Tigers handle Penn, 30-13, to snap nine-year streak
By: Justin Feil
Two weeks after ending a nine-game losing streak at Harvard, the Princeton University football team did the same to Pennsylvania, 30-13, in Philadelphia on Saturday.
For Princeton co-captain Justin Stull, the win over the Quakers meant just a little bit more, not just because it brought the Tigers within two wins of their first Ivy League championship since 1995.
"They’re very similar in how many years it’s been since we beat them," said Stull who hails from Lititz, Pa. "It was 1995 the last time we beat both of those teams. For me personally, the Penn win was a little bigger just because my final decision came down to Princeton and Penn. For the past three years, Penn’s won. I’ve been like, I could have just as easily been on the other side of it. My senior season, it’s real sweet."
With the win, the Tigers guarantee a winning record for the first time since Stull was a freshman in 2002. More importantly, it keeps them in a first-place tie with Brown, a winner at Yale on Saturday. Princeton hosts Yale 1 p.m. Saturday in the senior’s final home game at Princeton Stadium. The Tigers have not beaten Yale since Stull visited as a senior from Manheim Township High, but the three-year losing streak is just another one the Tigers will be looking to break.
"The most important thing is to make sure it’s business as usual," said Stull, who had seven tackles and tipped a punt against Penn. "We can’t come out thinking we’re anything special. Win or lose, we have to enjoy it. If it’s a win after that we have to forget about it and move on. We’ve done that.
"Brown (the Tigers’ only Ivy loss) was a pretty demoralizing game. We played in all that junk. We lost a close game. It was only our second Ivy League game. It would have been real easy to get down on ourselves. I’m not concerned there’s going to be a letdown. The most important thing is to get the same kind of emotional intensity going into the week."
Coming off a win like Saturday’s, it shouldn’t be hard for the Tigers to remain on a high. Princeton jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and true to its pattern this year, made that lead stand up, the sixth time in six chances the Tigers have scored first and won a game.
"We’ve been lucky enough to do that quite a bit," said PU head coach Roger Hughes. "The way we scored on the long pass gave us a lot of confidence. Getting down there and scoring to put 14 on the board, that put added pressure on them. They had a quarterback who was struggling a bit and hadn’t played the week before.
"Abi Fadeyi and Justin Stull played unbelievable. We had to have eight and nine guys up because we knew we had to stop the run. That put pressure on our secondary, and our secondary rose to that challenge."
Clearly Saturday, special teams played a factor in Princeton’s. Stull tipped Penn’s first punt of the game and the Tigers turned it into a 7-0 lead when Jeff Terrell hit Derek Davis for a 60-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive. Terrell found Rob Toresco for a 7-yard touchdown for a 14-0 lead. Princeton even kept momentum on its side after Penn’s first touchdown. Brig Walker blocked the extra point, and Jay McCareins converted at the other end for a 16-6 lead. It stayed that way until after the half as Tim Strickland blocked a field goal and then picked off two passes in the first half’s final two minutes.
"I’ve been very happy with how special teams have performed," Hughes said. "But it’s a total team effort. I’m happy how the offense and defense performed. At different points, we needed plays from different areas. We had big plays on defense, like after they got the fumble. We had a big drive on offense to get a score after their score."
Penn cut the lead to 16-13 and missed a field goal to tie it. The Tigers took advantage with a fourth-quarter 33-yard touchdown pass from Terrell to Jon Dekker and then recovered a Penn fumble on the kickoff and added a late 5-yard run from Toresco for the final margin. J.J. Artis gave the Tigers’ offense a chance to run out the clock with an interception, the Tigers’ fourth of the game, in the last five minutes.
"That was probably the best total team effort I’ve ever been a part of, as far as defense, offense, special teams," Stull said. "I’m so proud of our team. The thing that surprised me most, I expected it to be closer at the end of the game. It’s a credit to our special teams and offense, controlling the clock in the fourth quarter."
With the win, Princeton will ride a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s visit from Yale. If they win against the Bulldogs and win on the road at Dartmouth, the Tigers can do no worse than a tie with Brown for the Ivy title.
"I think we’re going to have our hands full," Hughes said. "It’s a rivalry game. Back in 1995, they were undefeated and Yale came down and beat them and I think they were 1-6. So we’re clearly not taking Yale lightly."

