Give-and-go: Cornell Edition

In advance of Harvard football’s game against Cornell, THC football beat writers David Steinbach and Samantha Lin discuss a number of important topics about the team.

On Cornell quarterback Jeff Mathews…

Samantha Lin: Jeff Mathews has certainly come into this season with high expectations—he’s the sole FCS quarterback on the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list and is predicted to be drafted into the NFL after this year. Do you think he deserves all of the praise and expectations?

David Steinbach: Maybe. Over three games, Mathews has racked up 972 yards and eight touchdowns, and he just became the leader in all-time Ivy League passing yards. But Cornell is just 1-3 (0-1 in the conference) and hasn’t been able to generate any offense on the ground to complement Mathews, making the Big Red a very one-dimensional team.

SL: I think his experience as a third-year starter will definitely help in that aspect. Even when teams know that Cornell is a pass-happy team, his prowess still makes him tricky to cover—he averages over 300 yards passing per game. The team may not have been able to pull out a win in the last two games, but it did put up over 40 points in its first game against Bucknell.

DS: The Harvard defense is going to need to make some adjustments in its pass coverage if it hopes to stop Mathews. Against a relatively inexperienced freshman quarterback in Holy Cross’s Peter Pujals, the Crimson gave up over 300 yards passing and surrendered four touchdowns. Another performance like that will make it tough to come out of Ithaca with a win.

On turnovers forced by the Harvard defense…

DS: Last week against Holy Cross, the Harvard defense forced Pujals to fumble four times. The Crimson recovered each of these loose balls and returned one of them for a touchdown.

SL: That’s not to mention when the special teams unit blocked a punt on the first possession of the game. The Harvard defense has scored a touchdown in each of its first three games and bailed the offense out when it’s been sputtering.

DS: Defensive end Zach Hodges has been nothing short of a beast. So far this season, the junior has forced a fumble, recovered a fumble to score a touchdown, intercepted a pass, and registered 2.5 sacks.  We’re looking at a potential candidate for Ivy League Player of the Year here.

SL: His performance thus far is a big reason why he was my preseason Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year prediction. But that’s not to take away credit from the rest of the defensive line, which combined for six sacks last week. If the defense hadn’t had that crucial sack in the third overtime period, the outcome last week may have been different.

On Harvard’s quarterback situation…

SL: It looks like Harvard’s starting quarterback, Conner Hempel, may be questionable for Saturday’s game due to lingering effects from a hyperextended knee suffered in Worcester. The Crimson’s backup quarterback, Mike Pruneau, struggled when he came in for Hempel this week. Although he was 8-of-10 passing last week, he struggled to create offense while Hempel was sidelined.

DS: Hempel has been the focal point of the Harvard offense so far this year. He has shown poise under pressure, and when the pocket breaks down he has demonstrated an ability to improvise and make plays on the run. And when the Crimson couldn’t get anything going on the ground in the first two games of the year, Hempel more than picked up the slack, throwing for 641 yards and five touchdowns.

SL: But if Hempel is unable to go, it probably won’t be the end of the world for Harvard. Pruneau, despite not winning the starting job, has more experience with the team as a senior. Even though he tore his ACL last year and was unable to play his junior year, he still trained with the team and was able to become a solid leader within the team. He’s also been getting quite a few reps this week, according to a teammate, just in case Hempel is still not ready by Saturday.

DS: The preseason competition where the two battled for the starting position will probably help him too, if he needs to come in for the start. Both have repeatedly talked about how the battle made them better leaders and players. That may be put to the test come Saturday.