Football Looks to Finally Beat Brown

If that little game with Yale later this month is going to mean anything, Harvard must first survive Brown's blazing offense tomorrow in Providence.

Harvard (5-2, 3-1 Ivy) heads into tomorrow's contest against the Bears (6-1, 3-1 Ivy) locked in a three-way tie atop the Ivy with Yale, Cornell, and Brown.

However, the logjam on top of the standings is sure to be broken this weekend as all four leaders square off against each another.

A loss will make the Crimson's title aspirations all but a statistical improbability, while a win would put Harvard in the Ivy driver's seat along with the winner of the Yale-Cornell match up.

More importantly, a victory by both Harvard and Yale would likely make The Game a dream match up to decide the Ivy Championship.

Before the Crimson thinks too far ahead, however, it has to get past Brown.

The Bears have won 11 of their last 12 games, and have taken five of the past six from Harvard, including a 27-6 decision last year in Cambridge.

Brown's winning streak has been fueled by one of the most potent offenses in the nation, led by the unrelenting play of senior quarterback James Perry and junior wideout Steve Campbell.

Perry and Campbell are the two biggest reasons the Bears lead the Ivy in total offense and are eighth in the nation, averaging 485 yards per game.

Perry is having a career season to cap off an amazing Ivy League career.

Posting on average 325 all-purpose yards each outing, Perry ranks fourth in the country in total yards.

Two weeks ago in the Bears' last Ivy game against Penn, Perry was named the ESPN/USA Today Division I-AA Player of the Week and the Ivy League Player of the Week for his 432 yard performance in Brown's 44-37 victory, completing 42-of-62 passes.

Perry is already the Ivy League's all-time leader in passing with 8,358 yards and touchdowns with 69, surpassing a pair of records that have stood since 1983.

And Campbell has been having an incredible season reining in Perry's bombs.

Campbell leads the nation in receiving, averaging 8.7 receptions per game, and is third in the country in yardage with an average of 120 yards each game.

The dynamic duo of Perry and Campbell, who are almost single-handedly responsible for a Brown offense that averages 36-points a game, will put the pressure on senior quarterback Brad Wilford and the rest of the Harvard offense to have a big game.

The Crimson offense came up big last week in a 63-21 rout of Dartmouth, setting 12 either Ivy or Harvard records in the process.

Wilford set school marks for passing yards and total offense in a game, completing 26-of-34 passes for 398 yards through the air and 387 yards in total offense (he lost 11 yards rushing).

The offensive explosion broke Don Allard's '83 mark for passing yards, and Larry Brown's '79 sum for total offense, despite the fact that Wilford didn't play a minute of the fourth quarter.

Along with Wilford, both senior running back Chris Menick and senior receiver Terence Patterson will need to have huge days if Harvard's to come out on top.

Menick became Harvard's all-time leading rusher with 3,157 career yards last week against Dartmouth, while Patterson set the all-time mark for receptions with 127 in his career as well last Saturday.

The record setting day against Dartmouth was icing on the cake in the blowout victory, but Harvard may need to rack up just as many yards in total offense just to squeak out a narrow victory over Brown.

Dartmouth, despite its 1-6 record was supposed to be deceptively tough. Brown, on the other hand, is a sure-fire bet to give the Crimson defense a headache all day long.

Harvard gave up 21 points last Saturday against Dartmouth which was averaging less than 10 points per game heading into the contest.

If Harvard plays the same way against Brown, it might not matter how many points the offense can put up on the board.

Little mistakes like Wilford's wayward pass that was returned for a touchdown and pulled Dartmouth to within a pair of touchdowns, 35-21, may not have hurt the Crimson last week.

However, if the Crimson offense aids Perry's cause in the least, it could be a long day.

Wilford will have to lead the charge for Harvard as Brown's main weakness is its pass defense.

The hole in the defense is in the secondary, which has allowed quarterbacks to pick their way through it all season, giving up more than 250 yards through the air each game.

An already weak Brown secondary took a huge hit last week when tri-captain Azibo Smith was probably lost for the season after re-injuring his knee.

Azibo, twice an All-Ivy selection, was the heart of the Brown defense and one of the best strong safeties in the league.

Overall, Brown's defense is by far the weak link on an otherwise championship team. The Bears have allowed their opponents to score an average of 28 points per game.

Nevertheless, Brown boasts a top-notch rush defense that has held opposing running backs to less than 90 yards a game and is ranked eight in the nation.

Wilford will need to capitalize on Brown's injury riddled pass defense and score often to give the Crimson a chance at victory.

Tomorrow's showdown has all the makings of a classic shootout and neither team is likely to disappoint.

If neither squad falters, the game may come down to turnovers or simply which team has the ball last.

The last time Harvard defeated Brown, the Crimson went on to win the Ivy Championship.

A win tomorrow, and the Harvard faithful may have the chance to storm the cavernous Yale Bowl with another title in tow.