The Princeton-Harvard football game, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20 at Harvard Stadium, will be the 100th meeting between the two teams. Together with Yale, the Tigers and the Crimson were known as The Big Three in the earliest days of college football, for their success in regularly beating all other opponents.
They have played each other more often than anyone else. The Tigers have faced the Bulldogs 129 times and Harvard and Yale have met on 122 occasions. But the Princeton-Harvard series lags behind the other two.
And considering the off and on animosity that once existed between the two universities since their rivalry began in 1877, it's a wonder this series is about to reach the century mark.
The strength of those bad feelings, mainly brought on by rough play by both sides during games and allegations that each was engaging in unfair recruiting, was enough to cause a break in relations three times: 1889-1895, 1897-1911 and 1927-1934. Despite these early problems, the two have met every season since 1934 (with the exception of World War II), and the ill will between them has been buried.
The first 80 years or so Princeton and Harvard took turns with winning streaks in the series. The Tigers won 12 of 16 contests from 1887 to 1911. Harvard did not lose the next seven seasons, going 5-0-2. Old Nassau lost only once in the 1920s, but the Crimson responded by losing just once over the next decade. Finally, the Orange and Black captured 10 of 12 from 1947 to 1958.
Overall. Princeton leads the series 52-40-7.
Each team won its share in the first decade of play, but the first big showdown between them came in 1889, when both entered the contest with perfect records. Sporting a 9-0 mark, the Crimson had outscored its opponents by the whopping margin of 404-6.
Captained by Edgar Allen Poe, grandnephew of the writer, the Tigers had dispatched six opponents with equal aplomb. The game was held on Harvard's turf in Cambridge, and the home team held a 15-10 advantage at halftime. That turned out to be the high point for Harvard.
Knowlton “Snake” Ames (the nickname came for his superb open field running) took charge thereafter, scoring on a 70-yard punt return and setting up another touchdown with a 105-yard return. At the end Princeton had scored 31 unanswered points for a 41-15 triumph. The Orange and Black won its final three to finish 10-0.
The loss was a bitter pill for Harvard to swallow, and it responded by breaking relations with Old Nassau. The two teams did not meet again until 1895, and the result as just as unsatisfying for the Crimson. Coming into the contest having won its first seven, it fell 12-4 to a Princeton team that lost only to Yale.
One year later in Cambridge, Harvard again faced a heavily favored 8-0-1 Princeton team that had given up just six points. Still, with two of its better players, Addison Kelly and Houston Armstrong injured in the first half, Princeton found itself in a scoreless tie at halftime.
At this point, another of the famous Poe brothers, Johnny, inspired his teammates with the admonition, “If you won't be beat, you can't be beat.” Taking that to heart, the Orange and Black scored twice for a 12-0 victory, and knocked off Yale, 24-6, to finish 10-0-1.
With the two teams at odds over the use of graduate students (Harvard, with greater numbers of post graduates, favored making them eligible; Princeton did not), the rivalry was again suspended, this time until 1911. And when it resumed, there was a strong sense of d?j? vu. Another undefeated Harvard eleven ran into an unbeaten (5-0-2) Princeton squad and left New Jersey on the short end of an 8-6 score.
World War I came and went, Bill Roper became Princeton's coach, and in 1920 Princeton and Harvard met in another showdown of undefeated teams, witnessed by 44,000 fans in Soldiers Field. The 5-0 Tigers had allowed opponents just nine points; the 6-0 Crimson, the defending Rose Bowl champion, had given up only 14.
The Crimson jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first period, and that held up until the third quarter when Frank Murrey and Don Lourie combined on a spectacular 42-yard touchdown pass to tie the score. Stan Keck blocked a punt early in the fourth leading to a 14-7 Princeton advantage, but the home team came back throwing and scored a late touchdown for a 14-14 final. The tie was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record for both schools.
Two years later Princeton's famous “Team of Destiny,” nicknamed by Grantland Rice, won all eight of its games, and along the way spoiled another undefeated Harvard campaign. Despite Princeton's heroics to that point, including a 22-18 triumph over the University of Chicago, the 6-0 Crimson was favored to win on its field.
