Entering last year’s matchup between Harvard and Princeton, Tiger running back Jon Veach was just an afterthought. Two touchdowns and 205 rushing yards later, he was a definite headache.

The Crimson had anticipated that Branden Benson, and not Veach, would receive the majority of Princeton’s touches out of the backfield, but the latter’s early-game success transformed the Tigers strategy—and left Harvard searching for answers.

“One of the things they did is they did a great job running the zone play and putting our linebackers on an island, putting them in big bubbles,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “And they did a great job running the draw. Those two things, those two killed us...The stretch play and the draw play just killed us, putting our linebackers in open space with some great athletes like Veach.”

Harvard won’t downplay Veach’s importance tomorrow, but equal attention must be paid to Benson. Rushing by committee, the tandem has accounted for 742 yards and eight touchdowns on 150 carries, with neither dominating in any of the statistical categories.

With Princeton’s wide receiving corps in shambles in the wake of B.J. Szymanski’s jump to Major League Baseball—star cornerback Jay McCareins now plays on both sides of the ball in an attempt to compensate—the Crimson defense will key on stopping the run in the hopes that plugging the line of scrimmage will short-circuit the Tigers’ offense.

“No matter what, you’ve got to stop the running game,” Murphy said. “They don’t seem to have as much of an ability to be a balanced offense as they would like...So they may beat us throwing the football, but we have got to stop the run or its going to be a long day, or at least slow it down significantly.”

DOUBLE THREAT

Princeton’s pass-efficiency defense may be ranked second in the nation, but the Tigers have never had to grapple with an offense as potent and well-balanced as Harvard’s.

Precisely how Princeton plans to shut down the Crimson offense remains a mystery heading into tomorrow’s contest, but the linchpin of whatever scheme the Tigers employ is self-evident—McCareins.

“Jay McCareins takes the best receiver on the field and locks him down,” Murphy said. “I mean, he’s a pro prospect. So we have to be balanced. We can’t just say we’re going to run the ball because it’s such a great pass defense.”

And McCareins alone can’t defend both Brian Edwards and Corey Mazza, a tandem no Crimson opponent has even begun to contain thus far this season.

Should Princeton approach Harvard’s passing game with man coverage, McCareins will have a chance at taking Edwards, the Crimson’s senior receiver, out of his game. But as each of Harvard’s first four opponents learned, that will leave Mazza free down the opposite sideline. Should the Tigers opt for a zone package as Northeastern did, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will patiently shred the scheme from the pocket.

“It’s strength against strength,” Murphy said. “And my money’s on Edwards and Mazza even though their defense is almost impenetrable.”

Either way, Princeton’s 3-4 defense will likely leave Clifton Dawson free to run wild, as he has against any front not presenting eight or nine men jamming the middle of the field to slow him down. That same unit did excel against one of the Ivy League’s top backs last weekend, though, holding Brown’s Nick Hartigan to just 66 yards on the ground.

“They did a great job against Brown last week,” Dawson said. “But in no capacity are we going to abandon our run game. We are going to mix things up a little.”