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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
#15 Football Heads To Ithaca For Showdown With Dangerous Cornell Squad
October 27, 2006 | Football
Coming off an emotional 31-28 win over Harvard, the #15 Princeton (6-0, 3-0) football team will travel to Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y., for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Cornell Big Red (2-4, 0-3) this Saturday. Despite its slow start in Ivy League play, Cornell remains a very dangerous team at home, where it has already beaten Albany and Colgate this season. The Princeton-Cornell rivalry has produced some of the wildest Ivy League games of the decade, and with the potential of rain or snow this weekend, there's no telling what kind of game fans will see.
Princeton fans can hear the game live on WBUD 1260 AM and on www.GoPrincetonTigers.com, and those with SIRIUS satellite radio can hear the Cornell broadcast on channel 106.
Before we get to this week's game notes, here is a brief history of the Cornell-Princeton games during the decade:
2000 • Cornell 25, Princeton 24
Princeton's Brian Danielewicz completes a 24-yard touchdown pass to Chisom Opara with 11 seconds remaining, but Taylor Northrop slipped on the wet turf and his PAT was blocked.
2001 • Cornell 10, Princeton 7
Taylor Northrop's 57-yard field goal attempt with 5:53 remaining hit the crossbar and bounced back into the end zone.
2002 • Princeton 32, Cornell 25 (ot)
Princeton scores 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and overtime to rally from a 25-10 deficit. Jay McCareins forces overtime with a late INT and Blair Morrison catches the winning TD.
2003 • PRINCETON 28, Cornell 6
Matt Verbit throws two touchdowns passes in a 22-second span as Princeton rolls at home.
2004 • CORNELL 21, Princeton 20
Cornell throws touchdown passes of 54 and 79 yards, and Derek Javarone's PAT with 6:48 remaining in the fourth quarter gets blocked.
2005 • PRINCETON 20, Cornell 17 (ot)
Jeff Terrell engineers an 18-play, 63-yard drive to set up the tying field goal, and Derek Javarone breaks the Ivy League record with his 42nd career field goal to win it in overtime.
Princeton vs. Cornell: 2006
Date/Time: Oct. 28/1 p.m.
Stadium: Schoellkopf Field
Location: Ithaca, N.Y.
TV: none
Radio: WBUD 1260 AM/Sirius Ch. 118
All-Time Series: Princeton 55-31-2
Last Year: PRINCETON 20, Cornell 17 (ot)
Last At Site: CORNELL 21, Princeton 20
Last Five Years: Princeton 3-2
Current Streak: Princeton 1
Game Notes • Week 7
Poll Position • Princeton broke into the Top 20 of both the College Sporting News coaches poll (15) and The Sports Network media poll (18) this week. The last time Prince-ton was ranked this high in a poll was Nov. 2, 1993, when Princeton was ranked 16th in the Sports Network poll.
A Perfect 10 • Princeton is one of 10 unbeaten teams in Division I football, and one of three in Division I-AA. San Diego and Charleston Southern are the other two.
Garden State Of Mind • New Jersey is the only state with two undefeated Division I football teams, Princeton and Rutgers.
In Case You Forgot • Princeton and Rutgers played in the first intercollegiate football game on Nov. 6, 1869 in New Brunswick. Rutgers won 6g - 4g.
Sixth Sense • Princeton has gotten off to three 6-0 starts in the last 40 years (1993, 1995 and 2006).
Road Warriors • Princeton has won six straight road games, dating back to last season. No Tiger football team has won as many consecutive road games since Hall of Fame coach Dick Colman's 1964-65 teams won seven in a row. That streak includes four Ivy road wins (2005 vs. Penn, Harvard and Dartmouth; 2006 vs. Columbia).
Driving Them Crazy • In its last eight games overall, the Tigers have only allowed six scoring drives of more than 40 yards. Only two of them have been recorded by an Ivy League opponent (both by Harvard).
Conversion Chart • Princeton leads the nation with a defensive third-down conversion percentage of 20.8%. The Tigers have allowed only 17 conversions in 77 attempts this year.
Rallying Cry • Princeton has trailed in the second half of four wins this season, in the fourth quarter of three wins and in the final five minutes of two wins.
Thirty-something • Princeton scored 31 points against Harvard last weekend. That was the most points for Princeton in the span of 24 games; the
Tigers scored 35 in the 2004 season opener against Lafayette.
