Tigers improve to 3-0 with win at Columbia
By: Justin Feil
NEW YORK CITY – The Princeton University football team’s defense has been good in helping it win its first two games.
It was spectacular in leading the Tigers to a 3-0 start with a 19-6 win at Columbia on Saturday. The win was the sixth in the Tigers’ last seven Ivy League openers, all against the Lions, who slipped to 2-1 overall, 0-1 in Ivy play.
Princeton’s offense turned the ball over four times, but the defense more than made up for it. The defense held the Lions to two first downs through the first three quarters, zero conversions out of 11 third-down attempts, limited Columbia to 134 total yards of offense, intercepted a pass and even picked up its first safety since the 1997 season.
"We’ve played solid all three games," said Mike Meehan, who tackled Lions quarterback Craig Hormann as he threw the ball out of the back of the end zone for the safety with 3:53 left in the game. "Overall, as a team defense, in terms of all three areas – pressuring the quarterback, obviously great linebacker and secondary play – this is probably the best game. We’ve been solid and we expect to be solid."
The Tigers defense got a lift from the offense that staked it to a 14-6 halftime lead on a passing touchdown from Jeff Terrell to tight end Billy Mitchell and a short run by R.C. Lagomarsino. Lagomarsino, the sophomore, had his best day as a Tiger with 98 yards on 23 carries and 4 catches for 35 yards. Terrell was 12 for 20 for 141 yards. He was sacked once and had two interceptions.
"We did not click offensively today," said PU head coach Roger Hughes. "We’ve got some work to do there."
Two touchdowns were more than enough to keep Princeton perfect on the season thanks to a stifling defense that quieted 8,845 Homecoming fans at Wien Stadium. Princeton had won its last three games at Wien by an average of 2.3 points. This win felt more comfortable than the final 13-point spread.
"I’ve been dreading this game for at least 12 months because of how Columbia plays at home and because of how crazy things happen in this game between Columbia and Princeton," Hughes said. "I knew that some crazy things were going to happen. I credit Columbia’s team and coaches, they took us out of some things offensively we wanted to do. And I credit our defense with defending very poor field position and adverse conditions and coming up with big plays to keep us in the game.
"As I told the team afterwards is, the best thing about winning ugly is winning. We have a lot of work to do up front offensively, defensively I thought overall we played very well and our special teams was outstanding. Special teams kept the pressure on Columbia field position wise. They had to drive a long field to win the game."
That drive was not going to happen against the Tigers defense. Three times, Princeton stopped Columbia on fourth down plays and all 11 times in the game, they stopped them on third down attempts.
The Tigers scored once on offense in the second half. After Conner Louden’s 38-yard field goal hit the left upright and missed in their first possession of the half, the Tigers used a 10-play drive and Louden sent a 23-yard field goal through for a 17-6 lead with 3:26 left in the third quarter. Princeton’s drive was kept alive by a roughing the passer penalty on 4th-and-13.
The Tigers did little more on offense the remainder of the half, but the Lions could do nothing even when given the opportunities by their defense. After Louden’s miss, Columbia’s next possession ended at their own 25 when Jordan Davis was tackled by five Tigers for a 5-yard loss on 4th-and-1.
"Third down gets you off the field, but fourth down you’re looking to the sideline to see, OK, where is the punt team," Meehan said. "If they’re not coming on, it’s, OK, let’s strap it up. That’s the kind of mentality we have. We have a lot of pride in our defense. Going for it on fourth down, that’s all the more exciting than third down."
Columbia’s next chance came when Princeton returner Brian Shields had a punt go through his arms. It bounced high and Jason Pyles recovered at the Princeton 36-yard line.
On Columbia’s third play, however, Hormann looked to throw a screen to Davis, but Tigers linebacker Brig Walker was step for step with Davis and made a juggling interception. Columbia’s defense then made a stop of its own, and the Lions drove into Princeton territory for the first time in the second half. But the Tigers let them no farther than their 44 before Tim Strickland defended Hormann’s fourth-down pass. Columbia had one more drive that netted six yards before Meehan registered a safety on their final possession to end fittingly a frustrating day offensively for the Lions.
"I think they kept their cool fairly well throughout the game," said Walker, whose interception was the first of his career. "It really came down to, as far as our mentality, just keeping in position. We weren’t feeding off their frustration or anything like that. It was just a matter of, you have to play football, you have a job to do and you do it. And that’s our mindset every time we go on the field."
Princeton had chances but could not convert on its first two possessions of the game before its offense finished off its next two drives. The Tigers turned the ball over on downs on their first possession after reaching the Columbia 33 when Terrell misfired twice. Princeton had great field position on its second possession after a 49-yard punt return by Shields. It converted one fourth down before Lions defensive back Andy Shalbrack stepped in front of a Terrell pass for an interception to end the drive at the Lions 22.
The Tigers, though, put it all together on their third drive to take a 7-0 lead with 10:29 left in the second quarter. Princeton drove 74 yards in 13 plays, overcoming two penalties, for the lead. R.C. Lagomarsino had a 36-yard gain after bouncing off right guard Kyle Vellutato to push the Tigers into Lions territory. Princeton went no-huddle when it reached the Columbia 3-yard line, and on fourth down, Terrell play-action passed to tight end Billy Mitchell for a 1-yard touchdown. Conner Louden’s extra point was perfect.
Princeton came right back with another score after a defensive three-and-out. Shields again helped the Tigers start with a short field with a 14-yard punt return. In the Tigers’ seven-play drive, they rushed six times on a methodical march. The one pass was a third-down conversion, a gain of 26 on an acrobatic catch by Brendan Circle between two Lion defenders at the Columbia 22. The Tigers moved to the 4, where Lagomarsino followed a host of blockers around the left side for a touchdown and Louden’s extra point gave Princeton a 14-0 lead with 5:03 left in the half.
"Their team had never played from behind before," Hughes said, "so I talked to our team about throwing the first punch and trying to get up on them and forcing them to play from behind. I was very concerned about turnovers especially because they would keep them in the game and give them good field position. They’ve been a very opportunistic team from a standpoint of scoring points. We didn’t want to give them that opportunity."
Columbia managed its only score of the first half when its defense, which leads the Ivy League in turnovers created, took advantage of its second interception of Terrell and converted quickly. Terrell floated back from his own 22-yard line to attempt a screen pass but his pass went right to Columbia’s Phillip Mitchell.
On their first play, Lions quarterback Hormann’s fake handoff held Strickland for just long enough to allow Austin Knowlin to find an open seam behind him for the 13-yard touchdown completion. Jon Rocholl’s point after hit the left upright and came out to cut Princeton’s lead to 14-6 with 2:54 left in the half. The Tigers made sure that mistake did not happen again and made the plays to run their record to 3-0 for the third straight season.
"With the exception of the 1996 Dartmouth team that was undefeated," Hughes said, "I’ve never been associated with a team that has such great character and such closeness on the team. This team, at the end of the game, there’s no talk about ‘what I did’ or ‘what this did,’ it’s everything about winning as a team."