Football Looks for Second Ivy Win Against Princeton

The Harvard and Princeton football teams will square off in their annual game tomorrow to determine just which team of smart kids is tougher this year.

Harvard (3-2, 1-1 Ivy) comes into this game at Harvard Stadium after last week's too close, 37-30, win against Fordham. While Princeton (2-3, 0-2 Ivy) is coming off a slightly more impressive 22-10 win over Lafayette last week.

"Princeton is better than their record indicates," Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. "They didn't play well offensively early but they're getting on track now."

The Tigers are hard to figure out this season. They scored a grand total of three points in their first two games but have averaged 26 points per game since then.

On the one hand, Princeton lost to Cornell, 20-3--a team that Harvard also lost to but on a last second field goal 24-23.

But on the other hand, the Tigers dominated Fordham 27-0 while Harvard barely held off a fourth quarter comeback to win 37-30 against the Rams.

Against the Crimson, Princeton will most likely emphasize their aerial attack as all teams that Harvard faces will until they prove that it can shut down a passer in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers' main weapon when they throw is senior wide receiver Phil Wendler. Wendler ranks third in Division 1-AA with 7.6 receptions per game.

"Wendler is really good," Murphy said. "[Princeton] actually structures their passing attack around him. They run plays designed specifically to get him open when they need a first down."

Wendler also enjoys a considerable height advantage over the Harvard cornerbacks since he is 6'3 and the Crimson cornerbacks are 5'10 and 5'11, respectively.

As good as Wendler is, he still needs someone to throw him the ball. Fortunately for Harvard, sophomore quarterback Tommy Crenshaw has been less than stellar this year, throwing six interceptions against just one touchdown.

However, he is coming off of a career game against Lafayette., completing, 21-of-35 passes for 217 yards and his lone touchdown.

Also, the Tigers other wide receiver, senior Danny Brian had 102 receiving yards against Lafayette.

Clearly, even this modest passing attack should cause some concern to the Crimson defense especially considering that it has so consistently given up big plays through the air in the fourth quarter and has allowed 256 yards per game passing.

One facet of Princeton's aerial offense that shouldn't cause much concern to Harvard, however, is the tight end. Since the 1994 season, the Tigers have attempted 1,210 passes. Of those, only 29 have been completed to the tight end.

If the Crimson can keep the Princeton passing game contained, then all it has to worry about is the Tigers' running attack.

Princeton features a New Jersey State 100-meters champion in freshman tailback Cameron Atkinson who leads the Tigers in scoring with 18 points.

Atkinson and senior tailback Derek Theisen have rushed for 580 yards, 6 touchdowns and a 3.1 yards per carry average this season.

Atkinson and Theisen look to continue on that pace at least against a Harvard rushing defense giving up 123 yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry.

With two seniors and three juniors on the Tigers' offensive line going against Harvard's senior heavy defensive front seven the battles up front should be intense.

When Harvard is on offense, the focus, as always will be on balancing the attack between the offense and defense.

This season, the Crimson has been remarkably successful in achieving that balance with 196 yards per game on the ground and 195 yards per game through the air.

The Crimson shouldn't have too much trouble scoring points on Princeton's defense which gives up an average of 22 points per game.

When Harvard passes, senior quarterback Brad Wilford, who completed 19-of-30 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown against the Rams, will find that one of his receivers is matched up with freshman cornerback Paul Simbi who stands only 5'8.

The Crimson should be able to create mismatches on the outside and exploit Simbi's lack of height and experience.

Harvard also has to figure out how to block senior defensive end David Ferrara who leads the Tigers in tackles this season.

Wilford shouldn't have too much trouble against the Princeton passing defense, however, since it is giving up over 250 yards per game through the air.

The Harvard running backs should have a tougher time than Wilford. Princeton has allowed 109 yards rushing per game this season, considerably less than Harvard has averaged each game.

Senior running back Chris Menick will shoulder most of the load on Saturday. He had a great day against Fordham, racking up 139 yards on 26 carries. Certainly, he will look for a repetition of that type of performance against the Tigers.

Any comparison of these two teams, however has to take into account the teams that Princeton has played thus far this year.

While the Tigers have lost by some big margins and won handily as well, the three teams that have beaten Princeton this year are a combined 14-2 and the two teams the Tigers have beaten have gone 1-11 this season.

"We really don't know how good Princeton is," Murphy said.

The key to this game, it seems, may be whether the Crimson defense can contain a passing offense in the second half. With four straight letdowns after halftime, the defense certainly has not shown any signs of being able to do so thus far.

If the remarkably consistent offense holds true to form, the defense should again have a late lead to protect.

The Crimson has never scored fewer than twenty points all season and topped thirty once.

It seems, therefore, that the Harvard defense has something to prove--that it can stop the pass in the fourth quarter. If it can shut down Princeton's aerial attack, look for the Crimson to sport a winning record in the Ivy league next week.