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Princeton University Athletics
Reunions
November 13, 2000 | Football
Nov. 13, 2000
DARTMOUTH (1-8, 0-6) at PRINCETON (3-6, 3-3)
The Date * Nov. 18, 2000
The Kickoff * 1:00 p.m.
The Site * Princeton Stadium, Princeton, N.J.
The Series * Dartmouth leads 40-35-4
Last Year * Dartmouth defeated Princeton 19-18
Last Week * Princeton defeated Yale 19-14, Dartmouth lost to Brown 34-26
The Coaches * Princeton: Roger Hughes (first season, 3-6), Dartmouth: John Lyons (ninth season, 49-39-1)
TV/Radio * The game can be heard live on the Princeton Radio Network, which includes flagship station WHWH AM 1350 in Princeton, WHTG AM 1410 in Eatontown and the Princeton Web site (www.goprincetontigers.com), as well as on student-run station WPRB FM 103.3. The game can also be seen on RCN, which will televise the game live and on tape delay Sunday at 9 a.m. and Tuesday at 8 p.m.
This Week's Note of the Week
Old friends -- Princeton head coach Roger Hughes spent eight years as offensive coordinator at Dartmouth. Princeton offensive coordinator Dave Rackovan spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Dartmouth. Both were on the staff of current Dartmouth head coach John Lyons. Five More Notes No Media Person Should Be Without
Night at the improv-e -- A Princeton win over Dartmouth coupled with a Yale win over Harvard would leave Princeton tied for third in the Ivy League. A Princeton win over Dartmouth would leave Princeton no lower than fourth.
More improv-e -- Should Princeton finish either third or fourth in the league, it would mark a three or four place improvement over last season. That would be Princeton's best single-season improvement since going from seventh to second in 1991.
I'm honored -- Marty Cheatham was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week this week after catching 11 passes for 164 yards against Yale. Cheatham had a 44-yard touchdown catch, a 44-yard reception to set up the winning touchdown and seven catches that resulted in first downs.
Buzzer beater -- Princeton defeated Yale 19-14 on Jon Blevins' 32-yard touchdown pass to Chisom Opara with 16 seconds remaining. It was Princeton's first game-winning score in the final minute of a game since a 16-15 win over Lehigh in 1987, a span of 133 games.
How do you spell relief? -- Jon Blevins is 39 for 63 (61.9%) for 565 yards and five touchdowns in his career coming off the bench. He is 39 for 74 (52.7%) for 435 yards and no touchdowns in his career as a starter.
Others receiving votes
Snap count -- Princeton has used four different starting quarterbacks (Tommy Crenshaw, Jon Blevins, David Splithoff, Brian Danielewicz) in nine games.
More snap -- Jon Blevins replaced Brian Danielewicz at halftime against Yale. Danielewicz replaced Blevins (elbow) against Cornell. Blevins was replacing David Splithoff (broken jaw, final play against Harvard), who was replacing Blevins (sprained ankle against Colgate), who was replacing Tommy Crenshaw (broken wrist against Columbia).
For starters -- Defensive back Blake Perry will become the first non-kicker at Princeton to start all 10 games of his freshman year.
More starters -- Princeton will have 15 players start all 10 games.
Injury updates -- Starting tailback Kyle Brandt (dislocated elbow) and quarterback David Splithoff, who has not played since breaking his jaw on the final play of the Harvard game, will not play in the final game of the season.
Keeping up with the Roser-Joneses -- Chris Roser-Jones, with six interceptions in nine games, ranks 14th in Division I-AA. He is the only linebacker in the top 27.
A night at the Opara -- Chisom Opara has two touchdown receptions this season. One came with 11 seconds remaining against Cornell, while the other was with 16 seconds remaining against Yale.
David we hardly knew ye -- David Splithoff quarterbacked Princeton for 26 drives, of which 10 ended in touchdowns and two in field goals. His passing efficiency rating of 180.23 would be leading Division I-AA had he thrown the minimum number of passes required. He also set a Princeton record with 14 consecutive completions and became the first freshman ever to be Ivy League Player of the Week. In addition, he was named ECAC Player of the Week, threw 48 passes without an interception, averaged 17.5 yards per completion and even caught one pass for 17 yards.
In a rush -- Princeton has 15 rushing touchdowns this season, of which nine were scored by players who are now out for the season (Kyle Brandt 5, David Splithoff 3, Tommy Crenshaw 1).
Phil it up -- Phil Jackman has made the transition from basketball player to defensive end. Despite never having played organized football before and not coming to the football team until one week before the season opener, Jackman has earned a spot on the two-deep. He had a sack and two tackles against Cornell, a forced fumble against Penn and a half-sack against Yale.
Change of seasons -- Before Phil Jackman, the last Princeton athlete to play both football and basketball was Marvin Williams '91.
The Blair Morrison project -- Blair Morrison has 17 receptions, breaking the Princeton freshman record of 10 set last year by Chisom Opara.
Fresh faces -- Princeton has had six different freshmen start at least one game: QB David Splithoff, WR Blair Morrison, DE Tim Kirby, DE Joseph Weiss, CB Brandon Mueller, CB Blake Perry.
Getting his kicks -- Junior placekicker Taylor Northrop has 24 career field goals. The Princeton career record is 36, held by Alex Sierk '99. The Ivy League record is 38, held by Dave Regula (Dartmouth '98).
More kicks -- Taylor Northrop has a higher percentage on field goal attempts of at least 40 yards (.833/5 for 6) than he does on field goal attempts of fewer than 40 yards (.727/8 for 11).
Be like Mike -- Only four players have led Princeton in tackles for a season since 1993: Dave Patterson (1993-95), Tim Greene (1996, 1997), Jim Salters (1998) and Mike Higgins (1999, leading in 2000).
Top of the line -- Dennis Norman, first-team All-Ivy the last two years, has a chance to join Derek Graham '85, Damani Leech '98 and Matt Evans '99 as Princeton's only three-time first-team All-Ivy selections.
More line -- Ross Tucker will make his 31st career start this week. He joins Damani Leech '98, Tom Ludwig '98, Bernie Marczyk '00 and Hamin Abdullah '00 as Princeton players to make more than 30 starts since freshmen became eligible in 1993.
Spread it around -- Princeton has 16 sacks, 12 different players have at least one.
Tight-en up -- George Citovic has 20 receptions, the most by a Princeton tight end since Marin Gjaja had 20 in 1990 and the second-most since Mark Rockefeller had 57 in 1988.
Passing fancy -- David Splithoff (180.23) would be leading Division I-AA in passing efficiency had he enough attempts.
Half and half -- Princeton scored 66% of its points in the second half in the first four games of the season. Princeton then scored 46% of its points in the first half in the next four games of the season. Princeton scored 84% of its points in the second half against Yale.
Cameron crazy -- Cameron Atkinson had 37 yards on 10 carries (3.7 per carry) for the first four games of the season. He has 354 yards on 77 carries (4.6 per carry) in the last five.
In a rush -- Princeton has not had a 100-yard rusher this season.
Junior achievement -- Princeton starts three juniors (QB Brian Danielewicz, LB Chris Roser-Jones, DT Michael Long).
Senior citizens -- Princeton will start 11 seniors against Dartmouth.