They repelled the Crusaders with ease. Now the Crimson football team faces its toughest challenge to date this season when it squares off against the road warriors from Princeton at Harvard Stadium tomorrow.
With most of the non-conference games out of the way, the Ancient Eight is ready for a civil war. Preparing to mount a challenge to unbeaten Dartmouth (5-0, 3-0)--which faces Lehigh and is guaranteed a perfect Ivy League record next week against Harvard--the second tier of Ivy football is about to commence a proverbial bloodbath.
Brown (4-1, 1-1) will meet Penn (2-3, 1-1) in Philadelphia, but the matchup of the week is the Crimson (4-1, 2-0) versus the Tigers (4-1, 1-1), who have put together a surprisingly good record so far this season.
Princeton has exceeded preseason expectations while playing no "home" games, as historic Palmer Stadium has been demolished in favor of continuing construction of a newer facility. The Tigers smacked Brown 30-13 two weeks ago and eked out a come-from-behind 31-28 win against Colgate last Saturday.
"They are going to come in fired up. If we want to win, we are going to have be emotionally a bit ahead of them," said sophomore receiver Terence Patterson.
According to most statistics, Princeton is no match for Harvard. Last week, for example, the Tigers gave up 527 yards to Colgate. The week before they were thoroughly outplayed for most of the game by Brown. Yet Princeton has won four in a row, primarily due to the fact that they have forced three turnovers per game.
"[Prior to] the Colgate game, they'd scored a total of six touchdowns," Harvard coach Tim Murphy told The Boston Globe. "Two of them came off blocked punts, four of them off interceptions, and the average length of their scoring drives off those six turnovers was 25 yards."
With their attacking defense, the Tigers are by no means pushovers, limiting opponents to less than two touchdowns per game. Nor are they an offensive juggernaut; while the Crimson rack up 479 yards and 37 points per game, Princeton has achieved the same record with 292 yards and 20 points per contest.
The Tigers are led by Harry Nakielny, who only last week seemed to find his rhythm. Nakielny has completed only 47 percent of his passes this season for 861 yards, with 7 TDs and 5 INTs. The Tigers' coach, Steve Tosches, likes to spread the ball around in the air, with Ray Canole (18 catches for 200 yards and two scores) leading the pack.
The ground has not been a cash cow for Princeton, producing only three touchdowns all season. To put this in perspective, Harvard's junior tailback Chris Menick and sophomore quarterback Rich Linden ran into the endzone three times each in just the Holy Cross game.
Indeed, Linden leads the Crimson into this week's matchup after the 52-24 demolition of the Crusaders last Saturday. He has been tremendous, completing nearly 60 percent of his passes for 1,128 yards, with 10 TDs and 6 picks, in addition to his running heroics. The sophomore has found a plethora of bodies to catch his passes, led by senior flanker Jared Chupaila, who has 19 receptions for 313 yards and a score.
The most obvious bright spot for the Crimson, however, has been junior Chris Menick. Posting the second-highest rushing total in Ivy League history against Holy Cross (261 yards, 3 TDs), Menick has clearly established himself as one of the premier backs in Division I-AA football.
"Personally, the season's gone very well," Menick said. "I've been getting plenty of opportunities to show what I can do."
On defense, the Crimson will miss senior captain/defensive tackle Brendan Bibro, who has a broken bone in his foot. Fortunately, sophomore Isaiah Kacyvenski and Co. will face a Tiger offense that has yet to be established.
"Everybody has to take a piece of Brendan with him on the field Saturday," Patterson said.
"Given two good defensive teams, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a low-scoring game, a typical Ivy late October game," Murphy said.
While neither Harvard's players nor the coaching staff are looking past this crucial matchup, the Crimson is probably the better squad. Last year, when both teams were struggling, Harvard blanked Princeton 24-0 in New Jersey. The Tigers have not faced an offense even close to the high-octane Crimson attack this season. Unless Harvard fails to execute its game plan this Saturday, the clash against Dartmouth next weekend will likely be for the Ivy Championship. Andrew A. Green, Managing Editor Harvard 38 Princeton 10 Joshua J. Schanker, President Harvard 21 Princeton 10 Mathew W. Granade News Editor Harvard 27 Princeton 3 Courtney A. Coursey News Editor Harvard 28 Princeton 14 FOOTBALL GAME PREVIEW HARVARD (2-0) Ivy, (4-1) Overall Head Coach: Tim Murphy Captain: Brendan Bibro Site: Harvard Stadium Kickoff: 1 p.m. On Radio: WHRB 95.3 FM Tickets: Coupon Book Last Meeting: Harvard won 28-0 Series History: 32-50-7 PRINCETON (1-1) Ivy, (4-1) Overall Head Coach: Steve Tosches Captain: Damani Leech Chris W. McEvoy, Assoc. Sports Editor Harvard 34 Princeton 17 Lev Geriovin, Sports Writer Harvard 21 Princeton 10 Bryan Lee, Sports Writer Harvard 37 Princeton 8 Jamal K. Grreene, Assoc. Sports Editor Harvard 28 Princeton 21
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