Harvard got on the scoreboard first on a 30-yard field goal, but never scored again. A fumble recovery by the legendary Pink Baker on the Harvard 18 set up a tricky double reverse engineered by Brad Dinsmore and Howdy Gray that produced a touchdown. Baker's third quarter field goal produced a 10-3 final.
It wasn't until 1966 that Harvard and Princeton engaged in a contest with Ivy title implications for both teams. The Crimson rolled through its first six opponents without a loss, and arrived at Palmer Stadium looking for its first league championship in five years.
The Tigers, already beaten 31-13 by Dartmouth in Hanover, could not afford another league loss if they wanted to stay in contention. Somehow they had to upset a Harvard team that had knocked off the Big Green, 19-14.
After a scoreless first quarter, Princeton took a 3-0 lead on a field goal by Ted Garcia. The visitors, led by Vic Gatto and Bobby Leo, answered that with a touchdown before the half, and then added another seven points early in the third period. Leading 14-3. Harvard seemed poised to win its seventh straight.
Instead, the Princeton defense did not allow another point, and the offense put together two long scoring drives for the winning 18-14 margin. Princeton won its last two games over Yale and Cornell, and shared the championship with Harvard and Dartmouth.
Princeton narrowly missed another upset of the Crimson the next time (1968) it visited Palmer Stadium with an undefeated record. No better than 3-3 to that point (they finished 4-3 in the league), the Tigers gave Harvard all it could handle that afternoon, holding the Cantabs to their lowest point total of the season in a 9-7 loss.
Back in the underdog role in 1975, Princeton gave coach Bob Casciola one of the most satisfying victories of his tenure. Unbeaten again in league competition (its only loss was to Boston University, 13-9) Harvard seemed a sure bet on its own field against a Princeton eleven playing just .500 football.
However, the Orange and Black hit the ground running that day, and led by quarterback Ron Beible, built up a 24-0 lead through the third period. Beible passed to Kevin Gropp for a 51-yard touchdown, and Mike Carter scored another on a 77-yard punt return, after taking a hand-off from captain Ed Sheridan.
A decade later, 1985, another prolific Princeton quarterback, Doug Butler, led the way to another upset in Cambridge. The Crimson had lost just once in five starts, while the Tigers were 2-3. In a tight contest, the winning points were scored in the fourth quarter by Tom Urquhart, when he ran back a Harvard kick after the Crimson had been hit with a safety.
Fast forward another decade with the teams meeting in Cambridge again. This time the 5-0 Tigers, who would capture their first solo Ivy title since 1964, were heavy favorites against 1-4 Harvard. The Crimson hung tough, however, and the 14-3 outcome was not decided until quarterback Brock Harvey and Kevin Duffy combined on their second touchdown pass.
Since 10 years appears to be the charm for Princeton in this series, a look at 2005 won't hurt. Again, the site is Harvard Stadium, and this time the Tigers were looking to break a nine-game losing streak to the Crimson.
In an inspired effort they got an early lead and kept it midway into the final period. Rob Toresco's running and Jeff Terrell's passing paved the way.
Still, the Crimson managed to move ahead, 24-20, with 7:13 remaining in the contest, and the question remained - did the Orange and Black have anything left to avoid a tenth consecutive loss.
It took just 14 seconds to answer the question. Jay McCareins took the following kickoff and raced 93 yards for the winning score. Harvard had two more chances to change the 27-24 score, but could not.
Finally, no history of this series would be complete without a mention of last year's contest. The 5-1 Crimson seemed primed to pin a loss on the 6-0 Tigers. Old Nassau had a 24-14 halftime lead, but two touchdowns by the visitors put them in charge 28-24.
A year after its late rally in Cambridge produced a win, Princeton pulled off the same feat. This time Terrell connected with wide receiver Brendan Circle on a 20-yard scoring pass that gave the Tigers their seventh win, and ultimately their first Ivy title since 1995.
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