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Players Mentioned
Football Friday: Surace Reviews Brown Game, Looks Ahead To No. 15 Harvard
October 23, 2015 | Football
You can watch the video by clicking on the play link in the photo.
The game will be played at noon Saturday on both the American Sports Network and the Ivy League Digital Network. Click here for a full list of TV stations around the country that will be showing Saturday's game.
The game preview is below.
The last time Princeton visited Harvard holds significance for both sides.
For Princeton, the 51-48 triple-overtime win was more than one of the most thrilling victories in a college football program that dates back further than, well, anybody else's program. It also served as a springboard towards Princeton's 10th Ivy League championship.
For Harvard, it's the last time it lost a game.
The 15th-ranked Crimson has been as dominant as any program at the FCS level, and they'll try to extend their win streak to 20 against a Princeton team that is trying to avoid a losing streak of any kid. After winning their first four games this season, the Tigers dropped a 38-31 decision at Brown last weekend on a last-minute touchdown.
Two losses typically won't be enough in the Ivy League championship race. If Princeton can leave Boston with only one Ivy loss, it will likely send shockwaves through the league.
And it wouldn't be the first time Princeton has done that recently.
| Princeton Tigers (4-1, 1-1 Ivy) at #15 Harvard Crimson (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) |
| Time/Location | Oct. 24 • 12 pm • Harvard Stadium |
| Coverage |
American Sports Network/Ivy League Digital Network l WPRB 103.3 FM l Live Stats |
| @PUTigers l @PUTigerFootball l @PUTigers_Live | |
| All-Time Series | Princeton leads 54-46-7 |
| Last Meeting |
Harvard 49, PRINCETON 7 (10/25/14) |
| Last At Site | Princeton 51, HARVARD 48, 3 OT (10/26/13) |
| Last Five Years |
Harvard 3-2 |
| Current Streak |
Harvard 1 |
| Princeton Links |
Game Notes l Roster l Schedule l Stats |
| Harvard Links |
Game Notes l Roster l Schedule l Stats |
| Last Week | Brown 38, Princeton 31: Game Story l Highlights/Interviews |
| Next Week |
Oct. 31, 3:30 pm • Cornell at Princeton • American Sports Network/Ivy Digital |
Follow Along
Princeton's showdown with Harvard will be televised on the American Sports Network (check local listings) and streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network (subscription required). Scott Sudikoff and Jack Ford will call the action on the American Sports Network. Each of Princeton's remaining games are scheduled to be streamed through the Ivy League Digital Network, and four of the five will also be shown on the American Sports Network.
You can also listen live on WPRB 103.3 FM, as well as WPRB.com.
The Last Time …
The last time Princeton visited Harvard remains the last loss that the Crimson has suffered. On Oct. 26, 2013, the Tigers overcame two different overtime deficits for a 51-48 triple-overtime victory at Harvard. Eventual Bushnell Cup winner Quinn Epperly set Princeton records for completions (37) and passing touchdowns (six) in the win; both records were set on the final play of the game, a six-yard pass to Roman Wilson in the third overtime period.
Twice As Nice
The Tigers are now looking for their first back-to-back wins on the road against Harvard since the 1993 (21-10) and 1995 (14-3) seasons, and only their second since the 1980 season.
Between 1995 and 2005, Princeton lost four road straight road games at Harvard by an average of 3.5 points per game. In the three losses between 2005 and 2013, the average margin was 22.7 points.
Name And Rank
Harvard is ranked 15th in the latest Stats FCS National Top 25. The last time Princeton defeated a nationally ranked team came during its last trip to Boston, when the Tigers knocked off the 23rd-ranked Crimson.
Rush To Judgment
Two of the Ivy League's strongest units will go head-to-head Saturday. Princeton is currently ranked second in the Ivy League with 199.6 rushing yards per game, and it has rushed for eight touchdowns in the last two games. Harvard has the league's second ranked rushing defense (72.6), and it has allowed only two rushing touchdowns all season.
Lovett Or Leave It
Princeton sophomore John Lovett has become one of the most versatile offensive threats in the Ivy League, as well as one of the most proficient scorers in the nation. Lovett leads Princeton and ranks in the Ivy Top 10 in both receptions (17) and receiving yards (232); he ranks second on the team in completions (10) and passing yards (92), and he ranks third on the team in rushes (32) and rushing yards (184).
Lovett has also scored eight touchdowns this season, including seven (6 rush, 1 pass) in the last two games. His eight touchdowns are the most in the Ivy League.
Double Trouble
Only 11 Princeton players have rushed for double-digit touchdowns in a season at least once in their careers. Over the last decade, only Quinn Epperly (18, 2013) and Jordan Culbreath (10, 2008) have achieved that feat. John Lovett has seven rushing touchdowns through the first five games of the season.
That Winning Feeling
Despite the loss last weekend, junior Chad Kanoff became the first Princeton quarterback to win the first four starts of his career in nearly a quarter century. The last one to do it shared his first name; Chad Roghair won his first five starts of the 1991 season.
Kanoff threw for a career-high 321 yards in last week's 38-31 loss at Brown, which included a 10-yard touchdown pass to Scott Carpenter in the fourth quarter. He is completing 57.3% of his passes this season and averaging 214.8 yards per game; if you take out the Week 3 game vs. Columbia, which was played in torrential rains and gusty winds, he would be averaging 262.3 yards per game.
Long Journey Ahead
Chad Kanoff connected with senior running back Dré Nelson on a 63-yard pass play to open the second half last weekend. That was Princeton's longest offensive play since Oct. 27, 2012, when Connor Michelsen hit Roman Wilson for a 72-yard touchdown at Cornell. It was also the first pass play of more than 50 yards since Week 1 of the 2013 season.
