Princeton’s mistakes are costly in loss to previously winless Big Red.
By: Ken Weingartner
If it wasn’t for bad luck, Taylor Northrop wouldn’t have any luck at all.
At least that appears to be the case when the Princeton football team meets Cornell.
Northrop saw his attempt at an Ivy League record 57-yard field goal bounce off the crossbar with 7:21 to play as Princeton fell to the previously winless Big Red at Princeton Stadium.
The attempt came six minutes after Peter Iverson gave Cornell the lead with a 40-yard field goal. Princeton, which saw its final two possessions end on interceptions, never returned to Big Red territory after Northrop’s kick.
"In warmups I was hitting from at least 55 (yards out)," said Northrop, who has booted field goals of more than 60 yards in practice. "Really, my focus was just to keep it straight. I did hit it clean. I guess I just didn’t crush it. I thought it was good. You watch the ball go toward the uprights, and I never could’ve imagined it would hit the crossbar."
Northrop rates among the most successful kickers in Ivy League history. His 35 career field goals rank second at Princeton, trailing only Alex Sierk’s 36, and sixth in the conference, six behind all-time leader Jason Feinberg of Penn.
Yet when it comes to facing Cornell, Northrop seems to have no luck. Last year against the Big Red, his plant foot slipped on an icy field and he missed the extra point in Princeton’s 25-24 loss.
"Honestly, last year wasn’t in our minds," Northrop said. "The focus was really to just go out there and perform our jobs to the best of our ability. That was the focus coming into this game."
Princeton (1-5 overall, 1-3 Ivy) took a 7-0 lead with 3:58 left in the first half when quarterback Dave Splithoff connected with tight end Mike Chiusano on an 8-yard touchdown pass. The drive covered 98 yards in nine plays, including a 14-yard scramble by Splithoff on a third-and-2 from the Big Red 17.
Cornell (1-5, 1-3) responded with a 10-play, 78-yard march that culminated with Ricky Rahne’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Keith Ferguson with 25 second remaining before halftme.
Princeton finished the game with 308 yards total offense, six more than the Big Red. However, the Tigers had three turnovers and nine penalties. Cornell didn’t commit any turnovers.
"Obviously, we’re disappointed," Princeton coach Roger Hughes said. "We had a number of opportunities to affect the outcome of the game. Certainly, we shot ourselves in the foot, especially offensively. If you want to win in this league, you can’t make the mistakes that we made and expect to win close ball games."
The miscues proved costly on the drive that resulted in Northrop’s field goal attempt. The Tigers moved the ball to Cornell’s 20, but a motion penalty, a holding penalty and a 3-yard loss pushed them back to the 40.
"We were in great field goal range … and we hurt ourselves," Hughes said. "Taylor did everything he could to overcome our mistakes, it was just a little bit short."
Evan Simmons led Cornell with 106 yards on 20 carries. Rahne finished 20 of 30 for 176 yards and Ferguson had eight catches for 69 yards.
Cam Atkinson, who left the game late in the third quarter because of a knee injury, had 76 yards on 14 carries for Princeton. Splithoff was 14 of 25 for 176 yards and was intercepted twice. Randy Bly was the Tigers’ leading receiver with 48 yards on four catches.