In last season’s contest, the Harvard football team spent as much time finding holes as it did leaving a rather large one on the Cornell scoreboard.

The Crimson’s (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) 27-0 thrashing of the Big Red (1-2, 1-0) was just one defeat in Cornell’s 0-8 2003 Ivy campaign. This season looked to begin similarly, with preseason polls picking the Big Red to finish dead last in the league once again.

But a shocking 19-7 victory over Yale to open the Ivy season forced both fans and opponents to take another look at the previously-disregarded squad from Ithaca.

Cornell owes its early success to a defense that returns nine starters from a year ago. That defensive unit forfeited only 100 yards rushing in last week’s loss to Towson and has surrendered just 3.8 yards per carry on the season.

The emergence of Cornell’s stalwart defense can be attributed in part to first-year coach Jim Knowles, a former All-Ivy league defensive end for the Big Red. He comes to Cornell this fall after a 2003 campaign with the University of Mississippi, where he coached the linebackers unit for the nation’s 14th-ranked run defense. Knowles has brought similar success to Ithaca, revamping a defense that gave up over 200 yards rushing per game in 2003.

“It’s very much an attitude, stopping the run,” Knowles said. “You have to commit your people to doing it. You can’t just give it lip service. You’ve got to commit to a physical type of practice and get your guys ready for the hard hitting it takes to stop the run.”

That hard hitting has noticeably paid off for the Big Red. The Cornell defense ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense for Division I-AA, holding opponents to under 14 points per game. But that stifling unit will have to tackle a balanced Harvard offense that averages 36 points per contest.

The Crimson offense is sparked by sophomore running back Clifton Dawson, who leads D I-AA in scoring with 18 points per game. In Harvard’s first three games, Dawson has compiled 498 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. If Cornell is to have any success against the home team, they must contain the third-best rusher in the nation.

“A guy like Harvard has in Dawson—he’s extremely talented and a hard and fast runner,” Knowles said. “You better have a game plan to stop him.

“He’s such a great player. We’re going to try to get a lot of guys around him, so if the first guy misses, hopefully the second guy will pull him down,” he added.

Knowles’ philosophy worked wonders in the win over Yale. In that game, the Big Red’s smothering defense held the Bulldogs to a dismal 35 yards rushing on 22 carries. Yale’s standout running back Robert Carr, then ranked third in D I-AA, endured a miserable afternoon in Ithaca.

A similar battle at the line of scrimmage figures prominently into tomorrow’s game. Harvard’s offense has averaged 222.7 yards rushing in its first three games, scoring 10 touchdowns on the ground. The relentless Cornell defense will try to put an end to Dawson’s quest for a 10th straight 100-yard effort. Dawson last failed to pass the century mark against Cornell a year ago.

“With Dawson, you’ve got to hope on that day that luck is with you and you’re a good guesser,” Knowles said.

The Big Red will try its chances with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Crimson’s passing game. Harvard has only two passing touchdowns all season.

But Fitzpatrick is by no means a manageable alternative.