Tigers’ 3-0 halftime lead disappears amid mistakes
By: Justin Feil
BETHLEHEM — The Princeton University football team started the game the way it wanted to by slowing the Lehigh offense, but the start to the second half proved far more frustrating for the Tigers in what became ultimately a disappointing season opener. Lehigh showed how quickly it could erase the Tigers’ chances for an upset of the 10th-ranked Mountain Hawks when it scored on its first four possessions of the second half on its way to a 34-10 win.
"We all feel that this was a lot tougher than the score indicates," said Lehigh first-year head coach Pete Lembo. "I was real, real proud of the way my defense played in the first half. We put them in some bad situations with turnovers and they played well. They played well in the second half, too.
"I was real pleased with the way the offense handled adversity. Really, the whole team came out on fire in the second half."
It was the 18th straight win at Goodman Stadium for the Mountain Hawks, who are now 34-1 in the regular season in the past three years. An announced Homecoming crowd of 10,893 saw Lehigh rally from a 3-0 halftime deficit for its 13th consecutive win over an Ivy League opponent.
"I’ve never been so disappointed after a loss," said Hughes, who was 3-7 last year in his first season at Old Nassau. "I told them that we’ll be a good team as we get more experience and learn from our mistakes. The first thing I said was that no one person, no one play won or lost this game. We win or lose as a team. We can choose to go two ways. We can finger-point, or we can take those same hands and wrap them around our teammates and hold them together and become a close team."
Lehigh’s defense and special teams created several opportunities which the Mountain Hawks’ offense then capitalized on in a hurry. In all, Princeton turned the ball over five times, four times in the second half. Lehigh had three turnovers in the first half, but did not have a turnover in the second half.
After the Tigers went three-and-out to open the second half, Lehigh drove 57 yards in six plays, capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brant Hall to make it 7-3 for the hosts with 9 minutes, 30 seconds to play in the third quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Princeton’s Andy Bryant was squirming for an extra yard when he was hit by a host of Mountain Hawk players and the ball popped into the air. Lehigh’s John Buckley recovered at the Princeton 14-yard line. Two plays later, Phil Pleasant swept around the left end for an 11-yard touchdown run to build the lead to 14-3 with 8:39 left in the third quarter.
"Once we scored the first touchdown, I knew we’d be able to move the ball," said Hall, who finished the day with 120 yards rushing on 15 carries and 12-for-17 for 213 yards through the air. "After the first two passing plays of the half, I knew we were clicking."
And unfortunately for Princeton, their own Tiger offense wasn’t helping to slow the Lehigh offense. The Tigers’ next possession ended when freshman running back Jon Veach, filling in for Cameron Atkinson who injured his shoulder near the end of the first half, fumbled the exchange from PU quarterback David Splithoff, and Lehigh’s Mike Gregorek recovered at the Princeton 43-yard line. Lehigh then drove 32 yards where Brian Kelley was perfect on a 28-yard field goal with 3:41 to play in the third quarter.
Lehigh’s fourth straight score came after Princeton punted the ball away after another three-and-out series. Hall scored his second touchdown of the game to finish off a 58-yard drive that took just three plays and 1:15 to put the Tigers behind, 24-3, as the third quarter ended.
"The first 10 minutes of the third quarter, we lost our poise, we lost our composure," Hughes said. "We made a couple mistakes, obviously some turnovers. You can’t make turnovers against a great program like Lehigh. They know how to take advantage of it."
Lehigh added a 38-yard field goal by Kelley and a 45-yard interception return by Lawrence Williams in the fourth quarter. Princeton scored its only touchdown of the game with 8:49 remaining in the game when Splithoff scrambled and found Blair Morrison for a three-yard touchdown pass that finished off a 10 play, 75-yard drive that took just under six minutes. Splithoff finished 31-for-39 for 228 yards but the Tigers could not keep up with the Lehigh offense once it got rolling.
"I was proud of how our kids came back in the fourth quarter, especially the beginning of the fourth quarter," Hughes said. "I’m very disappointed. I think we’re a better team than we showed in the second half, but I think our first-game mistakes, if we can get those ironed out before we get into the game next week, we’ll be OK."
Hughes had preached all week the importance of a good start for the Tigers in their season opener, and the second-year head coach got big plays from his defense and special teams in the first half but still had mistakes hold them back from taking advantage of it. The Tigers held Lehigh scoreless through the first 30 minutes as they benefited from three Lehigh turnovers.
On Lehigh’s second possession, Kevin Kongslie recovered a fumble by Phil Pleasant. When the Mountain Hawks ranged into Princeton territory early in the second quarter, Lehigh quarterback Brant Hall fumbled and Princeton’s Phil Jackman, returning to his days on the Princeton basketball court, out-muscled him for the loose ball. Kongslie caused Lehigh’s third turnover when he deflected a pass from Hall and Paul Simbi leapt high to come down with the interception.
Including last season’s matchup, Princeton had then held the Mountain Hawks scoreless for the last four quarters. Lehigh outscored opponents, 181-93 in the first half last season and held a 27-7 lead over Georgetown in their season opener two weeks ago.
The Tiger defense held Lehigh to 154 yards of total offense in the first half, but the Mountain Hawks would finish with 385 total yards. Three times in the first half, Princeton punter Taylor Northrop made the Mountain Hawks begin from inside their own 10-yard line. Lehigh, which had 124 return yards in last year’s 20-18 win, was held to just a 26-yard return on the opening kickoff.
Only offensive miscues kept Princeton from taking better advantage of the Lehigh turnovers. On its third possession, the Tigers were perched to score when they had first-and-goal from the Lehigh 2-yard line. Center Roger Patterson’s snap went by David Splithoff, who then scooped it up and threw it the direction of the end zone but was flagged for intentional grounding. The 27-yard mark-off cost the Tigers as they had to eventually punt. After Simbi’s interception gave Princeton the ball at the Lehigh 27-yard line, the Tigers went 12 yards before Splithoff fumbled an option pitch and Lehigh recovered it.
"I felt like in the first half, we played like it was our first game," Hughes said. "It’s not an excuse, but we didn’t snap the ball when we were supposed to, we got screwed up on personnel changes defensively, and I think even though we did that, we were able to play through the mistakes."
The Tigers finally grabbed control when they got the ball back with under five minutes to play and took 4:36 to drive 41 yards where they settled for a 37-yard field goal from Northrop with five seconds to play in the half. Princeton went into the locker room feeling good about its chances if it could fix its errors, but those hopes evaporated under a barrage of Lehigh scores to open the second half.
Princeton hopes to take away those mistakes when it hosts Columbia in its home and Ivy League opener 7 p.m. next Saturday at Princeton Stadium.

