Football Team Looks To End Tough Season On Up Note

Nov. 18, 2003

It's been a seriously trying season for the football team, which has lost three Ivy games on the final play. A win over Dartmouth won't get Princeton back into a race, nor will it erase the pain of those defeats, but it will send the Class of 2004 out on a positive note and it will set a solid foundation for the 2004 football season.

Princeton-Dartmouth Game Notes in PDF Format
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Game Notes

Grand Finale - For the 14th consecutive year, Princeton will end its football season against Dartmouth. During that span, Princeton is 4-8-1 against the Big Green. Following a Princeton win, the Tigers have averaged 5.7 wins the next season. Following a loss, the Tigers average 5.1 wins the next year.

We're Going Streaking - Princeton is looking for its first three-game winning streak against Dartmouth since the Tigers won three in a row from 1950-1952, which included the Heisman Trophy season by Dick Kazmeier in 1951. The Tigers won 35-14 in Hanover two years ago and 38-30 at home last season.

Last Man Standing - Princeton has lost three Ivy League games this season on the final play: a 49-yard Hail Mary to end regulation in a 33-27 loss to Columbia, a four-yard touchdown pass in a 43-40 overtime loss to Harvard and a fumble recovery in double overtime of a 27-24 loss to Yale.

Park Place - Princeton can finish anywhere from a fourth-place tie to seventh in the league, depending on Saturday's results. If Princeton and Yale win, the Tigers will finish tied for fourth with Harvard, Dartmouth and the loser of the Brown-Columbia game. If Princeton and Harvard win, the Tigers will finish tied for fifth with Harvard and the loser of the Brown-Columbia game. A loss will put Princeton alone in seventh place. Running Amok - Princeton rushed for 256 yards last season against Dartmouth, including 233 by Cameron Atkinson '03, which was the sixth-best single-game rushing performance ever at Princeton. The Tigers held Dartmouth to 64 yards rushing.

Ground Attack - Junior Jon Veach had his first collegiate 100-yard game at Memorial Field two years ago, when he led Princeton to the 35-14 win with 108 yards rushing. He also scored his first career touchdown.

Elite Eight - Jon Veach has scored eight Princeton touchdowns in the last four games. In league games only, Veach (9.0) is second to Brown's Nick Hartigan (10.0) in scoring.

A Day At The Veach - Jon Veach needs 71 yards against Dartmouth to reach 1,000 all-purpose yards for the season, and he needs 197 all-purpose yards to break into the Top 20 all-time at Princeton for a season. Keith Elias holds the record with 1,939 yards in 1993.

Passing Fancy - Junior quarterback Matt Verbit has thrown for 2,239 yards already this season, fourth-best all-time at Princeton; he would need 429 yards passing at Dartmouth to pass Bob Holly for third

More Passing - Matt Verbit has thrown for 3,174 yards in his career, which is sixth best ever at Princeton. He would need to throw for 272 yards to tie teammate Dave Splithoff for fifth all-time. He is currently exactly 1,100 yards behind Jason Garrett for second, although he is 4,117 behind Doug Butler for the all-time Princeton record.

Five Alive - Matt Verbit is averaging five touchdown passes for every one interception in Ivy League games this season.

Yard Sale - Junior wideout B.J. Szymanski is averaging 19.9 yards per reception this season, which is .4 of a yard under the single-season record at Princeton, which is held by Marc Ross, who averaged 20.3 yards per catch in 1993 (29 catches for 586 yards).

The Blair-Witch Project - Senior wideout Blair Morrison goes into his final game with 95 career receptions, seventh best all-time at Princeton. Morrison needs one to match "Cris" Crissy for sixth and four to match Michael Lerch for fifth.

Justin Time - Sophomore linebacker Justin Stull had 11 tackles last week against Yale, his seventh double-digit tackle game of the season. He needs two more tackles to become the first Princeton player since Jim Salters in 1998 to record at least 100 tackles.

Tackling The Issue - Justin Stull is averaging an Ivy League-best 10.8 tackles per game. Brown's Drew Gallagher, currently No. 2 in the league in tackles, will need to make 10 more tackles than Stull on the final day of the year to tie him for the league lead.

In Case You Forgot - Justin Stull had six tackles last season.

I'm Honored - Freshman punter Colin McDonough has earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors twice this season, including in Princeton's win against Cornell. McDonough is currently second in the league in punting with a 39.0-yard average, .2 of a yard behind Columbia's Nick Rudd.

End(s) Of The Line - Senior defensive end Joe Weiss is second in the Ivy League in tackles for loss with 13, and he is tied for eighth in the league with four sacks. Princeton's other defensive end, Tim Kirby, is tied with four sacks. Combined, the two 2002 All-Ivy players have made 127 tackles this season.

Hammerin' Hank - This will be the final game for equipment manager Hank Towns, who will retire after his 34th year of service to Princeton.

The Crystal Ball - The 2004 Princeton season will begin Sept. 18 when the Tigers host Lafayette College. The home schedule will include Penn, Harvard, Brown and Dartmouth, and the Tigers will have their first road game in San Diego (Sept. 25).

