Football Ships Up To Harvard For Ivy Matchup Saturday

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By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com

Midway through the fourth quarter of Friday's nationally televised showdown with Brown, the Princeton Tigers stared disaster in the eye and refused to blink.

Brown, which had rallied past Princeton in 2023, was on the move again. The Tigers jumped out to a 19-0 lead in the ESPNU-televised showdown, but the Bears whittled that advantage down to five points and moved the ball into Princeton territory with seven minutes remaining. Princeton had already been pushed to the Ivy edge with a Week 3 loss to Columbia. It had to hold its ground now to remain viable in the league race.

Over the next five minutes, Princeton created a turnover and then engineered an eight-play, 73-yard drive to clinch its first Ivy win of the season and moved right back into the title race. That finish allowed the Tigers to enter the
second half of their 2024 season with both confidence and momentum, and now they have the opportunity to make an even bigger statement when they take on reigning Ivy co-champion Harvard on the road.

Princeton (2-3, 1-1 Ivy) will face the Crimson (4-1, 2-0 Ivy) Saturday at 3 pm in Harvard Stadium, and the winning team will be one game back of the Dartmouth-Columbia winner in the Ivy standings with four games to play. There will be a new face on the Harvard sideline for this rivalry, even if the face is quite familiar to Princeton fans.

New Crimson head coach Andrew Aurich '06 was an offensive lineman who coached under head coach Bob Surace for eight years, including three on Ivy League championship teams (2013, 2016, 2018). He was an offensive coordinator for the 2019 Princeton Tigers, and then he moved on to Rutgers, where he was part of a staff that recruited Surace's son, AJ, to be a quarterback for the Scarlet Knights. Aurich replaced the recently retired Tim Murphy in Cambridge during the past offseason.

Surace is well aware of Aurich's coaching acumen, so he hasn't been surprised by Harvard's strong start to the season.

"Harvard has a terrific team and is very well coached, as their non-conference wins over Top-25 teams and Cornell show," Surace said. "As always, they have a deep group of running backs and excellent offensive linemen. Their receiving group is one of the most explosive in the country, and they have a quarterback who doesn't miss. They rotate a lot of outstanding defensive linemen, and they are ranked as a top tackling team in the country. They have been incredibly disciplined, and they are among the top three in least number of big plays given up nationally. They are impressive in all three areas."

Princeton knows it will need to be at its best to head home with the victory, but it also believes there are a couple of positives that are working in its favor. After an injury-plagued start, several Tigers have returned to the field and made an impact. New starting quarterback Blaine Hipa is coming off his best game of the season, throwing for two scores and rushing for a third, while several defensive players had their best performances against Brown (Marco Scarano, 14 tackles; Jack Delgarbino, 10 tackles).

The Princeton-Harvard series has had countless classics throughout the 20th century, and there is plenty of reason to believe Saturday will be another special edition of this historic rivalry.

Week 6 Game Notes

History Lesson • Princeton owns a 60-48-7 advantage over Harvard in a series that dates back to April 28, 1877. Princeton has won each of the last six games, including three in a row at Harvard Stadium. Last year, Princeton ended the perfect start for 17th-ranked Harvard with a 21-14 home win; Luke Colella had five catches for 98 yards, while AJ Barber caught a touchdown pass in the win.

Seventh Heaven • Princeton has won six straight games over Harvard, including last year's 21-14 home win. The Princeton record for consecutive wins in this series is seven, which was set between 1947-1953 and included both the Tigers' last national championship (1950) and Dick Kazmaier's Heisman Trophy season (1951).

Catch-22 • In Harvard's last 22 games, they have only lost twice by more than six points. Once was a 37-10 home loss to Princeton in 2022, and the other was the 21-14 road loss at Princeton last season.

Coach Speak • This is the second consecutive week that Bob Surace has faced a former assistant coach, and the first time he has faced a fellow Princeton alumnus. Andrew Aurich '06 was an offensive lineman who coached under Surace for eight years, including three on Ivy League championship teams (2013, 2016, 2018). Last Friday night, Princeton earned a 29-17 win over Brown, which is led by former Tiger offensive coordinator James Perry.

Familiar Faces • The last time two Princeton alumni faced each other as head coaches was Oct. 11, 2019, when Princeton defeated Lafayette, which was led by Surace's former Princeton teammate John Garrett.

Passing Fancy • Harvard has thrown the most touchdown passes in the Ivy League (14). Princeton has allowed the fewest touchdown passes in the Ivy League (2).

Ground Attack • Senior running back John Volker had one of the biggest plays of Friday's win over Brown, a 4th-and-1 conversion that he turned into a 66-yard touchdown to give Princeton an early lead. Volker currently ranks fifth in the Ivy League with 64 rushing yards per game, but he is tied for second with four rushing touchdowns.

I'm Honored (Again) • Freshman AJ Pigford has earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors in each of the last two games. The linebacker recorded four tackles, including three for losses, and added a sack and a fumble recovery against nationally ranked Mercer, and then he had three tackles, a sack and a pass breakup against Brown.

Marco Polo • Prior to Friday night, junior linebacker Marco Scarano had never posted double-digit tackles in a single game for Princeton. He recorded 14 stops and 1.5 tackles for loss in the win over Brown.

Cool Hand Luke • Luke Colella, who had five catches for 98 yards in the win over Harvard last season, posted season bests in catches (six) and receiving yards (96) last Friday night in the win over Brown. Colella also added his third touchdown catch of the season.

Crystal Ball • Princeton will close the season with three home games over four weeks, beginning next Saturday with a 1 pm game against Cornell (ESPN+). The Big Red are currently 1-1 in Ivy League play and will face Brown on the road this weekend.

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