PU football to take title shot after bonfire

Tigers host Dartmouth for Ivy championship

By: Justin Feil
   Tonight at 6 p.m., there will be a bonfire to celebrate the first Princeton University football sweep of the Harvard-Yale series since 1994.
   As big as that is, it won’t compare to the on-field celebration that could follow a Princeton win over Dartmouth 1 p.m. Saturday at Princeton Stadium. The No. 18 Tigers tied up the Ivy League race with a win over previously unbeaten Yale last Saturday. Princeton is 8-1 overall, 5-1 in the Ivies.
   With a win over Dartmouth, Princeton is assured of an Ivy League championship for the first time since the 1995 season. The Tigers would win the title outright if Harvard defeats Yale on Saturday. If Harvard wins and Princeton loses, there would be a three-way tie for the title, the first since 1983.
   "Since the day I’ve been here," said PU co-captain Luke Steckel, "there’s been one goal, to win the Ivy League championship. For the first three years that wasn’t a possibility at this point. It’s an incredible blessing to know that goal is still out there, it’s able to be accomplished with a win."
   The Tigers can accomplish a number of notables with a win over Dartmouth. It would be their third straight win in the series against the Big Green, who enter 2-7 overall, 2-4 in the Ivies after a 19-13 overtime win over Brown last week. It would also give them nine wins in the season, the first time since 1964. And it would give them 16 wins over the last two seasons, something that has happened just one other time in the program’s last 40 years.
   Those accomplishments begin with the senior class that has led the Tigers to surprising success this season. Princeton was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, but the seniors could end up with an Ivy crown by the time they graduate. They could become the first class to improve by at least two wins every season since their arrival.
   "This class came in and we had a season of 2-8 and really this class came in and had to take a leap of faith because we hadn’t demonstrated a lot of consistencies," said PU head coach Roger Hughes. "We were just coming off a 6-4season and we had things, I thought, rolling at that time. We kind of took a step back their freshman year and I talk about this meeting we had in the spring after some events that occurred at another school, that were not very good for a university. I was talking with them, and that 2-8 season has kind of burned in their stomachs since they’ve been here. It’s very clear that they were a very close-knit bunch of people and clearly very dedicated. To go on and achieve what they’ve achieved, Princeton hasn’t won nine games since 1964. That’s pretty remarkable what they have a chance to accomplish. I’m going to talk about them (Wednesday night) about writing history."
   In order to write all that history, the Tigers have to win Saturday. That fact has not been lost on the players, even as they’ve been in the midst of title and bonfire talk this week.
   "I think this week will definitely be a test of the maturity of this team, and the discipline of this team, but I think that’s two things we’ve thrived on throughout the season," Steckel said. "But as I said, we have accomplished a lot, and I think it is important to enjoy what we have accomplished. I think 40 years down the road we’re going to wish we could strap it back up and said, ‘Oh, we should have enjoyed it a little more.’ So I think it’s going to be a test of how mature we can be to enjoy what’s going on but still stay focused.
   "This team has been incredibly calm, incredibly focused throughout the season, whether we’ve been up in a game, down in a game. Whether we’re the underdog going in or the strong favorite, the focus has always been there. So I think it’s going be important for us to maintain what we’ve done over the past nine weeks and approach this game as we’ve approached every other one, realizing that the one goal, the only goal we’ve ever cared about, has yet to be accomplished. We have accomplished a lot, we should be proud of ourselves, but the one thing that we want is still out there."
   And it’s Dartmouth that is standing in the way. Hughes coached at Dartmouth before coming to Princeton almost eight years ago. The Big Green have lost once in overtime, once by a field goal and once by a touchdown this year, outcomes that could be changed by one score.
   "They hang around games, they play hard, they don’t quit," Hughes said. "It’s 60 minutes of war, so we’re going to have to be prepared for a full game. Teams that have gone up on them, Yale was up 19-0 and appeared to have the game in hand, but within one minute it’s 19-14 and they’re in a dogfight. So this team has a lot to play for.
   "I’ve seen them improve as the year’s gone on. I think the quarterback does things that have hurt us the last couple weeks. He’s a very athletic quarterback, he’s their leading rusher, does a great job of scrambling when protection breaks down. We need to do the things we didn’t in the second half of the Yale game and be disciplined in our pass rushes and make sure we have all the gaps covered. They’re not going to come in here and lay down by any means. They’re going to come in here with a chance to win the game and I know what that program stands for and how tough a kid they get."
   Hughes also knows the type of kid he has playing for him. It’s the type that has been hungry for an Ivy title, and won’t let talk of it or outside distractions interfere with its preparation for Saturday.
   "The focus in practice has been remarkable," Hughes said. "We probably had two of the best practices we ever had. On tape we see kids doing things, linemen running down the field to get blocks. Where they may try to take a little bit of a breeze, they understand what’s on the line here and they understand this opportunity doesn’t come around all the time."
   For the senior class, it’s been a slow climb toward the top. While senior Tim Strickland will make his 40th straight start Saturday — the first Princeton player to do so — some in the senior class, like Steckel, are just getting their chances this year. They’ve made the most of it from an underdog start.
   "You can make up for maybe a lack of talent by hard work and character and I think that is really the characteristic of the team," Steckel said. "Not only the senior class, but the seniors all the way down to the freshman.
   "From a talent standpoint, since I was a freshman I’d say, ‘Oh gosh, we’re losing all these guys.’ And then someone steps up the next year and then you say, ‘We’re losing all these guys.’ Particularly after last year, especially being a linebacker, watching the great players ahead of me graduating, I think we have taken a step back from a talent standpoint. But I think this team has come together more so than ever. I think that’s the most important factor."
   Now, together, they go for the Ivy championship Saturday against Dartmouth. Already, there is a celebration planned for tonight at the bonfire. There will be another if the Tigers can deliver against the Big Green.