Culbreath reaches milestones vs. Dartmouth
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Roger Hughes never doubted that the 2008 Princeton University football team was a special team.
Winning, 28-10, over Dartmouth in the season finale confirmed it again for the Tigers head coach.
”A lot of teams with the adversity we’ve gone through with being 3-6 in this situation may not have come to play the full game,” Hughes said. “I was very proud of our seniors and how they led this team to make sure the effort was there the full time to finish this game right, and I thanked the seniors in our locker room for starting our next win streak. This is the first win streak of the 2009 season.”
The Tigers — even the graduating seniors according to defensive end Pete Buchignani — are hoping the dominant performance can catapult them to a league title next season. Princeton finishes 2008 with a 4-6 record overall, 3-4 in the Ivy League for the second straight year. The Tigers, though, looked like a championship team in their win over the Big Green.
”It doesn’t erase it, but it certainly eases the pain,” Hughes said of the final win. “I wish we could start the season right now. There’s a couple games where if the ball goes the other way a little bit…”
Saturday, the Tigers showed how good they could be with everything going their way. Dartmouth, which led the Ivy League in turnovers, turned it over twice in the early going and Jordan Culbreath locked up the league’s rushing title early.
The junior running back scored on Princeton’s second play from scrimmage, a 58-yard touchdown run. It was just the beginning for Culbreath, who also had a 52-yard run, and scored his second touchdown of the game to put the game away in the third quarter and answer the Big Green’s only score of the game.
Culbreath finished with a career-high 276 yards on the ground, second only in Princeton history to Keith Elias’ 299 yard game against Cornell in 1992.
”I felt like it was going to be a good day because my knee had gotten better from the Penn game,” Culbreath said. “The line did a great job today. On the long runs I had, I wasn’t even getting touched.”
His big day on the ground helped him easily surpass 1,000 yards rushing for the season. He is the seventh Princeton back to do so, and his 1,206 total rushing yards this season is fourth best in program history.
”It 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.”
The PU defense was just as impressive on the other side of the ball. They sacked Dartmouth quarterbacks four times and limited them to minus-11 yards rushing. The Big Green’s only score came on kickoff return. It was the second straight week in which the Tigers defense had looked impressive, as it allowed just two short-field scores against Yale the week before.
”The biggest thing was we got pressure more consistently than we did earlier in the season,” said 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.
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 quarterback Brian 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.
”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.”
There may have been frustration about some of the losses that the Tigers suffered, but Saturday’s win helped to end the season on a high note and build for next year. It’s a year that will begin with promise with the likes of Culbreath returning.
”What our underclassmen have to understand,” Hughes said, “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.
”I’m really saddened to see this season end,” Hughes added. “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.”

