Defense dominates for PU

Tigers stop Columbia, improve to 3-0

By: Justin Feil
   NEW YORK CITY — Sometimes statistics lie.
   In the Princeton University football team’s 19-6 win over Columbia on Saturday, however, they said everything. They made a clear case for one of the most dominant defensive performances in Tiger football history. With it, Princeton improved to 3-0, 1-0 in the Ivy League, while the Lions dropped to 2-1 overall, 0-1 in Ivy play.
   Princeton’s defense held Columbia to two first downs in the first half, none in the third quarter and five total for the game.
   It allowed the Lions just 23 rushingrds total, 13 less than PU sophomore R.C. Lagomarsino had on one carry. Lagomarsino finished as the leading rusher for the Tigers with 98 yards on 23 carries, and also caught four passes for 35 yards, both team highs.
   Princeton’s defense, which coming into the game led the Ivy League in third-down conversion percentage, did not allow a single third-down conversion to the Lions offense in 11 attempts. They also stopped all three of Columbia’s fourth-down attempts.
   Their stifling three-and-out play allowed Princeton to hold a 2-to-1 ratio in time of possession. It was closer to 3:1 over the final three quarters.
   And the cherry on top of the sundae was a safety in the fourth quarter by Mike Meehan when he forced Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann to toss the ball out of the back of the end zone to close out the Tigers scoring. It was the first safety since the 1997 season, when a Harvard punter ran out of the back of the end zone.
   "We’ve played solid all three games," said Meehan, the senior defensive end who recorded his third career sack. "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 defense had to be solid. The Princeton offense did not have its finest day as an opportunistic Columbia defense that leads the Ivy League in turnovers created caused three, and a punt miscue cost Princeton the ball a fourth time. Princeton did jump out to a 14-0 lead on a touchdown pass from Jeff Terrell to Billy Mitchell and 4-yard run by Lagomarsino, but the offense was stagnant after the first two possessions of the second half.
   "Their team had never played from behind before," said PU head coach Roger Hughes, whose team plays at Colgate on Saturday, "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."
   No worries. Princeton’s defense only allowed a score after Terrell’s screen pass was intercepted and returned inside the Tigers’ 20-yard line just before halftime. But the eight-point cushion grew to 11 with a 23-yard field goal by Conner Louden near the end of the third quarter and must have seemed like 40 points with the way the defense was playing.
   "We’re a team," Meehan said. "It’s got to be a team win. Maybe the defense has to step up. Maybe next week the offense has to step up. We never view it as, ‘we carried you guys.’"
   The offense did make plays. Lagomarsino’s 36-yard scamper came when he bounced off one of his own players to make an impossible cut and add 20 more yards. Wideout Brendan Circle went up high to snare a 26-yard completion between Columbia defenders who sandwiched him. But it was the defense that kept the Lions on their heels with plays like Brig Walker’s interception that ended Columbia’s best second half chance after a muffed punt at the Princeton 36 late in the third quarter.
   "Our defense relishes the challenge," Hughes said. "They’re excited to get back on the field. They’re growing together as a unit. When they make a big play, watch the film, there’s seven or eight guys coming up to congratulate the person making the big play. So this defense is playing with a real passion right now and they’re making good decisions. The neat thing is they don’t get rattled.
   "The other thing we’re doing is playing assignment football. Everybody is in place where they’re supposed to be. Brig’s interception, they came with a flare control. Brig pulled out of a blitz to get over there and make an unbelievably athletic play to bring that ball down. I think it’s a credit to our defensive coaches."
   Princeton’s defense has been solid in the first two games, allowing an average of 12 points per game. The Tigers were even stingier Saturday against a Lions offense that ranked second in the Ivy League in scoring offense.
   "We were impressed with the tape," Meehan said. "I thought Columbia looked better than they’ve looked since I’ve been here. They were the second-rated offense coming in. I don’t think we expected the success we had. We always expect to be successful. I think we’ve really matured. A lot of the younger guys have come along and are getting a lot of confidence. I’m sure they expected success, but I think we played very well.
   "Our first priority all the time is to stop the run, to make them one-dimensional," he added. "That’s what Coach Hughes preached to us all week. We have certain packages where we bring four defensive lineman and put eight guys in the box and try to shut down the run. That was something that helps a lot to make them one-dimensional."
   Even the Princeton special teams got in the act with its best game to date. The Tigers punted three times, and the Lions’ two returns netted minus-1 yard. Princeton averaged 19.4 yards on punt returns and 27.3 yards on kick returns.
   "As I told the team afterwards," Hughes recalled, "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."
   It wasn’t going to happen on Saturday against a defense that was playing its best of the young season.
   "We always feel confident," Meehan said. "Defense has to be played with confidence. We showed when we get on the field, it doesn’t matter the field position. It doesn’t matter whether it was a sudden change or a turnover. We practice those all the time. I think we were in good shape, well prepared to handle that."
   The Tigers look to prepare just as hard for their final non-conference game of the year, at Colgate. It will be the third Patriot League team picked in the preseason to finish in the top three that they’ve faced. The Tigers were picked sixth in the Ivies in the preseason poll.
   "I think we already have surprised people," Hughes said. "We’ve certainly surprised me.
   "This is probably the most grounded team, for lack of a better term. They’re very business-like. They go out and do their job and have a lot of fun doing it. I’m having a lot of fun coaching them."