Football Looks to Bounce Back Against Princeton

Rarely does the Harvard football team have to play a game after a loss. To put that in perspective, the squad has only lost 13 games since 2006. But when they do lose, they don’t lose again. The last time the Crimson lost two games in a row was in 2006.

Harvard is coming off of a loss this week, defeated by Holy Cross 27-17 last weekend in Worcester, Mass. However, the Crimson is still atop the Ivy League standings at 4-1, going 2-0 in league play so far. Sitting with the team, though, are the Princeton Tigers.

This weekend, the Crimson will play Princeton (4-1, 2-0 Ivy League) in its third Ancient Eight game this season. Having already beaten Cornell and Brown, Harvard looks to gain sole possession of the Ivy League standings.

“They’re a good football program,” senior defensive lineman James Duberg said. “We’re just trying to get everyone ready, young guys specifically...really know what you’re doing on every single play, visualize what you’re going to do, and execute that. Going into Princeton, I know we’re feeling confident.”

The defensive line will be key for Harvard this weekend. Princeton has a run-heavy offense, running the ball almost twice as much as they pass. For good reason too—with the exception of last week’s 88 yard performance, the Tigers have yet to rush for less than 150 yards in a game.

The defensive front for Harvard has been solid against the run, though. Even playing with a depleted linebacking corps, opposing teams are averaging 100 yards per game on the ground.

While the line seems to be solid against the run, they also have been strong in the passing game. It has accounted for 14 sacks on the season, including a six-sack game against Holy Cross last week. They played a large part in keeping the Crimson in the game last week, forcing the Crusaders to punt six times and miss two field goals. The line also limited Holy Cross to 3.7 yards per carry.

“They do run a high tempo offense, so they’re going to be running a lot of plays,” Duberg said. “They’re going to be rotating some guys, so it’s going to be a little difficult to try to string together some good pass rush moves...because we might be facing a different guy on multiple plays throughout different series.”

On the other side of the ball, the Tigers have only once given up more than 100 yards on the ground this season. The Crimson, on the other hand, are average 158.8 rushing yards per game. But the Tigers’ opponents average only 2.5 yards per rush. However, the Princeton secondary is not as solid. They’ve given up 1,289 yards through the air with opponents averaging 12.6 yards per catch. Harvard has thrown for 1,339 yards this season, the most in the Ivy League this season.

“They’re a talented group up front,” senior offensive lineman Max Rich said. “They do some really good things. They blitz, twist a lot, they light it up. They’ve played really well their last few games. It’ll be a great challenge. They’ll be a great team.”

But Harvard’s offensive line has been in flux all season, and the lack of consistency was most clear last weekend. Up until last week, the Crimson had given up eight sacks on the season. They gave up six against Holy Cross. While this might be a testament to Holy Cross’ front seven, it also shows just how depleted the line has been.

“We didn’t execute to our ability,” Rich said. “We should’ve been better up front, but that’s on us. We had a rough week, and we’ve got to pick it up this week, otherwise it’ll be another tough challenge.”

In addition, while Harvard is currently atop the Ancient Eight in total offense, averaging 425.2 yards per game, the team only gained 245 yards throughout last week’s game. The absence of top playmakers senior quarterback Joe Viviano, junior running back Semar Smith, and sophomore wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley was clearly felt, but their presence wouldn’t have changed the six sacks and 26 rushing yards.

the going only gets tougher at Princeton this weekend. Facing a top Ivy contender, reeling from a rare loss, Harvard will have to plumb deep reserves of motivation to secure the win. It’s a task that requires physical toughness and mental fortitude. The exact qualities, in other words, that have delivered the Crimson to this point.

Staff writer Gant Player can be reached at

gant.player@thecrimson.com.