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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
2006 Bushnell Cup Winner Jeff Terrell Heads To Camp With Dallas Cowboys
July 25, 2008 | Football
Former Princeton quarterback Jeff Terrell, the 2006 Bushnell Cup winner who led the Tigers to a 9-1 record and an Ivy League championship as a senior, is heading to America's Team to compete for a roster spot. Terrell will sign a free-agent deal with the Dallas Cowboys and becomes the fourth quarterback on the roster, joining 2007 Pro Bowl selection Tony Romo, former Super Bowl champion Brad Johnson and Richard Bartel.
Terrell went through training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007, but was waived at the end of camp. He will now join another former heroic quarterback from the Orange and Black; Jason Garrett '89, the 1988 Bushnell Cup winner, is in his second year as the offensive coordinator in Dallas.
A two-year starter in Princeton, Terrell put forth one of the greatest two-year careers in several decades within the historic Tiger football program. As a junior, he led Princeton to a 7-3 record, throwing for 1,721 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Tigers went 5-2 in the Ivy League, good enough for second place, and had their best season in a decade.
And that was just the appetizer.
His senior season won't soon be forgotten. With a team picked to finish sixth in the league preseason poll, Terrell led Princeton to wins in each of its first five games, including a 31-28 comeback win against Harvard, when he threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 32 yards and a score. Included in that opening stretch was a 27-26 overtime win at Colgate, when Terrell rushed for both a key fourth down and an overtime touchdown.
Following a loss at Cornell, Terrell put together a pair of games for the ages. First was a 31-30 double-overtime victory over Penn, when Terrell completed 21 of 36 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns. He's best remembered for the fourth score, when he took a pitch from running back Rob Toresco on fourth-and-goal in overtime and recorded a touchdown that would be voted the No. 1 highlight on that night's "Top Plays" on ESPN's SportsCenter.
Somehow, he topped that performance seven days later. In the fourth greatest passing game in Princeton history, Terrell threw for 445 yards and three touchdowns in the dramatic 34-31 road win at Yale. Trailing by 14 points on three different occasions, Terrell completed 32 of 47 passes, including the game-winning 57-yard touchdown to Brian Brigham, and hit each of his last seven attempts to secure the win. He would add nine straight completions to start the Dartmouth game to set a Princeton record with 16 straight completions. Also, Terrell's 17 touchdown passes in 2006 are second only to Doug Butler's 25 touchdown passes in 2006.
Terrell threw for 4,166 yards in two seasons at Princeton, fourth most in program history, and his 2,445 yards last season were fifth most at Princeton. That total surpassed the best mark of Garrett, who threw for 2,217 yards in 1988. Garrett's 1998 season and Terrell's 2006 one are the only two years that a Princeton quarterback won the Bushnell Cup award, given to the Ivy League Player of the Year.
Dallas went 13-3 last season and won the NFC East.