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Princeton University Athletics
Patriot Games
September 23, 2003 | Football
Sept. 23, 2003
After a mistake-filled first half last Saturday, the Princeton Tigers played one of the top teams in the Patriot League fairly even. To beat another of the top teams in the league, Lafayette (Saturday, 1 p.m., Moneytalk 1350, GoPrincetonTigers.com), Princeton will need a solid 60-minute effort.
Princeton-Lafayette Game Notes in PDF Format
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Game Notes
Quick Learners - In each of the last two seasons, Princeton has lost its season opener and bounced back to win its second game. Last season, the Tigers followed a loss to Lehigh with a win over Lafayette.
Seventh Heaven - Princeton has won seven of its last eight contests against Lafayette, including a 34-19 win at Princeton Stadium last season. The Leopards' one victory during that stretch came in Roger Hughes' first season (24-17). There was no game in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks.
Crazy Eights - Princeton has won eight straight games when it has had a 100-yard rusher and lost eight straight games when it hasn't had a 100-yard rusher. The last time Princeton lost a game with a 100-yard rusher was in 2001, when Brown defeated Princeton 35-24 despite a 148-yard rushing performance by Cameron Atkinson.
Welcome Matt - Junior starting quarterback ranks third in Division I-AA in total offense after accounting for 366 yards in last week's loss to Lehigh. Verbit averaged 7.47 yards per play in the season opener. Four quarterbacks in the Ivy League are in the top seven, led by Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Peaks And Valleys - Verbit, who made his first Opening Day start on Saturday, showed the good and the bad in defeat. He threw for 298 yards, the most by any quarterback during the Roger Hughes era, and two touchdown passes, but he also accounted for four turnovers, including three fumbles.
A Man for All Seasons - Matt Verbit spent the 2002 fall helping lead the football team to its first winning season since 1995, and he also took all the reps with the football team in spring practices. During the winter, Verbit spent his time as a member of the varsity basketball team, seeing action in nine games.
Split Decision - Dave Splithoff, the starting quarterback in each of the last two season openers, is nearly fully recovered from last season's shoulder injury suffered against Harvard. He will be available for action tonight but is unlikely to start.
Justin Time - Sophomore middle linebacker Justin Stull made his first career start on Saturday, making 14 tackles and five tackles for loss in the contest. His 14 tackles were more than twice as many as he had all of last season (14).
Elite Eight - Eight players on the defensive side of the ball started for the Princeton Tigers in the season opener, including all three linebackers (Justin Stull, Alan Borelli, Steve Jameson) and three of four defensive backs (Tim Strickland, Charles Bahlert and Sam Snyder). The only three players who had started in previous games were each All-Ivy players in 2002 (first-teamer DE Joe Weiss, second-teamer DE Tim Kirby and honorable-mention DB Blake Perry).
End(s) Of The Line - Senior defensive ends Joe Weiss and Tim Kirby accounted for 18 tackles in the season opener. Both All-Ivy performers last season, they combined for 108 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 12 sacks.
Cup O' Joe - Princeton has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in nine consecutive games. The last player to rush for at least 100 yards against the Tigers was Lafayette's Joe McCourt (149).
Marko Polo - Lafayette quarterback Marko Glavic earned his first career win in 2000 when he relieved an injured Harry Armstrong and threw two touchdown passes to lead the Leopards to a 24-17 win against Princeton. It was Roger Hughes' first career game as head coach of the Tigers.
More Marko - Marko Glavic enters the 2003 season as the active quarterback with the most passing yards against Princeton. In two games, the Lafayette senior has thrown for 423 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers.
Starting Line-Up - Princeton started three new offensive linemen in its season opener, including two sophomores. After allowing an average of 5.0 sacks per game in its final four games of the 2002 season, the Tigers allowed one sack on Saturday evening.
Dynamic (Departed) Duo - The 2002 senior combination of Cameron Atkinson and Chisom Opara combined for 259 yards and three touchdowns in last season's win over Lafayette.
Strawberry Fields - Sophomore Greg Fields looks like one player who could pick up some of the offensive production. In his first career game Saturday, Fields recorded 113 all-purpose yards (33 rushing, 42 receiving, eight punt return and 30 kickoff return). He almost had Princeton's first punt return for a touchdown since Andy Bryant did it against Brown in 2000, but penalties negated the play.
Prime Target - Junior wide receiver B.J. Szymanski is expected to be one of the top targets in the Ivy League this season after catching 33 passes for 567 yards last season. He lived up to expectations in the first week, catching 3 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.
Look At Me, I Can Be Centerfield - B.J. Szymanski has some experience atop the league standings. Szymanski was a starting centerfielder for the Ivy League champion baseball team in the spring. He batted .330 in 46 games, led the team with 59 hits and 39 runs scored and earned All-Ivy honors.
B-Lake Carnegie - Senior defensive back Blake Perry is the Tigers' active leader in career tackles (163).
Just For Kicks - Freshman punter Colin McDonough was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week after averaging 40.8 yards per punt in the season opener against Lehigh. He is the first Princeton Tiger to ever be named the league's Rookie of the Week after starting the season opener of his freshman year. McDonough is currently the top-ranked punter in the Ivy League.
