Football faces Penn in game key to league title race

Two weeks ago, the football team, at 2-0, sat atop the Ivy League with two other teams — Harvard and Penn. After a homecoming loss to the Crimson at Princeton Stadium, the Tigers managed to fend off a knockout blow against Cornell by scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime, where they put Cornell away. Princeton (5-2 overall, 3-1 Ivy League) is the only team with one loss in the league, a game behind Harvard and Penn.

The Tigers have yet another chance this weekend to stay in contention for the Ivy League title. But Princeton will be all but eliminated from the title race unless it beats Penn tomorrow at Princeton Stadium.

The No. 21 Quakers (6-1, 4-0) are still undefeated in the conference, boasting a high-powered offense and a solid defense.

In recent years, Penn has been a problem for Princeton on the gridiron. Although the Tigers lead the series with a winning record of 63-30-1, a Princeton football team has not beaten the Quakers since 1995, when it last won the Ivy League.

The Quakers finished second in the Ivies behind Harvard last year and won the league in 2000. Penn's only loss this season comes to No. 11 Villanova, one of the best teams in the northeast.

The Quakers' quarterback, Mike Mitchell, has already thrown three 300-yard games this season, with his last one coming last week in a 31-7 rout of Brown. On top of that, Penn's receivers, led by Rob Milanese, find seams in the opposing defense for Mitchell to throw to. The Penn offense is currently averaging 41 points per game in the Ivy League.

On the defensive side of the ball, Penn's is one of the best in the League. On the ground, it is currently allowing only 1.1 yards per carry to Ivy League opponents. If it can continue this level of play, it will set a new league record for rushing yards allowed per game, where it currently allows just 26 yards per game.

Those numbers stand to go up, though, as Princeton's rushing game has been impressive this season.

Led by senior running back Cameron Atkinson, who last weekend joined five other Tigers on the 2,000 career yards rushing list, the backfield has been able to pound into teams for long drives. Add to that the topnotch passing attack, and the Tiger offense is solid, once it gets going.

After junior quarterback Dave Splithoff went down in the Harvard game with a separated shoulder, sophomore quarterback Matt Verbit stepped into the backfield and picked up where Splithoff had left off. He managed to spark the offense in the second half of the Cornell game, leading the team to the overtime victory through his passing and rushing. Though Splithoff still remains questionable for Saturday (he was cleared to throw earlier this week), the offense should have no problem clicking with Verbit under center.

As for the Tigers' defense, it has proven to be the anchor for the team this season. When the offense could not get anything going against Cornell in the first half, it was the defense that kept Princeton in the game. At the end of the fourth quarter, it was a big defensive play by junior defensive end Joe Weiss that kept Cornell out of range for the game-winning field goal and forced overtime.

If the Tiger defense can contain the Penn offensive attack and the Princeton offense can get going early with big drives, the Tigers stand a good chance of defeating the Quakers. If that should happen, and Princeton does not lose another game this season, the Tigers could take a share of the Ivy League title — should Penn defeat Harvard next week as well. But as head coach Roger Hughes said early in the season: