Life Isn't All That Bad, Tosches

After Saturday's 24-21 loss to Harvard, Princeton Coach Steve Tosches seemed more than a little upset.

"This is a lousy taste," a subdued Tosches said. "We were sailing along. We enjoyed the last five weeks. We've got a long way to go. We cetainly hold our destiny. We've got to fight back in it."

Long way to go? Destiny? Fight back in it?

Obviously it was a disappointing game for the Tighers: Princeton had its chances to win. But isn't Tosches taking this a little too hard?

Princeton has more than a few things to be thankful for.

Junior running back Erick Hamilton--who, in the past few weeks, has taken a back seat to sophomore phenom Keith Elias--showed the tenacity on Saturday that made him a star last year. The running back from Dover, Delaware, picked up 100 yards on 15 carries and scored one touchdown.

And despite a somber nine-for-21 performance against the Crimson, Tigers quarterback Chad Roghair continues to lead the nation in passing efficiency. He is now the 13th all-time yardage leader at Princeton.

With these offensive gems, why, then, is Tosches so dismayed? It's possible that Princeton got a little superstitious over the course of the past few weeks and that Saturday's game blew a whole in its confidence.

Princeton was having its best start since 1965 with a team most pundits predicted would end up near the bottom of the Ivy heap. That's enough to make any coach a little uneasy.

A quick recap might help. Three weeks ago, Princeton reaches its peak with a 59-37 squashing of Brown, with the Tigers breaking NCAA records left and right. The next week, Princeton wins its record fifth game in a row, trouncing Bucknell.

Then, come Saturday, Princeton finds itself behind the entire game. But the Tigers luck soon changes.

Fourth-and-22 with under three minutes to go, Tosches calls for a bomb in the endzone. Mark Wilson snags the excuse-me heave over a leaping Greg Belsher for the TD. Princeton, which moments ago looked out of the game, is suddenly down by only three.

On the final play, Princeton, on the Harvard 41, goes for a long bomb into the left endzone to star Mike Lerch. Rob Santos and Sean Koscho break the pass up.

But, after the game, Lerch says he was dangerously close to catching the ball.

(Then again, why should we believe Lerch, who keeps a Snuffle-upagus doll for good luck and leaves tickets for Chevy Chase at each game?)

Maybe Princeton did count on its luck one too many times. But Harvard did play an excellent game. And, heck, everyone's got to lose sooner or later.

Lighten up, Steve.

Harvard won on Saturday for one simple reason: it played a total game. On both offense and defense, the Crimson shined, never allowing Princeton to build momentum.

On offense, the Crimson was led by junior halfback Robb Hirsch. Hirsch collected 152 total yards, and, for his effort, was named Ivy Offensive Player of the Week.

Defensively, Harvard put together perhaps one of its best games all year. The Crimson 'D' collected a season-high five sacks, including two from junior defensive end Liam Sullivan.

Senior Dave Stires, who leads Harvard with 50 total tackles, had ten take-downs (eight primary) against the Big Red.

Sophomores Galore

The Ivy League will scrap Freshman Football next year, but future frosh quarterbacks beware: You may be on the varsity team next year, but you might have to wait a long time before you get the starting nod.

Four of the eight Ivy teams have sophomore quarterbacks. And each is showing himself worthy of the honor.

Jay Fielder led Dartmouth to a 31-25 taming of Cornell Saturday. Fellow sophomore Bill Lazor turned in an impressive 21-for-29, 258-yard game (the sixth best game of any Cornell QB) on the losing side.

The latest addition to the crop is Jim McGeehan, who Saturday led Pennsylvania to a 28-19 beating of Brown. The Philadelphia native, who stepped in for an infirm Fitz McKinnon, collected 183 yards on 10-for-19 passing, including two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, closer to home, Mike Giardi continues to shine as the Crimson's signal-caller. After his 14-for-25, 176-yard game on Saturday, Giardi is now 15th in the nation in passing efficiency