Ailing Football Needs Win at Princeton to Break Ivy Slide

The Harvard football team hopes to make recent history repeat itself tomorrow as it travels to face a quickly improving Princeton squad.

The Crimson (2-3, 1-1 Ivy) has beaten the Tigers four straight times, including a thrilling last-second 13-6 victory only a year ago. Harvard hasn't won five in a row in the series since 1916.

Princeton (2-3, 2-0) has been inconsistent so far this year. The Tigers lost their season-opener to Lafayette--a team which Harvard defeated easily last month--and struggled to a 27-24 overtime victory over perennial Ivy doormat Columbia.

On the other hand, Princeton fell a failed two-point conversion short of taking Lehigh into overtime, losing 20-18. Lehigh gave Harvard a 45-13 thrashing last week.

"Princeton generally plays really solid defense," Head Coach Tim Murphy said. "That has helped them stay in games while their offense matures a bit."

It looks like the Tigers' attack has finally come around with the help of a new offensive weapon. Last week, Princeton destroyed Brown, 55-28, behind the spectacular performance of freshman quarterback David Splithoff.

On the other hand, Harvard (2-3, 1-1), has imploded since a dominating

first half against Cornell. The Crimson has been outscored 74-13 in its last six quarters, during which it blew a 28-point lead in losing to Cornell and received a 45-13 beating at the hands of Lehigh.

The loss to Lehigh was Harvard's first blowout loss in over two years. The Crimson's previous 8 defeats had come by a total of only 23 points.

"I honestly don't know how [last week's game] will affect the team," Murphy said.

Senior cornerback Mike Brooks believes that the lopsided defeat may help the team in the long run.

"We got put in our place," Brooks said. "It made us realize that this year's going to be tough. We have to approach practice and the game with the mindset that every game is going to be a hard one."

Despite the team's recent struggles, Harvard's offense, which ranks ninth in the country, continues to impress. The Crimson posted 437 total yards against the Mountain Hawks, and Rose has thrown for over three hundred yards for the third time in four games. No other Harvard quarterback has thrown for 300 hundred yards more than twice in his career.

Thus far, the defense against Harvard is to wait for the offense to stop itself. Harvard been extra-charitable to its opponents this season, ranking 117th in 1-AA with a minus-9 turnover margin. The Crimson turned the ball over five times last week--and two of those were returned for scores.

"Each turnover is certainly a different case," Murphy said. "They're difficult to explain. But we've got to do a much better job of ball security. It's as simple as that."

The Tigers' own version of the impressive young quarterback is Splithoff. Two weeks ago, Splithoff became the first freshman to play quarterback for Princeton in school history after former starter Jon Blevins left in the third quarter of a blowout loss to Colgate with a sprained ankle.

Splithoff seems to have handled the adjustment to college ball fairly well.

Down 34-0 at Colgate, Splithoff came in and immediately led his team on an 80-yard touchdown drive. Not content with that, he later orchestrated a 98-yard drive, which the Tigers wasted when they were stopped on downs at the 1-yard-line.

Any doubts over who would be Princeton's starter for the remainder of the season were erased in last week's 55-28 shellacking of Brown. The freshman was 13-of-17 for 289 yards and three touchdowns without a single interception. He also showcased his athleticism and mobility, running 12 times for 48 yards.

"He's got a lot of athletic ability," Murphy said. "He can run and he's got some real improvisational skill. You've got to make sure you know where he is on the field."

For his efforts, Splithoff was named Ivy Offensive Player of the Week, becoming the first freshman ever to receive that award.

In spite of Splithoff's impressive performance, Murphy still doubts whether the Tigers' coaching staff has seen enough of the freshman to give him complete control of the helm.

"{Princeton] is not going to put as much of the offense into Splithoff's hands as they would a veteran quarterback," Murphy said.

But Brooks said Splithoff handles game pressure much better than most freshman quarterbacks.

"He's a young quarterback, and we're going to try to rattle him, but he's proven he is not easily affected," Brooks said.

"He didn't seem to be rattled too much by the Brown Bears," he added.

Splithoff may well have a field day against the Crimson's porous secondary, which has found a home on opposing teams' highlight films. Harvard's pass defense ranks dead last in the country, giving up 310 yards per game.

Brooks attributed Harvard's defensive struggles to poor execution.

'Coach [Bruce] Tall is a great [defensive coordinator], and he always puts us in the right defenses," Brooks said. "It's up to us to run them. We have to work harder in staying with our man and focusing for the total duration of the play."

Murphy blamed Harvard's weakness against the pass on its poor pash rush, which has failed to improve during the season.

"We haven't had as much pressure on the quarterback as we've had in the past," Murphy said. "If you give people enough time to throw, they're going to complete the ball."

Right now, the problem can be traced to a lack of developed talent. Murphy said Harvard's defensive line currently lacks any skilled pass rushers. Those with the athletic ability to get to the quarterback still do not possess the on-field experience to rush the passer successfully.

Princeton will likely have to throw the ball by necessity. The Tigers average less than four yards a carry on the ground. Lacking a dependable lead back, they are forced to take a running back-by-committee approach. Five runners have at least 15 carries for the Tigers this year.

Harvard's own ground game continues to slowly return to health. Murphy said senior Chuck Nwokcha, the opening-game starter, is healthy enough to play, but sophomores Matt Leiszler and Nick Pallazzo will continue to get a majority of the carries this week as Nwokcha works his way back into the offense.

With both teams plagued by inconsistency and dominated by inexperienced players in key positions, no one can be sure what to expect.

"It's league time," Brooks said. "It's time to step up and make the big play."