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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Two Football Teams Willing To Trick For Much-Needed Treat Meet On Halloween
October 28, 2009 | Football
Trick or treat?
In this rivalry, arguably the most exciting in the Ivy League that nobody ever talks about, there has certainly been a decade full of treats. Since 2000, eight of the nine Cornell-Princeton games have been decided by seven points or less. Five games were legitimately up for grabs in the final minute of regulation, and two went to overtime.
You can read a little bit about each game in the box on page 3, but rest assured that weird things happen when these teams play each other. Fans have been on the edge of their seats in most of the games, including last year's five-point Tiger win. After all, Cornell had a throw into the end zone on the final play for the potential game winner.
As for tricks, both teams have used them this season. Whether it was a wide receiver pass for an 81-yard touchdown in Cornell's 14-12 win over Yale or Tommy Wornham's fake handoff and subsequent 68-yard touchdown run in the 17-14 victory at Lehigh, both teams know the value of some well-timed deception.
Right now, a victory for both teams would be well-timed. Both Cornell and Princeton are getting out of brutal schedule stretches, and the effects are apparent in the win-loss column. Both teams are on four-game losing streaks and will play with desperation as they attempt to roll into November with positive momentum.
Cornell (2-4, 1-2 Ivy) at Princeton (1-5, 0-3 Ivy)
Date/Time Oct. 31/1 p.m.
Field Powers Field at Princeton Stadium
Location Princeton, N.J.
TV Verizon FIOS ONE
Radio 103.3 FM/GoPrincetonTigers.com
All-Time Series Princeton leads 56-33-2
Last Year Princeton 31, CORNELL 26
Last At Site PRINCETON 34, Cornell 31
Last Five Years Princeton 3-2
Current Streak Princeton 2
Game Notes • Week 7
Down To The Wire • In nine Princeton-Cornell games this decade, the winning margin has been 5.8 points per game. Taking out the 2003 game, a 28-6 win for Princeton, that margin has been only 3.8 points per game.
Just For Kicks • The last two Princeton-Cornell games on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium have been decided by field goals. In 2005, Derek Javarone forced overtime with a 32-yard field goal and won it with a 35-yard kick. Two years ago, Cornell kicker Peter Zell missed a 47-yarder in the final seconds that would have forced overtime in a night game televised on ESPNU.
Go Cart • Princeton defensive back Cart Kelly, in his third year as a starter, has recorded interceptions in both the 2007 and 2008 Cornell games. Prior to last weekend, those were his only two interceptions; he intercepted a pass last weekend during Princeton's loss at Harvard.
Tackling The Issue • Junior Steven Cody currently leads the Ivy League and ranks fourth nationally with 12.4 stops per game. He has four games with at least 10 tackles and made 16 in Princeton's last home game. Cornell's Chris Costello isn't far behind; the Big Red senior ranks fourth in the league and 11th nationally with 10.8 tackles per game.
Great Britton • A third top tackler would have been playing in this game, but Princeton senior captain Scott Britton tore his ACL at Brown and will miss the rest of the season. Britton ranks third in the Ivy League and eighth nationally with 11.2 tackles per game, despite playing less than one half at Brown. In his last home game, he also made 16 tackles and was named Ivy Defensive Player of the Week.
New Yorck • Senior Peter Yorck, who is one of the linebackers needed to step up in Scott Britton's absence, had a career effort against Harvard. The former Tiger tight end made nine tackles, including five solo stops, in Cambridge.
Head Of The Class • Senior defensive back Dan Kopolovich was recently named a semifinalist for the 2009 William V. Campbell Trophy (formerly known as the Draddy Trophy), an honor given by the National Football Foundation to honor the best both on the field and in the classroom in college football. Kopolovich, a four-year starter who played quarterback during part of the 2008 season, had one of the best games of his career at Harvard, where he recorded 12 tackles.
Passing Fancy • Princeton is hoping its offense can pick up where it left when it last played on Powers Field. The Tigers scored 14 points between the fourth quarter and overtime, both on passing touchdowns of more than 20 yards, in an eventual 21-14 overtime loss to nationally ranked Colgate. Quarterback Tommy Wornham threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Trey Peacock to force overtime and a 23-yard score to Andrew Kerr in the first overtime session.
Five Alive • Junior tight end Harry Flaherty, the nephew of Princeton's legendary Garrett brothers, caught a career-best five passes last weekend at Harvard. A first-year starter, he has caught at least one pass in every game this season.
McCray Of Light • Junior running back Meko McCray had both the best rushing day and the best receiving day of his career over the last three weeks. Against Colgate, he ran the ball eight times for 74 yards, an average of 9.2 yards per carry. Against Brown, McCray caught seven passes for 57 yards and a touchdown; McCray has two career scores, and both have come against Brown.
Catching On • Junior fullback Matt Zimmerman caught a career-high seven passes for 51 yards last weekend Brown and followed it up with five catches last week against Harvard. Zimmerman ranks second at Princeton with 20 catches, an average of 3.3 per game; over the last two games, he has averaged 6.0 catches per game.