Tale of the Tape

Dartmouth		Princeton
21.1	Points Per Game	21.0
27.3	Points Allowed Per Game	27.3
178	First Downs	169
57/102/19	Rushing/Passing/Penalty	70/93/6
125.1	Rushing Yardage Per Game	142.8
11	Touchdowns Rushing	12
241.2	Passing Yardage Per Game	248.8
334/188/11	Att./Comp./Int.	283/149/5
13	Touchdowns Passing	13
41/374	Penalties/Yards	58/510
54/36.9	Punts/Avg. Per Punt	45/39.0
30:18	Time of Possession	26:35
13/88	Sacks By/Yardage	17/100
13/5	Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	27/17
17/22	Field Goals/Attempts	4/10
63 of 152	Third-Down Conversions	40 of 125

Hank Towns

Hank Towns is in his 34th year at Princeton. He has spent the last 29 years as head equipment manager, during which time he has missed just one football game, the 1987 game at Brown. Saturday will be his final game as equipment manager at Princeton.

Towns, an honorary member of the Class of 1982, either works directly with or oversees the needs of all 38 varsity teams at Princeton. He is a certified member of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association.

Towns played college football at Grambling under legendary coach Eddie Robinson. Towns is the chairman of the trustee board of Beauty Grove P.B. Church in Trenton. He has also been active in American Legion baseball in Trenton, and he managed Mitchell Davis Post 182 to the 1987 New Jersey state finals.

A lifelong resident of Trenton, Towns lives with his wife Joyce. They have three children and 10 grandchildren.

Last Year

PRINCETON, N.J. - Senior tailback Cameron Atkinson had the game of his career to make sure he led Princeton to its first winning record during his four-year career. Atkinson rushed for 233 yards, including 181 in the fourth quarter, to lead Princeton to a 38-30 comeback win over Dartmouth.

Princeton rallied with 28 points in the fourth quarter to win the game. It was the fourth time this season that the Tigers have trailed in the final quarter and won the game. Dartmouth would maintain a 13-point advantage throughout most of the third quarter, but the Princeton offense finally got back on track to reclaim the lead. The Tigers got to within one score when Verbit hit Randy Bly on fourth down for a five-yard score.

After holding strong on the next drive, Princeton needed three plays to go 75 yards and grab the lead. The big play came from the explosive Atkinson, who sprinted through the line and went 65 yards for the score. As it turned out, it wouldn't even be his longest rush of the quarter.

After Dartmouth drove down the field and scored on a 16-yard pass to Mathew DeGutes (the Big Green added the two-point conversion on a run by quarterback Brian Mann), Atkinson sprinted down the right sidelines, untouched over the last 50 yards, for a Princeton Stadium-record 86-yard touchdown run. Atkinson, who entered the fourth quarter needing 155 yards for the magical 1,000-yard mark, was within four yards with plenty of time remaining.

He wouldn't need much of it. Dartmouth misplayed the kickoff, and the loose ball was recovered by Brandon Mueller. After a two-yard run got Atkinson to 997 yards, he went up the middle for seven yards to grab the mark. Two plays later, Atkinson was happy to watch Benson, his sophomore understudy, go in the end zone from one yard out to grab a 31-24 lead.

Dartmouth continued to unravel, as Mann threw a pass that deflected off his intended receiver and ended in the hands of All-Ivy strong safety Kevin Kongslie. Princeton moved 27 yards in seven plays and scored, fittingly enough, on a one-yard run by Atkinson. The touchdown, his third of the game, matching a single-game high he set earlier in the season against Lafayette, gave Princeton a 38-24 lead.

Last Week ...

Yale 27, Princeton 24 (2 ot)
PRINCETON, N.J. - Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. The Princeton football team was 92 yards and 1:03 away from an exciting victory over longtime rival Yale, but unfortunately for Princeton, it was just enough yards in just enough time.

Bulldog quarterback Alex Cowan engineered a 92-yard drive and threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Chandler Henley on the final play of regulation to send the contest into overtime, and following an even first session, a field goal and a fumble recovery in the second session gave Yale a 27-24 double-overtime victory.

Princeton scored on its first play on a 25-yard swing pass to Jon Veach, his second touchdown of the game. A pass interference call on Yale's ensuing possession got Yale inside the Princeton 10-yard line, and Alex Flaherty caught a three-yard pass to tie the score.

The Princeton defense held Yale out of the end zone, but John Troost gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game with a 26-yard field goal. Princeton immediately went to work, with quarterback Matt Verbit hitting B.J. Szymanski on a slant to open its possession. A Yale defender swiped at the ball and forced the fumble, which was jumped on by Bryant Dieffenbacher to end the game.

Brown 26, Dartmouth 21
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Nick Hartigan set a Brown single-season record, gaining 194 of his 1,297 yards in a comeback victory over Dartmouth. Hartigan scored the game- winning touchdown from one yard out, capping a 95-yard drive. Senior linebacker Drew Gallagher made 11 tackles in his final home game.

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