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Princeton University
Brown
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Quick Offensive Start, Red Zone Defense Powers Princeton Past Brown 27-16
October 18, 2014 | Football
Senior Connor Michelsen threw for 367 yards and two touchdowns, both to classmate Matt Costello — who also had a career day — and the Princeton defense left Brown feeling blue in the red zone during a 27-16 home victory over the Bears.
The win improves Princeton to 3-2 overall, and sends the Tigers into a three-way tie for first place in the Ivy League with both Dartmouth and Harvard. Princeton and Harvard, who have played absolute thrillers in each of the last two seasons, will play for that first-place position next Saturday at 1 pm on ESPN3.
But we have seven days to prepare for that. The victory over Brown had a little bit of everything, including a record-setting performance by Bears quarterback Marcus Fuller in the loss.
Fuller attempted an Ivy League record 71 passes in the loss, but he still completed fewer (29) than Michelsen did (33) in his victorious performance. Michelsen, making his first start of the season in place of an injured Quinn Epperly, the 2013 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, got Princeton off to a blistering start with scores on each of the team's first four drives.
Following a 26-yard field goal by Nolan Bieck, who now has 12 straight field goal conversions dating back to last season, Michelsen engineered touchdown drives of 80, 67 and 74 to open a 24-0 lead 56 seconds into the second quarter.
Powers capped the first drive with a nine-yard run, his fourth touchdown in as many games, and then Michelsen connected with Costello on a 49-yard touchdown pass down the home sideline. Costello was hit around the 3, but he was able to keep his feet inbounds and dive for the score. The two connected on a post pattern for a 17-yard score on the ensuing drive, which opened the 24-point advantage.
At that point, any semblence of offensive balance went out the window for Brown. Against the nation's third-ranked rushing defense (for now, at least), the Bears rushed the ball only 15 times for -7 yards. That left Fuller no choice but to throw early and often, which he did an Ivy League record 71 times. He completed 29 of them for 454 yards and a late touchdown, but he also saw four straight trips to the red zone end in three field goals and the first career interception by Andrew Frisby.
The defense did allow a handful of big plays in the pass game, but they bore down when it mattered most. Brown was 5 for 23 on third downs and scored only one touchdown in the game. The biggest defensive stand arguably came on a 15-play, 66-yard Brown drive that saw the Bears hold a 1st-and-goal at the 1. Following a 1-yard loss by Andrew Coke, who was swarmed by Mike Zeuli and Rohan Hylton, Fuller threw an incompletion on second down. On third down, Ty Desiré had one of Princeton's six quarterback hurries, which forced an incompletion and a field goal.
Hylton led Princeton with nine tackles, including two for loss, and 1.5 sacks, while junior safety Matt Arends had eight tackles, two breakups and a hurry. Both Frisby and Khamal Brown had interceptions for Princeton, while Desiré and freshman Kurt Holuba added sacks. Both Zeuli and safety Dorian Williams had seven tackles apiece, while Brown and defensive back John Hill each had three breakups.
Princeton has now won six straight games at home, and it will remain at Princeton for its Alumni Weekend showdown with nationally ranked Harvard, which remained undefeated Saturday with a home win over Lafayette. Over the last two seasons, Princeton has won back-to-back games against the Crimson on their final offensive plays: a 36-yard connection from Epperly to Roman Wilson in a 39-34 home win in 2012, and a six-yard pass from Epperly to Wilson in triple overtime of a 51-48 road win last season.
Saturday's game will be streamed live to a national audience on ESPN3.
NOTES: Costello moved into sixth place on the all-time Princeton receptions list; he now has 133 career catches, and he needs four more to tie Judd Garrett for fifth on the all-time Princeton list … prior to last weekend, Princeton had gone 14 straight games where it won every game it scored at least 30 points (10-0) and lost every game when it didn't (0-4); last week, Princeton scored 30 and lost, while it scored 27 and won Saturday … the 27 points is the fewest Princeton has scored in a win since a 19-0 home shutout of Brown during the 2012 season … Princeton won the turnover margin (+1) for the first time all season … sophomore Tyler Roth, who entered the weekend as the Ivy League leader, averaged 43.8 yards per punt, which included a 64-yarder.