Football Wants Columbia To Swallow Lions' Pride

The record-setting Harvard football team hopes to be up to its old tricks tomorrow, when traditionally mediocre Columbia visits the Stadium at 12:30 p.m.

Last Saturday at Dartmouth, captain Neil Rose and the potent Crimson offense moved the ball at will, setting eight school records and evoking memories of 2001 in a 31-26 triumph over the Big Green. Tomorrow it will need to avoid a letdown, as the dangerous but underachieving Lions (1-6, 0-4 Ivy) aim to avenge last year’s 45-33 defeat and pull off one of the season’s biggest upsets.

To do so, the Light Blue will need to allow the Crimson (5-2, 4-0 Ivy) less than the quarter-mile of passing offense that Dartmouth conceded last weekend. Led by senior receiver Carl Morris’ ridiculous 21 catches for 257 yards—both school records—Harvard was simply unstoppable through the air. By day’s end, Rose had thrown for 443 yards, eclipsing his own record of 412, set at Brown in 2000. In that game, he was helped by Morris’ 220 receiving yards, the previous single-game record.

The milestone-laden day at Dartmouth marked only the latest in a string of remarkably efficient performances by Crimson quarterbacks. Rose and sophomore quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick have now combined to attempt an incredible 229 consecutive passes without an interception. They have thrown only one interception all season, and just three in the Crimson’s last 10 games, a span covering 334 pass attempts. On the year, Harvard has surrendered only six turnovers, tops in the nation.

Morris—the defending Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, Sporting Network National Offensive Player of the Week and last week’s recipient of the Coca- Cola Gold Helmet as New England’s top player in I-AA—is expected to suit up tomorrow despite suffering a concussion on his 21st and final catch.

Columbia, which has achieved a winning Ivy record only once since 1971, hopes to avoid becoming the Crimson offense’s latest victim, a task that may be easier said than done. The Lions have struggled defensively all year, allowing 34 points per contest during their current six-game losing streak. Last week, Yale quarterback Jeff Mroz had a career game against them, slinging for 306 yards and four touchdowns in a dominant 35-7 Bulldog triumph. On the year, opponents have torched the Columbia defense for 418 yards a game, dominating the submissive Lions both in the air and on the ground.

And Harvard has not been kind to Columbia in recent years, dealing them ugly losses in each of their last three meetings. The Stadium has been particularly cruel to the Light Blue, as they have been outscored by a combined 103-14 margin over their last three visits.

Needless to say, the Lions’ prospects for halting the Crimson attack are bleak.

“Harvard presents a number of problems to any defense,” said Columbia coach Ray Tellier. “We must get off blocks better, tackle well, and be solid in pass coverage. Hopefully, this will eliminate the big plays by their skilled players.”

Offensively, the Lions’ success will depend largely on the performance of junior quarterback Steve Hunsberger. Coming off the bench against the Crimson last year, Hunsberger was extremely effective, completing eight of 10 passes for 148 yards and a long touchdown.

And while he has struggled with inconsistency this year, Hunsberger has teamed with his duo of junior receivers—diminutive Travis Chmelka and wiry possession receiver Zach Van Zant—to create a dangerous passing attack when he is on. Princeton and Dartmouth, both talented teams who were taken to the final play by the Lions, and Fordham, a strong squad which suffered a crushing defeat in Columbia’s opener, can all attest to that. If the Crimson is not careful, it could suffer the same fate.

“[Harvard has] a very aggressive, attacking defense,” said Tellier. “The Crimson’s opponents have scored on big plays against them, and hopefully we can do the same.”

To be sure, Hunsberger can take a measure of confidence from his previous success against the Crimson. If he can find the weaknesses in the Harvard secondary like he did briefly last year, tomorrow’s game has the potential to turn into a shootout.

But, nevertheless, the Harvard defense is confident.

“[Hunsberger] has been known to throw into coverage, so this week will be really big for our defensive line and our blitz,” said senior free safety Xavier Goss, who anchored the defense with 12 tackles against Dartmouth. “If they can make him hurry his throws, it will make it much easier on the secondary.”

All things considered, the Crimson should be able to tame the Lions and roll to a comfortable victory. If they do, and Penn wins at Princeton, the stage will be set for Battle for the Ivies II—a rematch of 2001’s de facto Ivy championship game—next Saturday in Philadelphia.

But for the Crimson, all that is mere window dressing.

“We never focus on or even mention the team we are playing the following week,” Goss said. “The success we have had thus far has been because we only focus on the team at hand.”

So forgive the Lions if they are not completely confident about their chances tomorrow—at this point, they may just be looking for a way to make Morris and Rose’s new records last more than one week.