Five-hundred ninety-four yards of net total offense—240 yards rushing, 354 yards passing. Twenty-six first downs and five touchdowns. Forty points.

One week later, the Harvard defense is still grappling with the fact that those numbers were not the product of the Crimson offensive juggernaut that has made mincemeat of opposing squads but a snapshot of the damage Princeton inflicted last Saturday.

And with its perfect record on the line when its hosts Dartmouth (2-4. 1-2 Ivy) tomorrow, No. 16 Harvard (6-0, 3-0) needs its old defense back. Fast.

In the five games prior to Princeton, Harvard had allowed just 84 points—16.8 per game—and 513 yards total rushing, or 102.6 yards per game. The Tigers hit holes earlier opponents didn’t know existed, ran trick plays and caught the Crimson defense off guard for momentum-changing plays deep down field on several occasions.

“Our biggest thing is just working on focus,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “There were a lot of technical mistakes rather than lack of effort. Of the 500-something yards, just 14 plays led to 424 yards.”

Of those big plays, three went for touchdowns of at least 40 yards and a fourth scoring strike was narrowly avoided when a fleaflicker on the first play of the opening drive was completed but the receiver, Blair Morrison, was brought down after a 58-yard gain.

“Last two weeks we’ve had a little bit of a breakdown on the defense,” senior tackle Jon Berrier said. “Guys have been out of position trying to do too many things, not doing their own job. But we’ve had a great week in practice.”

Critical to Princeton’s success was running back Jon Veach’s ability to befuddle the Crimson front seven, carrying the ball 40 times but varying the rushes enough that Harvard could not find an answer until overtime. Captain Dante Balestracci and junior Bobby Everett combined for 31 tackles, but still he kept coming.

“When a running back runs for 200 yards, those statistics don’t take on quite the significance,” Murphy said.

Veach’s success was in large part the product of the blocking which cleared large swaths of field in front of him of potential tacklers in a position to make a hit. The Tigers’ offensive line neutralized the Crimson defensive line, pushing it aside and rendering it virtually useless in stopping the run. This forced the secondary to apply more pressure to the quarterback, which, while effective, presented greater opportunities for Princeton downfield.

“Princeton handled [the defensive line] last week,” Murphy said. “We’ve challenged them. We’ve got to control the line of scrimmage.”

If the Crimson doesn’t win the battle up front and Dartmouth manages to assert its running game, Harvard will find itself contending with many of the same difficulties that emerged last weekend against the Tigers.

The Big Green will attempt to run the ball in order to control the clock and limit the number of chances the Crimson get with the ball, since Dartmouth does not have the offensive firepower to keep pace should Harvard get rolling and post a large number on the scoreboard. While the Crimson has scored at least 27 points in each of its first six contests, Dartmouth has not scored more than 26.

Tailback Chris Little displayed flashes of brilliance last weekend against Columbia, rushing for a personal-high 137 yards on 31 carries, including a 31-yard scamper for a touchdown. Should he find holes anywhere near the size Veach saw last weekend, he’ll have no problem finding his way into Harvard territory.

Though Little lacks the pass-catching capabilities Veach displayed last weekend, fullback Scott Wedum has solid hands out of the backfield and can be counted on to provide a safety outlet should long passing routes downfield break down. Against Penn’s staunch defense, Wedum reeled in eight catches for 53 yards.