middlebury Amherst Wesleyan 12 6 14 0 7 7 6 v. "1 GENNARO LEO tries to squeeze out got the effort we needed." After two first-quarter touchdowns Cowan's 18-yard pass to Alex Faherty and Carr's 13-yard run Yale, like Princeton, had chances to score even more. Andrew Sullivan missed second-quarter field goals of 29 and 26yards. "Still, we played great in the first half," Siedlecki said.

"We should have had more points after being down there with a couple more opportunities. If we kept playing like we were, we'd be OK." Ralph Plumb's first of three receptions broke Eric Johnson's career record of 181 catches. Plumb, Carr and Cowan have already set Yale career records for receiving, rushing and passing yards. "The last few weeks, we've been talking about records," Siedlecki said. "Today, we did some fS, 'ft- A AM If 4 C- 1 ft-, i TD Passes do that" Wesleyan had two first downs in the second half.

The Cardinals had 115 yards of offense in the first half and finished with 139. "Trinity has no weaknesses, a player you can pick on, something they don't do welL" Hauser said. After a scoreless third quarter, Trinity put it away with three touchdowns in 2:16 early in the fourth, including Aaron Gold-stem's 44-yard fumble return. Trinity coach Chuck Priore, who got the traditional drenching, broke out his season-ending smile. "Well enjoy it for a little bit and get back to work," he said.

The Bantams' streak could be 23 going into the second game of next season at home against Williams, which holds the NESCAC record for consecutive wins: 23. Associated Press SOUTH BEND, Ind. Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko quickly went from celebrating a record-set- PITTSBURGH 41 tin? 4 fy NOTRE DAME 38 against No. 24 Notre Dame to apologizing for a slip of the tongue on TV. That typified the seesaw game Saturday.

Palko became the first quarterback to throw five touchdown passes against the Irish, and Josh Cummings kicked a 32-yard field goal with 1 second left to give Pittsburgh a 41-38 victory the Panthers' first at Notre Dame since 1986. Pittsburgh (63), which became bowl eligible with the victory, snapped a six-game winless streak at Notre Dame Stadium. "I can't describe the feeling to come to Notre Dame and put the last points on the board," said Cummings, who missed wide left from 51 yards at the end of regulation in a loss to Syracuse a week earlier. Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris said the Panthers won the game for Billy Gaines, a receiver who died last summer. A photo of Gaines being tackled by a swarm of Notre Dame tacklers was on the cover of the game program, which Harris held up when he entered the postgame news conference.

Palko fumbled the ball away on Pitt's first possession, then guided the Panthers to four straight touchdowns. His 9-yard TD pass to Erik Gill with 2:24 to play put the Panthers ahead, 38-35. The Irish (64) tied it a 45-yard field goal by D.J. Fitzpatrick with 1:11 left On Pitt's next play, Palko threw to Gill for what appeared to be a short gain. But Gill broke a tackle for a 36-yard gain.

Palko completed two more to Gill, helping set up the winning field goal Palko was 26-for42 for 334 yards, with no interceptions. Eleven quarterbacks have passed for four TDs against the Irish, most recently Purdue's Kyle Orton earlier this season. Said Palko: "I told the guys on the final drive, 'YouU remember this for the rest of your lives. YouU remember this, so make sure it's a good MICHAEL some extra yardage against Wesleyan's Bob Coppola (26), Jeff McLaren Schweitzer Throws 3 ell scored on a 1-yard run. At that point, Trinity linebacker Avon Morgan (nine tackles, forced fumble) said, the coaches eased the players over the bad start "They did a great job of keeping our poise and heads level," Morgan said.

"And we knew our offense was high powered and it was only a matter of time." The Cardinals began to lose field position with an 11-yard punt and a key penalty, and Trinity came back for a 196 halftime lead. Straub also caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Barnard that made it 16. "The only way to beat a team as good as these guys is for them to make mistakes," Cardinals coach Frank Hauser said. "They won't turn it over very often, so you have to make some big plays on your own, and we weren't able to CONTINUED FROM PAGE El t( me going again. It got the fire back." Schweitzer threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dan Mackay in the second quarter to give the Bantams a 7-6 lead, a 32-yarder to Pat Straub just before halftime and a 38-yarder to Bradley Soules in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.

He was 7-for-12 for 110 yards. Wesleyan (3-5), which had its first losing season since 1996, scored first the second time Trinity trailed this season. Cor-nerback Joe Pepe picked off a Pitcher pass that went through the hands of tight end Pat McBrien the first interception thrown by the Bantams this season. It gave the Cardinals possession on the Trinity 32-yard line and nine plays later Garth Mitch The Irish lost three games at home for a second consecutive season. The Irish have lost three home games in a season only eight times.

"Our young men had the opportunities to make plays and we didn't make them," Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham said. Brady Quinn passed for three touchdowns for Notre Dame. He was 16-for-26 for 259 yards, with two interceptions..