Half And Half • While rebuilding the Princeton program, head coach Roger Hughes has rebuilt his own career record. A win against Cornell would move Hughes' career record to 33-33. That would be the first time his career record was .500 and would mark an 11-game improvement since the end of the 2004 season.
Working Overtime • Princeton is 5-2 in overtime under Roger Hughes, including 2-0 against Cornell.
Offensive Notes • Week 7
Winning Foote-ball • Senior quarterback Jeff Terrell has a 13-3 record as a starter. The last Princeton starting quarterback who won at least 13 of his first 16 starts was Joel Foote, who graduated in 1994, went 15-3 as a starter and led the Tigers to the 1992 Ivy League title.
Seventh Heaven • Senior quarterback Jeff Terrell has thrown for 3,029 career yards, seventh-best all-time at Princeton. He needs 417 to tie Dave Splithoff for sixth place and is on pace to finish fourth on the Princeton career passing list. Roger Hughes has coached three of the top seven passers all-time at Princeton.
Total Recall • Jeff Terrell leads the Ivy League and is ranked eighth nationally with 250.8 total yards per game. He is ranked second in the Ivy League in passing yardage; his 218.0 yards per game trails Brown's Joe DiGiacomo by 5.8 yards per game.
With Honors • Jeff Terrell earned his first Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week award after throwing for two scores and running for a third in Princeton's 31-28 win over Harvard. Terrell threw for 223 yards in the win.
Leading The Way • Jeff Terrell has led Princeton in rushing yards in three of its six wins this season, including each of the last two.
Three-Pointer • Brendan Circle has caught touchdown passes in three straight games, including the game winner last week. The last Princeton receiver to catch touchdowns in three straight games was Kevin Duffy, who did it during the final three games of the 1995 Ivy championship season.
Circle Pattern • After averaging 48.3 yards per game in Princeton's first three contests of the season, Brendan Circle has averaged 106.0 yards per game in the last three. He ranks second in the Ivy League with 77.2 yards per game this season.
Dressed To The Nines • Although Princeton doesn't have one player in the Ivy League Top 8 in scoring (kickers excluded), the Tigers have nine different players with at least one touchdown this season. Brendan Circle, R.C. Lagomarsino and Rob Toresco are tied with several others in the league with three touchdowns. Toresco and Jeff Terrell tied for the team lead last season with five scores.
Dollar Bill • In one series of relief for starting quarterback Jeff Terrell last week, junior backup Bill Foran engineered a 10-play, 50-yard touchdown drive late in the first half. Foran threw for one first down and converted a 4th-and-6 with a 14-yard run to extend the drive.
Fresh Faces • Princeton started two freshmen, Mark Paski and J.P. Makrai, on the offensive line against Brown. It was the first time that happened since the 1996 season, when Hamin Abdullah and Bernie Marczyk started together.
Making His Mark • Mark Paski became the first freshman ever at Princeton to start his first career game on the offensive line.
Defensive Notes • Week 7
Quarterly Report • Princeton has not allowed a single fourth-quarter point in each of its last four Ivy League games, dating back to last season. During its current seven-game win streak, the Tigers have allowed only one fourth-quarter score, a touchdown at Colgate.
No I In Team, Or Tackle • Princeton has the No. 1 overall defense in the Ivy League, but it doesn't have one player in the Top 30 in the Ivy League in tackles. Brig Walker is tied for 35th in the league with 35 stops.
Twice As Nice • Defensive back Kevin Kelleher recorded two interceptions in the final four minutes of last week's 31-28 victory over Cornell. It was Princeton's fifth multiple-interception performance in the last nine games.
With Honors • Defensive lineman Tom Methvin is one of three Princeton defenders to win the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week award in the first five weeks of the season. Both Tim Strickland and J.J. Artis earned the award after recording multiple-interception games in September victories.
Cool Hand Luke • Senior co-captain Luke Steckel has recorded an interception in each of the last two games. His interception against Harvard, which came on a reverse/wide receiver pass, set up Princeton's game-winning scoring drive.
(End) Zoning Out • Princeton didn't allow Brown to score a touchdown two weeks ago for the first time in the span of 105 games, including every game in the tenure of current head coach Phil Estes. Brown entered the game with the No. 2 scoring offense in the Ivy League.
