Clash with Cornell Defense Tomorrow

So far, Crimson football has lived up to its standing as the preseason favorite in the Ivy League. On a two-game win streak, Harvard is proving its offensive prowess and defensive coordination. But the real test will come tomorrow, when the Crimson will reveal whether or not they will be the leaders of the Ivy League.

Harvard will head to Cornell for its second Ancient Eight game, as well as the team’s second road trip in as many weeks.

The athletes are quick to explain that they prepare for each game with the same ferocity, but there is a sense of added importance to Saturday’s game.

“There’s definitely added attention and focus,” junior quarterback Collier Winters said. “We have to make sure that we don’t slip up.”

Cornell is coming off to a hot start. Two weeks ago, the Big Red surprised Yale, 14-12, mirroring last year’s early upset over Yale, when Cornell defeated the Bulldogs, 17-14.

“It seems like they start off each year and get a lot of wins,” Winters said.

In its game against Yale, the Big Red proved that it’s a distinguished defensive force. The Crimson will have to take notice of senior middle linebacker Chris Costello, who earned the title of Ivy League defensive player of the week after contributing to the containment of the Bulldogs to just 238 yards and one touchdown.

Junior defensive back Emani Fenton and sophomore Rashad Campbell both had a series of pass breakups against Yale. Fenton notched five, while Campbell knocked down seven.

“They run a different defense,” Winters said, referring to the 3-3-5 defensive run that only Cornell and Princeton play. “But we have new pass plays.”

Offensively, the Crimson already has an advantage when compared to last week. Senior wide receiver Matt Luft, junior running back Gino Gordon, and freshman running back Treavor Scales will all return to the field on Saturday after missing last week’s game.

“We haven’t had any more injuries since we had a rash of ones right before the Holy Cross game,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “We’re hanging in there.”

But the Crimson’s offense shouldn’t be complacent. The Big Red’s wide-open offense comes equipped with many creative formations.

“They have a lot of trick plays, and they like to throw the football,” Murphy said.

And although Cornell suffered a crushing defeat to New York rival Colgate, Murphy concedes that Cornell may pose more of a challenge to Harvard than most people think.

“They’re 2-1, they’re 1-0 in the league, so it’s going to be, on paper at the very least, a much bigger challenge than it was a year ago and a much bigger challenge than the game we had on the road last week,” Murphy said, referring to the Crimson’s decisive 28-14 win last weekend at Lehigh.

Last week, Cornell wide receiver Bryan Walters’ 234 all-purpose yards was his third-best single-game total and his seventh-career 200-yard game. The Big Red enjoyed an interception by Josh Gajdos, the team’s fifth interception in three games this season—a significant improvement from its 2008 season in which Cornell only had a total of five interceptions in the entire season.

The Crimson should also take notice of freshman safety Andrew Brown, who made seven tackles last week, and sophomore safety Travers Schmidt, who made five tackles against Colgate. Each made his first career varsity appearance against the Raiders.

But indeed, the Crimson feel prepared to defend its ranking and continue as the sole leader of the Ivy League.

“There’s been a ton of film studying, and we’re going to play a complete game from start to finish,” captain Carl Ehrlich said. “We’re going to play every quarter with everything we’ve got.”

And the Crimson has proved that it’s a force to be reckoned with from all sides of the field. In Harvard’s last away game against Lehigh, the Crimson defense forced five turnovers, including four interceptions.

Harvard allowed only seven first downs in the first three quarters, while quarterback Collier Winters threw two second-quarter touchdowns, and Cheng Ho scored two touchdowns in his first start of the season.

And according to Coach Murphy, the Crimson’s versatility may be the key to victory on Saturday.

“Our strength is we can do a lot of different things,” Murphy said.