Football: Tigers prepare for rivalry date in Cambridge

But a victory will not come easily. The team has not defeated Harvard since 2006, when the Tigers finished 9-1. In its last 10 games, the Crimson has won eight and four straight, outscoring its opponents 138-44.

The Tigers opened Ivy League play well by beating Columbia 24-21 at home. But they followed that up with a very poor performance at Brown, getting shut out 34-0. The Bears lost 24-7 at Harvard earlier this season.

“After watching the film, we had a lot of mistakes in the plays we game-planned,” freshman tailback Chuck Dibilio, who is the team’s leading rusher, said. “We did a lot of little things wrong here and there that added up to a loss.”

One thing that did not help Princeton against Brown was that the team’s leading tackler, junior linebacker Andrew Starks, had to miss the game due to injury.

“Missing the Brown game was one of the most difficult moments of my Princeton career to date,” Starks said. “I haven’t missed a single game since eighth grade, and not being able to go out and support my team for the first time was tough for me.”

Though he will make the trip to Harvard, Starks’ status for the game will be a game-time decision. It is no mystery that the team would perfer to have him healthy enough to play. In his two previous games against Harvard, Starks recorded 20 tackles and an interception, and he is hoping to be healthy enough to add to those totals.

“We will have to see how I feel on Saturday,” Starks said of his chances of playing this weekend. “The athletic training staff here is among the best anywhere, and we have been working hard to make sure that I am 100 percent and ready to go.”

Starks has been one of the best players on the Princeton defense since he started for the team as a freshman, and as a sophomore, the linebacker ranked fourth in the Ivy League in total tackles.

“I have invested a great deal of time over the off-season to strengthen specific aspects of my game,” Starks said. “I feel I am having a successful season because my teammates are playing extremely well around me. We have a lot of playmakers on defense, and that frees me up to make more plays.”

The Tigers must work on a lot of aspects of their game in order to beat Harvard, which looks like one of the better teams in the Ivy League.

“The coaches tried to implement more of a game-time atmosphere at practice this week so that we are used to executing our assignments in that type of atmosphere,” Dibilio said. “Everything has just been more intense this week to try and prepare ourselves for the challenging task ahead.”

Dibilio will need to play well if the Tigers hope to win this Saturday. Though just a freshman in his first semester of college, he has earned an important role — leading the team in carries and rushing yards and maintaining an average 6.3 yards per carry.

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“It is great to have a role as a freshman. Coming into camp this summer I just wanted to get in the game,” Dibilio said. “Now that this has happened, though, I am working as hard as I can to help the team win each game.”

Dibilio did not come into the season at the top of the depth chart, but hard work in the preseason and an 86-yard performance in his opening game raised eyebrows. He raced for 147 yards in a loss against Hampton earlier this month, setting a single-game Princeton rookie record.

“The upperclassmen are great — I would have never learned the offense as fast as I did without [junior] Akil Sharp and [sophomore] Brian Mills,” he added. “During summer workouts and into camp they answered all my questions and made sure I knew what I was doing.”

Another freshman who has had an important role in the Princeton offense is wide receiver Matt Costello, who leads the team with 212 receiving yards. The freshmen will need to continue their impressive performances for the visitors to have a shot to upset Harvard.

“Harvard is a tremendous football team. We know that this game is going to be a battle and look forward to the challenge,” Starks said. “I think that everyone is confident in the fact that if we play sound, disciplined football, we will give ourselves a great opportunity to win on Saturday.”