Bonfire, Ivy Title on the line

For the first time in more than a decade, the football team will get to see whether or not it can start a fire.

Princeton (6-2 overall, 4-1 Ivy League) will look to both earn its first bonfire since 1994 by completing a Harvard-Yale sweep and remain atop the Ivy League when it faces Yale (3-5, 3-2) this Saturday at Princeton Stadium.

"This is a very unique rivalry ... that takes on special significance regardless of what the records are," head coach Roger Hughes said. "This year, for us, this game has special significance because of where we're at in the league."

Princetonians past and present have been abuzz about this year's football team ever since the Tigers defeated Harvard on the road, 27-24, three weeks ago. The thought of a bonfire set imaginations ablaze. As anyone who has experienced a one — or has just seen the huge picture in First Campus Center — a bonfire would be a fantastic celebration for a school known for strong school spirit in the first place.

But the talk is different now — because not only does Princeton have a shot at a bonfire, but the team also currently stands atop the Ivy League, tied with Brown (7-1, 4-1) for the lead.

If the Tigers can defeat Yale this weekend and then conquer Dartmouth on the road in the last game of the season next week, they are assured of no worse than a tie for the Ivy League championship, exactly a decade after they won it in 1995.

All attention should be on this weekend's matchup, though, because Yale will prove a daunting opponent. Despite their mediocre record, the Bulldogs' style of play poses, "a lot of problems on both sides of the ball," according to Hughes.

The Bulldogs' defense, very physical and aggressive, plays a sort of containment defense that doesn't rely much on the blitz.

"They just line up and say 'Hey, run at us,' " Hughes said.

Similarly, Yale's offensive statistics are better than expected for a 3-5 team. Led by quarterback Jeff Mroz, who is the older brother of Princeton sophomore backup quarterback Greg Mroz, Yale has amassed 2,118 passing yards this season, averaging 264.8 yards per game in the air. Twenty of the team's touchdowns have come on the pass, as opposed to the Tigers' eight.

While the Bulldog offense might be somewhat less balanced than Princeton's, Yale can still move the ball on the ground with freshman running back Mike McLeod, a dangerous weapon whom the Tigers will have to contain. But, though talented, McLeod is nowhere as dangerous as the team's leading rusher last season, Robert Carr, who ran for more than 200 yards against Princeton last season.

Without Carr, the Bulldogs' have been forced to rely on their passing game, gaining two-thirds of their offense through the air — which plays directly in the Tigers' hands. Thanks to an experienced linebacking corps and talented cornerbacks senior Jay McCareins and junior J.J. Artis, the secondary has only given up 11 passing touchdowns all season.

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McCareins has proven particularly dangerous — he has returned six interceptions this season for a total of 218 yards and two touchdowns.

On the other side of the ball, Princeton will look to continue its multi-pronged offense. Though it is nothing that the Tigers haven't seen before, Yale's defensive line is sure to pose a critical challenge for the all-senior offensive line. The Tigers must win this matchup if they are to successfully threaten the Bulldog defense on the ground as well as in the air.

"They have a really big D-line," senior offensive lineman Andrew Wilson said. "We'd like to run the ball on them, and if we don't come to play and they're going to push us around, our offense will become bound. We'll become one-dimensional and [have to] throw the ball."

In years past, Yale has been quite successful at tripping up Princeton. Last year's 21-9 loss came after the Tigers had closed the gap to 14-9, only to have a bobbled punt result in a turnover. The play stole away the momentum gained from Princeton's solid defensive play and directly contributed to the loss.

This season, though, if Tiger fans are looking for any more reassurance, they might look to the Bulldogs' 38-21 loss to Penn — the team Princeton beat last weekend by a 30-13 margin.

But as members of the team recognized, last weekend's win does it no good this week. And that's not just Hughes' preaching; his players have clearly been listening and taking his words to heart.

"We were in the locker room after the game, and immediately the captains walked in and said, 'Fellas we've got two left,' " Hughes said. "I thought that demonstrated really what the team's been about all year — [that we're taking it] one game at a time. This is round nine of a 10-round championship fight."

While the Tigers have been through a few rounds, they are about to advance to the championship round. And we'll see what kind of fire they have within them.