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Princeton University Athletics
Football Team Looks To End Season On Positive Note
November 17, 2004 | Football
Nov. 17, 2004
PRINCETON - The Princeton and Dartmouth football teams will conclude their 2004 seasons Saturday at 1 p.m. at Princeton Stadium when they battle for the "1917 Sawhorse Dollar" in a game that will be televised live on Patriot Media TV and can be heard on WHWH 1350 AM or on GoPrincetonTigers.com.
11/20: Dartmouth (1-8, 1-5) vs. Princeton (4-5, 2-4) Notes in PDF Format
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Game Notes
On Your Sawhorse -- Beginning with today's game and continuing as long as Princeton and Dartmouth play football, the winner between the Tigers and the Big Green will be awarded the "1917 Sawhorse Dollar." This dollar was originally the payment made by Dartmouth alum T.J. Rodgers, Class of 1970, to Princeton's Tad LaFontaine '72 after the business associates wagered $1 on the 2002 game, won by Princeton 38-30. The 1917 Sawhorse Dollar has been framed and will be presented on the field after the game by the athletic directors of the two schools - Gary Walters of Princeton and Josie Harper of Dartmouth - to the captains of the winning team. The school that wins the game will keep the Dollar until the following year's game.
Three's Company -- One more win this season would give Princeton a three-win improvement over last season, which head coach Roger Hughes also accomplished in 2002.
Five Alive -- Senior quarterback Matt Verbit is the second Princeton quarterback and the 12th quarterback in Ivy League history to throw for more than 5,000 career yards. He reached the milestone last weekend against Yale. Verbit, who will start his 24th straight game at quarterback today, is also the second Princeton player to record more than 5,000 total yards in a career.
Mr. Reliable -- Matt Verbit is making his 24th straight start at quarterback this week, the most for any Tiger quarterback since Doug Butler started 29 straight games from 1983-1985.
First And Goal -- Matt Verbit has thrown six touchdown passes to six different players, including five who had never caught a touchdown pass prior to the play.
Sixth Sense -- Junior Greg Fields is ranked sixth in Division I-AA with 160.9 all-purpose yards per game. His total is also second-best in the Ivy League, behind only Yale's Robert Carr. Fields has been ranked in the national Top 20 every week this season, beginning with his 230-yard effort against Lafayette.
Strawberry Fields -- Besides leading the Ivy League in punt returns with a 12.4 average per return, Fields has turned into Princeton's go-to receiver. After averaging 2.8 receptions in Princeton's first six games, Fields has averaged 8.3 receptions in the last three games.
Reversal Of Fortune -- Greg Fields has scored Princeton's last two touchdowns on reverses. He has three rushing touchdowns this season and zero touchdown receptions.
Ground Attack -- The senior duo of Jon Veach and Branden Benson has helped Princeton put together the No. 2 rushing attack in the Ivy League. Princeton averages 149.9 yards on the ground, with Veach (65.6) and Benson (63.4) recording 86.1% of those yards.
A Day At The Veach -- Jon Veach needs 37 yards to tie Erick Hamilton for ninth place on the all-time Princeton rushing chart. He would need 217 to tie College Football Hall of Fame member Cosmo Iacavazzi for eighth place.
Just For Kicks -- The last time Princeton played Dartmouth, kicker Derek Javarone set an Ivy League record with five field goals in one league game. Javarone connected from 24, 36, 26, 37 and 34 yards in last year's 21-15 loss at Dartmouth.
Tackling The Issue -- Senior linebacker Zak Keasey leads junior teammate Justin Stull in the race for the most tackles in the Ivy League. Keasey enters today's finale with 105 stops, while Stull is second in the league with 96 stops.
History Lesson -- Justin Stull led the Ivy League last season with 114 tackles and was named first-team All-Ivy.
More History -- Zak Keasey was Princeton's leading tackler in both 2001 (71) and 2002 (88).
