Best Ivy team plays host to football

Georgia vs. Rice. Pit those two I-A college football programs against each other, and anyone who knows football knows the winner. Georgia is currently ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, while Rice sits in the middle of the Western Athletic Conference with a 2-6 record, 2-2 in the conference.

What does this have to do with the Princeton football team's match-up Saturday against Penn?

The Quakers (7-0 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) are ranked No. 9 in the country in the I-AA equivalent to the AP poll — the Sports Network/CSTV poll. Princeton, meanwhile, sports a record (2-5, 2-2) similar to that of the hapless Owls.

Princeton head coach Roger Hughes would say nothing to dispute Penn's prowess.

"Penn is an outstanding team all-around and among the best in every area of the game of all the teams we've seen this year," Hughes said. "They are very deserving of the No. 9 ranking. I don't see any weaknesses in [Penn]. They are solid all around."

Penn head coach Al Bagnoli might dispute this comparison, though.

"I don't put a lot of stock in rankings," Bagnoli said. "But what the ranking does reflect is we've been able to play well on a fairly consistent basis and string together a lot of Ws."

That's "a lot of Ws" as in 13 straight, the second longest streak in I-AA football. As strong as this may sound, the Quakers have been shaky this year.

"We're not the dominant team in the league we were last year," Bagnoli said.

This was evident last week against Brown (2-5, 1-3), one of the worst teams in the Ivy League. The Bears have only beaten Cornell (1-6, 0-4) in league competition this year. After jumping out to a 21-0 lead early in the third quarter, Penn was barely able to hold on against Brown for a 24-21 win thanks to a late-game interception.

Clearly, the Quakers have some chinks in their armor, but they are still the class of the Ivy League.

The key to staying in the game will be the high-powered Princeton offense finding places to exploit Penn's defense. Hughes emphasized the possibility of an upset raised by Brown's near-win.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"Brown did a great job of taking what Penn gave them," Hughes said. "We've done a nice job as an offensive staff to take what the defense gives us."

Penn does not give much, though. The Quakers lead the league in rushing defense, allowing only 95.4 yards per game. This will be a big change for Princeton from last week's match-up with Cornell, the worst rushing defense in the league. Princeton only gained 162 yards on the ground against the Big Red, but that is misleading.

"You have to look at overall productivity and not worry too much if it's passing or rushing," Hughes said. "In the Cornell game, the passing game was playing so well that we didn't need to run the ball."

Princeton will need both parts of the offense to be clicking Saturday, though, because Penn's pass defense may be just as dominant. The Quakers are third in the league in pass defense but first in pass efficiency because they are thrown at often when they are in the lead.

Princeton's offense is led by junior quarterback Matt Verbit, who is emerging as a first-rate quarterback after fighting for the starting job all last year.

"Verbit is a much better player with all of this year's experience," Bagnoli said. "He is confident and understands the offense much better. He is making better decisions. It's never been a question of athleticism with him, but he's now getting on the same page as the receivers and is as good as any quarterback in the league."

That is, except maybe for Penn's Mike Mitchell, who has put up slightly better numbers and, more importantly, quarterbacks an undefeated squad. Penn also has the leading rusher in the league, Sam Mathews.

"Penn doesn't make a lot of mistakes or turn the ball over," Hughes said. "Mike Mitchell throws on time and rarely gets sacked. They have an experienced offense with several seniors and [the sophomore] Mathews may be the best back in the league."

Rice probably would not beat Georgia, and Princeton probably will not beat Penn. But one day those roles might be reversed, and Hughes hopes that the future will lead to better odds: "Hopefully we'll play well enough that our time will come."