Hauser, Tigers focus on Yale
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Andrew Hauser isn’t among the league leaders in any category, but because he has his job, several of his Princeton University football teams are.
”It’s definitely a point of pride to have our running back leading the league,” said Hauser, the Tigers offensive tackle, “and to have one of our wide receivers be top five in the league in yards.”
Will Thanheiser is among the leading receivers in the Ivy League. Jordan Culbreath sits atop the Ivy rushing leaders in yards per game. No. 2 is Mike McLeod of Yale, who hosts Princeton 1 p.m. Saturday.
”We as a line would like to see us rush for more yards, have Jordan have a better game than Mike McLeod simply because it’s a point of pride for us,” Hauser said. “It reflects on us hopefully.”
And most likely, it reflects in the final score. Whoever runs the ball most effectively will take a big step toward winning. Princeton is 3-5 overall, 2-3 in the Ivies. Yale is 5-3, 3-2. Neither is happy with their record, but the records go out the window in the rivalry.
”Clearly we’re trying to make the best of where we’re at,” said PU head coach Roger Hughes. “All of us would like to be better. If you’re a competitor, you’re not satisfied unless you win the league title.”
Two years ago that happened when Princeton won at Yale. Hauser got some repetitions in that game and has been starting for the last two seasons. Hughes has made a challenge to the junior and his linemates.
”I told the offensive line that we tend to play better when we’re running the ball well and they take the game over physically,” Hughes said. “I think they like that pressure, and I’d like to see them take the team on their shoulders and open some holes for whoever we have in the backfield to help us control the ball.”
Said Hauser: “I think when we get the mindset and the confidence that we can do what we want, we play a lot more physical. That really sets the tone early, and it’s a lot easier to move guys when you’re hitting them before they’re hitting you and you’re lower than them.”
The Bulldogs present a special challenge. They are the best scoring defense in the league and their three losses have come by a total of seven points. Points are hard to come by against Yale, which returned its back seven starters on defense.
”They obviously have a great scoring defense,” Hauser said. “They’re always big. They’re always physical. We’re going to have to counter them. We’re going to have to be physical with them. It should be a good matchup like it always is.
”Brown had a great defense. Harvard had a great defense. But these guys have the numbers and it looks like they have the players to be better than both those teams.”
The biggest emphasis for the Tigers this week has been making plays. Princeton made plays to put itself in position to win last week against Penn, but with the game on the line, they couldn’t deliver.
”There were good things that happened against Penn,” Hughes said, “but clearly we didn’t finish that game the way we wanted to. I think our kids frankly are looking forward to the opportunity to get back on the field and start executing the plays that we need to to win games.”
For Hauser, that role is pretty basic. Hold his blocks as long as possible to give Culbreath or another PU ball carrier as much of a chance to get downfield.
”As an offense, and especially as an offensive line, we pride ourselves on being able to do what we do and not let others dictate what we do,” Hauser said. “So our approach hasn’t changed too much. We’re still going to focus on running the ball. That’s definitely the cornerstone of our offense. We just have to control what we do and not worry as much what the opposing team will do.”
Hauser will be trying to make it as tough as possible on the Yale defense. It goes hand-in-hand for the Tigers. If Culbreath can run, Princeton has a better chance to win. Two more weeks of effective blocking and Culbreath will remain atop the league rushers and the Tigers could be back to .500.
”We still go out every week putting everything we have into it,” Hauser said. “We definitely want to win these two games as badly as we wanted to win our first eight. We’re still going out and giving it everything we have.”