Who's Got The Time? • Princeton ranks fifth nationally in time of possession; the Tigers hold the ball for an average of 33:15 per game. In two Ivy League games, Princeton has held the ball for an average of 35:40.
Rush To Judgment • Princeton ranks second in the Ivy League and ninth nationally in rushing defense (94.7 yards per game). The Tigers have not allowed a 100-yard rusher over the span of 10 games.
Dawson's Creek • Harvard back Clifton Dawson had averaged 195.7 rushing yards in three contests against Princeton prior to last weekend. He was held to 64 yards on the ground in a 31-28 Tiger win.
Pure Artis-try • Senior defensive back J.J. Artis led Princeton with eight tackles last weekend, and he leads the Tigers with three interceptions this season.
Tim-ber • Senior defensive back Tim Strickland, who will be starting his 37th straight game this weekend, recorded an overtime interception against Cornell last season to set up Derek Javarone's game-winning field goal.
Miscellaneous Notes • Week 7
National Champion • Senior punter Colin McDonough was named the National and Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week after a brilliant punting performance last week. The three-time All-Ivy selection averaged 48.5 yards per punt, and recorded punts of 59, 61, 62 and 64 yards.
More Honors • Sophomore kicker Connor Louden was named the Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week after making two field goals, including a 34-yarder to force overtime with 4:02 remaining, in the 27-26 win over Colgate. Louden is in his first year as the starting kicker and is one of two placekickers in the Ivy League to have a perfect PAT conversion percentage.
Scratching Beneath The Surface • Princeton is 8-2 under Roger Hughes on surfaces other than grass. Both losses came on the artificial turf at Schoellkopf Field (2000, 2004). Princeton was able to practice on astroturf this week at Class of 1952 Stadium, the home of Princeton's field hockey and lacrosse teams.
First Of All • In the last three weeks, Princeton has beaten the preseason favorite of both the Patriot League (Colgate) and the Ivy League (Harvard).
The Crystal Ball • Princeton will return home next weekend for a 1 p.m. showdown with local rival Penn. The game can be seen live on CN8, a Comcast channel, and can be heard live on WBUD 1260 AM and on www.GoPrincetonTigers.com. The Tigers ended a nine-game losing streak to Penn last season with a 30-13 win at Franklin Field.
The Last Time: Princeton 20, Cornell 17 (ot)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Placekicker Derek Javarone set an Ivy League record in the most dramatic way possible. His 35-yard field goal, the 42nd of his career, sent Princeton into a four-way tie for first place in the Ivy League and earned the Tigers a 20-17 overtime win in front of 9,315 fans at Princeton Stadium. Javarone tied the record, previously held by Penn's Jason Feinberg, with a 32-yard field goal late in regulation to force overtime.
Princeton, which jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, had to play from behind in the final stanza for the second consecutive week. An 8-play drive that culminated in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Kuhn to Luke Siwula gave the Big Red a 17-14 lead with 10:24 remaining. Princeton quarterback Jeff Terrell, who ended the game 13-for-27 for 190 yards and a touchdown, engineered an 18-play, 63-yard drive that put Javarone in position to make the tying kick. He completed four passes on the drive, three of which converted a third down and one that converted a fourth down.
The drive ended at the Cornell 15-yard-line, and Javarone connected on the 32-yard field goal with 2:18 remaining to even the score at 17. Cornell had the first possession in OT and got to the 18-yard-line, where it faced 3rd-and-3. Kuhn dropped back and threw a pass inside the 5-yard-line, but safety Tim Strickland jumped in front of the pass for the biggest interception of his career. Princeton took over and ran the ball three times to set up Javarone's 35-yard attempt, which sailed between the uprights and sparked a jubilant celebration at midfield.
Princeton could thank another stellar effort from its defense for its place atop the league standings. Linebacker Abi Fadeyi recorded a career-high 14 tackles, including two sacks, and senior co-captain Justin Stull added 13 tackles. The defense limited Cornell to 150 yards rushing, a solid number considering the Big Red averaged 318.5 yards rushing in the two previous games.
The Tiger offense used a balanced attack, but it got another leading performance by senior tight end Jon Dekker, who stepped up with five catches for 71 yards, including the game-opening 11 yard touchdown. That came on Princeton's third drive.