Jeremy Dubert: Penn and Princeton at it again

Penn fans are used to seeing a sports season culminate with a game against Princeton, in which the winner is crowned champion of the Ivy League.

How many basketball seasons have concluded in this fashion, as the Quakers and Tigers -- invariably the league's two premier teams -- go right down to the last few seconds of the very last game?

Just refer to March 5 at the Palestra for recent proof.

But the Red and Blue football team is in a different kind of situation this Saturday in Old Nassau.

It is an immensely important contest because, although a victory will not guarantee Penn a ring, a loss will most likely preclude one.

A win would simply crack the door open a bit more, putting Penn in an ideal position for the remainder of the schedule.

Very rarely could one even consider the notion that any Penn squad could conceivably look past a Princeton game to one that potentially holds even more significance.

Harvard, the defending Ivy champs who are tied with Penn atop the Ancient Eight standings this season, will visit Franklin Field next week for Penn's home finale.

Yet, it would be a mistake to assume that this matchup with the Crimson, as of today, is more crucial, or more difficult for that matter, for the Quakers than the one with their archrivals just 72 hours from now.

True, the same scenario involving Penn and Harvard in 2001 might well be replicated in 2002.

Last year, both clubs were undefeated heading into Harvard Stadium on Nov. 10, when, on a gray and cold Boston afternoon befitting the result, Penn dropped a heart-wrenching 28-21 decision.

Of course, just to reach that point, Penn had to dispose of each of its opponents, which it did without much of a problem -- save the 21-20 nail-biter at Dartmouth on September 29 when the Big Green missed an extra point with only 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.

There's one big difference, though, between last year and this year. In 2001, only Penn and Harvard were legitimate contenders.

To put it kindly, Princeton stunk.

This year, however, those familiar foes just a half hour up the Turnpike have made it a three-horse race.

And that means that winning at Princeton Stadium on Saturday is not just vital to Penn's championship dreams -- it might be even more challenging than knocking off Harvard on the gashed and tarnished turf of Franklin Field.

The Tigers have had a schizophrenic year to this point, but it has added up to a respectable 5-2 overall record. And their 4-1 conference mark puts them a game behind the leaders and in line to tie the Quakers with a win.

Princeton has inexplicably struggled to defeat perennial Ivy doormat Columbia, as well as 0-7 Brown, winning the two games by a combined five points.

Meanwhile, they have performed extremely well against its best competition, just narrowly falling to Lehigh and Harvard.

To add further mystery to their campaign, Princeton had scored an average of just 16 points in the three games -- all of them at home -- prior to last week's battle at Cornell.

Naturally, the seemingly sputtering offense of the Tigers posted 32 points on the road -- in the snow, mind you -- last Saturday.

The Tigers have not been nearly as dominant this year as the Quakers have been.

Penn's average margin of victory in league games is an astounding 28.5.

Meanwhile, Princeton has outscored its league opponents by a grand total of one.

However, just remember all the classics we have seen between these two schools in so many sports. Especially now that Princeton football has greatly improved this year, this has the potential to get added to the list.

If Penn emerges with its unblemished mark intact, this -- and not the Harvard rematch -- might later be recalled as the most crucial and most difficult game in the Quakers' undefeated, championship season of 2002.

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