Harvard Football Ready for Big Red

There will be many fasting around the world tomorrow afternoon, but the Harvard football team is ready to feast.

The Crimson (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) travels to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on Cornell (2-1, 0-1) in a contest in which Harvard will look to continue a dominant two-game stretch while the Big Red will attempt to prove it is no longer the league bottom-feeder it was a year ago, when it lost to the Crimson in Cambridge, 31-17.

Cornell has already picked up two victories in non-conference play this season—a 24-13 defeat of Bucknell and a 31-7 victory last weekend over Wagner—which means it has already equaled its 2010 total win total.

Harvard, meanwhile, is coming off two big victories of its own, a 24-7 win over Brown on Sept. 24, followed by a 31-3 thrashing of Lafayette last weekend.

With senior starting quarterback Collier Winters missing those games with injury, the Crimson defense has stepped it up in its two wins, forcing eight turnovers and collecting eight sacks.

“[The defense’s] practices have been going really well,” explained senior cornerback Matthew Hanson. “Our guys have put in extra time on watching film.”

The dominant defensive play has made life easier for junior quarterback Colton Chapple, who has filled in admirably for Winters, throwing for 328 yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception in two starts.

The junior left last weekend’s game against the Leopards at halftime with back stiffness and did not return, but Murphy said the quarterback is ready to go this week.

Last season, Chapple got the start against the Big Red, leading Harvard to the win despite completing under 50 percent of his passes and throwing two interceptions. But this year, Murphy has seen a growth that has allowed the coach to be more comfortable with the junior under center.

“Colton’s clearly made the transition from having to be very one-dimensional last year while he got his feet wet,” Murphy said. “Now he’s not only had a lot of reps, but he’s 5-1 as a starter ... We now have a guy that knows the offense, that’s confident, he’s a guy that can execute all the passes of our offense.”

Chapple was able to win last season largely due to help from his running game, as the Crimson ran for 314 yards on just 45 carries for a whopping 7.0 yards per rush. Junior running back Treavor Scales gained 93 yards in that contest on just 11 attempts.

But with a more experienced Chapple under center, Harvard coach Tim Murphy said he doesn’t plan to rely as heavily on his ground game this time around.

“We need to be a balanced offense to beat this team,” Murphy said. “I think that’s the key.”

For Harvard has noticed on film that its opponent has greatly improved since the Crimson’s big win a year ago.

After an up-and-down rookie season that saw him complete just 55 percent of his passes, Big Red quarterback Jeff Matthews has upped his completion percentage to 66 percent in his second season. The sophomore also leads the league in passing yards with 800 as well as in passing efficiency.

On the other end of many of those throws has been junior wide receiver Kurt Ondash, who paces the conference with 15 receptions and 271 yards thus far. The receiver will pose this season’s toughest test yet for Hanson, a four-year starter at corner for the Crimson and one of the conference’s best defensive backs.

“Ondash is a really good receiver,” Hanson said. “I’ve been watching him on film a lot; he does a lot of things really well. I think I have a good read on him but we’ll see how it goes ... I’m going to be really aggressive come Saturday.”

After having the worst statistical offense in the league last season, Cornell is first in total offense behind Matthews and Ondash in 2010.

“Overall their offense is a lot better than last year,” Hanson said. “Their offensive line has really improved ... Jeff Matthews, watching him on film, he has a really strong arm, so he’s a dangerous weapon all around.”

The Big Red defense has also made strides since last season, when it was seventh in total defense. This year, Cornell ranks second in that category, as well as in scoring defense.

Senior linebacker Brandon Lainhart is tied for fifth in the Ancient Eight with 27 tackles, two behind Harvard’s leader, captain Alex Gedeon.

Cornell senior defensive end Zack Imhoff leads the Ivies with four sacks, and sophomore linebacker Brett Buehler paces the conference with six tackles for loss. That means Harvard’s young offensive line will have its hands full protecting Chapple.

If the quarterback is able to respond to the pressure—both literally and figuratively—and lead his team to a win, he will be continuing a stretch in which Harvard has largely dominated Cornell on the gridiron.

Harvard has lost to the Big Red just once in the past 11 years—a 27-13 defeat in 2005 —and has averaged 32 points per game in its five games since.

It’s a streak the Crimson has been working hard to ensure will continue tomorrow.

“Our preparation has been really good lately,” Hanson said. “We’re going to come out ready to go.”