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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Led By Remarkable Class Of 2007, #18 Football Team Plays Saturday For Ivy League Championship
November 16, 2006 | Football
In August, the team was picked to finish sixth in the Ivy League. In September, the team was considered a nice story in the league. In October, the team was starting to get some serious recognition. Now, in November, Princeton has played two of its most remarkable games in generations, and it stands one win away from an Ivy League championship. The #18 Tigers will take on Dartmouth Saturday at 1 p.m., and a win will clinch at least a share of Princeton's ninth Ivy League football title. The game can be seen live locally on Patriot Media TV, and it will be video-streamed live on GoPrincetonTigers.com. You can also listen live on WBUD 1260-AM or on GoPrincetonTigers.com.
(the weekly notes packet will be available Wednesday morning)
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Nov. 18/1 p.m.
Stadium: Princeton Stadium
Location: Princeton, N.J.
TV: Patriot Media, GoPrincetonTigers.com
Radio: WBUD 1260 AM, GoPrincetonTigers.com
All-Time Series: Dartmouth 42-39-4
Last Year: Princeton 30, DARTMOUTH 0
Last at site: PRINCETON 17, Dartmouth 10
Last Five Years: Princeton 4-1
Current Streak: Princeton 2
Game Notes • Week 10
Championship Dreams • Princeton will claim at least a share of the Ivy League title with either a win over Dartmouth or a Yale loss at Harvard. The Tigers would win the title outright if both happen and would miss out on it completely if neither happens.
Learning To Share • While both Princeton and Yale can win the Ivy title outright today, there are two scenarios where a tie could happen. If both teams win, they would share the title; it would mark the first shared championship in the Ivy League since Brown and Yale did it in 1999. If Princeton loses and Harvard wins, there would be the first three-way tie since 1983, when Harvard, Dartmouth and Penn shared the crown.
Nine Lives • An Ivy League title this season would be Princeton's ninth in the 50 years of Ivy League football. Princeton's titles have come in 1957, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1989, 1992 and 1995.
Getting Defensive • Princeton recorded its first shutout since 1999 when it defeated Dartmouth 30-0 in last season's finale. The Tigers held Dartmouth to -6 yards rushing in the game.
Head Of The Class • A win today would give the Princeton Class of 2007 a distinction that no other Ivy League class can claim. It would be the first graduating class to ever improve by at least two wins in each season, going from 2-8 in 2003 to 5-5, 7-3 and, with a win today, 9-1.
Dressed To The Nines • Princeton hasn't won nine games in a season since 1964, when Hall of Famer Cosmo Iacavazzi captained the Tigers to a 9-0 record and an Ivy League championship.
Home Sweep Home • Princeton hasn't gone undefeated at home in a season since 1993, and it has never gone unbeaten in a season at Princeton Stadium.
Sweet 16 • A win on Saturday would give Princeton 16 wins over the last two seasons. Over the last 40 years, that has only happened one other time for Princeton (1992-93, during the Keith Elias era).
Bonfire Of The Vanities • Princeton earned its first bonfire, a campus tradition held for any football team that sweeps the H-Y-P series, since 1994. The Tigers defeated Harvard 31-28 and Yale 34-31 despite trailing both games in the fourth quarter.
Start Your Engines • Senior Tim Strickland is scheduled to start his 40th consecutive game for Princeton Saturday. He would be the only player in team history to start every game from his freshman season to his senior season.
Fond Memories • Princeton defeated Dartmouth 17-10 in the 2004 season finale at Princeton Stadium. The game-winning touchdown came after Dartmouth blocked a Princeton field goal. Holder Colin McDonough picked up the ball and tried to reach the first-down marker. Before being tackled, he handed the ball to teammate James Williams, who stunned the Big Green defense by scoring from 24 yards away.
Poll Position • Princeton is ranked 18th in the latest Sports Network I-AA Top 25 and 19th in the College Sporting News coaches poll.
(Saw)Horsing Around • The winner of the Princeton-Dartmouth game will win the “1917 Sawhorse Dollar” for the upcoming year. Princeton has won the Sawhorse Dollar each of the last two seasons.
Coaching Carousel • Princeton head coach Roger Hughes, whose career record reached the .500 mark last weekend, was the Dartmouth offensive coordinator from 1992-99. Dartmouth won two Ivy League titles during Hughes' time in Hanover.
Close Calls • During the 2006 schedule, more than 85% of the Princeton season has been with either team holding either a one-possession lead or the game being tied. There has never been a point this season where the leading team held more than a 14-point lead.
Rallying Cry • Princeton has won five games this season when it has trailed in the second half, four it has trailed in the fourth quarter and two it has trailed in the final five minutes.
Offensive Notes • Week 10
Passing Fancy • Princeton senior Jeff Terrell threw for 445 yards in the 34-31 win against Yale, the fourth-highest single-game passing mark in Princeton history. He has thrown for 3,909 career yards and can become the fourth player in Tiger history to throw for more than 4,000 career yards in his career finale with 91 yards.
I'm Honored • Jeff Terrell was named the National and Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week following Saturday's win over Yale. He threw for three touchdowns and a two-point conversion and ran in a fourth touchdown in the comeback win. He also completed his final seven passes,
including his last two for scores.
Leading The Way • Jeff Terrell leads the Ivy League in passing yardage (243.1), touchdown passes (16), total offense (270.0) and passing efficiency (134.2). He has accounted for 72.7% of Princeton's offensive yardage in 2006.