A Man For All Positions -- Junior Jay McCareins leads the Ivy League with 12 passes defensed, and he is third on the team with 15 receptions. McCareins is also averaging 20.0 yards per kickoff return.
Return To Sender -- Princeton leads the Ivy League in punt return yardage. The Tigers average 12.4 yards per return. Thirty of the 31 punt returns have been handled by Fields, who averaged 30 yards per punt return two weeks ago against Penn.
An Artis-t At Work -- Sophomore defensive back J.J. Artis returned last week after suffering a shoulder injury on Oct. 30 at Cornell. Besides starting at cornerback, Artis has been one of Princeton's top special teams players this season.
Moore Than Less -- Senior center Jeremy Moore is starting his 20th straight and final game at center. He has started every game he has dressed for since being cleared from an injury suffered in an automobile accident his senior year of high school.
The Crystal Ball -- The Princeton football team will open its 2005 season on Sept. 17 at Lehigh. The Tigers will have five home games next season: 9/25 v. San Diego, 10/1 v. Columbia, 10/8 v. Colgate, 10/29 v. Cornell and 11/12 v. Yale.
Head Of The Class -- Princeton would like to thank the members of the Class of 2005: Branden Benson, Chris Browne, Brandon Devers, Trey Greene, Zak Keasey, Peter Kelly, John Langford, Chris Lebeis, Joel Mancl, Jeremy Moore, Brandon Mueller, Neset Pirkul, Joe Robinson, Jon Veach, Matt Verbit, Clay Wolford and Clinton Wu, as well as managers Nick Walstra and Ian Withrow.
Last season: Dartmouth 21, Princeton 15
HANOVER, N.H. - After getting inconsistent kicking all season, the Princeton Tigers
received record-setting kicking from Derek Javarone. The sophomore went 5 for 5 in field goal attempts, setting a record for Ivy League games. It served as a microcosm of the Princeton season. When something was working, something else wasn't, and that was enough for Princeton to fall 21-15 to Dartmouth in the season finale and final game for the Class of 2003.
Javarone had a chance to kick five field goals because the Princeton offense just couldn't break through in the red zone. The Tigers were dominant during the first 25 minutes of the game, scoring field goals on three different possessions and forcing Dartmouth on 3-and-outs on its first four possessions.
The Big Green would get on the board with its first real drive of the game in the second quarter, and evened the game on a spectacular 39-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Hall. Despite being tightly covered by two Tigers, Hall outleaped the competition for the ball at the 5-yard line and then strolled into the end zone after neither Tiger could maintain his footing.
A failed extra point kept the score even at 9-9, and it would go into the fourth quarter at 12-12 after a field goal for each team. Jay Barnard moved the lead to 18-12 by catching the second touchdown pass of the day from Charlie Rittgers. Princeton quarterback would be intercepted twice in the final quarter, including once in the end zone, and one final Javarone field goal wasn't enough.
Blair Morrison and B.J. Szymanski each had 100-yard days for Princeton in the air, as Verbit threw the ball 44 times, completing 25 of them, for 260 yards.
Justin Stull had a career-high 16 tackles in the loss, and ended the season as the Ivy League leader in tackles.
Princeton Season Highs
PRINCETON Rushes Veach v. Brown (20) Yards Rushing Benson v. Colgate (133) TD Rushes Veach v. Columbia (2) Long Rush Benson v. Colgate (84) Pass Attempts Verbit v. Cornell, Yale (39) Pass Completions Verbit v. Yale (23) Yards Passing Verbit v. Cornell (260) TD Passes Verbit v. Lafayette (2) Long Pass Verbit to Foran v. Cornell (80) Receptions Fields v. Yale (9) Yards Receiving Fields v. Cornell (121) TD Receptions several players (1) Long Field Goal Javarone v. Yale (34) Long Punt McDonough v. Cornell (65) Tackles Keasey v. Harvard (20) Sacks Stull, Keasey, Browne (2) Interceptions Strickland v. Colgate (3)