Cup Of Joe
Junior Joe Rhattigan, who missed last week's game against Brown due to injury, earned his first career start against Colgate when both seniors DiAndre Atwater and Dré Nelson were injured. Rhattigan led the Tigers with 66 rushing yards, and he scored his fourth touchdown of the season. Rhattigan has scored at least once in three of the four games he played this season.
On the season, Rhattigan is averaging 5.1 yards per carry and 69.8 yards per game. He has eight rushing touchdowns in his career, including the only Princeton score in last year's loss to Harvard.
Catching On
During the preseason scrimmage his freshman year, Isaiah Barnes suffered a season-ending (and potentially career-threatening) ankle injury. Barnes has worked his way back and had a career performance with eight catches for 92 yards two weeks ago in the win over Colgate. Barnes currently ranks second at Princeton with 13 receptions and 171 receiving yards this season.
Call A Carpenter
Junior tight end Scott Carpenter, an All-Ivy honoree last year, had only three catches in the first four games of the season, but he came back with five last weekend against Brown. His fourth-quarter touchdown catch (10 yards) evened the score at 31-31, and he caught a two-point conversion pass earlier to tie the score at 24-24. Carpenter, who is tied with Trevor Osborne for the team lead in touchdown catches this season (2), has caught each of Princeton's last two successful two-point conversions.
Pitch And Catch
While John Lovett has gotten the majority of the attention for his triple-threat role in the offense, senior Kedric Bostic has also been an efficient utility player on the offensive side this season. Bostic has caught 10 passes, fourth-most on the team, and he has also completed all four of his passing attempts this season, including a 42-yard pass to Lovett for a touchdown at Brown last weekend. All three quarterbacks touched the ball on that play, as Kanoff took the snap and handed off to Bostic, who rolled right and found Lovett for the score.
Welcome Matt
Princeton senior Matt Arends has been a starter in the Ivy League since Week 5 of the 2012 season, and he earned All-Ivy League recognition during the 2013 championship season. He may have had one of his best all-around games last weekend; he recorded 12 tackles, including eight solo stops, and two tackles for loss. He added two pass breakups, a sack, an interception and a blocked field goal at Brown. That was Arends' second blocked kick of the season.
Han Solo
Princeton safety Dorian Williams, who ranks fourth in the Ivy League in tackles (38), has been one of the team's top defensive players since the opening game of his freshman season. A two-year starter at free safety and an All-Ivy League honoree last year, Williams currently ranks 16th nationally and first in the Ivy League with 5.8 solo tackles per game.
Quarterly Report
In five games this season, Princeton has allowed only five total points in the third quarter. Over the same stretch, Harvard has scored 68 points in the third quarter of its five wins.
Seeing Red
Princeton has the eighth-ranked red zone defense in the nation this year. The Tigers have allowed only 11 scores in 19 trips inside the 20, and only seven of them have been touchdowns. Harvard is slightly ahead of Princeton, as the Crimson have allowed only five scores on nine trips and ranks fifth nationally.
Just For Kicks
From Week 2 of the 2000 season through Week 7 of the 2014 season, no Princeton kicker made a field goal of at least 45 yards. Since Week 8 of last season, reigning first-team All-Ivy League kicker Nolan Bieck has made kicks of 46, 46, 45 and 45 yards. The latter 45-yarder came during the gusty, rainy Columbia game last weekend.
Bieck has now made 23 of his last 24 field goal attempts, with the only miss hitting the upright.
Three Threes For Third
Nolan Bieck ranks fourth all-time at Princeton with 33 career field goals. He needs three to tie Alex Sierk (1995-98) for third and five to tie Taylor Northrop (1998-01) for second. The all-time leader is Derek Javarone, who kicked 45 field goals between 2002-05.
Telling Mason's Story
Junior Mason Darrow, who publicly came out in a piece on OutSports.com prior to the 2015 season opener at Lafayette, will be featured on this week's edition of College Gameday on ESPN. Show host Rece Davis was on campus Tuesday and interviewed Darrow, head coach Bob Surace and two of Darrow's teammates, Jack Knight and Chad Kanoff.
Check with @PUTigers on Saturday for updates on when the feature will air; following the airing on TV, the feature should be available through the @PUTigers and @PUTigerFootball Twitter feeds.
Head Of The Class
Senior co-captain Matt Arends was named one of 135 semifinalists for the 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments, by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Arends, a senior in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, has played cornerback, safety and linebacker during his Princeton career. He has earned both All-Ivy and Academic All-Ivy League honors, and he has also served internships with the US Global Leadership Coalition in Washington, DC, as well as the US Department of State in the US Embassy in Paris. Arends also spent five weeks in an intensive French Immersion Program in Quebec.
The Crystal Ball
Princeton will return to Powers Field next week, when it hosts Cornell at 3:30 pm on Halloween Day. The game will also be shown live on the American Sports Network. Princeton, which is unbeaten at home so far this season has won the last two in this series, including a 53-20 win on Powers Field two years ago. Tickets are available by calling 609-258-4TIX.
During halftime of the game, Princeton will honor both Charlie Gogolak '65 and his older brother, Cornell graduate Pete Gogolak, who have been named co-recipients of the 2015 NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award. Both were refugees from the Hungarian Revolution, and they introduced the soccer-style of placekicking to American football. Gogolak was a key figure on the undefeated 1964 Princeton football team, and he was a First-Team All-America honoree in 1965. He became the first placekicker selected in the first round of the NFL Draft when he was taken with the sixth overall pick by the Washington Redskins.