Saturday roundtable: more than bragging rights

Today's game at Franklin Field is a few important things: it's Homecoming, it's a must-win game given Penn's title hopes, and perhaps above all ... it's Princeton.

That amounts to a whole lot of motivation for the Quakers, who are just coming off a 6-0 loss to Brown. That said, does Penn have anything to worry about in the Tigers?

Calder Silcox:I think not. Princeton appears to be improving under coach Bob Surace, but in terms of talent the Tigers are still far behind much of the league. There are three big factors working in Penn's favor today: homecoming, needing a win to say on pace with Brown and Harvard, and the desire to bounce back from last weekend. Add it all up and it looks like an easy win for Penn.

Brian Kotloff: Let's not get carried away here. The Quakers may be struggling compared to the past two champions, but Princeton is still out of Penn's league. I will always remember that 52-10 game at Princeton last season because of how truly dominating it was. Even if Penn had played its backups, the result would have been the same -- and Penn took its foot off the gas in the second half, too. So this is the perfect situation for the Quakers to have a punching bag to take out all their anger. If there is one challenge in this game, it will be stopping the Tigers' new-look running game led by freshman Chuck Dibilio (2nd in the Ivies in rushing). I'm sure Bob Surace and staff are rebuilding their program with guys like Dibilio, but they're nowhere close to being scary yet.

Kevin Esteves:Yeah, the stats don't lie. Princeton is in the bottom half of the league in just about every statistical category. Dibilio may get his yards, but at the end of the day, Penn will just have too much firepower on both sides of the ball. Also, as Cal mentioned, there's just so much motivation for the Quakers to draw from. I would think they'd be pumped even if there weren't any title implications (and even if this wasn't Princeton they were facing). The bitter taste of a 6-0 loss last week and the win-or-go-home mindset they need to have will only make them hungrier.

Megan Soisson:I think losing is a pretty big worry here. Penn has been living on the edge all season and all games this season could have gone either way. You know my worry is on third and long, and if I can decipher that defensive issue then I think Princeton can too. Every game is a worry, of course. In the end, though, if the Quakers stick to their gameplan they shouldn't have a problem fending off the Tigers.