KING JAMES BIBLE: The Path to Perfect Has Three Steps

The last team standing once again belongs to the Ivy League.

Last year, it was Penn which ran through its schedule 10-0 and at the end of the season remained the only team in Division I football not to have suffered a loss.

This time, it’s Harvard’s turn.

With just three games remaining, the No. 16 Crimson sits poised to record only its second unbeaten and untied season since 1913 and post a 10-win season for the first time in 98 years. What are Harvard’s chances of pulling off this amazing feat?

Here’s a breakdown of the Crimson’s final three games of the season.

HARVARD VS. COLUMBIA (NOV. 6)

Last year, the matchup with the Lions marked game two of an abysmal three-game losing streak that dropped Harvard from national powerhouse to Ivy League also-ran.

With that in mind, as well as last weekend’s near choke in Hanover, the Crimson should have some extra motivation to hand Columbia a pretty stiff beating. But this is the Ivy League, and games just never wind up being that simple.

The question marks surrounding the health status of Harvard running back Clifton Dawson are troubling, as the Crimson’s offensive attack would become quite one-dimensional in his absence. The shaky 2-for-4 performance of seemingly unflappable freshman placekicker Matt Schindel last weekend doesn’t bode well for Harvard either.

And then there’s the fact that Columbia has played every Ivy opponent close, falling six yards short of a game-tying touchdown against Yale, trailing Penn just 7-3 heading into the fourth, dropping an overtime decision to Princeton and defeating the Big Green 9-6.

If we can assume that what happens in Hanover stays in Hanover, then there’s no reason to expect Harvard to continue its offensive slump.

This is still the same Crimson team—depending on the Dawson situation—that put up 34 points or more in each of its first six contests and, heading into the Dartmouth game, had defeated each of its last four opponents by double-digits.

There’s no doubt that the Harvard offense will find a way to move the football, but it has to find the endzone—something it couldn’t do effectively last weekend against the Big Green or last year against the Lions—or those gaudy yardage numbers mean nothing.

PENNSYLVANIA VS. HARVARD (NOV. 13)

If Harvard holds serve at home this weekend against Columbia and Penn avoids disaster on its trip to Princeton, both squads could be ranked in the top 15 heading into this one, making this the biggest Ivy game in recent history.

On the line for Penn would be streaks of 20-straight league wins and 17-straight Ivy home victories.

On the line for Harvard would be a shot at its shot at an undefeated season and possibly a top 10 ranking in the polls.

The Quakers have struggled offensively all season, but always seem to come up with the necessary yards in clutch situations.

Penn’s only loss this season came to Villanova in a game which saw the Quakers trail 16-0 midway through the fourth, only to score two quick touchdowns to pull within 16-13. Had Penn been given one more shot with the ball, its momentum might have carried it to victory, just as it did against Brown in a 20-16 comeback win last weekend.

Penn’s defense is also the toughest in the league and one of the stingiest in the nation. It took Harvard three-quarters to figure it out last year, at which point the Crimson was already down 29-9. The good news for Harvard is that Penn is unlikely to get that much separation, seeing as the Quakers have put only scored more than 22 points in four quarters twice this year. That being said, it’s still going to take at least three touchdowns to win this contest, so the Crimson has to find a way to solve that tough Penn defense.

HARVARD VS. YALE (NOV. 20)

If it successfully negotiates the trap game against Columbia and the incredibly arduous trip to Franklin Field, Harvard will sit at 9-0 and most likely will hold a top 10 ranking in the nation heading into The Game.

While Yale has stumbled to a 4-3 start and sits in a tie for third in league play at 2-2, it’s still a dangerous club with All-Ivy talent at all the skill positions. Payton Award candidate Alvin Cowan hasn’t had a breakout game, but still manages to lead the league in passer efficiency rating and touchdowns, running back Robert Carr sits second in the league in rushing yards per game and wideouts Chandler Henley and Ralph Plumb have combined for the second most yardage of any tandem in the league behind Harvard’s Brian Edwards and Corey Mazza.

The Bulldogs just don’t get to play offense all that much, because the defense can’t stop anybody. Yale possesses the ball for just over 25 minutes a game—the worst mark in the Ivy League by nearly three full minutes. Don’t expect that figure to change all that much in the face of a Harvard offense that can put together lengthy drives against soft defenses.

Those three games are all that stands between the Crimson and a perfect 10-0 season. Sure, Harvard’s already the last undefeated squad standing, but something tells me that for this team that’s just not good enough.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.