Run defense key as football opens Ivy League season

When it comes to football aphorisms, perhaps none is more hackneyed than "We have to stop the run."

In the Ivy League, where most of the coaches are as pass-happy as Steve Spurrier of the Fun and Gun, the cliche increasingly seems obsolete. For Princeton, however, containing Columbia's rushing attack is the key to tomorrow night's Ivy-opening game, 7 p.m. at Princeton Stadium.

The Lions' (0-1 overall, 0-0 Ivy League) fortunes rise and fall with those of their star back, Johnathan Reese. The tailback ran for 1,330 yards last year, more than Princeton's (0-1, 0-0) entire team. The leading rusher in Columbia history, Reese also scored 18 touchdowns last season.

In the Lions' season opener against Bucknell last Saturday, he picked up 99 yards on the ground — better than Princeton's team mark against Lehigh — but one of his worst performances in the last two years.

"We certainly want him to touch the ball a certain number of times this week. I think he had 25 carries last week, which is what you want a good back to get," Columbia head coach Ray Tellier said.

"I don't think you want to run someone 45 times because you don't want to kill him and if he only gets the ball 10 or 15 times, you're not getting the ball to your best player enough."

The Tigers know that stopping Reese and forcing Columbia to go to the passing game is their best gameplan. Princeton's defensive strength is at linebacker, where seniors Chris Roser-Jones and Bob Farrell to plug up holes and terrorize opposing rushers.

"Defensively, they're a lot like we've always felt like Princeton's been," Tellier said. "They're very athletic, even in the front.

"They have people who move very well, some very good athletes in the secondary who can run with everybody. We know it'll be a challenge."

On the other side of the ball, Princeton should benefit from the return of junior running back Cameron Atkinson, who suffered an injury in the second quarter of the Lehigh game and did not return. The speedy Atkinson, who led the Tigers in rushing last season, was the only Princeton tailback who managed to put up decent numbers last week against the Mountain Hawks, netting 27 yards on eight carries.

"Princeton has some outstanding perimeter players on offense," Tellier said. "We're tremendously impressed with [sophomore] quarterback [Dave Splithoff].

"We didn't see him last year in our game but had a chance to see him on tape as the season went on and last week against Lehigh."

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Splithoff was the Tigers' offensive leader last week, completing 31 of 39 passes. His 31 completions (for 228 yards and a touchdown) were the best mark by a Tiger quarterback in 18 years. He also led Princeton in rushing attempts and finished second in rush yardage.

"He is kind of the sparkplug and the shot in the arm that the Princeton offense needed after our game last year, and they found it," Tellier said.

The Tigers traveled to New York last year to take on the Lions and found themselves down by 10 points with just 2:25 to play. But Princeton rallied, partially thanks to a recovered onside kick, and forced the game into overtime. The team eventually came away with a 27-24 win, Roger Hughes' first as Princeton head coach.

That is not the only example of Columbia losing a lead — just last week, Bucknell rallied from 10 points down in the second half to win in overtime. The Lions have been especially bad in close games, dropping their last eight games decided by a touchdown or less. The squad is even worse on the road, having lost their last 10 games away from Harlem.

"We want to take great pride in playing well and winning on the road," Tellier said. "We're coming off a game where we had a ten point lead — very similar to our game against Princeton last year — that we ended up losing in overtime.

"Our other concern is winning close games. We seem to have some big wins and bad losses at times, but the close games the last year or so have not gone our way, so we're disappointed, but it's early in the season."

If they hope to break their losing streak on the road, history is not on the side of the Lions. Princeton is 31-2 against Columbia at home, with its last loss coming in 1945.

Both teams were picked to finish in the basement of the Ivy League in a preseason media poll. Princeton was picked to finish sixth and Columbia dead last out of the eight league teams.

No Ivy team that has lost its league opener has ever won the conference championship outright. Both the Tigers and Lions want to start their league seasons the right way, which should make for an interesting game tomorrow night.