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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton To Host Lafayette In Season Opener
September 12, 2001 | Football
Sept. 12, 2001
LAFAYETTE (0-1) at PRINCETON (0-0)
The Date Sept. 15, 2001
The Kickoff 7:07 p.m.
The Site Princeton Stadium * Princeton, N.J.
The Series Princeton leads 32-3-3
Last Year Lafayette defeated Princeton 24-17
Last Week Princeton did not play, Lafayette lost to Towson 16-13 in overtime
The Coaches Princeton: Roger Hughes (second season, 3-7), Lafayette: Frank Tavani (second season, 2-10)
TV/Radio The game can be heard live on WHWH AM 1350 in Princeton 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 live on CN8 and on RCN, which will televise the game live and on tape delay Sunday at 9 a.m. and Tuesday at 8 p.m. It can be seen at satellite coordinates KU Band - GE 3, Trans. K18
Change of seasons - Princeton has six players starting against Lafayette who started the season opener against Lafayette last year. The six: WR Chisom Opara, WR Nate Lindell, LB Chris Roser-Jones, CB Paul Simbi, SS Kevin Kongslie, CB Blake Perry. What does the media know? - Princeton was picked to finish sixth in the Ivy League's preseason media poll.
Lights out - Princeton is 0-2 in night games at Princeton Stadium, having lost to Lehigh at home each of the last two years.
Close shaves - Of Princeton's 10 games in 2000, six were decided by seven points or fewer. A seventh was tied in the fourth quarter.
More shaves - Princeton lost to Lafayette 24-17 a year ago. After Princeton had tied the score at 17-17 with 45 seconds to play, Lafayette scored the game-winning TD with two seconds remaining.
Still more shaves - Nine of Princeton's last 15 games and 27 of Princeton's last 50 games have been decided by seven points or fewer.
Young guns - Of the 14 defensive linemen on Princeton's team, 13 are either freshmen or sophomores.
Quarter horses - Princeton had four quarterbacks start at least two games last year due to injuries.
Line 'em up - Princeton has four new starters on the offensive line: OT John Holownia, OT Kevin Manning, C Roger Patterson, OG Lance Baird. Only OG Matt Peluse has been a starter before.
Split decision - David Splithoff completed 31 of 48 passes for 543 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in nine quarters as a freshman last year before breaking his jaw on the last play against Harvard. He is healthy again and will be Princeton's No. 1 quarterback entering the season.
Picked clean - David Splithoff threw 48 passes last year without an interception. The school record for consecutive passes without an interception is 114, held by both Joel Foote (1992) and Brock Harvey (1995).
More picks - Chris Roser-Jones led Division I-AA linebackers with six interceptions a year ago.
Last pick - Chris Roser-Jones scored Princeton's first touchdown a year ago when he returned an interception 33 yards against Lafayette.
Passing fancy - David Splithoff set a Princeton record with 14 consecutive completions a year ago.
Catching on - Chisom Opara caught at least three passes in every game last year.
Welcome back - Nate Lindell, who averaged 31.7 yards per catch on seven receptions last year, is back in the starting lineup after tearing his ACL in Week 5 against Brown.
Not bad, for starters - Blake Perry is the only offensive or defensive player in Princeton history to start every game as a freshman.
Class struggle - Of the 46 players on the offensive and defensive two-deep for Week 1, 33 are either sophomores or juniors. The breakdown: Class Offense Defense Total Fr. 1 3 4 So. 4 12 16 Jr. 13 4 17 Sr. 5 4 9
Many happy returns - Andy Bryant led the Ivy League in punt returns average (13.2) a year ago.
Getting his kicks - Placekicker Taylor Northrop is a preseason Division I-AA All-America.
More kicks - Taylor Northrop has 25 career field goals. He needs 11 to tie the Princeton record held by Alex Sierk '99 and 16 more to tie the Ivy League's career record of 41, held by Jason Feinberg (Penn '01).
Last kicks - Taylor Northrop is one of three placekickers in Ivy League history with two career 50-yard field goals. The others: Tim Mazzetti (Penn '77) and Mark Hall (Harvard '94). No kicker has had three career 50-yarders in Ivy history.
Hoop dreams - Senior defensive end Phil Jackman never played organized football prior to walking on in midseason a year ago. Jackman played two years of basketball for the Tigers.
'Backer up - Princeton has had a first-team or second-team All-Ivy League linebacker every year since 1991.
More 'backer - Bob Farrell is the fifth Princeton captain in the last seven years to be a linebacker. The other four were all named first-team or second-team All-Ivy League.
Moving up the charts - Chisom Opara ranks 14th on Princeton's career receptions list with 61 with two seasons remaining. Opara needs 14 catches to tie for 10th place.
More charts - Chisom Opara needs 132 receptions the next two seasons to tie Kevin Guthrie's school record of 193. He would need an average of 6.6 receptions per game for his remaining 20 games.
Getting there - Princeton tripled its Ivy win total from 1999 to 2000, going from one win to three.
Ice pop - Princeton center Roger Patterson is a native of Eagle River, Alaska. His father is an Alaska state trooper.
World Wide Webb - Princeton cornerback Clark Webb, a starter for parts of last season, will miss the 2001 season to study at Oxford.
Welcome back - John Amburgy and Drew Babinecz, both former starters who missed the 2000 season, are back with the team in 2001.
Line of scrimmage - Princeton scrimmaged Ivy rival Penn on Sept. 4, playing into the middle of the second quarter before the game was ended by lightning. Each team had scored one touchdown to that point, Princeton's came on an 85-yard touchdown pass from Brian Danielewicz to B.J. Symanski.
Made to be broken - Blair Morrison set a Princeton freshman record with 17 receptions a year ago, breaking the record set the previous year by Chisom Opara (10).
