.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Football Friday: Surace Talks Cornell Win, Penn Game, '89 Champs, Bagnoli
November 07, 2014 | Football
Head coach Bob Surace sat down for the eighth installment of the Football Friday video series, where he discussed Princeton's 38-27 win over Cornell, as well as his early thoughts on Saturday's nationally televised home showdown with Penn (3:30 pm, NBC Sports Network). He also talked about several aspects of a special November Saturday at Princeton Stadium, including Military Appreciation Day, the return of his own 1989 Ivy League championship team, and the final Penn-Princeton game for veteran Quakers head coach Al Bagnoli.
You can read the full game preview below.
There is plenty going on Saturday on Powers Field.
First of all, it is Military Appreciation Day. Several members of the miliatry will be honorary captains for Princeton and will be present for the coin toss (the full group is listed in the notes below).
At halftime, Princeton's 1989 Ivy League championship team will be honored. Head coach Bob Surace was a senior on a Tiger team that was picked to finish third in the league, but went 6-1 to earn a share of the Ivy championship. You can read more on that team in the notes section.
The game will be shown live on the NBC Sports Network, one of five games over the final six weeks of the season that has been shown either by a major network or ESPN3. The season finale against Dartmouth on Nov. 22 will also be shown live by ESPN3/WatchESPN.
And it is the final Princeton-Penn game for longtime Quaker head coach Al Bagnoli, one of the most esteemed coaches in league history.
So there is plenty going on, but there is also a football game, too. We assume that's why most of you are reading this. It has real significance for Princeton, which is looking to remain within one game of unbeaten Harvard as we open the final stretch of the 2014 season.
The Penn-Princeton rivalry has been fairly one-sided over the last 15 years, and Princeton hasn't been on the right side. Perhaps things began to shift in the second half of last season's 38-26 victory at Franklin Field, when the Tigers outscored Penn 21-3 over the final 30 minutes in a crucial step forward during that championship season.
If this is to be another championship season, the next step must happen Saturday.
| Penn Quakers (1-6, 1-3 Ivy) at Princeton Tigers (4-3, 3-1 Ivy) |
| Game Time/Location | 3:30 pm • Powers Field at Princeton Stadium |
| Game Coverage |
NBC Sports Network l WPRB 103.3 FM l Live Stats l @PUTigers_Live |
| All-Time Series | Princeton leads 64-40-1 |
| Last Year |
Princeton 38, PENN 26 |
| Last At Site | Penn 28, PRINCETON 21 (2012) |
| Last Five Years |
Penn 4-1 |
| Current Streak |
Princeton 1 |
| Princeton Links |
Game Notes l Roster l Schedule l Stats |
| Penn Links |
Game Notes l Roster l Schedule l Stats |
| Next Week |
Nov. 15, 1 pm • Princeton at Yale (ILDN) |
Follow Along …
Follow Along …
Princeton will host Penn Saturday at 3:30 pm on the NBC Sports Network, as well as NBC Sports Live Extra. Todd Harris and former Princeton offensive lineman Ross Tucker '01 will call the action from Princeton Stadium.
You can also listen to the game either on the radio (WPRB 103.3 FM) or online at WPRB.com.
Thank You, Military
Saturday is Military Appreciation Day. Several members of the miliatry will be honorary captains for Princeton today and will be present for the coin toss. They are: Kirk Unruh '70, Rear Admiral, Navy – Retired; John Melkon '90, Captain Special Forces, Army – Retired (former Princeton football player); Peter Yorck '10, Captain, Army (former Princeton football player); Adam Kerrick, Lieutenant, Navy; Peter Dixon *10, Captain, Marines (brother of former quarterback Andrew Dixon '11, who is currently overseas serving in the Marines); Bob Dougherty '15, Battalion Commander, Princeton ROTC.
Home Cooking
While Princeton has won six of its last seven home games, it hasn't fared well against Penn in the 17-year history of Princeton Stadium. The Quakers have won three straight on Powers Field and seven of the eight all-time meetings. The lone Princeton win came Nov. 4, 2006, when Rob
Toresco and Jeff Terrell combined on a famous fourth-down pitch play at the goal line for a 31-30
double-overtime victory.
Rallying Cry
Princeton trailed Penn 16-0 early in the second quarter last season, and 23-7 at halftime, but two rushing TDs by Quinn Epperly and a 14-yard pass from Epperly to Connor Kelley pushed the Tigers to a 38-26 victory at Franklin Field. It was Princeton's first win over Penn in seven years.
The Chase Is On
Harvard defeated Dartmouth 23-12 last weekend to become the lone unbeaten in Ivy League play. Princeton, Yale and Dartmouth each have only one loss, and the Tigers will play both Yale (Nov. 15) and Dartmouth (Nov. 22) in the final two games of the season.
Kelley Green
Senior Connor Kelley had the best game of his Princeton career last weekend. He caught 13 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-27 road win at Cornell.
The 13 catches was the most for a Princeton receiver since Nov. 5, 1983, when Derek Graham caught 15 against Lafayette. Only six players in Princeton history have caught more than 13 passes in a single game.
