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Ivy Sprint Starts Saturday At Brown For Tiger Football Team
October 11, 2011 | Football
PRINCETON GAME NOTES
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Princeton will begin what it hopes is a six-week sprint to the 2011 Ivy League football championship this Saturday at 12:30 when it takes on Brown in Providence. The Tigers have lost four straight to Brown, but they come in with a 1-0 record in the league and some confidence after a near upset at Hampton.
Game Information
| Date/Time | Oct. 15/12:30 p.m. |
| Field | Brown Stadium |
| Location | Providence, R.I. |
| TV | none |
| Radio | GoPrincetonTigers.com/WPRB 103.3 FM |
| All-Time Series | Princeton 51-26 |
| Last Year | Brown 17, PRINCETON 13 |
| Last At Site | BROWN 34, Princeton 17 (2009) |
| Last Five Years | Brown 4-1 |
| Current Streak | Brown 4 |
Game Notes • Week 4
A Few Fast Facts To Get You Ready…
Six Shooter
With its three non-league games in the rearview mirror, Princeton has six Ivy League games remaining in the 2011 season. The Tigers, who opened the league season with a 24-21 home win over Columbia, have not gotten out to a 2-0 start in Ivy play since its 2006 championship season.
Winning Feeling
This is Princeton's first winning record in the Ivy League since Week 3 of the 2008 season, when the Tigers defeated Columbia 24-21. In the 20 Ivy League games before that meeting, Princeton went 13-7. In the 20 that followed, it went 5-15. The Tigers will be looking to get back to their mid-2000s success when they resume league play this weekend.
Bad Memories
Princeton quarterback Tommy Wornham broke his collarbone in the 2010 meeting against Brown and missed the remainder of the season.
Go Fourth
Princeton has lost four straight games to Brown, though the 2010 meeting was easily the closest during that stretch. Princeton held a 13-0 lead in the first half, but it also lost Tommy Wornham before halftime. The Tiger offense converted only one first down in the second half and saw its lead evaporate in a 17-13 loss.
On The Rhode Again
Princeton has a longer road losing streak against Brown (three games) than it does against any other Ivy League opponent. The Tigers haven't won at Brown Stadium since a 34-14 win during the 2003 season.
Fork In The Road
Saturday's game at Brown is the second in a three-week road trip, and is the first of four Ivy League road games remaining this season. Princeton is looking to reverse its current struggles on the road; the Tigers have lost eight of their last nine road games, including each of the last five.
Twice As Nice
Princeton freshman Chuck Dibilio earned his second Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor this season after rushing for 147 yards and one touchdown last weekend against Hampton.
Yes We Cam
Chuck Dibilio broke the previous record of 122 yards, set by Cameron Atkinson '03 in a 1999
victory against Fordham. Atkinson ended his career with 2,449 rushing yards, third most in
Princeton history.
We're Honored
Chuck Dibilio is only the third Princeton freshman to win the Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor twice. The other two were a pair of special teams standouts, placekicker Taylor Northrop (2001) and punter Colin McDonough (2003).
On A Roll
Three other Princeton football players were on the Ivy League Honor Roll following the Hampton game last weekend: senior safety Chance Cross (6 tkls, 1 INT, 1 FF, 1 FR), senior defensive lineman Mike Catapano (6 tkls, 1.5 TFL, 1 blocked kick, drew the holding call for Hampton's second safety) and Patrick Jacob (four field goals).
Party Like It's '99
Ninety-nine yard drives aren't common, but both Princeton and Brown have pulled them off in the past decade. In Princeton's last victory at Brown (2003), quarterback Matt Verbit connected with wide receiver Clinton Wu for an NCAA-record 99-yard touchdown pass.
Last weekend, Brown went 99 yards in 11 plays to score the winning touchdown in a 20-13 home victory over Holy Cross.
Welcome Home
Saturday's game will be the first for offensive coordinator James Perry in the visitor's locker room at Brown. Perry, the 1999 Bushnell Cup winner as a senior quarterback at Brown, holds the Ivy League career passing records in yards (9,294), completions (789), attempts (1,309) and touchdowns (74). Perry has coached twice against Brown: as a graduate assistant at Dartmouth in 2001 and last season as the offensive coordinator at Princeton. Neither game was played at Brown.
