PU sets up Ivy showdown after shutting down Brown
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The Princeton University football team’s greatest growth in recent years has been in building depth.
The Tigers were able to show that depth in a 27-16 win over Brown on Saturday at Princeton Stadium.
Princeton played without its leading rusher or its starting quarterback, but it still scored on its first four drives of the game to take a 24-0 lead 16 minutes into the game. The defense did the rest as Princeton put the reins on its offense to hold off the Bears and improve to 2-0 in the Ivy League.
”The way they support their teammates, it’s fun to see,” said PU head coach Bob Surace. “As a coach, you can’t be more thankful to be around these guys. We have to fix some things, and clean some things up. We have to get ready.”
Princeton will host Ivy unbeaten Harvard on Saturday in what should be quite a showdown. Quinn Epperly is expected back at quarterback, though his replacement Connor Michelsen completed 33-of-45 passes for 367 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Matt Costello, who moved into sixth place all-time in receptions at Princeton.
”I have just as much confidence in Connor as I do in Quinn,” said PU senior receiver Seth DeValve. “Both of them have run this offense for a long time. They both bring different things to the table. As Coach said, there’s no panic when the guy at the time goes down. We have guys that can play football and Connor can sling the ball. I was excited for him to be able to play.”
DeValve made a big return after missing the last two games. He led the team with 10 catches for 120 yards.
”It was a joy to be back, probably one of the funner games I’ve played, maybe the most fun game I’ve played in college,” DeValve said. “When you’re out, you realize what you really have and what you sometimes take for granted. I was just really happy to be able to play today and go out and help my team win. I was very pleased to have the opportunity.”
DiAndre Atwater will be monitored again this week after missing the Brown game after a helmet to helmet hit. In his place, Will Powers scored a touchdown for the fourth consecutive week. Powers ran 13 times for 69 yards. Dre Nelson and Joe Rhattigan combined for another 65 yards rushing. Costello finished with eight catches for 121 yards. Connor Kelley added six catches for 86 yards and Powers caught five balls for 24 yards behind a dominant offensive line.
”They did a great job today and gave me time when I had to throw the ball and when we ran the ball, they gave us a good push,” Michelsen said. “You’re always going to get a good chunk of yardage when you get a good push from the offensive line.”
Michelsen was sharp early as he engineered scoring drives in each of Princeton’s first four possessions. Princeton had to settle for a Nolan Bieck field goal on its first drive of the game, and they built on their 3-0 lead when Powers scored on a 9-yard sweep around the right end that had been sealed perfectly.
Princeton took a 17-0 lead with 2:14 left in the first quarter on Costello’s 49-yard catch and run. Costello’s second touchdown catch came minutes later on a 17-yard pass rifled by Michelsen to swell the lead to 24-0 just a minute into the second quarter.
”All you can ever ask for is an opportunity,” Michelsen said. “When you’re given an opportunity, you have to take advantage of it. I was lucky it was my first game to play the whole game by myself. Any time you get an opportunity, you have to execute. You have to execute when your number is called.”
Michelsen is not your average back-up. He had started for Princeton two years ago before being injured. Epperly stepped in and kept the job with his play and earned more repetitions.
”Quinn and Connor play every week,” Surace said. “Some of the beauty of our offense is we have a lot of guys playing any given week and when we have some guys out, it tightens down just a little. These guys, any time we give them any type of role, they just step up to the challenge.
”Connor has played a lot of football, and the football he’s played this year and last year and the year before has been terrific. It’s not like there’s any panic. We just keep playing. It just means he played 70 plays instead of 30-40 plays.”
Surace took the blame for the offense slowing as he took out any plays with risk in them. Princeton did not want to see a repeat of the week before when Colgate rallied back from a 16-0 Tigers lead to win.
Brown used a long drive that included a fourth-down conversion from the Princeton 15 to kick a short field goal that made it a two-score game at 24-9 with still half the third quarter left. Princeton regained an 18-point lead, 27-9, on a 26-yard field goal by Bieck. Khamal Brown’s interception closed the third quarter. Andrew Frisby’s first career interception kept Brown off the board early in the fourth quarter.
”It was going to take a lot of miracles for them to come back from that (24-0) score,” Surace said. “There are some things we’ve done in the past that we’ve practiced that we’ll be able to run in the next couple weeks.”
The PU defense made it easier on the offense. It shut down the Brown run — the Bears had minus-7 yards rushing — and forced them to throw. Bears quarterback Marcus Fuller attempted 71 passes for 454 yards, but Princeton allowed only one touchdown even though Brown was in the red zone five times.
”That was one of the things we’ve had trouble with the first four games, the red zone defense,” said PU safety Matt Arends, who made a touchdown-saving tackle on Brown’s longest play of the game. “Tonight we stepped up. That was a huge confidence boost. Each time it happened, we felt the energy. We were much more energetic and that carried on throughout the game.”
The defense did give up a few big plays, but it also set the tone for the physical side of the game with the way it played in the early going with Anthony Gaffney breaking up a pass with a tremendous hit.
”I thought Gaffney had some of the best tackles he’s had,” Surace said. “We were really physical today. On that bubble screen to start the day, when Anthony does that, it was electric on the sideline. We just have to be tighter on what we’re doing.”
Princeton did feel like it took a step forward on the defensive side of the ball. They limited Brown’s ground game and kept the Bears to field goals.
”We just have to learn from our mistakes,” Arends said. “We played a lot better this week than we have in the past weeks. They threw 71 times and there are going to be breaks when they’re throwing that many times. Overall, we are as a unit coming closer together as the season is advancing. Next week we just have to keep improving.”
Harvard gives the Tigers a matchup of similar styles. Harvard can score plenty, and their defense in the red zone made the difference in their 24-14 win over Lafayette on Saturday. The Crimson are 5-0, and whoever wins the showdown will establish some separation at the top of the Ivy League. Both teams come in feeling good about their recent play.
Said Surace: “To play a Brown team that is extremely tough year in and year out and to play like that, it was fun to see.”