Circle Pattern • Junior Brendan Circle is in the midst of one of the best seasons by any Princeton receiver. He has caught seven touchdown passes this season, tied for third-best all-time at Prince-ton, and his 178-yard performance at Yale was the seventh-best all-time.
Catching On • The top two receivers in the Ivy League, based on receptions per game, will meet today at Princeton Stadium. Dartmouth's Ryan Fuselier leads the league with 5.67 receptions per game, while Brendan Circle is second with 5.56 per game. Circle leads the Ivy League in receiving yards per game (84.3), while Fuselier is third (71.8).
From Way Downtown • Princeton's longest pass of the season held up as the game winner against Yale when Jeff Terrell connected with Brian Brigham for a 57-yard score in the fourth quarter. Brigham ended the game with a career-best 121 yards on six catches.
Play It Again • Princeton's game-winning touchdown against Penn, a pitch from Rob Toresco to Jeff Terrell on the goal line, was shown as SportsCenter's No. 1 play on Nov. 4.
Jake The Snake • Tight end Jake Staser led Princeton in receiving against Cornell with four catches for 73 yards, and added his second touchdown of the season last week. The last tight end to lead Princeton in catches was current Pittsburgh Steeler practice squad member Jon Dekker, who caught four passes for 54 yards and a score against Penn in 2005.
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 10
Half And Half • Princeton allowed 355 total yards, including 286 rushing yards, in the first half against Yale. In the second half, Princeton allowed 59 total yards, including 33 on the ground.
Conversion Chart • Princeton leads the nation in third-down conversion defense, allowing a first down on only 25.2% of its opponents attempts (29 of 115). In the second half against Yale, Princeton allowed only one third-down conversion on eight attempts.
No I In Team, Or Tackle • Despite having the No. 1 defense in the Ivy League, Princeton doesn't have one player ranked in the Top 25 in tackles. The top Tigers in that category are Brig Walker and Tim Boardman, who are tied for 30th with 5.2 tackles per game.
Sky Walker • Senior linebacker Brig Walker recorded a career-high 11 tackles in Princeton's overtime win against Penn. Walker and fellow linebacker Pat McGrath pushed Matt Reinert out of bounds on the failed overtime conversion attempt, giving Princeton its seventh win of the season.
Making Their Point • Princeton has won two overtime games this season on conversion stops in overtime. Prior to last week's tackle of the Penn holder, defensive end Tom Methvin tackled Colgate's Mike Saraceno on a two-point conversion attempt in a 27-26 win in Hamilton, N.Y.
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, while Methvin won the award after a three-sack, three-pass breakup performance at Brown.
Miscellaneous Notes • Week 10
National Champion • Senior punter Colin McDonough was named the National and Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week after a brilliant punting performance against Harvard. The three-time All-Ivy selection averaged 48.5 yards per punt, and recorded punts of 59, 61, 62 and 64 yards.
Just For Kicks • Senior punter Colin McDonough is close to setting the single-season punting record at Princeton. Matt Evans '99 set the record by averaging 44.0 yards per punt in 1998; McDonough is currently averaging 43.9 yards per punt.
All-Ivy, All The Time • Colin McDonough will likely become Princeton's first four-time All-Ivy selection in football. The senior, who leads the league and ranks fifth nationally in punting, was a first-team selection in both 2003 and 2005 and a second-team pick in 2004.
The Crystal Ball • The 2007 season will open at Princeton Stadium on Sept. 15 against Lehigh. The remaining home dates will be: Sept. 29 vs. Columbia, Oct. 6 vs. Hampton, Oct. 27 vs. Cornell and Nov. 10 vs. Yale.
Last Year: Princeton 30, Dartmouth 0
HANOVER, N.H. — Princeton put an exclamation point on its finest season in 10 years by recording its first shutout since 1999 and limiting Dartmouth to -6 yards rushing in a 30-0 win. And Jay McCareins put an exclamation point on one of the finest careers in the last 30 years at Princeton by returning a missed field goal 100 yards for a touchdown.
With the win, Princeton retained both the “1917 Sawhorse Dollar” and the Governor's Cup, both of which go to each year's winner in this historic series. The Tigers used a dominant defensive effort and a balanced offensive attack, which included a 20-play, 83-yard drive, to dominate possession against the Big Green.
A pair of Derek Javarone field goals and a touchdown run by Jeff Terrell opened a 13-0 lead in the first half. Dartmouth kicker Erik Hinterbichler attempted a 43-yard kick into a stiff wind, and McCareins played deep on the kick and fielded it on the goal line. Like the Harvard kickoff return earlier that season, he found the right sideline, turned on the jets and went 100 yards for the score. Fittingly, he also intercepted a pass on the final play of his Princeton career.
Princeton built the lead to 27-0 on a 15-yard run by Rob Toresco in the third quarter, and Javarone kicked the final of his Ivy League career record 45 field goals in the fourth quarter to complete the shutout.
Terrell threw for 111 yards, while Toresco rushed for a career-high 119 yards and a touchdown. He also added six catches for 21 yards.
Justin Stull made six tackles in his final career game, while Nate Starrett added a career-best three sacks in the win. Princeton outgained Dartmouth 316-89 and controlled the ball for 39 minutes of the contest.