Very Special
Princeton has had several special teams highlights through the first four games, including:
• Patrick Jacob leads the NCAA with 2.25 field goals per game. He is the reigning first-team All-Ivy placekicker and made 14 field goals last season. For his career, he is 23 for 29 in field goals (79.1%), and he has never missed two kicks in one game, or two kicks in a row.
• Joe Cloud leads the Ivy League with a punting average of 42.8 yards per punt; he was a
second-team All-Ivy pick last season after leading the Ivy League in punting average.
• Ivan Charbonneau has the league's only kickoff return for a touchdown, a 92-yard score against Lehigh.
• Caraun Reid blocked a field goal attempt in the season opener against Lehigh, while Mike Catapano blocked one last weekend against Hampton.
Head Inside
Princeton radio voice Dan Loney is part of the new “Inside Ivy League Football,” an in-depth look at both the on-field action and all the news and notes surrounding Ivy football. The 10-episode show airs Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on BlogTalkRadio.com, and features interviews with players and coaches, as well as analysis on each of the Ivy teams.
Social Gathering
Fans can follow Princeton via social media on Facebook through facebook.com/
PrincetonUniversityAthletics, and on Twitter through @PUTigers or @PrincetonFBall.
The Crystal Ball
Princeton will head to Cambridge, Mass., to take on Harvard Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. The Crimson has won four straight over Princeton and 13 of the last 15 meetings. Princeton's last win at Harvard
Stadium came in 2005, when Jay McCareins' 93-yard kickoff return led the Tigers to a 27-24 victory.
A Princeton Win Would …
• be Princeton's first over Brown since a 17-3 win in 2006
• end Princeton's longest road losing streak against an Ivy League opponent (three games) … Princeton's last win at Brown was a 34-14 victory in 2003
• give Princeton its first 2-0 start in Ivy League play since 2006
• be Princeton's first road win of any kind since the 2009 season finale at Dartmouth
• put Princeton in a first-place tie in the Ivy League with Harvard, Yale and, if it wins Saturday, Penn
• set up the first meeting of 2-0 Princeton vs. 2-0 Harvard since 2006 and the fourth of the last decade
Offensive Notes and Anecdotes…
Rushing To Judgment
Over the last two weeks, Princeton has rushed for 483 yards, including 256 yards last weekend at Hampton. In the post-Keith Elias era (after 1993), the 483-yard total is the third-highest total at Princeton. The Tigers had 489 yards in Weeks 2-3 of the 1995 season, and they had 485 in the final two games of the 2009 season.
Princeton currently leads the Ivy League in rushing with 180.8 yards per game. Last season, Princeton averaged only 119.9 rushing yards per game, seventh best in the Ivy League.
Ground Chuck
Freshman Chuck Dibilio ranks fifth in the Ivy League with 80.8 rushing yards per game. His 6.7 yards-per-rush average is the second highest of any player in the Top 10, and his 147-yard effort at Hampton is the second-highest single-game total from any Ivy back this season.
Dibilio is the only freshman running back in the Ivy League Top 10, and he is the highest-ranking underclassman on the list. The next underclassman is sophomore teammate Brian Mills, who ranks sixth in the league with 61 yards per game.
Back To Back
Princeton didn't have a single 100-yard rusher all of last season, but it had two different ones in back-to-back weekends. Brian Mills rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown on Oct. 1 in the 24-21 win over Columbia, and Chuck Dibilio had 147 yards and a touchdown last weekend.
The last time two different runners had back-to-back 100-yard games was 2003, when Branden Benson went for 128 at Brown and Jon Veach went for 205 at Harvard.
Seven For No. 7
Senior Tommy Wornham became the seventh Princeton quarterback to throw for more than 3,500 career yards during last weekend's game at Hampton, and he could move into the Princeton Top 5 this weekend. Wornham currently has 3,506 passing yards in his career; he is 118 yards behind Bob Holly '82 for sixth, and he is 156 yards behind Ronald Beible '76 for fifth.
