Growing pains: Inexperience hurts Tigers in second half

Everyone knew what Harvard was doing. In the second quarter, Harvard had put everyone on the line and converted a fourth and one with a quarterback sneak. Now, early in the fourth quarter, the Crimson were facing the same situation and lined up in the same formation at the Princeton 35.

In a game both coaches described as a war, this was going to be a deciding battle. It was not strategy that was going to decide the winner — the generals on the sideline were going to have no part in the outcome. Just a pile of players and a referee's spot would determine the victor.

The play would be representative of the slugfest the game had turned into, with tie scores at seven, 14 and now 21. Each time one team scored, the other responded.

Then, without trying, the officials seemed to make Princeton the instant winner. The Crimson attempted to get the jump on the Tigers and were penalized five yards for false starts.

Now fourth and long, Princeton went for the kill. They brought the house against Harvard quarterback Neil Rose, blitzing linebackers, safeties and everyone else they could find. It was really all they could do.

"Their receivers are too good, and our secondary is not experienced," head coach Roger Hughes said. "We didn't feel that we could match up at receiver versus defensive backs so we had to bring pressure to try to force bad plays, maybe get him to throw it to the wrong color jersey."

The plan almost worked. Several times during the afternoon Princeton's players reached Rose, but the pressure never got to him.

On fourth down, half a second from getting leveled by a pair of Princeton players, the Harvard junior showed just how far he has come in five starts. He found tight end Chris Stakich coming over the middle, and Stakich found the end zone for the deciding score.

"Neil did a great job adjusting to the blitz, finding the open guy," Crimson head coach Tim Murphy said. "That enabled us to make big plays on third and fourth down."

This season, the Ivy League has come to resemble the Arena Football League, with offenses racking up more than 400 yards through the air and scoring over 50 points.

What can Princeton's defense do to keep up?

"Get older," Hughes said. "I think youth is part of it, but it's not an excuse."

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Many would disagree. If not the reason, youth has to be a major factor in Princeton's inconsistent play this season. The team's freshman starting cornerback was a running back in high school. Its freshman quarterback was recruited to play safety. Six freshmen start in key positions. Sometimes they make mistakes.

Mistakes

After a nearly flawless debut, freshman quarterback David Splithoff made the mistakes freshmen make.

"He's going to be a tremendous player," Hughes said.

"He's obviously a very competitive kid," Murphy said. "When you're that young and inexperienced, you're not going to make as many plays as you will down the road."

Experience, of course, comes only with time, something Harvard did not give Splithoff much of on Saturday.

"He has all the ability in the world, but as a freshman you can only learn so much coming in," Harvard cornerback Andy Fried said.

Despite facing a nearly-constant blitz in his second collegiate start, Splithoff was still effective.

Rose, a junior in his fifth game, was masterful. His patience and execution showed the kind of passer Hughes believes Splithoff can become.

After the game, Rose had advice for the freshman.

"I would tell him to stay confident," Rose said. "Watch the film, learn your reads, and not only will you gain confidence, but other players will feed off of it."