Fresh Faces - The other Princeton freshman to start the 2003 season opener was cornerback Tim Strickland, who made eight tackles in the contest, including a team-best five solo efforts.
Bouncing Back - Princeton has won four of the last five games following a loss, including last season's 34-19 win over Lafayette.
Patriot Games - Princeton went 2-1 against Patriot League rivals in 2002, defeating Lafayette and Colgate and losing to Lehigh. Prior to that season, Princeton had lost five straight games to teams in the Patriot League.
Five Alive - Princeton was picked to finish fifth in the 2003 Ivy League football media poll. Penn was picked to repeat as Ivy League champion. Lehigh was picked to finish third in the Patriot League poll.
Oh Captain, Our Co-Captains - Princeton will have two captains for the 2003 season. Senior quarterback Dave Splithoff and senior defensive end Tim Kirby were elected by their teammates at the end of last season.
The Crystal Ball - Princeton will open its 2003 Ivy League schedule next Saturday night, when the Tigers take on Columbia at 7 p.m. Princeton rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Lions 35-32 in New York last season.
Tale Of The Tape
Lafayette Princeton 31.0 Points Per Game 13.0 9.5 Points Allowed Per Game 28.0 40 First Downs 16 19/19/2 Rushing/Passing/Penalty 4/9/3 176.5 Rushing Yardage Per Game 104.9 3 Touchdowns Rushing 0 213.5 Passing Yardage Per Game 296.0 49/31/4 Att./Comp./Int. 36/16/1 6 Touchdowns Passing 2 7/75 Penalties/Yards 9/75 5/40.2 Punts/Avg. Per Punt 8/40.8 31:50 Time of Possession 25:15 4/32 Sacks By/Yardage 1/7 3/1 Fumbles/Fumbles Lost 4/3 11 of 25 Third-Down Conversions 4 of 15 0/2 Field Goals/Attempts 0/1
Last Weekend
Lehigh 28, Princeton 13
PRINCETON, N.J. - Chad Schwenk threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns and Lehigh forced four Princeton turnovers, all in the first half, as the Mountain Hawks defeated the Tigers, 28-13, before 15,205 at Princeton Stadium Saturday night. Schwenk, who finished 24-for-41 through the air for the evening, found three different receivers for touchdowns in leading Lehigh (3-0) to its seventh straight victory over Princeton (0-1) dating back to the 1996 season. The Tigers, who actually outgained Lehigh 400-389 for the game, then put two scores on the board in a three-minute span early in the fourth quarter but couldn't get any closer. The first came on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Matt Verbit to B.J. Szymanski with 13:46 left in the game that made the score 28-7 Lehigh, and the second was a 19-yard Verbit pass to Blair Morrison on a fourth-and-11 situation with 10:37 left that pulled the Tigers within 28-13. Verbit finished the game 16-for-36 through the air for 296 yards, including three for 105 yards to Szymanski, but fumbled three times in the first 30 minutes. The junior quarterback was also Princeton's leading rusher, running for 70 yards on 13 carries. Four Tiger running backs ran for just 34 yards on 16 carries. The Mountain Hawks would jump ahead 14-0 thanks to a Tom McGoey interception of a Verbit pass attempt on the first play of the ensuing Princeton drive. On the next play from scrimmage, from Princeton's 25-yard line, Schwenk found Adam Bergen in the end zone to give his team a two-touchdown advantage. Three Princeton first-half drives ended with turnovers.
Lafayette was idle
Last Season
PRINCETON, N.J. - Cameron Atkinson rushed for three touchdowns and Zak Keasey picked off a key pass to lead Princeton to a 34-19 victory in the home opener. Atkinson became the first Princeton runner to score three times in a game since David Splithoff did it two years earlier, but it wouldn't be the final time Atkinson achieved that feat during the season (Dartmouth in the season finale).
The defensive efforts of Keasey and Brandon Mueller were key for Princeton's success. Besides ending a 19-point surge for the Leopards with a tipped interception, Keasey had a game-high 13 tackles. Brandon Mueller added five tackles and two interceptions.
Backup tight end Tyler Peace gave the local faithful its first touchdown when he caught a 12-yard touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone. Derek Javarone converted on a 32-yard field goal, and after a pair of defensive stands by an inspired unit, Atkinson added scoring runs of 11 and four yards to build the lead to 24-0. Atkinson ended the day with 121 yards rushing, while his counterpart, Joe McCourt, had 149 yards rushing.
Princeton also had 24 points the week prior, and couldn't finish the job with any more points. For a while, it looked like history would repeat itself, as Lafayette scored 19 unanswered points to get within one possession. A 39-yard field goal by Javarone gave Princeton an eight-point lead, but Lafayette began a drive to even the score. Thirty-one yards from the Princeton end zone, Lafayette quarterback Marco Glavic, who had engineered a victory comeback in 2000, had his passed tipped by Mueller, who broke free on a safety blitz. Keasey went over his head for the interception, and Atkinson made sure that play sealed Lafayette's fate by ending the ensuing drive with a one-yard run.
Lafayette would get two more chances with the ball, but the Princeton defense settled and picked off Glavic to end both drives, including the final one by Jay McCareins. It was Princeton's first win over a Patriot League opponent in seven attempts.