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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Football Prepares For Home Debut, Tough Lafayette Squad
September 21, 2010 | Football
PRINCETON GAME NOTES l LAFAYETTE GAME NOTES l BOB SURACE CONFERENCE CALL
Unless there is a college football team that started the season with an extended road trip, Princeton fans will be the last to enjoy a 2010 home debut. A new head coach and an offense that posted 528 yards last weekend will look for its first victory of the season when it resumes its rivalry with Lafayette.
| Game Information | |
| Date/Time | Sept. 25/6 p.m. |
| Field | Powers Field at Princeton Stadium |
| Location | Princeton, N.J. |
| TV | Lafayette Sports Network/Verizon Fios1 |
| Radio | 103.3 FM/GoPrincetonTigers.com |
| All-Time Series | Princeton 37-4-3 |
| Last Year | no game |
| Last At Site | PRINCETON 26, Lafayette 14 (2006) |
| Last Five Years | Princeton 3-0 |
| Current Streak | Princeton 4 |
Game Notes • Week 2
A Few Fast Facts To Get You Ready…
Remember Us? • After playing for six straight years from 2002-2007, Princeton and Lafayette will resume their rivalry tonight. This series was put on hold for two years while the Tigers played a home-and-home series with The Citadel.
History Lesson • Princeton leads the all-time series with Lafayette 37-4-3 and had won each of the last four meetings. In each of Princeton's last two wins, the Tigers rallied from deficits late in the third quarter.
Home Sweet Home • Princeton has split its last four home openers, including a 28-13 win over Lafayette in 2006. Last year, the Tigers lost 38-7 to The Citadel in both the season and home opener.
Get Comfortable • Starting with Saturday's game, Princeton will play four of its next five games at home. The Tigers will head to Columbia next Saturday for the Ivy League opener, but will play Colgate, Brown and Harvard in succession, beginning Oct. 9.
Bouncing Back • Princeton has shown great improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 over the last few years. In each of the last three years, the Tigers have lost their season opener and come back to win their second game.
I'm Honored • Princeton received its first individual honor of the season when junior kicker Patrick Jacob was named the Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week. Jacob made five field goals at Lehigh, including one from 43 yards, Princeton's longest since 2005.
Roll With It • Offensive standouts Tommy Wornham (32 of 51, 392 passing yards) and Trey Peacock (eight catches, 196 yards, one touchdown) were named to the Ivy League Honor Roll after the first weekend of league play.
Playmakers • Princeton averaged just over 65 plays per game last season. Against Lehigh, the Tigers ran 49 plays in the first half alone and ended the game with 87 plays total.
Oh Captain, Our Captains • Princeton will have three captains this season: senior running backs Jordan Culbreath and Matt Zimmerman and senior linebacker Steven Cody. The lone defensive captain, Cody broke his leg late in last weekend's loss to Lehigh and will be out the rest of the season.
Welcome Home • Today marks the home debut of head coach Bob Surace '90, the 22nd head coach in Princeton football history. Surace, who was an All-Ivy center on Princeton's 1989 Ivy League championship team, was an offensive assistant coach with the Cincinnati
Bengals for the last nine seasons.
Coaching Clinic • Bob Surace brought in seven new assistant coaches, including offensive coordinator James Perry (from Brown) and defensive coordinator Jared Backus (from Temple). The veteran of the staff is Steve Verbit, who was promoted to associate head coach in this, his 26th season at Princeton.
Offensive Notes and Anecdotes…
Tommy Boy
Junior Tommy Wornham put up big numbers in last weekend's season opener at Lehigh. He completed 32 passes, the most since Jeff Terrell completed 32 in a 34-31 at Yale in 2006, and recorded 392 passing yards, the most since Terrell's 445 against Yale.
Wornham's 392 passing yards was 13th-most in Princeton history. It ranks him second nationally — and second in the Ivy League. Yale's Patrick Witt threw for 407 yards last weekend in a win over Georgetown.
