CLASH OF THE TITANS

It’s been lurking in everyone’s minds for the past two months—the not-so-inconspicuous shadow looming ever larger after each victory.

No one would talk about it—afraid to jinx it, look too far ahead or sound cocky. There were, of course, five league games to fight through before this point. Five chances for disaster or heartbreak, where a bad bounce or an injury could make the whole thing moot anyway.

But anyone who has followed Ivy football recently knew that in the end, it would come down to this: Nov. 13, Franklin Field, Harvard-Penn—one game for the Ivy title.

Anything else just wouldn’t seem right.

And so after eight weeks of tune-up, the under cards are all finished. The championship bout has arrived.

“We’ve pointed to [the Penn] game all year,” admitted Crimson coach Tim Murphy following last week’s 38-0 dismantling of Columbia. “This is exactly what out goal has been—to be in the championship game.”

When the No. 15 Harvard football team (8-0, 5-0 Ivy) takes on the No. 17 Penn Quakers (7-1, 5-0) tomorrow, it will mark the fifth consecutive meeting between the two schools in which at least a share of the Ivy crown has been at stake for one of the teams, if not both.

Three out of those previous four meetings have ended in disappointment for the Crimson, including its last visit to Franklin Field in 2002. With both teams heading into that game undefeated in the league, the Quakers embarrassed the Crimson 44-9 in front of a national audience and the television crew from ESPN “College GameDay.”

“Ever since 2000 really it’s been a really big game,” said Penn coach Al Bagnoli, who, in 13 seasons at the helm of the Quakers, has led his team to six Ivy titles, four since 1998. “It just seems like the two programs that have had the most success—in terms of wins and losses at least—have been Penn and Harvard. They’ve become huge games, very meaningful, very intense, very competitive games.”

This year’s game figures to be no less intense, as Harvard will look to rebound from the 2002 defeat as well as Penn’s 32-24 victory in Cambridge last year.

The Quakers come into the game with a 20-game Ivy winning streak. The last time Penn dropped a conference game was against the Crimson in 2001, which also marked the last time Harvard won the Ivy title and finished with a perfect record.

Meanwhile, the Crimson comes into this year’s showdown as the only undefeated team left in Division I-AA. In order to maintain that status, Harvard must figure out a way to put points on the board against a stingy Quaker defense.

Penn has relied on a defense that has allowed just 2.9 yards per carry and 6.0 yards per pass attempt thus far this season. In eight games, the Quakers have forced 17 turnovers while limiting opposing offenses to 12.5 points per game.

“They’ve got a lot of individually talented players,” said sophomore running back Clifton Dawson, who said that he is fully recovered from a muscle strain in his side sustained Oct. 30 against Dartmouth. “All of their starters and even some of their reserves are very talented...and when you put that with a good scheme, it’s a good defense.”

Penn’s ability to take away the run makes the health and solid play of captain quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick all the more important. This time last year, the senior was still playing hurt, recovering from a broken finger that sidelined him for much of the year. But with Fitzpatrick completely healthy now, Harvard may look to pass early and draw Quaker defenders out of the box.

Fitzpatrick’s counterpart, Pat McDermott, may not even get the chance to run on the field with his team. The Philadelphia Daily News reported that the Penn signal caller injured his non-throwing shoulder in the Quaker’s victory over Princeton last weekend and is questionable for tomorrow.

Without McDermott, Penn’s title hopes would rest on the young and unproven arm of freshman Bryan Walker. Walker, who has yet to throw a collegiate pass, would be charged with leading the Quakers into their most important game after having done nothing but hold a clipboard on the sideline for the entire season.

If that’s the case, running back Sam Mathews, who transferred from Navy prior to last season, will get the bulk of the work on offense. While Mathews is a solid back, his 653 rushing yards this season are a sharp drop from the 1,266 yards he amassed in his debut campaign last year.

“To the degree we’re going to be able to get the ball in his hands,” Bagnoli said of Mathews, “we’re going to be a better offensive football team.”

But for Harvard, seeing McDermott on the sideline tomorrow would be a welcome sign for a defense that allowed 51 total rushing yards last week against Columbia.

No matter which players actually take the field, the result of the game will mean the same thing. The winner secures at least a share of the Ivy title, while the loser will see another championship run slipping away.

After all, it’s Harvard-Penn. You couldn’t expect anything less.

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.