Princeton University Athletics
Cornell 6, Princeton 0
August 17, 1999 | Sprint Football
Losing streaks do come to an end. The Prairie View A&M football team found this truth out just over a week ago, winning for the first time in over 80 tries. The Princeton sprint football team attempted to follow suit Friday against Cornell, by trying to snap its own 12-game string of losses. Losing streaks do come to an end, but not this week for the Tigers.
In front of a crowd of 340 at chilly Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y., Princeton (0-1) held the Big Red scoreless for three quarters before finally falling to the home team, 6-0. Cornell running back Josh Trembley provided the only points of the game, as he dove into the end zone from one yard out with 11 minutes, 18 seconds remaining.
"It was a tough way to lose the game," sophomore running back Geoff Gasperini said. "We performed well and I feel like we could have come away with the win."
Defense
Throughout the game, the Tiger defense repeatedly came up with big plays to stop the offensive drives of Cornell (1-1). Although the Big Red was able to move the ball effectively on the ground, rushing for 242 yards behind the177-yard performance of Trembley, Cornell struggled to put points on the board. Princeton forced three fumbles, intercepted one pass and blocked two punts en route to frustrating the Big Red's offense.
"The defense played solidly," Gasperini said. "They were able to run on us, but we just didn't let them get big plays."
Play after play, the linebackers stood out as the key performers on the defensive side of the ball for the Tigers. Junior captain Mike Pagnatto recorded 17 tackles and two sacks on the evening, while freshman Andy Morabito added 15 tackles in his first Ivy game.
Meager offense
Although the Princeton defense excelled at various times against the Big Red, the offense sputtered and failed to move the ball effectively. Converting on only one-of-12 third-down attempts, the Tigers amassed just 154 yards of total offense.
"I was surprised to see the offense having trouble moving the ball," Gasperini said. "We would get a first down or two and then just stall out."
Behind the arm of junior quarterback Joe Andolina and the legs of Gasperini, Princeton managed only eight first downs on the game compared to 17 for Cornell. Throughout the entire duration of the game, the Tigers never once moved the ball inside their opponent's 25-yard line.
"We just made a few little mistakes," Gasperini said. "The timing was off in the passing game and the running game never really got going."
Injury
The task does not get any easier for the Tigers as they look forward to playing Penn this week without the services of starting sophomore wide receiver Brian Edlow, who went down in the first half with a knee injury.
"It's tough to lose a starter like that so early in the season," Gasperini said. "The rest of us on offense will have to pick up the slack."
The Princeton offense looks to improve on its performance this Friday, as the Tigers take to the field against the Quakers in their home opener at Weaver Stadium. Princeton hopes that this game will finally provide the opportunity for victory to return to the sprint football sidelines.