Football Looks to Remain Unbeaten

After this weekend, the top of the Ivy League standings will be a little less crowded.

This Saturday at Harvard Stadium, the Crimson (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) will host Princeton (4-1, 2-0 Ivy) in a battle of Ancient Eight unbeatens.

Harvard will attempt to extend its home winning streak to sixteen games, which would be the third-best active streak in Division I. An Ivy League opponent has not left Cambridge victorious since 2009, but the Crimson will likely have its hands full against the Tigers.

“This is as good a team as we’ll play all year,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “And it’s by far the best Princeton team that I’ve seen since the early 1990’s.”

This is the second consecutive year that the Crimson will enter its midyear clash with the Tigers undefeated, but last year’s result at Princeton Stadium is one that the players are looking to put behind them.

Harvard appeared to be well on its way to a 6-0 record after leading 34-10 with less than 12 minutes to play. Yet, Princeton put together an unforgettable comeback, capped by a game-winning 36-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Epperly to Roman Wilson with just 13 seconds remaining. The touchdown represented the last of 29 unanswered Tigers points, which gave the home team an improbable 39-34 victory.

“Last year is last year,” Crimson captain Joshua Boyd said. “This is a completely new team. This is the 2013 edition of the Harvard Crimson football team. Obviously, there are some lessons to take out of last year’s game [though], most importantly the finish. Finish every play. Finish the game.”

This year, finishing games has not been a problem for the Crimson. In Week Three, Harvard came back to tie Holy Cross with 23 seconds remaining on a touchdown pass from junior quarterback Conner Hempel to senior tight end Cameron Brate. The Crimson went on to win that game in triple overtime, 41-35. Then in Week Four, locked in a tight match with Cornell, Harvard sealed a 34-24 win with another touchdown pass in the final minutes to Brate, this one from senior quarterback Michael Pruneau.

Pruneau was thrust into the starting quarterback job after Hempel went down with a hyperextended knee against Holy Cross. Despite struggling in relief in his first contest, Pruneau has led the team to wins in the last two games over Cornell and Lafayette, throwing for 603 yards and five touchdowns.

“[Mike’s] a great player,” sophomore running back Paul Stanton said. “He was able to step in [and] do a great job. We know Conner is a great player as well. I’m confident in all my teammates. It really doesn’t matter who’s out there.”

After taking first-team reps in practice this week, Hempel is expected to get the start against Princeton. Before being sidelined by injury, the junior had thrown for 803 yards and seven touchdowns in three games. The team has scored over 40 points in each of the games that Hempel has started.

The Tigers have also utilized two quarterbacks this season, but not because of injuries. The tandem of Epperly and fellow junior Connor Michelsen has been very effective for Princeton. Epperly has done most of the scoring, accounting for 20 touchdowns this year (nine passing, 11 rushing), while Michelsen has been responsible for driving the team down the field. He is 66-for-111 for 663 yards on the season.

In addition to their unique quarterback duo, the Tigers also feature the best rushing offense in the Ivy League, averaging nearly 250 yards per game. Meanwhile, the Harvard defense has proven to be the best at stopping the run, surrendering only 80 yards per game. Something will have to give on Saturday.

“They’re a run-oriented team,” Boyd said. “So as a defense, we embrace that and accept that challenge. Stopping the run is our number one priority as a defense.”

On the other side of the ball, the Crimson will have its work cut out for it as it tries to score on the best defense in the Ivy League.

“[Princeton] dominate[s] all the offensive categories and all the defensive categories, so this is a team that on paper has very few, if any, weaknesses,” Murphy said.

Harvard will be looking for a big game from Stanton, who had the best game of his career last week in the team’s 35-16 victory over Lafayette, rushing for 113 yards and two touchdowns. The sophomore feels good about his team’s chances.

“We have a lot of energy going this week,” Stanton said. “We’ve had a great week of practice, and we feel like we’re going to be at our best this week.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacob.feldman@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @JacobFeldman4.