Football Tries to Tame Lions

Harvard's streaking football squad takes the field for its last game tomorrow against Columbia, confident in its ability against the wounded Lions (3-4, 1-3 Ivy).

With the Ivy League title in its sites, Harvard approaches each Saturday contest as though its season depended on it. Sure, the Crimson (4-3, 3-1) has two opponents left after tomorrow's game, including Penn and Yale with all the trimmings of The Game as the true finale just before Thanksgiving. But don't tell the team that.

"There's no doubt that we're focused on this game and only this game," said junior quarterback Neil Rose. "Every week is a one-game championship."

Harvard's intense focus on this week's opponent may seem a bit excessive, considering Columbia's dismantling at the hands of Yale last week and the Lions' generally lackluster Ivy play. Columbia was destroyed at the blustery Yale Bowl, 41-0, and enjoys a better record only than winless Dartmouth.

The Crimson's recent past could not be any different.

Harvard's dominant play against the Big Green allowed it to roll to a 49-7 victory, giving it a share of first place in the Ivy with four other teams. But the Crimson still isn't convinced that its explosive offense and stingy defense will prevail.

"We are not preparing for Columbia based on their game against Yale," said Harvard Coach Tim Murphy. "They're a much better team than that. If you look at the stats, Columbia had the advantage in several key areas last week. They held Yale to a season low on offense."

Columbia held the advantage over the Elis in first downs, 18-16. The Lions also controlled the ball for almost 10 more minutes than Yale.

The time of possession victory should have been a sure path to success for the Lions, who boast the Ivy League's most dynamic rusher, junior tailback Jonathon Reese, Reese is Columbia's all-time rushing leader and the first Lion to gain 1,000 yards in a season, and his 1,052 yards leads the Ivy League. He had posted six 100-yard games in a row, erupting for 236 on 25 carries and 4 touchdowns against Dartmouth two weeks ago.

Having said that, Yale's most impressive stat on the day was holding Reese to 86 yards.

"Yale did a great job against Reese," Murphy said. "But he came out of the game early. He can be a serious threat at any point. But we have a tough defense, and we're excited for the game"

Harvard's defense has been on fire recently. The Crimson shut Dartmouth down, allowing the Big Green to pass for only 113 yards. Harvard was also able to generate some offense from its defense, as freshman linebacker Dante Balestracci picked off two Big Green passes and returned them both for six.

"We had a solid game against Dartmouth," Balestracci said. "I think it showed that our defense can really play."

Harvard, however, will be more concerned with stopping the run against Reese and the Lions. The cold, windy conditions at Dartmouth left the run as the only option, allowing the Harvard defense to focus its attention there. With different conditions, things could change against Columbia.

"Our run defense has been playing well," said Balestracci. "We're going to put some more pressure up front against Reese. He's a big kid and a strong runner with great numbers, but we're looking forward to the challenge."

Murphy is fully aware of what Reese can do as well.

"He's the best back we've seen, and a powerful runner, so we're going to try to be ready," he said.

Harvard will be looking to force turnovers early, which is what allowed the Elis to snatch the lead last week. Yale was able to force one fumble, and grab three interceptions, returning two of them to the end zone.

"Columbia got down early last week, and made some early mistakes," Rose said. "We can't assume they'll do the same, so we're ready for them to come out fired up."

With the defense prepared for a battle, the explosive offense will be fired up as well.

Rose, who has thrown for 1,805 yards and 11 touchdowns this year, has already put together one of the best statistical years in Crimson history. Running for seven more scores, he has led the suddenly unstoppable Crimson offense to a record 270 points on the season, and an average of 540 yards per game against Ivy opponents.

Rose's paltry four interceptions has kept secondaries honest, and allowed the Crimson's youthful running game to blossom. Last week, a tandem of Crimson running backs rumbled for a season-high 301 yards on the ground,

"We're just playing great as a team," Rose said. "There's a cohesiveness here that I hadn't felt with past teams. From games to practices, we play as one unit."

Rose, who sat out a few practices this week with a sore rotator cuff, will be ready to lead the offense tomorrow. He threw the ball for the first time this week yesterday, and expects to be unaffected by the soreness.

"I threw once this week in practice and felt fine," said Rose. "I should be ready for the game. I'll have to be: the Lions are big up front and have a big secondary. We're going to try to open things up and pick them apart."

If so, the Crimson will be able to set up the run, and hopefully march on to victory as handily as it did last week. But Harvard isn't expecting anything.

"We're absolutely concentrating on Columbia," said Murphy. "They're a legitimately good team, and every game is now a must-win for us."

The only expectation Murphy has is that his team will come out intense and play like the season depends on it, principally because it does.

With two games left and a four-team knot atop the Ivy standings, the Crimson needs to keep winning to control its own fate.

"Maybe last year's team was more talented on paper, but we're playing well," Rose said. "I think we might surprise some people."