By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
It could not have been a better start for Kurt Holuba and the Princeton University football team.
The sophomore defensive end had six tackles and a sack, and made the most of a rare appearance on offense with his first career touchdown catch, to help the Tigers dismantle Lafayette, 40-7, Saturday in their season opener.
“It feels great,” Holuba said. “It was definitely a big confidence booster. It felt good and we’re trying to build on it for this week.”
The Tigers will host Lehigh 5 p.m. Saturday at Princeton Stadium on Community Day. Festivities begin at the stadium at 3:30 p.m. with what could be a terrific showdown kicking off for the main event that is expected to draw a crowd.
“I would hope our guys would be just as excited if no one in stands, but you love the support,” said PU head coach Bob Surace. “Going into our sixth year, there are so many guys we’ve gotten to know and different things we do. We appreciate everyone that comes out and does show that support.”
The Tigers should have opened some eyes with their big win. They beat Lafayette worse than perennial Football Subdivision powers William and Mary and Delaware had in the two weeks prior, and Princeton was playing with a number of new starters. Princeton did not allow a touchdown until the second half after the game was well in hand.
“I thought we had a great week of preparation,” Holuba said. “This whole offseason was good. The defense has come on strong. We came in and did the things we needed to do.”
On the other side of the ball, Princeton was just as dominant. They gained 573 total yards on offense and ran 78 total plays. Princeton only punted once — on its second possession of the season — before reeling off scoring drives on seven straight drives.
“It was close to being our best special teams performance too,” said Surace, noting that the Tigers could have had a punt and kickoff return for a touchdown as well. “The consistency, the play on all three sides, was good to see. We’ve had good starts. We were up 22-3 against Lehigh a couple years ago. We’ve had good finishes. We were down 17-0, and came back to make it 17-14. It’s the first time in an opener we put together two halves. We looked sharp and played with a lot of energy.”
The win stopped a streak of eight straight losses on Opening Day. The long wait was worth it with the way the Tigers played.
“There was still plenty of error we need to correct and get better at,” Surace said. “We hope from watching film and getting reps we get better.
“To get off to a good start, and see the guys who worked so hard in the offseason and sacrificed, to see that pay off in an opener, it feels good for them.”
Holuba is looking forward to his second season as a starter. He came in and started all 10 games after starting three years at Bergen Catholic in North Jersey.
“It was definitely a difficult transition especially handling schoolwork and all those things,” said Holuba, who followed his brother Rob to the Princeton football team. “I had a lot of mentors and guys that helped me figure it out.
“I definitely feel more comfortable on the defense,” he added. “I have a better grasp on the defense and where to be. I feel more comfortable and confident.”
So confident that he could pick up a little offense on the side. After a scoreless first quarter, Holuba’s catch of John Lovett’s first career attempt put the cap on a 23-0 second quarter. Lovett also plays defense.
“It was pretty special,” Holuba said. “I’ve never been able to catch a touchdown in my career. I had a lot of family there watching and they went nuts on it.”
Holuba had played offensive line for Bergen Catholic and didn’t have that opportunity to catch anything in high school, but he made the most of his chance Saturday.
“The offensive coaches have talked about it since Holuba committed,” Surace said. “Coach (James) Perry, his brother, works as tight ends coach for the Texans, and they use J.J. Watt sometimes. When I was with the Bengals, it seemed like Mike Vrabel every weekend caught a touchdown. We had a couple injuries, and said, ‘Who’s the guy that most fits it?’ When a couple tight ends got hurt, who can do the things that these guys are doing? It was Kurt. The offense has been begging for him for two years.”
The rest of the Princeton points were put up by offensive players. Chad Kanoff made his first career start memorable. The junior completed 20 of 31 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown.
“He has such great start,” Surace said. “To go down your first drive, get in field goal range and throw a pick, it’s a tight window and you have to throw it away if you can’t fit it in but then we scored one seven of our next eight possessions.
“There wasn’t instant success. You have to have poise. He threw it accurately. He managed the pocket. That’s something. We protect our quarterbacks at practice so they don’t get hit, so the only way you find out about how they manage the pocket is in a game.”
It helped that the offensive line was opening huge holes for the likes of Dre Nelson, who posted a career-high 116 yards on the ground, one of three Tiger backs to rush for 60 or more yards.
“I thought the Lafayette run defense especially was terrific,” Surace said. “Delaware scored one touchdown, and that was off a fumble. Delaware is a perennial power. William and Mary didn’t run the ball consistently. It’s a credit to Lafayette’s defense. I was concerned. I thought our line was terrific. Britt Colcolough, who we moved from tackle to guard, he’s a special player. The other thing on offense was we were 14-for-18 on third down. If we keep it somewhere near there, we’ll win a lot of games.”
R.J. Paige led the Princeton defense with seven tackles. The Tigers looked hungry in their opener.
“With the defense, I thought we tackled,” Surace said. “It’s the best we tackled early in the season. We have to keep that up. I thought our pass coverage, not only the guys covering, but the guys pressuring, we pretty much put consistent pressure on their quarterbacks.”
Holuba is one of the players that the Tigers are counting on to battle at the line of scrimmage. He feels better equipped to do so after a year in the program.
“I feel much stronger, much faster,” Holuba said. “Our strength coach, Jason Gallucci, is great. I definitely feel much better than last year.”
He and the Tigers are looking forward to the chance to move to 2-0. They will have to be improved over their first game when they take on a tougher Lehigh team.
“They’re a great team,” Holuba said. “They do a lot of good things. They have a lot of good players. We like to focus on us. We like to make sure we focus on us and the things we need to do and hopefully we can put out a performance like we did last week.”
The Tigers are looking to follow up about as perfect a start as they could imagine. For Holuba, there were highlights on both sides of the ball, including an important first touchdown reception for him that helped Princeton build momentum for its win.
“Whatever the team needs,” Holuba said. “If I can help any way on the offense, I will do that.”
