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Princeton University Athletics
Taylor Made
September 30, 2000 | Football
Sept. 30, 2000
Box Score
NEW YORK -- For the third straight week, Princeton found itself in a football thriller.
This time, it was the Tigers who celebrated when it was over.
Taylor Northrop kicked a 24-yard field goal in the first overtime to give Princeton a stunning 27-24 win over Columbia at Lawrence Wien Stadium in New York.
Northrop's kick capped a tremendous fourth-quarter comeback for the Tigers, who scored 10 points in the final 2:25 of regulation to tie it at 24-24. Northrop also executed a perfect onsides kickoff when a change of possession would have surely meant a loss.
The win improved Princeton to 1-2 on the season but more importantly 1-0 in the Ivy League. Princeton has won its Ivy opener 30 times prior to this and has gone on to have a winning league record in 24 of those years. The game followed the script of Princeton's first two games, where the Tigers lost to Lafayette and Lehigh after having slow starts and furious finishes. This time, it was even more pronounced.
The Tigers trailed 17-7 at intermission, but it could have easily been much worse. Columbia by intermission had racked up a huge edge statistically, outgaining the Tigers 340-45 with 18 first downs to one by Princeton. Time of possession in the first 30 minutes favored the Lions by an overwhelming 24:08-5:52 margin.
But the Tigers were able to score a touchdown on an acrobatic interception and 48-yard return for a score by Kevin Kongslie, and Paul Simbi's interception in the end zone stopped another long Columbia march. The Lions also turned the ball over on downs in Princeton territory.
Princeton then began to turn the game around when Tommy Crenshaw threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Schottel on the first play of the second half, following a 42-yard kickoff return by Cameron Atkinson. Columbia, though, built the lead back to 10 with a 37-yard touchdown pass of its own, and it stayed 24-14 into the fourth quarter.
Crenshaw, who completed 10 of 16 for 126 yards and the score, left the game when he suffered a thumb injury on his throwing hand late in the third quarter. His status for the next few weeks is now uncertain.
Senior Jon Blevins replaced Crenshaw and helped lead the Tigers to the Columbia 14, but Blevins then threw an interception to end that drive. Princeton's defense stepped up, though, shutting the Lions down and helping the Tigers get the ball back twice after that.
Northrop made it a seven-point game with 2:25 to go after a 37-yard field goal, and his onsides kick was a thing of beauty. The junior bounced the ball off the turf and had it pop high in the air, where Taylor Smith was able to field it. Had Columbia gotten possession, the Lions could have run out the clock, as Princeton had only one timeout remaining.
Instead, Princeton had one last chance. Blevins started things with a 21-yard pass to Chisom Opara and a seven-yard pass to Marty Cheatham to move the ball to the Colubmis 23. After a one-yard run by Kyle Brandt, Blevins found Cheatham for 15 more down to the seven. Brandt cashed it in on the next play, and Northrop's extra point tied it at 24-24 and sent it to overtime.
Columbia took the ball first but missed a field goal on its possession. Princeton then picked up one first down and then had Northrop end matters with his field goal.
Princeton followed its 45-yard first half with 293 yards after intermission, while the defense clamped down to allow only 135 yards in the second half and overtime.
Blevins completed 7 of 13 for 109 yards.
Princeton is at Colgate next week.