Opponent Spotlight: Krawczyk will play without the shadow of Levitt

The Big Red wide receiver was also recruited for wrestling, but took the football path because he felt is was easier to play in college. He now ranks 3rd in the Ivies in receiving yards. Cornell wide receiver Eric Krawczyk has been playing in the dark his whole career. In his two years of playing at the varsity level, the junior has had to play in the shadow of Chad Levitt -- the Big Red's superstar running back who has averaged 160 yards each game at 5.5 yards per carry for his career. But Levitt's dominance quickly came to an end last Saturday as he broke and tore ligaments in his right arm after landing hard on a tackle. That means that Krawczyk emerges from the shadows and into the limelight a week and a half before he was supposed to. But don't tell that to Krawczyk. "[The running game] has not overshadowed the passing game because it has given us a passing game," Krawczyk said. This has indeed been the case, as Krawczyk, quarterback Scott Carroll and fellow wide receiver Steve Busch have been quietly racking up impressive Ivy League numbers. In fact, Krawczyk and Busch rank third and fourth in Ivy receiving this year, and Carroll is the conference's third-best passer. Not a bad number for a team that was supposed to have a one-man offense. And now that Levitt (30 carries per game) is gone, Big Red tailback Brad Kiesendahl is unlikely to receive the ball the same number of times. And that poses problems for both Cornell and Penn. "The difficult part for our team is going to be figuring out what style of attack Cornell will have," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We have five films on them, but we only have one-half of one game of Cornell when [Levitt is] not playing. So at this point, we really have no idea what we're going to see up there." The Quakers and the Big Red are actually very similar, which Krawczyk says should help his game on Saturday. "Penn is similar to our offensive and defensive schemes," Krawczyk said. Krawczyk added that due to the similarities, he has been facing a Penn-esque squad all year in practice. The only difference being that the Quakers defensive backs play more man defense and therefore play less tight than he would expect. "Penn's got some athletic backs," Krawczyk said. "But they don't cover tight. They play loose so that they don't get beat deep." Surprisingly enough, Krawczyk probably would have been more successful as a wrestler than a wide receiver. At St. Edwards high school outside Cleveland, Ohio, Krawczyk was a three-sport letterman including football, wrestling and baseball. St Edward's wrestling team was a seven-time national champion. Krawczyk, therefore, could have attended the best of the wrestling schools had he taken that route. But Krawczyk took the easy way out, if there is such thing. "I figured I could do well with football," Krawczyk said. "It's also harder to wrestle in college." Krawczyk was recruited by all of the Ivies except for Princeton for football, but Cornell came as a quick choice, especially since he didn't have time to deal with the recruiting process because of the wrestling season. In the midst of his second varsity season, Krawczyk will look towards Penn -- the team he was the most successful against in 1995, catching seven passes for 84 yards. That would be fine for Krawczyk, who is averaging just over five grabs and 74 yards each game. But despite being out of the Levitt's shadow in his final game, Krawczyk only sees the contest as a better chance for Busch and himself to catch more passes. This final game could also be an indicator for next year for the Big Red, as the only significant players they lose are the four captains: Busch, Levitt, defensive tackle Seth Payne and offensive tackle Brian Weidel.