Roser-Jones’ heroics can’t produce win
By: Charles Persons
ITHACA, N.Y. – Being a hero is sometimes a funny thing.
We picture heroes as the triumphant winners, the conquering men and women standing at the finish line with their arms held high. Losing teams don’t have heroes, only questions to answer.
While plenty of things led to Princeton University’s 25-24 loss this past weekend at Cornell, one thing that nearly led to a Tiger victory was the heroic play of junior linebacker Chris Roser-Jones.
While the loss that dropped PU to 2-5 overall and 2-2 in the Ivy League will always remain a loss, Roser-Jones played the entire contest Saturday with the heart and tenacity of a man who wanted nothing more than to lead his team to a victory single-handedly.
He almost did just that before the Tigers slipped out of a five-way tie for first place. Cornell remains in a four-way tie for the Ivy’s top spot and Princeton rests in fifth, though Roser-Jones almost flip-flopped those standings.
While the offense struggled to find its rhythm throughout the day, Roser-Jones and the Princeton defense kept the Tigers within striking distance, never allowing Cornell more than an 11-point lead.
The defense held one of the most potent offenses in college football to 392 yards. Despite all those yards, the Tiger defense bent, but never broke, holding Cornell to only 25 points and giving the offense a chance to win the football game.
Roser-Jones was instrumental in making the stands that kept Princeton in the contest, making numerous spectacular plays and seemingly being all over the place. Whenever a Cornell player tried to break through, there was Roser-Jones making sure he never got more than a few yards. In the third quarter though, the junior stepped his play up a notch.
With the Tigers down 14-10, the Roser-Jones became a one-man wrecking crew. He flew around the field, assisting on tackle after tackle, breaking up passes and putting pressure on Cornell quarterback Ricky Rahne.
With Cornell looking to gain the momentum necessary to put the game away in the midst of the third quarter, Roser-Jones had one of the best drives a linebacker can have.
On first down, he batted down a Rahne pass attempt. On second down he assisted on a tackle on Cornell’s Justin Dunleavy. On third-and-seven, the junior made a solo tackle on Dunleavy, but an encroachment penalty negated the great open-field tackle. On the ensuing third-and-two, Roser-Jones picked off a Rahne pass at the Cornell 25 for his Ivy-League best fifth interception of the year and returned it 17 yards to the Cornell 8-yard line. When Cameron Atkinson ran in for the Tiger touchdown a play later, it was as much Roser-Jones’ touchdown as Atkinson’s.
The junior outside linebacker wasn’t done though. On the ensuing Cornell possession, the Big Red managed to drive all the way to the Princeton 24. The Tigers had no answer for a newfound Cornell running game, and a confident Cornell squad faced second-and-seven.
Roser-Jones once again provided the answer for the defense. He flushed Rahne out to the right, sacked him and forced the junior to fumble, which he recovered. The play preserved the precious four-point lead and killed any momentum Cornell had managed to gain. The defense had once again bent, but not broken.
First-year head coach Roger Hughes commented on his defense’s inspired play after the game.
"I thought overall our defense played their lights out," he noted. He might as well have been looking right at Roser-Jones.
In the end, of course, few will remember the brilliant play of the junior. Football is a team sport, and no one man can by himself win a game. Taylor Northrop’s slip as he attempted a potentially game-tying extra point will go down in the history books as the deciding factor in the 25-24 contest.
Roser-Jones didn’t deserve that outcome though.
He deserved to be the hero.