Lions are up first on Repeat Rd.

Columbia is no Harvard. Columbia is no Yale. And we're not just talking about U.S. News and World Report college rankings.

Princeton's rivalry with Columbia isn't as heated as that with the Crimson or the Bulldogs, and an outcome against the Lions has no bearing on the possibility of a bonfire, but the football team isn't underestimating the importance of its first Ivy League test this Saturday against Columbia.

"A league game is a league game," head coach Roger Hughes said. "It's been rare that people have gone undefeated in the league, but clearly you're playing with your head on a chopping block if you lose that first game."

Princeton (1-1 overall) has won six of its seven Ivy League openers under Hughes, all of which were against Columbia (1-1 overall). Despite this and Princeton's commanding 62-13-1 record in the all-time series against the Lions, this weekend's matchup should be a challenge for the Tigers.

Princeton and Columbia find themselves in similar situations heading into Saturday's contest. After dropping its first game to Fordham, Columbia rebounded last weekend and routed Marist 31-7 in its home opener. The Tigers suffered a sloppy defeat against an experienced Lehigh squad two weeks ago but rallied twice against Lafayette to earn a 20-14 victory in week two.

Hughes was pleased with his team's performance at Lafayette and attributes much of his players' success to their strength and stamina, which they have been building up since early July.

"I felt really for the first time in a while we dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage. There was a [physicality] and a presence that we hadn't had over the past couple of years," Hughes said.

Now ranked first in the Ivy League, the stingy Tiger defense showed significant improvement against Lehigh and will have to come up big this weekend to counteract Columbia's offensive threat.

"I think defensively we made a big stride from the first week to the second week," senior safety Kevin Kelleher said, "but there were still some big plays that we left on the field. I think that if you look at the success that we've had in the past, it's because we've been able to eliminate the big plays. We can't give up the long run or the long pass and be successful in this league."

Lion quarterback Craig Hormann has the potential to be a game-breaker despite the fact that he may still not be fully recovered from an ACL tear he suffered last spring. Ranked third in all-time pass completions at Columbia, Hormann averaged only one interception for every 54.8 passes last season and has already connected with wide receiver Austin Knowlin 15 times this year.

Princeton's secondary, led by Kelleher and sophomore cornerback Dan Kopolovich — who has already tallied five pass breakups this season — will have to be aware of Hormann's precision and Knowlin's status as a legitimate deep threat.

Last year the Tiger defense allowed the Lions to gain only 23 yards on the ground due in large part to senior linebacker Tim Boardman, who contributed five tackles in that game and already has 23 this season. To contain the rush, Princeton's defense will have to shut down Columbia's Jordan Davis, who was named Ivy League Co-Player of the Week after gaining 177 yards on the ground and scoring three touchdowns against Marist.

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Princeton's offense also made huge strides last week. Those who doubted senior quarterback Bill Foran's abilities bit their tongues after watching Foran go 18 for 24, gain 190 passing yards and rush for 45 yards on 17 carries against the Leopard's nationally top-ranked defense.

Columbia's defense is notorious for changing its coverage between two-deep and three-deep concepts during games, but this should be no problem for the Tigers' flexible offense. Princeton's five touchdowns have come from five different players, a statistic that shows early evidence of the versatile offensive weapons expected to be unleashed under Foran's leadership this season. To continue the wave of momentum created last week, the offense will need to maintain a higher level of intensity and develop more consistent team speed against Columbia.

Knowing the consequences of an Ivy League loss, the Tigers look to get their first league win tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium.