Elite Offenses to Clash on Gridiron

Sole possession atop the Ivy League, as well as some long-awaited revenge will be at stake at 1 p.m. tomorrow when the Harvard football team takes the field against preseason co-favorite Cornell in its biggest game of the season to date.

Last season Harvard (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) blew a 13-point lead with just over three minutes to play in a 24-23 loss to the Big Red (1-2, 1-0 this season). The Crimson dominated the majority of the game but committed several costly penalties, including a crucial defensive holding call which nullified an interception on fourth down and allowed Cornell to continue its comeback.

"We should have won that game last year," said sophomore receiver Carl Morris. "It's something we all have at the back of our minds, and we're all looking forward to getting another shot at them."

Harvard Coach Tim Murphy, however, downplayed last year's contest, citing the loss of most of the key players on last year's team to graduation.

"Not many of the kids that play on this year's team played in last year's game," Murphy said. "Sure, that was an unfortunate loss, but that doesn't have a lot to do with us now."

A Harvard victory would extend its winning streak to three and would move a half-game ahead of Pennsylvania and Princeton in the Ivy League standings (the Tigers and Quakers play non-conference foes this week).

With a win the Crimson would have a good chance to be undefeated in conference going into the final two weeks of the season, with games against struggling teams like Dartmouth and Columbia coming up.

A loss, however, would put Cornell in the conference driver's seat. The Big Red has already beaten conference co-favorite Yale

Harvard has won two straight since junior Neil Rose took over at quarterback following a 27-25 loss to Holy Cross. Harvard's offense has exploded since Rose took the helm--

the Crimson has scored over 40 points in two consecutive games for the first time since 1938. Rose has been outstanding thus far--completing over 60 percent of his passes for 755 yards.

Cornell is coming off a 35-16 loss to No. 18 Lehigh. The Big Red suffered a season-opening blowout loss to Bucknell, but beat Yale 24-23 a week later.

The Big Red is led by junior quarterback Ricky Rahne, one of the premier passers in Division 1-AA. In just thirteen games, Rahne has become the second most productive quarterback in school history, and the 11th all-time leading passer in the Ivies.

"You have to respect such a great quarterback," said junior cornerback Andy Fried. "He can throw the deep ball really well, and he reads the field well."

Rahne's favorite target is senior wideout Joe Splendorio, an all-Ivy selection last year who needs just 55 yards to become only the second Big Red receiver with 2,000 yards receiving in school history.

"He's as good as any I-AA wide receiver in the country," Murphy said.

Cornell's air attack figures to be a stiff test for Harvard's struggling pass defense.

"We have to fix up our passing defense," Fried said. "The defensive line and linebackers have been doing a great job, but the whole secondary feels that giving up 290 yards a game is an unacceptable performance."

But Fried said the defense should be prepared for the challenge.

"We think Neil Rose is a great quarterback, and we go against him ever day," he said.

Murphy said the Crimson defense will play a variety of coverages to attempt to slow down Rahne.

"You have to give him different looks," Murphy said. "We're going to see how he handles all of those things and not let him develop a feel for what he's doing."

On the bright side for Harvard, Cornell's passing offense has already been slowed down once this season. Rahne struggled against Bucknell, which was able to pressure the Big Red quarterback into three interceptions.

Murphy said the key to Bucknell's success was that it created pressure using only its defensive line. If Harvard has to blitz to get to the quarterback, the secondary will have to play single-coverage against the Red's talented receiving corps.

Defensively, Cornell's strength lies in its secondary, currently second in the league in passing yards allowed. Three starters return to the unit, and the fourth slot has been filled by senior Phil Rigueur, a former starter who was injured all of last year.

Part of the reason for Cornell's success against the pass, however, has been its inability to stop the run. The Big Red is securely in the basement of the conference in stopping the ground game, allowing over three hundred yards a game. Teams have rushed almost twice as much as they have passed against Cornell.

While other teams have relied on the run, Morris is confident that the Crimson will be able to throw the ball successfully against Cornell's stingy defensive backfield.

"They run a lot of man coverage," Morris said. "All of our receivers can get off on man coverage pretty well."

After a record-setting performance against Brown, Morris was double-covered all game last week by Lafayette, which held him to a Keyshawn-like single catch. Cornell, however, has yet to double-team a receiver all year.

Even if the Big Red changes its tactics, Murphy is not concerned about the offense's ability to adjust.

"The most gratifying thing about last Saturday's game was that despite the double-coverage, we adjusted and got the ball to other people and they had success," he said.

On the ground, former fifth-string back Nick Palazzo will start his second consecutive game, as injuries continue to decimate Harvard's backfield. However, Murphy said second-string sophomore tailback Matt Leiszler will see some action.

Still, with both teams near the bottom of the league in running the ball, expect a lot of passing--and a lot of fireworks.

"There's going to be a lot of points scored," Morris said. "It's going to be another shootout."