Movin' On Up
Senior wide receivers Connor Kelley and Matt Costello have both moved into the Princeton Top 10 in all-time receptions during this season. Costello is tied with Trey Peacock '11 for fourth with 141 catches, while Kelley — who went over the 100-catch mark last weekend — is eighth with 109 catches.
Costello is also in the Top 10 in career receiving yards (10th, 1,580), while Kelley moved to 13th last week (1,194 career yards).
Armed and Ready
Senior Connor Michelsen had one of the best games of his career last weekend, throwing for 281 yards and four touchdowns in the 38-27 victory at Cornell. After throwing for eight touchdown passes between the start of the 2012 season and Week 3 of the current season, Michelsen has thrown seven touchdown passes in the last four weeks alone.
The Powers That Be
Senior running back Will Powers went over the 1,000-yard mark for his career last week. Powers rushed for 83 yards on 14 carries and enters the final three games of his career with 1,016 rushing yards.
One of the most spectacular plays of Powers' career came in this matchup two years ago, when he caught a pass down the Princeton sidelines and dove just inside the pylon for a 30-yard touchdown catch.
Passing Fancy
It's safe to expect plenty of passing Saturday afternoon, as Princeton and Penn both rank in the Ivy Top 3 in passing this season. Princeton is currently second with 264.9 passing yards per game, while Penn is third with 258.7 yards per game.
Hylton Express
Sophomore Rohan Hylton is already showing what kind of impact he can have in this league over the next couple of seasons. Hylton currently ranks second in the league in both sacks (4.5) and tackles for loss (9.5), and he ranks sixth with 7.7 tackles per game.
Mike'd Up
Senior linebacker Mike Zeuli, an All-Ivy honoree last season, led Princeton with eight tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble last weekend. He leads the Ivy League with 10 tackles for loss and is eighth with 7.6 tackles per game.
Turn The Paige
Sophomore R.J. Paige had seven tackles in last weekend's victory at Cornell. In the last four weeks, Paige has averaged more than six tackles per game, including an 11-stop effort at Colgate.
Block Party
Junior Khamal Brown recorded Princeton's first field goal block in a span of 14 games last weekend, when he blocked a 20-yard field goal attempt by John Wells in the third quarter. Brown, who recorded an interception in the win over Brown, missed 16 games between 2012-13 after undergoing emergency brain surgery during the fall of 2012.
Dynamic Duo
After losing two defensive linemen to the NFL Draft over the last two seasons (Mike Catapano, 2013; Caraun Reid, 2014), Princeton has turned to a pair of underclassmen to lead the line moving forward. Sophomore Ty Desiré had a career-high two tackles for loss last weekend, whime Kurt Holuba is the only freshman who has started every game for Princeton this season.
Margin Of Success
When Princeton won the 2013 Ivy League championship, it ended the year as a +10 in turnover margin. Through seven games this season, Princeton has only won the turnover margin once and currently stands at -5 for the season.
Princeton did something last weekend it hasn't done during the five-year tenure of Bob Surace; the Tigers won a game when it was -2 or worse in the turnover margin.
A Perfect Year
Nolan Bieck has now made each of his last 13 field goal attempts, including all eight of his attempts this season. He has made two from 40 yards and hit a 36-yarder during a gusty afternoon at Schoellkopf Field last weekend to open the scoring.
Return To Sender
Princeton junior Max Lescano had averaged under seven yards per punt return heading into the Cornell game, but he averaged more than 12 yards over five returns in Ithaca.
I'm Honored
Freshman offensive lineman Richard Bush was named one of the five recipients of the 2014 NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Awards, which was announced by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. Bush was an all-state lineman at Plant HS in Tampa, Fla.
Though the NFF only hands out five national Scholar-Athlete Awards per year, Bush is the third member of this Princeton team to have earned the honor. The other two are senior Matt Costello and sophomore Nick Peabody.
On The Mike
Senior offensive lineman Mike Ramos was one of two players in the Ivy League to be nominated for the 2014 Allstate American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team. The 182 nominees throughout all divisions of college football represent those who stand out both on and off the field.
The Crystal Ball
Princeton will head to New Haven, Conn., to wrap up the 100th year of the Yale Bowl Nov. 15 at 12:30 pm. Both Princeton and Yale have only one Ivy League loss heading into the weekend, and the Bulldogs are threatening Princeton's Ivy League records in both total offense and scoring offense from the 2013 season.
Princeton has won two straight against Yale, including a 59-23 Tiger win that clinched the Ivy League championship last year. The Tigers scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in that win.
Home Sweet Home
Princeton will conclude its schedule Nov. 22 with a 1 pm home showdown against Dartmouth. The game will be streamed nationally on ESPN3/WatchESPN.
Welcome Back
Princeton will honor the members of the 1989 Ivy League championship team at halftime today. That squad, led by captain Franco Pagnanelli and eventual Bushnell Cup winner Judd Garrett, went 6-1 during the Ivy season to clinch a share of the program's sixth Ivy League championship.
The title was decided during the final day, when Princeton defeated Cornell 21-7 at Palmer Stadium and Harvard knocked off previously unbeaten Yale 37-20 in New Haven.