Football Looks to Keep Title Hopes Alive Against Princeton

“This game is everything.”

In a division proliferated with solid teams, junior linebacker Charlie Walker is probably right. Barring a miracle, a loss to Princeton tonight would likely push the Ivy League title beyond Harvard’s reach.

Sporting dual 1-1 conference records, the Crimson and the Tigers (4-1, 1-1 Ivy) will play out their division rivalry tonight under the lights of Harvard Stadium, marking only the 15th night game ever hosted by the Crimson. Under the lights, Harvard is 14-0.

“It’s a really big game,” said junior wide out Justice Shelton-Mosley. “For our identity as a team, coming from the Cornell loss and going back into Ivy League play, it’s a huge game. We need a win to stay in the running [for the title]. We want to control our own destiny—don’t want to rely on other teams.”

The last time the Crimson (3-2, 1-1) had a 1-1 conference record heading into the Princeton game, the year was 1996 and Harvard coach Tim Murphy was in his third season. The Tigers had a four-game win streak in the series and were coming off an Ancient Eight title season.

“We shut them out,” Murphy said. “They were in shock because they were heavily favored and Harvard hadn’t beaten them in a long time. It was the turning point for our program.”

The 24-0 win catalyzed two decades of dominance over Princeton, with the Crimson taking 17 of the last 21 contests, adding nine conference rings to its mantle for good measure.

Now, Harvard can hardly claim underdog status. On the heels of a decade of Ancient Eight success, the team comes into the matchup with history on its side. In addition to winning 80 percent of the last 21 meetings between the pair, the Crimson has not dropped a match to its rivals in orange in the last three years. But for a rivalry like the Tigers, every win is never good enough.

“The guys on the team hate them, I’m not going to lie,” Walker said. “I mean, we’re 3-0, but it’s not like we got to 3-0 easily.”

Princeton is by no means an underdog, either. The squad features an offense that has been nearly unstoppable in 2017. Even including the one loss, the Tigers have outscored opponents by 100 points, twice hitting the half-century mark.

The man behind the offensive prowess is senior quarterback Chad Kanoff. In five games, the veteran has accumulated 1,464 yards through the air—the most of any Ivy League quarterback.

Sometimes, gaudy passing statistics reflect a throw-first strategy. Not in this case—Princeton has actually run the ball one more time than it has tossed on the season. Kanoff just happens to be the most accurate quarterback in the FCS. Boasting a completion rate of 73.9 percent, he has several competent targets, which prevents defenses from focusing on a single deep threat.

“It’s challenging to defend this team because they have the ability in all formations, all field positions, to throw or run the football,” Murphy said. “I think that’s what every good offense has. It’s multidimensional.”

The two receiving mainstays are a pair of capable juniors, Jesper Horsted and Stephen Carlson. The former leads the team with 466 yards on 42 receptions, while his classmate has accumulated a similar 445 yards on 30 tosses. Kanoff’s 553 other yards are distributed among 10 targets.

For Harvard, the quarterback story is the polar opposite of this experienced cast. Under center will be freshman Jake Smith. However, the rookie is no stranger to competition, as he has started the last four games. Establishing himself as a competent leader in the preseason, Smith jumped two sophomores and a junior to earn the backup position. Taking second snaps to fifth-year senior Joe Viviano to start of the season, Smith proved himself and ultimately dethroned the veteran.

Even so, Kanoff’s stats dwarf Smith’s, partly because the freshman hasn’t seen as much playing time. Even still, with 527 yards through the air and two passing touchdowns, Smith barely matches 35 percent of his opponent’s yards.

“I don’t think it’s one of those games where we can expect our defense to hold them to one touchdown, as we have for much of this season,” Murphy said. “We’ve got to score points some offensively, do a good job defensively and somehow win the turnover battle to get a win against Princeton.”

Alongside Smith will be the Crimson’s true offensive juggernaut, junior running back Charlie Booker. In 2017, Booker has rumbled for 496 yards and five touchdowns. His 7.1 average yards per carry marks the fifth-highest in the FCS and second in the Ivy League behind Penn’s Karekin Brooks.

The Tigers’ biggest problem will be shoring up the substantial holes in its defense. Opposing teams have dropped 1,415 passing yards. In Princeton’s one loss this season, death came through the air, as Columbia hung 400 yards.

On the contrary, the Harvard defense has been mostly consistent, and—with exception to the Cornell game—dominant against the run. Overall, the group has held offenses to 14.8 points per game, 200.4 yards through the air, and 92.4 on the ground.

Injuries, however, have ravaged the Crimson front. Linebackers junior Anthony Camargo and sophomore Micah Hughes are out for the season, while sophomore linebacker Bobby Drysdale will also be out for a significant amount of time.

From here on out, all of Harvard’s game are against Ivy League opponents. And while the winner of this game still may not claim part of the division title, it is almost assured that the loser will have no chance.

“It’s going to be an exciting game,” Walker said. “I know we both want it really badly, but Harvard just really has a different hunger that we can’t really explain. We’re ready. I don’t know about Princeton, but we’re ready.”

—Staff writer Cade Palmer can be reached at cade.palmer@thecrimson.com.