Princeton football team building depth
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
A team captain a year ago as a junior, Mike Catapano was an easy pick to return as captain for the Princeton University football team.
Fellow rising senior Andrew Starks was also elected, chosen by his peers as Princeton head coach Bob Surace announced after the spring football game this past Saturday.
”It’s a tremendous honor,” Starks said. “We have so many senior leaders and some underclassmen as well who are great leaders. For my teammates to think of me and elect me as a captain, it’s phenomenal. I’m still at a loss of words. It was great to hear.”
Starks is hoping it’s only the beginning of big things for him and the Tigers, who had an encouraging ending to their spring practice sessions. Saturday’s spring game highlighted the building depth in the program. The defense will be built around a strong front seven that includes both Catapano, a second-team All-Ivy League defensive lineman, and Starks, a linebacker who was All-Ivy honorable mention and led the Tigers with 80 tackles a year ago even after missing one game.
”In the spring game, I thought we looked great,” Starks said. “The front seven did a good job of stopping the run and the secondary did a good job with the pass defense as well.”
Surace cautioned against thinking the Tigers can just ride the coattails of Catapano and Caraun Reid on the defensive line. He’s still looking for Princeton to add depth, and the spring practices showed who’s ready to step up.
”I’ve seen a lot of improvement in this team,” Starks said. “We put a lot of pieces together that we were missing. We created a lot more depth with some of the younger guys and then we’ll have more with some of the guys we have coming in. We tried to create a competitive atmosphere this spring. It showed in the spring. Both sides of the ball competed really hard.”
The Tigers don’t have a captain on the offensive side of the ball but Starks is confident there will be leaders. It’s a heated race at quarterback, where rising sophomores Quinn Epperly and Connor Michelsen are front-runners and rising junior Malik Jackson is in the mix.
”We’re getting to the point where there is more depth and is more competition,” Surace said. “The competition part can make us better if the guys handle it right. At quarterback, they’re making each other better. They’re doing it right.”
Seth DeValve made the biggest splash at receiver in the spring game with a 98-yard catch and run for a touchdown.
”Offensively, you look and there’s two maybe three at most seniors and only a few juniors,” Surace said. “There’s a lot of young guys out there. It’s the greatest time to be teachers. It’s about focusing on their development. It’s a little more evaluating and what you want to do schematically.
”We cannot make as many mistakes,” he added. “For us to compete against a top five team like Lehigh or the rest of our schedule after that game, it’s a pretty demanding schedule, we can’t beat ourselves. We struggled in the pass game. We’re really headed in right direction. The receivers have been outstanding. The quarterbacks have stepped up, particularly our sophomores.”
The pass game will be all the more important if the Tigers don’t return their leading rusher of a year ago, freshman running back Chuck Debilio, who is still recovering after suffering a stroke while studying for final exams.
”He’s been remarkable,” Surace said. “He took a final a couple weeks ago. He had taken two and had two left to take when he had the stroke. He did tremendous. I think he got an A, and at Princeton you have to earn those. It’s a testament to his work ethic and his recovery.
”Physically, he looks great. He was at the (spring) game. He runs a conditioning test twice a week. Will he ever play football again, we don’t know. The priority is to return to health first. He’s passing all the tests to do that.”
Both the Tigers offense and defense are focused on being more complete this season. The offense needs more of a passing presence, something that Surace saw in the spring. Although his quarterbacks are young, they have made good decisions and took the play there, not forcing the ball. His running backs, even without Debilio, show promise. Junior Akil Smith along with freshmen Jonathan Esposito and Will Powers are prepared to fill the spot if Debilio doesn’t return.
”I think what’s different about this year than last year is we know exactly what we need to attack,” Starks said. “We know our strengths and weaknesses.
”Everybody has been able to attack those points. It gives everybody a much better feeling going forward.”
First and foremost is to improve their turnover margin. Princeton’s defense is looking to give its offense more opportunities, and the PU offense is looking to capitalize and not turn the ball over. The Tigers are also doing the things away from the field to improve. They’ve tweaked their training regimen and are getting stronger individually. Starks also has seen players putting in the extra time in conditioning, lifting and even film study to help the Tigers progress, something they need mightily after a 1-9 season.
After the spring game, the Tigers have a better feeling about some of the pieces they have in place for the coming season. There is still four months until they resume fall training camp, but there’s a renewed sense of optimism.
Said Starks: “It couldn’t come quick enough.”