Football Looks For First Victory Over Princeton Since 2016

As twilight turned to dusk on a chilly fall evening in Cambridge, first year head coach Andrew Aurich led intense goal-line drills in preparation for the staunch Princeton (2-3, 1-1 Ivy) defense. Despite the looming matchup against his alma mater — a team Harvard (4-1, 1-1 Ivy) hasn’t beaten since 2016 — only one thing was on his mind: going 1-0 on Saturday.

“I'm sure after the game, there'll probably be some different emotions than normal but leading up to it again, I’m getting lost in the process,” Aurich explained. "It's very hard to let my mind wander.”

The coach couldn't be blamed for stopping to take in the gravity of the impending moment. Aurich, a 2006 Princeton graduate, later went back to coach the Tigers in several different roles spanning seven years from 2011 to 2019, including a historic 10-0 campaign in 2018.

For Crimson fans, Princeton has created far fewer fond memories. The six consecutive Harvard defeats against Princeton have featured close games and blowouts, as well as a fair bit of controversy, headlined by the Tigers’ quintuple-overtime victory over the Crimson in 2021. In that game, the officials erroneously erased a go-ahead two-point conversion from the scoreboard, allowing the Tigers to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

In this year's match-up, the turnover battle will continue to be the major point of emphasis for the Crimson. Princeton’s defense enters the matchup hot after forcing five turnovers in a 29-17 victory over Brown, a team that upset Harvard earlier this season.

“We're being obsessed over the ball, and we don't have to change anything we're doing game plan wise," Aurich said.

Harvard will continue to be aggressive throwing the ball downfield and with its offensive game plan as a whole. Junior quarterback Jaden Craig, who threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns last weekend, has only thrown one interception compared to 13 touchdowns on the season.

Craig’s arm will be key for Harvard, particularly with captain and running back Shane McLaughlin’s health still in question. On the injury, Aurich said, “He’s trying to fight through it. It’s a day to day thing, week to week thing. So I’m not ruling him out, but we have to take more steps before we get to that point.”

On the defensive side of the ball, stopping the run will be the Crimson’s top priority. “Number one focus of our defense is stop the run,” said senior linebacker Eric Little Jr. “That's our main goal. That's our initial goal whenever we go out there. So that's stayed the main priority.”

In last week’s matchup against Holy Cross, Harvard’s defense allowed a season-high 246 yards on the ground. Still, Aurich remains confident in his defense, adding, “Defense definitely got challenged after the Holy Cross game to raise their level of play. And I think they've had a really good first two days of practice. It sounded different and looked different, just with their urgency.”

With this weekend marking both the first-year and junior parents weekend, the team expects the crowd to be a big boost against the conference rival.

Aurich sent an important message to the fans: “Cheer really, really loud. Don't cheer when we're on offense. And third down cheer very loud when they're on offense.”

The Crimson’s quest for sole possession of the Ivy Leauge title continues with the face-off against the Tigers at 3:00 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 26, with streaming on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Jo Lemann can be reached at jo.lemann@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at praveen.kumar@thecrimson.com.