Tigers dominate Dartmouth, 28-10
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Roger Hughes called the Princeton University football team’s season finale bittersweet because its 28-10 win on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium on Saturday came at the expense of his former team, Dartmouth, which struggled to a winless finish.
It was bittersweet too for the Tigers because their most dominant performance came in their season finale.
“I’m really saddened to see this season end,” said Hughes, whose Tigers finished 4-6 overall, 3-4 in the Ivy League. “I’d like to start this season over again with these guys right here because the work ethic and character of the team that we have right now is really special. I’m going to miss these seniors, and I’m going to miss this team a lot.”
Among those who will graduate are starting quarterback Brian Anderson, who rushed for one touchdown and passed for another, and top receiver Will Thanheiser. But offensively he will return Jordan Culbreath, who capped his junior year with the second-best single-game rushing performance in school history. His whopping 276-yard total was second only to Keith Elias’ 299 record in 1992.
“I felt like it was going to be a good day because my knee had gotten better from the Penn game,” said Culbreath, who also scored twice. “The line did a great job today. On the long runs I had, I wasn’t even getting touched.”
Culbreath opened the game with a 58-yard touchdown run in which he had to break just one tackle on the Tigers’ second play from scrimmage. By the Tigers’ third possession of the game, he had already become the seventh Princeton player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He finished 2008 with the fourth-best total in school history with 1,206.
“I meant a lot,” Culbreath said. “Before the season, I didn’t have any expectations. As it went on, it was a goal that I was trying to achieve, but also with the team element at the top of my list first. It’s nice to reach that mark. It feels good.”
On the heels of a strong game even in a loss to Yale last weekend, the Princeton defense was impressive from start to finish against Dartmouth. When Anderson’s first-quarter pass was intercepted and returned to the Tiger 11, the defense did not allow a yard on three straight plays, then John Duvall led a swarm that stuffed Dartmouth’s fake field goal.
“It was huge,” Hughes said. “I was really proud of our defense defending bad field position a couple times.
“The most important thing is they kept them out of the end zone,” he added. “Take away that kick return for a touchdown and basically we shut them out from the standpoint of defending bad field position, and that’s huge.”
The defense even helped Princeton to its second touchdown of the game. Freshman Blake Clemons’ first career interception gave the Tigers the ball at the Dartmouth 20, and four plays later Anderson scored on a 2-yard option run for a 14-0 lead.
The Big Green managed a field goal before the half, but Princeton came out strong in the opening drive of the second half to take a 21-3 lead on a 1-yard pass from Anderson to senior tight end Billy Mitchell. After the Big Green returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, Princeton answered right back as Culbreath set up his second touchdown of the day with a 52-yard burst.
“There’s not enough superlatives in the dictionary,” Hughes said of describing Culbreath. “Outstanding, great, he has great vision. Any time Jordan runs the ball, he finishes the run. He reminds me of Walter Payton from the standpoint, he’s always falling forward. He always puts the ball ahead.”
The defense did the rest. While Culbreath was having a record-setting day rushing the ball, the Tigers held Dartmouth to minus-11 yards rushing which included four sacks.
“The biggest thing was we got pressure more consistently than we did earlier in the season,” said senior defensive end Pete Buchignani. “The secondary played well too. We brought it more in these last two weeks than in the past.”
Dartmouth was 1-for-11 on third-down conversions and 1-for-4 on fourth down. They scored just once in the three times they did reach the Princeton red zone. The Tigers held Dartmouth under 200 yards of total offense and caused two turnovers.
“To go out with a game like this, where we really played our best for 60 minutes, it’s an incredible feeling,” Buchignani said. “The seniors, we want to see these guys succeed next year so I think it’s a good boost going into the offseason.”
Added Culbreath: “I think it’s a great way. This is a great win for the team. We needed a huge boost. Morale was low. You see the kids in there and hear the music. We’re all pretty excited, pretty sure this is going to carry into the offseason, and carry on into next season.”
In the locker room following the game, Hughes credited the seniors for getting the first win of the 2009 season. He is hoping that the momentum from the big finish helps for next season and provides the inspiration for a better overall year.
“The ups and downs have been very emotional,” Hughes said of this year. “The frustrations probably have been magnified from the standpoint I really didn’t feel like I’d be sitting here, the way we played most of our games, sitting here talking about 4-6. I thought we’d be 8-2, 7-3 pretty easily.
“What our underclassmen have to understand is they have to understand the fine line between being 4-6 and 8-2 and they have to understand the little extra effort that it takes. This group worked as hard as any group I’ve ever been around anywhere. But we have to find a way to get that little extra that makes the difference in the close games.”
And the difference between a sweet and bittersweet ending to a season.