The football team has hit its stride as it creeps toward the second half of the season. Three games into the 10-game campaign, the team stands at 2-1 and, with now-mortal Harvard being knocked off its cloud of 11 straight victories, the Tigers are still in the hunt for what they will admit is the only thing that matters — an Ivy League Championship.
Here's a breakdown of what to expect in the next four games of the season:
Colgate at Princeton Stadium, Saturday
The Red Raiders have fielded strong teams the last few seasons, and the squad that faces Princeton on Saturday will be no exception. Colgate dominated the Tigers in the last two meetings, outscoring Princeton 69-16. On Sept. 28, Colgate dominated hapless Columbia, rolling to a 38-6 victory for a victorious Red Raider Homecoming.
Colgate's other four outings were not quite as impressive, though: losses to Villanova and Fordham, and narrow wins over Dartmouth and Bucknell.
See Friday's preview in the 'Prince' for more about the Colgate game.
Brown at Princeton Stadium, Saturday 10/19
The Ivy League wire has been buzzing about Brown's wide receiver Chas Gessner, who, against Rhode Island, tied the Div. I record of 24 receptions in a game.
The receiver he tied at the top of the list? Jerry Rice, then of Mississippi Valley State.
Gessner also racked up a mere 207 yards and two touchdowns. The man throwing the ball, Bear quarterback Kyle Slager, completed his first 20 passes and went 48 of 58 on the game for 497 yards.
With all of those feats throught the air, Brown still lost by 10.
While Brown has placed a premium on a quick offense with a passing attack that will light up the board, the defense has been anything but stellar, allowing 37 points per game so far in Brown's 0-3 season.
This year, Princeton's defense may be in a position to keep Brown from putting too many points on the scoreboard — the Bears scored 35 against the Tigers last year.
Junior cornerback Blake Perry was recently named Ivy Player of the Week after recording 11 tackles, two forced fumbles and a sack against Columbia. If Perry can help keep the Brown duo of Gessner and Slager in check, the Tiger offense should be able to tally the points needed at the other side of the field.
Harvard at Princeton Stadium, Saturday 10/26
If Princeton beats Brown like it should, the Tigers will stand at 2-0 in the Ivy League, playing the team expected to win it all. Since there is no playoff system, the game would amount to the first of a couple championship games — a loss in any of which would practically eliminate Princeton from contention for the title.
Even though the Crimson lost at Lehigh last weekend, 36-35, the squad still has an eight-game Ivy winning streak to protect, and it should be able to do so against Cornell this weekend.
For the Tigers to beat Harvard, Princeton would have to play better than it did against Columbia. Princeton's defense would have to stop Harvard tailback Nick Palazzo who averaged 5.1 yards per carry last fall.
Another Crimson threat that has surfaced is sophomore quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has stepped in for injured first team All-Ivy gunslinger Neil Rose. Against Lehigh, Fitzpatrick went 22 for 36 in passing for 289 yards while also carrying the ball for 59 yards on the ground.
In its last two games, Princeton has shown that it can indeed win at the end of the game.
The Tigers will not blow Harvard out of the water, but instead may need a critical touchdown or field goal in the final few minutes, something that it appears the Tigers are now capable of doing.
Last year, kicker Taylor Northrop '02 missed a long field goal try that would have given Princeton its first win over the Crimson since 1995.
Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., Saturday Nov. 2
"One game does not make or break a season," head coach Roger Hughes has said a couple times this year.
Princeton may need to remember that after the Harvard game, especially against the Big Red, who unexpectedly beat the Tigers last season at Princeton Stadium.
If the Tigers beat Harvard they need to realize that they still have four difficult Ivy games to go. If they lose to the favored Crimson, the team will need to regroup in upstate New York and hope that Harvard slips along the way.
Cornell is so far 1-2 on the season, most recently coming off an overtime victory against Towson. The 27-point loss against Ivy-rival Yale was brutal, though.
In that game, Cornell gave up 415 rushing yards, including 235 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries to Eli phenom tailback Robert Carr, who earned Ivy Player of the Week honors as a result.
On offense, the Big Red rely more heavily upon the running game, as the passing game has struggled at times.
Princeton may crowd the box against Cornell, forcing more pressure on quarterback Mick Razzano to get the ball to his receivers.
The outcome of the game could very well rely on whether that approach works or not.
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