Columbia-Harvard Keys and Week 8 Picks

Columbia is a 25.5-point underdog at Harvard Tomorrow

Short of sneaking Peyton Manning, Tiki Barber, and Shawne Merriman into the game, Columbia will have few opportunities to beat the Crimson in Cambridge tomorrow. But there's always hope. And perhaps the best thing the Lions can do is try to emulate some of the things Princeton did when the Tigers became the only team to defeat Harvard two weeks ago.

Columbia can't copy Princeton's home field advantage from that game, as the Lions will be on the road. And they won't be able to take advantage of Tim Murphy's coaching mistake when he held quarterback Liam O'Hagan out of the game until the second half.

But some of the things the Tigers did defensively are within Columbia's realm of possibility. Princeton almost shut down Clifton Dawson, holding him to 64 yards on 21 carries. O'Hagan picked up a lot of the rushing slack with 89 yards on ten carries, but seeing Dawson quieted definitely deflated the Harvard sideline. The Tigers also picked off a whopping four passes, (one was off an option pass), and that was a key difference in the game. O'Hagan threw two of those picks and the Lions will have to get at least two interceptions, (and force the passing situations to make those interceptions possible), to win the game.

What's so interesting about Harvard's loss to Princeton is that the Tigers won despite not putting together much of a running game. Princeton ran for just 2.7 yards
a carry in that game, (numbers that are a lot more like what Columbia puts up week after week). If Columbia can find some way to put together a running attack, either with trickery or something else, Harvard's defense could be in trouble. But I say this every week, and so far the Lions' running game has been extremely quiet.

Princeton's passing game did not put up super stats against Harvard, but Tiger QB Jeff Terrell made the big plays when he needed to. But Columbia's Craig Hormann is just not that kind of a "gamer QB," which is why the Lions need to insert M.A. Olawale behind center as much as possible tomorrow to cross the Crimson up a bit. Harvard's defensive line has a ton of sacks so far, and it would be nice to see them at least have to work hard to get any more tomorrow.

But Harvard just has too many weapons, and week 8 is just a little too late to expect any kind of Crimson let down.

PREDICTION: Harvard 28 Columbia 10


Yale (-3) at Brown

The Bulldogs super offense hit a bit of a snag last week scoring just one competitive touchdown, (the other two Yale scores were via a defensive touchdown and a garbage time TD), in a 21-3 win at home over Columbia. But Yale has got to be pumped now that Princeton's loss means the Elis control their own destiny towards an undisputed title. Brown is on a high of its own after two straight wins, including a thriller OT victory at Penn last week. I expect this game to be close, but ultimately the Bulldogs will get it done.

PREDICTION: Yale 34 Brown 30

Pennsylvania (+7) at Princeton

The Quakers are seemingly headed to a late-season collapse similar to what they suffered a year ago. While many say that Penn's place kicking problems have been
the reason for their two-game losing streak, it's hard to overlook the defensive lapses. For Brown to score 27 points in regulation at Franklin Field last week, was an embarrassment for Al Bagnoli and the crew. I expect Jeff Terrell to have a big day as he recovers from last week's weather-aided loss to Cornell in Ithaca.

PREDICTION: Princeton 27 Penn 17

Dartmouth (+10) at Cornell

The Big Red are such a better team at home, and the Big Green just don't have the weapons to change that. Look for Luke Siwula to have a big day and the Big Red defense to pitch something very close to a shutout.

PREDICTION: Cornell 20 Dartmouth 6