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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Columbia
Players Mentioned
Tigers Use Ground Dominance, Second Half Surge To Top Columbia 38-6
October 04, 2014 | Football
The final score doesn't come close to telling the story of a wild Ivy League opener for the Princeton football team, which turned the momentum at the exact midway point of a 38-6 road win at Columbia. Quinn Epperly, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, scored from one yard out right at halftime to ignite a 35-point run for the Tigers.
Trailing 6-3 with five seconds remaining in an ugly first half, the Tigers forsaked a field goal opportunity and kept the ball in the hands of their veteran quarterback, who followed his experienced offensive line to the edge of the end zone. Like the final speech in "Any Given Sunday," both lines battled for an inch that was worth both seven points and a load of momentum.
Those inches, and a fourth straight win in this series, went to Princeton.
Epperly's touchdown was the first of five straight touchdowns, which turned a tense first half into a comfortable fourth quarter for the Tigers. Princeton outrushed Columbia 268-27 in the win and got four rushing touchdowns, including a 51-yard burst from DiAndre Atwater 43 seconds into the second half.
While the offense took some time to find rhythm during a rain-soaked first half, the defense kept Princeton in the game with an efficient, opportunistic first half. Columbia moved the ball, mostly on screens and shovel passes to running back Cameron Molina, but the Princeton defense kept the Lions out of the end zone for the second straight time at Wien Stadium.
Sophomore safety Dorian Williams led the defense with eighth tackles, while senior linebacker Garrit Leicht added six stops. Princeton had nine tackles for loss and four sacks, including one from reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week Rohan Hylton. Birk Olson and Joe Percival also had sacks for Princeton.
The Tigers also got two impact plays from junior cornerback Anthony Gaffney, who picked off two passes by Brett Nottingham. Both picks turned into points, including the second of Epperly's two touchdown runs, which opened a 24-6 lead. That run moved Epperly past Judd Garrett for second place with 33 career touchdowns rushes; he stands 16 behind all-time leader Keith Elias.
Epperly completed 16 of 28 passes for 170 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Connor Kelley, who shook off a hit and caught the ball inside the Columbia sideline for his first score of the season. Kelley also had a spectacular 44-yard catch on a deep post to set up another score, and senior Will Powers capped the scoring with a 19-yard run, which included a pair of broken tackles for the special teams veteran.
Princeton will play its final nonleague game of the season next Saturday at 1 pm when it heads to Colgate.
NOTES: Anthony Gaffney has seven career interceptions; four of them have come during his two games at Wien Stadium … Nolan Bieck has now made his last nine field goals dating back to last season, and he tied his career best with a 40-yarder to open the scoring in the first quarter … in Princeton's last 14 games, the Tigers are 10-0 when they score at least 30 points and 0-4 when they don't … Matt Costello now needs 86 receiving yards to move to 10th all-time at Princeton; he had four catches for 43 yards against Columbia … both Scott Carpenter and James Frusciante set career highs with four catches in the win … in the first half, Columbia's Cameron Molina had seven catches for 110 yards; in the second half, he had two catches for four yards … Princeton had four fumbles and lost two during the rainy first half, but it didn't have a single turnover in the second half … Epperly accounted for three touchdowns (two rush, one pass); he has accounted for at least three in 12 straight games.