PU football upends Harvard with big plays
By: Justin Feil
It would be hard for the Princeton University football team to ignore the implications of ending a nine-year losing streak against Harvard on Saturday.
It is exactly what the Tigers must do, however, in order to be fully prepared to host Cornell 1 p.m. this Saturday.
"It is easier said than done," said Princeton linebacker Abi Fadeyi after the Tigers’ 27-24 win over the Crimson. "That’s where seniors come in, if guys are forgetting what our end goal is. It is lot of senior leadership, but there’s also a good junior class."
And key contributors among the sophomores and freshmen as well, as Saturday’s win proved. Some of them were still adjusting to third grade the last time a Tigers team won an Ivy League championship in 1995, but the Tigers remain on track for that goal thanks to some huge plays on offense, defense and special teams.
"We’ve certainly been close a number of times," said Princeton head coach Roger Hughes after his team climbed to 4-2 overall, 2-1 in the Ivies. "We found a way to make plays when the game was on the line."
Fadeyi’s senior classmate Jay McCareins again took the spotlight with a 93-yard kickoff return after the Crimson took their only lead of the game, 24-20, for the winning score with 7:07 to play in the fourth quarter. The 14 seconds it took for him to pick his way through the initial blocks then dodge a kicker on a sprint to the end zone showed a new resolve among the Tigers this season.
"That’s why Jay Mac is such a great player," Fadeyi said. "When the game seems to be on the line, his teammates don’t doubt he’s doing everything in his power to be the difference maker. Three or four times this year, he’s been that guy for us."
On the Harvard possession prior to their go-ahead touchdown, it was a Princeton freshman, Tom Methvin, who led the stop of Harvard all-league back Clifton Dawson on fourth-and-1 from the Princeton 5.
After McCareins’ score, both he and Fadeyi were on the field as Harvard’s offense was stopped in its final two possessions of the game. Then it was the offense’s time to grind it out. Sophomore Rob Toresco, behind a senior offensive line, picked up a pair of first downs to eventually run out the clock and secure the win, a win that came after Princeton’s Derek Davis scored on a 72-yard reverse on the first play of the game. The Tigers fell behind just once after that play. After McCareins’ score, the Tigers never did relinquish momentum.
"It really did swing," Fadeyi said. "Harvard had just scored and they were winning. Then we got that, and we knew we could win the game. They had just had that drive. They had just scored. Their efforts were kind of wasted after that score."
The Tiger defense made sure of it. Though they allowed Dawson 203 yards rushing on 35 carries, only six of those yards came in the final seven minutes of the game. It was the second straight week in which Princeton allowed an opposing rusher more than 200 yards. This time, however, Princeton won.
"Giving up 200 yards rushing is not what the game plan was," Hughes said. "When you’re playing two great backs, you have to limit the offense other ways. You have to make sure you don’t give up the big play. We were better about it. We were able to make them work at it and work at it. In the end, maybe Dawson was so tired because he had run so far. But we were in better physical shape and we made the stops at the end."
Fadeyi is doubtless a leader on the defense. His statistics won’t jump out at you in the same way he pursues PU opponents, but there are few that can play the run and the pass with such passion in the Ivy League.
"Abi is really running around on the field," Hughes said. "He may not show up in the statistics but, boy, does he make plays from the backside."
Fadeyi had one tackle for a loss among his seven tackles, but isn’t satisfied with the how the defense and the Tigers played yet. He’s hoping to shore up a few points by the Cornell game.
"I’m pretty sure we’re going to have to put an end to this whole 200 yards rushing thing," he said. "We have to cause more turnovers on defense and take more advantage of opportunities on offense."
Hughes pointed out that the Tigers still felt as though they missed some golden opportunities. Princeton misfired to a wide-open Jon Dekker, who still finished with a career-high seven catches, for what could have been one score. The Tigers also drew a penalty on the Harvard 1-yard line and then subsequently fumbled on the next play.
Through that adversity and those problems came a Princeton team that showed again a resolve to win the close games this season.
"Part of it is having experience," Hughes said. "We have a lot of guys on the offensive side with experience. The offensive line has the most experience. And on defense, our backs are experienced. They’ve been there before. They haven’t gotten rattled. They haven’t panicked. They haven’t let adversity change anything. It’s about keeping cool heads and expecting things to happen."
By those final two Harvard possessions, the Princeton defense was expecting the plays to come from itself. Nothing in particular changed, Fadeyi said, but there was a little extra pick-up in the defense’s step.
"It was probably just the realization we could beat them," he said. "The game was coming to a close and we knew we could get tough or we were going to lose."
They got tough to retain control of their own destiny. Penn is the lone unbeaten in the Ivy League, and the Tigers will get their shot in two weeks. First is a Cornell unit that is 1-2 in the conference. The Tigers will turn to the seniors to lead them through what is one of the most promising times in the last 10 years to be in the program.
"We need to keep our focus and continue to get better," Hughes said. "On the surface, (the seniors) have demonstrated tremendous focus. They haven’t let ebbs and flows affect them. It’s how we handle success. I think they’ll handle it well. We haven’t been in this situation where the league is situated the way it is, where you have one team with one loss and we have yet to play them."
Princeton will get its chance. The Tigers do so after ending one streak, an accomplishment they know they can’t enjoy for long.
"The thing is, all we can do is tomorrow ignore that Harvard even happened and focus on Cornell," Fadeyi said. "We’ll take this for what it was. It was a good win for us. Now we have to focus for Cornell."