Trey Bien
Senior Trey Peacock had a career effort to start his senior season. He caught eight passes for 196 yards and a touchdown at Lehigh. His 196 receiving yards were the eighth best in Princeton history, and it ranks Peacock first nationally in receiving yardage.
Long Distance Relationship
Tommy Wornham's 80-yard touchdown pass to Trey Peacock last weekend was Princeton's longest scoring play since 2005, when Matt Verbit hit Bill Foran on an 80-yard score at Cornell. It was also 19 yards off a Princeton record; Verbit and Clinton Wu share a Princeton and NCAA record when they connected on a 99-yard touchdown reception in 2003 at Brown.
Catching On
While Trey Peacock was moving to the top of the receiving yardage rankings, classmate Andrew Kerr did the same in the reception rankings. He caught 11 passes last weekend, the most since Brendan Circle caught 12 in the aforementioned 2006 game at Yale. Kerr currently stands second in the NCAA in receptions per game, behind only Brown's Alexa Tounkara (12.0).
Grand Return
Princeton's Jordan Culbreath is playing his first home game since the 2009 season opener; shortly after the second game last season, Culbreath was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and left school to deal with the illness. He has been medically cleared to return, although he will be monitored weekly.
Line It Up
Despite starting four new players on its offensive line last weekend, and then losing one to injury midway through the game, Princeton did a remarkable job keeping Tommy Wornham clean. Lehigh entered the game averaging five sacks per game; the Tigers, who put up 51 pass attempts, allowed only one sack to the Mountain Hawks. The lone returning starter on the offensive line is senior Andrew Mills.
Brian's Song
Princeton freshman Brian Mills had an impressive collegiate debut against Lehigh. He rushed the ball seven times for 35 yards and
finished second to Jordan Culbreath in both rushing yards and yards per carry (5.0).
Passing Fancy
New offensive coordinator James Perry holds the Ivy League career records for passing yards (9,294), completions (789), attempts (1,309), touchdowns (53), 400-yard games (7) and 300-yard games (14). He was the position coach for last season's Ivy passing champion, Brown's Kyle Newhall-Caballero.
Defensive Notes and Anecdotes…
The Stark Truth
Sophomore Andrew Starks moved from defensive back to linebacker in the offseason, and he looked impressive against Lehigh. Starks made six tackles, including five solo stops, and forced a fumble in the first start of his career.
At A Loss
Princeton recorded seven tackles for loss, including sacks by both Matt Landry and Jaiye Falusi. Landry had 1.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble as a member of the deep defensive line rotation.
Set The Pick
Junior defensive back Blake Clemons recorded Princeton's first interception of the season and his first since 2008 when he picked off Michael Colvin in the first half last weekend.
Lost Tackler
For the second straight season, Princeton has lost its defensive captain and top tackler in the first half of the season. One season after Scott Britton suffered a season-ending knee injury at Brown, Steven Cody broke his leg at Lehigh last weekend after making 12 tackles.
The Temple Challenge
The Tiger defense is guided by coordinator/LB coach Jared Backus, who spent the last three seasons at Temple. He coached three seasons there, including last season as a linebackers coach, and had three All-MAC linebackers while helping the Owls to the EagleBank Bowl.
And Finally…
Just For Kicks
Junior placekicker Patrick Jacob had an impressive debut last weekend, making five of six field goal attempts in the 35-22 loss at Lehigh. His longest kick was a 43-yard field goal; no Prince-ton kicker had made a field goal that long since Derek Javarone made a 43-yarder in a 2003 win over Columbia. That was also the last time a Princeton kicker made five field goals in one game.
The Crystal Ball
Princeton will play its Ivy opener next weekend when it travels to New York to take on Columbia. The Lions recorded their first shutout of Princeton since 1997 when they opened their Ivy season with a 37-0 win last year. Columbia has never won two straight over Princeton.