With QB situation up in the air, next two weeks to determine football's fate

If it were not for the fact that his team is in first place in the Ivy League, football head coach Roger Hughes would be having a miserable year.

His firstand second-string quarterbacks went down with injuries, bringing on the third-string quarterback. The third-stringer, freshman David Splithoff, turned out to be a Godsend, leading the Tigers to a dramatic win over Brown.

Then God recalled the gift when Splithoff broke his jaw on the last play of last week's Harvard game. Now, heading into Princeton's fourth Ivy League game, Hughes is back to the second-string quarterback, Jon Blevins. Blevins' mobility is still in serious question, however, so a start by fourth-string quarterback Brian Danielewicz is possible.

And if Danielewicz goes down?

"If it got to that point, besides drinking heavily on the sidelines, I don't know," Hughes said.

Last call

This weekend, the Tigers (2-4 overall, 2-1 Ivy League) face Cornell (2-4, 2-1), with whom they are tied for first place in the Ivies. With Princeton providing its own problems through injuries on offense, the Big Red figures to add many more for the Tigers' defense.

For the third week in a row, Princeton will face a high-powered passing attack. Last week, the Big Red amassed 446 yards through the air on the arm of junior Ricky Rahne.

Over the last two weeks, Princeton has not fared well against the wide-open offenses of Harvard and Brown. The Tigers gave up 390 yards passing to Brown and 492 yards of total offense to Harvard.

The Tigers are particularly susceptible to height in the passing game. Though very fast, Princeton is somewhat small in the secondary. Enter six-foot, six-inch Cornell wide receiver Joe Splendorio, Cornell's leading wide receiver.

Splendorio is 11 yards away from becoming one of the top 10 all-time Ivy receivers and just 88 yards away from becoming Cornell's all-time leader. So far this year, Splendorio has caught 32 passes for 491 yards and three touchdowns.

Hughes showed the same exasperation about Splendorio as he had for Princeton's quarterback situation.

"Well, since I don't have any eligibility right now, and I'm the tallest guy around right now, basically what we're going to do is try to disrupt his routes," Hughes explained. "[We will] try to get pressure on the quarterback a number of ways, so he can't sit back there and wait for Joe to get down the field."

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The challenge on offense is just as clear as on defense. If Blevins is healthy enough to play, he is not likely to be as quick as usual. Danielewicz is short on experience, having attempted just two passes — both incompletions — in his career.

Princeton's quarterback woes should be alleviated somewhat by the Cornell defense. On average, the Big Red has given up the most total yards in the Ivy League this season at 511.2 yards per game. Of those yards, 292.2 have come on the ground, giving the Tigers hope that their hobbled passing game might be supplemented by solid running.

With five teams at the top of the Ivy League standings, both the Big Red and the Tigers are willing to admit that this weekend's game is vital. For Princeton, this is particularly so, since Penn will come to Princeton Stadium on Nov. 4.

"This league's close," Cornell head coach Pete Mangurian said. "We're in the playoffs. You gotta win every week if you want to win this thing outright."

"We're in a great position, we're still tied for first place," Tiger senior tight end George Citovic said. "This weekend's going to be another big game."