Football Looks to Improve to 5-0 for the Season

Football looks for its fifth straight win tomorrow afternoon when it faces Princeton, a team it has beaten five years in a row.

The Crimson (4-0, 2-0 Ivy) has never gotten by the Tigers (1-3, 1-1 Ivy) easily, however. Last season’s 35-21 victory in New Jersey came in a game that was tied going into the fourth quarter. And in 1999, Crimson quarterback Brad Wilford dove from one foot out as time expired to lead Harvard to a 13-6 win.

Harvard looks to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1968. Last week, the Crimson blew out Cornell, 26-6, avenging last season’s last-second loss. Senior quarterback Neil Rose completed 15-of-24 passes for 292 yards, and has yet to throw an interception. Rose was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week. Harvard’s defense came up big, shutting down the Big Red running game early and causing two fumbles in the passing game.

“Our secondary has come a long way this season,” Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said.

While Harvard continues to dominate on both sides of the ball, Princeton is a harder team to figure out. The Tigers have lost to top non-conference opponents Lehigh and Colgate, but they put 44 points up in a win over Columbia. Last week, they hung with Brown for most of the game before falling, 35-24.

Princeton’s strength is the running game, which will match up with Harvard’s stellar run defense. Sophomore quarterback David Splithoff anchors the Tigers’ option attack, which is the only one of its kind in the Ivy League.

“We spent some extra sessions in practice working on the option,” senior defensive end Marc Laborksy said.

Complementing Splithoff in the backfield is Princeton’s bruising tailback Cam Atkinson, who rushed for 148 yards on 18 carries in his last game against Brown.

“We’ll have to shut down the running game,” Murphy said. “If Atkinson gets 150 yards [on Saturday], it’ll be a long day.”

Splithoff and Atkinson will be facing a rejuvenated Crimson defense that limited the Big Red to -3 yards rushing, with the return of sophomore linebacker Dante Balestracci.

Harvard hasn’t seen the option yet, however, except on film, and it will have to make adjustments to make sure guys don’t miss their assignments.

“Option defense is hard,” Murphy said. “It’s tough to get a lot of guys to the pitch.”

It will be tough for the Tigers to generate much offense in the air. Splithoff’s passing ability has been suspect at times, though his favorite target, junior wideout Chisom Opara, will return Saturday from a neck injury.

Harvard’s passing game, however, has been on a month-long high. Rose hasn’t thrown as often as last season, but he’s been near-perfect. Rose’s 61 percent completion rate and 6 touchdowns, coupled with no interceptions, places him in the top 10 among I-AA quarterbacks in efficiency rating. Junior wideout Carl Morris, the Crimson’s top receiver, had seven catches at Cornell and is on pace to break a variety of Harvard records.

The rushing attack is also set with fifth-year senior Josh Staph and junior Nick Palazzo. Staph has rushed for over 100 yards in each of his two appearances, and Harvard is ranked No. 2 in the Ivy League in rushing, at 202.2 yards per game.

The Crimson also sports a +10 turnover margin, which puts the team at No. 2 in the country with a +2.5/game average.

Despite a soft schedule in the coming weeks, Murphy has refused to look ahead.

“We’ve really had our success because of a laser-like focus on the task at hand,” he said.

The only chink in the Crimson’s armor may be the kicking game. Last week at Cornell, sophomore Robbie Wright missed two field goals and junior Anders Blewett missed another. Temporarily, Murphy has listed Blewett as the No. 1 placekicker and Wright will handle kickoffs.

And though last season the Crimson’s kicking woes forced Murphy to declare it a four-down team, nothing is certain yet.

“I’m not ready to make the concession on the kicking game,” Murphy said.

Field goals probably won’t matter Saturday if Harvard plays as well as it has so far. Rose, Morris and Staph easily outrank Splithoff, Atkinson and Opara, and the Crimson “D” is making a case for itself as best in the league.

After Saturday’s game, the Harvard community will most likely be chanting, “five down, four to go.”