Spinning A Web • The official Princeton athletics web site, www.GoPrincetonTigers.com, has a new look and a new partner, www.GoPrincetonTigers.tv. Princeton football fans will be able to find pre- and post-game stories, as well as features, videos, live and replayed games, game highlights, audio interviews, statistics, future schedules and much more. You can also listen live to Ed Benkin and Dan Loney broadcast each game on either GoPrincetonTigers.com or on WPRB 103.3 FM.
The Crystal Ball • With three Ivy League road trips to New England this year, Princeton will be happy to make the short drive south to Philadelphia to take on Penn at 3:30 p.m. on Franklin Field. The game will be televised on The Comcast Network. In Princeton's last two trips to Franklin Field, the Tigers have scored either the most (30, 2005) or fewest (0, 2007) points in a game at Penn since 1981.
The Powers That Be • Princeton will return to Powers Field at Princeton Stadium for Senior Day on Nov. 14 against Yale. That game, part of Alumni Weekend, will be the 132nd playing of the Yale-Princeton game; it is the longest active rivalry in the Ivy League and the second-longest in the nation, behind only Lehigh-Lafayette.
Ticket To Ride • Tickets are still available for the Nov. 14 Yale game, as well as all basketball and ice hockey games. They can be purchased online at www.GoPrincetonTigers.com/tickets or by calling 609-258-4TIX (4849).
The Recent History Of The Princeton-Cornell Series
2000 CORNELL 25, Princeton 24
Princeton's Brian Danielewicz completes a 24-yard TD pass to Chisom Opara with 11 seconds remaining, but Taylor Northrop slips on the icy turf and his PAT was blocked.
2001 Cornell 10, PRINCETON 7
Taylor Northrop's 57-yard field goal attempt with 5:53 remaining hits the crossbar and bounces back.
2002 Princeton 32, CORNELL 25 (ot)
Princeton scores 22 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 touchdown passes in a 22-second span as Princeton rolls to the only lopsided win of the decade.
2004 CORNELL 21, Princeton 20
Cornell throws TD 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.
2006 CORNELL 14, Princeton 7
Despite being outgained 328-274, the Big Red hands Princeton its only loss of the season when Matt Grant's late interception ends the final Tiger drive.
2007 PRINCETON 34, Cornell 31
Princeton RB Jordan Culbreath, recording his breakout game on ESPNU, runs for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and Cornell kicker Peter Zell misses a 47-yarder in the final seconds.
2008 Princeton 31, CORNELL 26
Despite trailing by 12 with 45 seconds remaining, a late touchdown and an onsides kick allows Cornell to attempt a 20-yard pass into the end zone on the final play, but it falls incomplete.
Last Year: Princeton 31, CORNELL 26
Over the last decade, Cornell-Princeton games have typically been decided at the wire, and last year's 31-26 Princeton victory at Schoellkopf Field was no exception. Princeton avoided disaster at both the beginning and end of the game and controlled enough of the middle to end a three-game losing streak.
Despite being outgained 555-390 and allowing Cornell to score the first 13 points, Princeton rallied midway through the second quarter and eventually found itself with a 24-19 lead with less than two minutes remaining at the 20. Facing a 4th and 1 situation, everybody in Schoellkopf Field expected Ivy League leading rusher Jordan Culbreath to get the ball; after all, he had rushed for a career-high 169 yards and averaged seven yards per carry.
Princeton head coach Roger Hughes had other plans and called a bootleg, which let senior quarterback Brian Anderson roll untouched to the right side of the field as Culbreath drew the other 20 guys to the left. Anderson scored easily and gave Princeton a 31-19 lead with 1:40 left.
In other rivalries, that might have been the end of the drama. In this one, it was just the beginning. Cornell's quick-strike passing attack, which gained 431 yards on the day, drove 58 yards on five plays and scored on a four-yard pass from Nathan Ford to Horat Blackman. The Big Red, which was out of timeouts, lined up for the onsides kick; the second bounce stayed low and went off Matt Wakulchik, and Cornell's Jesse Baker grabbed it with 39 seconds remaining. All of the sudden, a mostly-disspirited crowd of 7,122 got very excited.
Ford hit a 4th and short pass to Zac Canty for nine yards, and following an incompletion, hit Canty on a 31-yard pass to the 15. A false start on a fake spike sent the Big Red back to the 20, where Ford spiked the ball with five seconds left. Canty lined up on the near side, opposite Cart Kelly, who had one of the defensive plays of the season with an interception in the end zone during the third quarter. Baker sprinted to the goal line and cut to the sideline, and Kelly stayed with him. Forced to throw into a tight area, Ford's pass was too wide and a relieved Princeton team celebrated its win.
Steven Cody recorded 11 tackles in the win, while Cart Kelly had nine tackles and an interception in the end zone. Scott Britton made nine tackles and had 1.5 sacks in the victory.