Tigers offense explodes for 35-18 victory
By: Justin Feil
For the first time since it opened Princeton Stadium with a win in 1998, the Princeton University football team won a season opener.
The Tigers used a late first-half touchdown to pull away on their way to a 35-18 win over Lafayette before 8,691 at Princeton on Saturday. It was the most points by a Princeton team in a season opener since a 41-36 win over Cornell in 1982.
"Frankly before the game I was nervous they were too pumped up for the game," said PU head coach Roger Hughes, who celebrated his first opening-game win of his five-year tenure. "We had to bring them in and calm them down."
The Tigers had plenty to be excited about after scoring three touchdowns in the first half, including a 4-yard run by Matt Verbit on the final play of the second quarter, then ground out one touchdown in the third quarter before opening the fourth quarter with a 50-yard touchdown from Verbit to Eric Walz.
Lafayette entered the game as the No. 2 overall defense in Division I-AA, but after surrendering just 13 points total in their first two games they had allowed 14 less than two minutes into the second quarter. Princeton finished with 410 total yards against the Leopards who fell to 1-2 this season.
The Princeton defense stopped a key early drive with an interception by Abi Fadeyi in the end zone. They also had better success against Joe McCourt, the only opposing running back to rush for more than 100 yards in each of the past two seasons. McCourt was held to 53 yards rushing. The Tigers also recorded three sacks.
"I’m very excited for our team," Hughes said. "I’m pleased with how we played."
The Tigers never trailed in this one. After both teams failed to score on their first possessions, Princeton capitalized on great field position for their first touchdown.
Greg Fields, who set up the Tigers in Lafayette territory with a 27-yard punt return, took a hand-off on a misdirection run to the left and followed a fullback Joel Mancl and receiver Clinton Wu 16 yards into the end zone. Derek Javarone’s extra point gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead seven minutes into the game, the only score of the first quarter. The touchdown capped a 42-yard drive that took just four plays and 1:56.
"When he touches the ball," Hughes said of Fields, "things are going to happen."
Fields played a big role Saturday in setting up the Tigers with great field position. He returned six punts for 87 yards and ran three kickoffs back 78 yards. Fields also caught two passes for 30 yards and rushed three times for 35 yards.
"Any time you get it on a short field, it certainly helps your production offensively," Hughes said. "And who’s responsible for that? The defense for stopping them, and No. 2 Coach (Don) Dobes worked with our punt blocking and Fields on those returns, if you notice we were doubling Larry Johnson because he had been a very big factor in making plays. So Coach Dobes set them up and Fields made the plays."
Lafayette had a chance to tie it on the ensuing possession, but after driving 65 yards to the Princeton 14-yard line, Abi Fadeyi ended the 13-play drive by intercepting Brad Maurer’s pass in the end zone. It was Fadeyi’s first career interception.
The Tigers extended their lead to 14-0 1:52 into the second quarter on Mancl’s first career touchdown, a 4-yard pass from Matt Verbit that completed an eight-play, 80-yard drive. The big play came when Verbit hit Wu with a 41-yard pass on the second play of the drive. Wu, who had broken ahead of his defender before the ball arrived, slowed and jumped back across the defender to come up with the play that moved Princeton into Leopard territory.
Wu, who had five career receptions coming into the season, left the game when he injured his knee in the final 30 seconds of the first half on his seventh catch of the night. Wu fell awkwardly after planting to make the catch at the Lafayette 12-yard line. Hughes said afterward that Wu is expected to miss the remainder of the season with what was preliminarily diagnosed as a torn ACL.
"He was playing so well," Hughes said. "He pivoted on his foot in the grass. He heard it pop when he caught the pass and it’s an ACL."
Wu’s replacement, Jay McCareins picked up double duty and moved from cornerback to wide receiver to make a key third-down catch on the next play. That catch moved the ball to the Lafayette 4-yard line, where after using its final timeout with second ticks left on the clock, Princeton got a huge play from Verbit. The senior quarterback rolled left looking for a receiver and then plunged headfirst into the end zone with a determined dive as the halftime clock expired. The Tigers took a 21-6 lead into the locker room.
"We had to respond to what they’d done," Hughes said. "We’d been in situations like that before and not finished. We had called a slant play and he was looking for Jay McCareins who was against Larry Johnson, so our best against their best. They did a good job and you can see he’s a good runner. He’s a much better athlete than people think and he was not going to be denied."
The Leopards had found their lone score of the first half when successfully completed a 13-play drive before the Tigers’ final first-half possession. Maurer rolled right and with Princeton linebacker Luke Steckel forced to cover the only receiver on the right side, Maurer beat a fast-closing middle linebacker Zak Keasey to the goal line for the scrambling touchdown. But Maurer mishandled the snap and fired incomplete on the extra point attempt to make it 14-6 with 3:54 left in the first half.
Princeton didn’t lose a step in the second half. Princeton built a three-touchdown lead late in the third quarter when Jon Veach, who played despite a sprained right knee, carried on eight of the Tigers’ nine plays, including a 2-yard run for the co-captain’s first touchdown of the season. With the extra point by Derek Javarone, the Tigers held a 28-6 lead as the fourth quarter began.
The Tigers stretched their lead to 35-6 on the first play of the fourth quarter, a perfectly thrown strike from Verbit to Walz, who was streaking down the middle of the field. Lafayette scored twice in the final 12 minutes, but by then the Tigers had the game well in hand.
"I can’t say enough about Matt’s performance," Hughes said of the senior signal-caller who moved into fourth place all-time in passing yardage ahead of Dave Splithoff. "He put the ball where he needed to. He was smart with the football and he directed us. Guys rallied around him."
Princeton looks to improve to 2-0 when it goes on the road for a first-ever meeting with San Diego next Saturday.