Two good - Starting tight end Mike Chiusano has never caught a pass in a game, though he did catch a two-point conversion attempt after a fumbled snap against Cornell last year.
Catching on - Princeton's starting tight end and fullback of a year ago (George Citovic, Marty Cheatham) combined to catch 59 passes last year. Princeton enters the 2001 season without a tight end or fullback on the roster who has ever caught a pass.
Horse-play - Princeton linebacker Rob Currey was named "Best Cattle Showman" at the 1998 Livingston County Fair in his hometow of Fowlerville, Mich.
The music man - Senior Jon Lee, the No. 2 fullback, was a member of the Harrisburg Youth Symphony as a cello player.
Crossing the line - Sophomore Jeff Micsky, the No. 3 center a year ago, is now a starting defensive tackle.
Princeton Offense
WR 3 NATE LINDELL (Jr., 5-11, 180 *Poway, Calif.)
82 Blair Morrison (So., 6-0, 175 * Folsom, Calif.)
and 17 Andy Bryant (Jr., 5-9, 190 *Laramie, Wyo.)
LT 77 Kevin Manning (So., 6-5, 275 * Dalton, Pa.)
74 David Czehut (Sr., 6-5, 290 * Crosswicks, N.J.)
LG 69 LANCE BAIRD (Jr., 6-5, 290 * Weston, Fla.)
73 Chris Havener (Jr., 6-4, 295 * New Britain, Pa.)
C 72 Roger Patterson (Jr., 6-2, 265 * Eagle River, Alaska)
54 John Amburgy (Sr., 6-4, 275 * Clearwater, Fla.)
RG 79 Matt Peluse (Sr., 6-5, 290 * Glen Rock, N.J.)
63 Paul Lyons (Fr., 6-5, 305 * Norwood, Mass.)
RT 78 JOHN HOLOWNIA (Jr., 6-5, 300 * East Setauket, N.Y.)
70 Tom Murray (So. 6-5, 275 * Lawrence, Kans.)
TE 89 MIKE CHIUSANO (Jr., 6-5, 230 * Medford, N.J.)
8 J.R. Sauder (Jr., 6-3, 205 * Morton, Ill.)
WR 21 CHISOM OPARA (Jr., 6-2, 210 * Lutherville, Md.)
18 Patrick Schottel (Jr., 6-3, 195 * Roseville, Minn.)
QB 11 DAVID SPLITHOFF (So., 6-2, 210 *Glenview, Ill.)
14 Brian Danielewicz (Sr., 6-3, 200 * Beverly Hills, Mich.)
TB 29 CAMERON ATKINSON (Jr., 5-7, 170 *Mantua, N.J.)
20 Ismael El-Amin (Jr., 5-11, 195 * Chicago, Ill.)
FB 39 Tim Bowden (Jr., 6-0, 210 * St. John, Kansas)
40 John Lee (Sr., 6-0, 210 *Harrisburg, Pa.)
Princeton Defense
DE 95 Joe Weiss (So., 6-2, 255 * Somers Point, N.J.)
90 Phil Jackman (Sr., 6-5, 240 * Danville, Calif.)
DT 66 SEAN STORY (So., 6-2, 260 *Park Ridge, Ill.)
91 George Pilcher (So., 6-3, 255 * Jacksonville, Fla.)
DT 51 JEFF MICHSKY (So., 6-1, 260 * Doylestown, Pa.)
71 Ian Withrow (Fr., 6-4, 290 * Missoula, Mont.)
DE 93 Tim Kirby (So., 6-4, 265 * San Mateo, Calif.)
36 Chris Browne (Fr., 6-3, 225 * Miami Beach, Fla.)
LB 46 BOB FARRELL (Sr., 6-0, 235 * Tulsa, Okla.)
56 Steven Jameson (So., 6-2, 225 * Northville, Mich.)
LB 41 DREW BABINECZ (Jr., 6-0, 220 *West Chester, Pa.)
or 52 Zak Keasey (So., 6-1, 235 * Clarkston, Mich.)
LB 98 CHRIS ROSER-JONES (Sr., 6-0, 230 *State College, Pa.)
49 Rob Currey (Jr., 6-1, 230 *Fowlerville, Mich.)
CB 1 Paul Simbi (Jr., 5-8, 185 * Roseville, Minn.)
16 Jay McCariens (Fr., 6-0, 195 * Naperville, Mich.)
SS 45 KEVIN KONGSLIE (Jr., 6-0, 210 * Salem, Ore.)
43 Sam Snyder (So., 6-1, 185 * Lewisburg, Pa.)
FS 37 Brandon Mueller (So., 6-0, 195 * Valencia, Pa.)
5 Jon Ganter (Sr., 5-10, 185 *State College, Pa.)
CB 33 BLAKE PERRY (So., 6-0, 190 * Rancho Sante Fe, Calif.)
22 Lisly Chery (So., 5-11, 185 * Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Princeton Specialists
PK 6 TAYLOR NORTHROP (Sr., 5-11, 175 * Jupiter, Fla.)
KO 6 TAYLOR NORTHROP (Sr., 5-11, 175 * Jupiter, Fla.)
P 6 TAYLOR NORTHROP (Sr., 5-11, 175 * Jupiter, Fla.)
LS 44 TIM RELEFORD (So., 6-0, 170 * East Hanover, N.J.)
H 32 GARY BAUMWOLL (Sr., 6-0, 190 * Randolph, N.J.)
PR 17 ANDY BRYANT (Jr., 5-9, 190 * Laramie, Wyo.)
KR 29 CAMERON ATKINSON (Jr., 5-7, 170 *Mantua, N.J.)
and 17 ANDY BRYANT (Jr., 5-9, 190 *Laramie, Wyo.)