Catching On
Senior Isaac Serwanga had the best game of his career last weekend, catching seven passes for 73 yards. He leads Princeton with 18 catches on the season and averages a team-best 47.5 receiving yards per game.
Quarterly Report
Last year's matchup with Brown was a tale of two Princeton offenses. In the first quarter, the Tigers scored 10 points, gained six first downs and recorded 109 yards of total offense.
In the final three quarters combined, which all came after Tommy Wornham was knocked out of the game, Princeton scored three points, gained six first downs and recorded 118 yards of total offense.
Defensive Notes and Anecdotes…
Cross Your Fingers
Senior safety Chance Cross broke into the starting lineup at free safety during Week 2 this season and had a career effort last weekend. Cross made six tackles, intercepted a pass and both forced and recovered a fumble in the near upset of Hampton. Cross was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll after the game and is the only Princeton defensive player to record two turnovers this season.
Block Party
Senior lineman Mike Catapano recorded Princeton's second blocked kick of the season last weekend at Hampton. He added six tackles in the game and was also named to the Ivy League Honor Roll. For the season, Catapano ranks fifth in the Ivy League with 1.25 tackles for loss per game.
Sack Exchange
Both Caraun Reid and Matt Landry have recorded three sacks in the first four games of the season, and each share fourth place in the Ivy League rankings. Last season, no Princeton player had more than two sacks for the entire season.
Safety Squeeze
After not recording a safety over the span of 50 games, Princeton recorded two in the span of 2:03 in the third quarter last weekend. The first came when a snap went over the punter's head and through the end zone, while the second came when a Hampton lineman was called for holding Mike Catapano in the end zone.
Tackling The Issue
After ranking fourth in the Ivy League last season in tackles, junior linebacker Andrew Starks is having another strong season. He leads Princeton with nine tackles per game and ranks third in the Ivy League. One of the two players ahead of him will share the field Saturday; Brown linebacker Matthew O'Donnell ranks second in the league with 9.8 tackles per game.
At A Loss
Thanks to stellar play from the defensive line, Princeton is averaging seven tackles for loss per game. The combination of Mike Catapano and Caraun Reid have combined for nine tackles for loss, with Catapano leading the team with five.
As a team, Princeton averaged only four tackles for loss per game last season. Only one player (Andrew Starks, 7) had more than five tackles for loss for the season.
Last Year: Brown 17, PRINCETON 13
Despite the best defensive effort of the first half of the season from its defense, the Tiger football team fell 17-13 Brown. An injury to starting quarterback Tommy Wornham knocked the wind out of the Princeton offense and allowed Brown the opportunity to rally in the second half.
Wornham scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and completed five of nine passes, but he was hit hard on an intercepted pass and suffered an upper-body injury. He went back out on the next drive, but was unable to play at any point after that.
Princeton played three different quarterbacks the rest of the way, including Andrew Kerr, who ran the Wildcat offense. Andrew Dixon got the majority of the snaps, while freshman Connor Kelley came in on two plays and ran a pair of keepers. None were able to sustain a drive that posted any more points after Princeton opened a 13-0 lead.
That allowed Brown to chip away at a Tiger defense that swarmed the Bears in the first half. Sophomore linebackers Tim Kingsbury and Andrew Starks both recorded double-digit tackles, while junior cornerback Blake Clemons had eight stops, including seven solo tackles.
Kingsbury had a career-best 14 tackles, including one for loss, while Starks had 11 tackles and an interception. Matt Boyer and Mandela Sheaffer both had five tackles, while senior Weston Palmer, making his first start of the season, had two tackles and a pass breakup.
Junior Patrick Jacob continued his impressive season by making two of three field goals, including one from 42 yards out.
Slow starts had hampered Princeton during the season, but the Tiger offense took the ball on its opening drive and moved efficiently. Zimmerman ran several sweeps and took a direct snap on 4th-and-inches inside Brown territory to keep the drive moving. Passes to Isaac Serwanga and Kerr got the ball inside the 10, and after a trio of Brown penalties, Wornham took the ball up the middle of the line for the touchdown.
Jacob would add two more field goals, but the offense struggled in the second half, which allowed Brown to chip away and eventually take the lead.