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Princeton University
Colgate
Players Mentioned
Football Races Out To First 4-0 Start Since '06, Routs Colgate 44-20
October 10, 2015 | Football
BOX SCORE
It would be easy to understand if Isaiah Barnes never thought this day would come. It's admirable that it did, and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Princeton football team.
Barnes caught a career-best eight passes for 92 yards, while John Lovett rushed 14 times for 65 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, to lead an injury-depleted Princeton offense to 556 total yards in a 44-20 victory on Powers Field over Colgate in front of 6,457 fans at Princeton Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The win moves Princeton to 4-0 for the first time since 2006, and it also marked the Tigers' first win over the Raiders since that same Ivy League championship season. That day, it took a game-saving overtime tackle by Tom Methvin to secure the victory.
On Saturday, the credit was shared up and down the sideline.
Starting quarterback Chad Kanoff, who was plenty happy to see the monsoon-like conditions from last Friday night give way to ideal weather, completed 25 of 41 passes for 277 yards, and he added 41 rushing yards on six carries. He was one of five runners who helped the Tigers pick up 245 rushing yards; junior Joe Rhattigan led the way once again with 66 yards on 12 carries, while freshman Charles Volker gave the crowd a late thrill with a 64-yard score to clinch the game.
Barnes, who suffered a season-ending (and career-threatening) ankle injury during his freshman preseason, was one of 10 Princeton players to catch at least one pass in the game. While Barnes has battled back from that obstacle, four other current freshmen had at least one catch in the game (Volker, Alex Parkinson, Jesper Horsted and Cody Smith).
Lovett, termed a triple-double player by head coach Bob Surace, had another strong all-around performance on offense. Besides his four rushing touchdowns, he caught four passes for 38 yards and completed 2 of 3 passes for 17 yards. He scored three of his touchdowns in the second half, including a seven-yard score in the fourth quarter that opened a three-possession lead.
The defense settled nicely after allowing a touchdown on Colgate's opening drive, and it played a bend-but-don't-break style against a talented Raider offense. Colgate was only 2 for 5 in the red zone, thanks in part to a pair of blocked field goals by Matt Arends and Henry Schlossberg and some timely stops on third downs. Junior linebacker Rohan Hylton had 11 tackles, while classmate Dorian Williams followed with 10.
Williams had the defensive play of the game, though. After Colgate scored early in the fourth quarter to get within 30-20, it recovered a fumble to take over at the Princeton 24. Colgate got to the 10, where it faced 3rd and 6, and quarterback Jake Melville seemed to have an open target in the end zone.
Unfortunately, Williams found a way between Point A and Point B, knocking the pass away and setting up the latter of Colgate's two blocked field goal attempts.
That would be as close as Colgate would get to scoring until the outcome was secure. Birk Olson, Khamal Brown and Evan Kappatos each had six tackles, while Khalil Bryant and Edward Rudinski both had solo sacks in the win. Senior John Hill had two of Princeton's seven pass break-ups, including yet another one in the end zone — that followed his interception the previous game just shy of the end zone in a 10-5 win over Columbia.
On a day when Princeton honored the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Ivy League championship team, the Tigers became only the second team since then to win its first four games of the season. They will now move into the heart of its Ivy League schedule, and will play four of their final six games on the road, including both of the next two.
That stretch starts Saturday, Oct. 17, at noon when Princeton heads to Providence for a showdown at Brown on the American Sports Network. Brown has won two straight, including a 25-24 thriller over Holy Cross Saturday.
NOTES: Princeton went 11 for 15 on third downs against Colgate, and it now has a 57% conversion rate on third downs this season … the last time Princeton scored at least 44 points against Colgate was 1988, when Jason Garrett was the quarterback and Bob Surace was the center … excluding the Columbia game played in a torrential storm, the Tigers are averaging 45.3 points and 536 offensive yards per game … both Hylton and Arends added 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack in the win … Rudinski now has a sack in his first two collegiate games … this was only the second game in the Bob Surace era that Princeton has won with at least a -2 margin in turnover differential; the other was a 38-27 win at Cornell last year … Princeton ran 90 offensive plays in the game; it ran that many only once last season … Princeton now leads its overall series with Colgate 27-26-1.