After suffering a heart-wrenching, last-second loss to Colgate last week, the Harvard football team will continue to see Red.
Harvard (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) looks to knock off the undefeated Cornell Big Red (3-0, 2-0 Ivy) tomorrow when it travels up to Ithaca, N.Y. Last Saturday, the Red Raiders managed to stave off a fourth quarter Crimson comeback and win 24-21 on a last second field goal.
In this game, Harvard has to contain the Big Red aerial attack led by sophomore quarterback Ricky Rahne and wide receiver Joe Splendorio.
The Big Red is coming off of a comeback of its own. Cornell beat Brown after being down 28-7 early in the third quarter by scoring 26 unanswered points to win 33-28.
Rahne's passing attack for Cornell was wholly responsible for this glut of offense. Rahne completed 23-of-58 passes for 443 yards and two second half touchdowns against the Bears. His favorite target was the 6'6" Splendorio who caught 11 passes for 204 yards, setting a new school record.
"We've got to play defense against the pass first," Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said.
This would seem to be the key to beating Cornell because although the Big Red has the highest scoring offense in the Ivy League, almost none of its production comes on the ground. Against Brown, Cornell racked up an underwhelming minus-25 yards rushing.
"We're going to mix up our coverages and try to confuse Rahne by showing man and playing zone, showing zone and playing man and also using combination coverages," Murphy said.
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