There have been a lot of surprise teams in the Ivies this year, and Harvard has certainly been one of them.
Inconsistency and mystery have buzzed around this program for weeks, Every week, we've pretty much seen a different Crimson squad. Last week was no exception, with Harvard putting together a comeback to beat Dartmouth a week after hardly showing up in a blowout loss at home to Princeton.
The mystery has been mostly about the QB position. Returning senior starter Joe Viviano lost his spot for still undisclosed reasons. He was replaced by Jake Smith, who's been great at times but erratic as you expect for a freshman at that position. Rumors of some kind of personal rift between Viviano and Harvard Head Coach Tim Murphy have been running rampant, but don't expect any confirmation anytime soon.
Another surprise for me is the fact that Harvard's very talented junior RB Charlie Booker hasn't made more of an impact, especially with a freshman QB at the helm. The Crimson offensive line is simply not doing the kind of job we're used to seeing from a Harvard program. The loss of Larry Allen from that unit is a key factor.
What does this mean for Columbia? After their win over Dartmouth, the Crimson at least sound more confident and they're always dangerous anyway. So far, the odds makers are sticking with the Lions as a three point favorite.
The bottom line is that this is still Columbia's best chance to win an Ivy title in at least 46 years and beating Harvard would put them in a very strong position. The Lions still have a game against Cornell and Yale has tough tests at Princeton and against the Crimson in The Game.
So it is yet another game of the century for the Lions, and they'll just have to try to solve this Harvard mystery one play at a time.
3 comments:
Threemonths ago, who would have thought we'd be 3pt faves to Harvard?
In a sense, this game can define our entire season. Because we had a complete letdown last week and lost to Yale, we are in a 3-way tie for first. Lose this game and the title is available to half the teams in the league. Win and we are in a solid position for at the very least a share of the title we have not seen in 56 years.
The letdown was disappointing but also part of sports. One hopes it is out of our system. The key now is to put it in the past and rebound aggressively. If we can show up at Baker with attitude and determination, we seize control of our destiny. We are very slight favorites over Harvard, but that is meaningless. What counts is the will to win. We certainly have the talent.
Go, Lions. 7-1 !!
To Big Dawgs point....even very good teams lose....but look what they do in response. Our team is resilient and will figure out how to handle Harvard and remain undefeated at home....
Post a Comment