Football meets Princeton for Ivy's top spot

Penn's first visit to the Tigers' new stadium is critical for both teams. In his four years on the Penn football team, senior co-captain Joe Piela has been through a lot of games. He has seen the Quakers win big games and lose big games, but tomorrow he will compete in the biggest game of his career. Locked in a three-way tie at the top of the Ivy League with Harvard and Princeton, the Quakers will step onto Princeton Stadium's field at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow with their hopes of a league title riding on the outcome. The last game of this magnitude that Piela played in was Penn's 1995 Homecoming Game, a 22-9 Princeton victory that ended the Quakers' title hopes. In that game, however, Piela was only a freshman special teams player. Now, he is the leader of the Penn defense which is entering the final three games of the season -- each of which the Quakers must win to take the Ivy title outright. "Without a doubt, every game now is going to be the biggest game I play," Piela said. "After this game, if we beat Princeton, then we're going to have Harvard and that's going to be a really big game, and if we win the next one, we win it outright." The first installment of this three-part series will take place against the Tigers and their vaunted rush defense, which is ranked first in Division I-AA. Allowing an average of only 54.1 yards on the ground per game, the Princeton rush defense may cause problems for the Penn offense and Ivy League rushing leader Jim Finn. Princeton has allowed a total of 156 rushing yards in its four Ivy games, while Finn has averaged 157 rushing yards in each of Penn's four league contests. "That's the million dollar question. Will [Princeton] be able to stop [Finn]?" Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We're going to at least make them honor the run. If they can completely shut it down, it will be a long day for your favorite Quakers." Despite Princeton's success against the run, the Quakers will not change the offensive game plan that has worked for them all season. "We're going to have to dictate what we want to do," Penn quarterback Matt Rader said. "In order to be successful, we're going to have to be balanced with both the run and the pass." Rader, who threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns against Yale last week, should be able to pass successfully against the Tigers. Princeton is last in the Ivy League in passing defense, allowing 234 yards per game in the air. Rader will have several options when he drops back to throw this week. Against Yale, receivers Brandon Carson (116 receiving yards) and David Rogers (84) had breakout games. Together with Penn's leading receiver Doug O'Neill, Carson and Rogers give Rader a wider selection of targets. "I have confidence in my receivers and my offensive line to get it done, but that's really not the first option," Rader said. "The first option will be trying to control the ball and to try to score points running and passing." The Penn offense will not be the only offense with more than one option. Piela and the Penn defense expect Princeton to come out with numerous formations. The Tigers feature four tailbacks, each of whom has led the team in rushing for at least one game in '98. Combined, the four horsemen have rushed for 967 yards. In addition, Princeton quarterback John Burnham is averaging 209 yards of total offense per game, the most by a Princeton player since 1988. "I expect them to do the same things they've been doing all year," Piela said. "They go to some four wide receiver stuff. They run some two tight end stuff. I think that they might try to throw the ball initially, seeing as how other teams have had success against us." Passing the ball would seem like a good idea for the Tigers. Opponents are averaging 225 yards in the air against Penn, which ranks seventh in the Ivies in pass defense -- ahead only of the Tigers. "Princeton will probably look for some gimmick play to catch us off-guard," Piela said. "We haven't had an interception in 92 pass attempts. We're going to have to make some plays if we want to win this game." This is the third time in the last five years the Penn-Princeton game has had title implications. In 1994, Penn beat Princeton on their way to the championship. In 1995, the Tigers prevailed in the homecoming game at Franklin Field. That homecoming game drew more than 35,000 fans to Franklin Field. Most current Quakers have never played before a crowd that size, but tomorrow's matchup is expected to draw a crowd approaching that number. Princeton Stadium, which is in its first year of existence, has a capacity of 28,000, and tomorrow's game should draw a crowd near that figure. "This is definitely the biggest game I've ever played in," Penn linebacker Jim Hisgen said. "I've never played in front of 30,000 people." The size of the crowd will be big, but it pales in comparison to the importance that winning this game will have for the Quakers.

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