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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Football Friday: Surace Talks Kanoff/OLine, Hylton, Brown Passing Attack
October 16, 2015 | Football
You can see the video by clicking the link above. The game preview can be found below.
The Princeton football team will bring a four-game winning streak and the Ivy League's top rushing offense to Brown Stadium, one of the most difficult places to win in the league, to face one of the nation's most explosive passing offenses Saturday at noon in a showdown televised on the American Sports Network and streamed on the Ivy League Digital Network.
Princeton has taken care of business through four weeks, including its first 3-0 mark against the Patriot League since 2006, but the Tigers know that the stakes rise when the six-week Ivy League sprint begins. The Tigers opened league play by scratching out a 10-5 win over Columbia, which was played in torrential rains and gusty winds two weeks ago.
The forecast in Providence calls for much clearer conditions, which should aid two of the league's most impressive offenses this season.
Two opportunistic defenses, however, have other plans in mind. Princeton hasn't allowed a third-quarter touchdown all season, while Brown shut out Holy Cross for the final 26 minutes last weekend in a 25-24 comeback win.
The Ivy League sprint is about to begin.
| Princeton Tigers (4-0, 1-0 Ivy) at Brown Bears (2-2, 0-1 Ivy) |
| Time/Location | Oct. 17 • 12 pm • Brown Stadium |
| Coverage |
American Sports Network/Ivy League Digital Network l WPRB 103.3 FM l Live Stats |
| @PUTigers l @PUTigerFootball l @PUTigers_Live | |
| All-Time Series | Princeton leads 54-27 |
| Last Meeting |
PRINCETON 27, Brown 16 (10/18/14) |
| Last At Site | Princeton 39, BROWN 17 (10/19/13) |
| Last Five Years |
Princeton 3-2 |
| Current Streak |
Princeton 3 |
| Princeton Links |
Game Notes l Roster l Schedule l Stats |
| Brown Links |
Game Notes l Roster l Schedule l Stats |
| Last Week | Princeton 44, Colgate 20: Game Story l Interviews l Highlights |
| Next Week |
Oct. 24, 12 pm • Princeton at Harvard • American Sports Network/Ivy Digital |
Follow Along
Princeton's showdown with Brown will be televised on the American Sports Network (all channels listed here) and streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network (subscription required). Scott Sudikoff and Jack Ford will call the action on the American Sports Network. Each of Princeton's remaining games are scheduled to be streamed through the Ivy League Digital Network, and four of the five will also be shown on the American Sports Network.
You can also listen live on WPRB 103.3 FM, as well as WPRB.com.
Go Fourth
Over the last 20 years, Princeton has only won its first four games twice. The first came in 2006, when the Tigers eventually went 9-1 and shared the Ivy League championship. The latter is this season, as Princeton has won each of its first four games by an average margin of 22 points/game.
Strength vs. Strength
Two of the Ivy League's top units will be on the same field Saturday afternoon. Princeton has the league's top rushing offense (18th in FCS), which averages 231.0 yards per game and has scored 13 rushing touchdowns on the season. Brown has the top Ivy League pass offense (2nd in FCS), which averages 391.5 yards per game and has scored seven passing touchdowns this season.
As a team, Princeton has 73 receptions this season. Brown's top two receivers, Brian Strachan and Alex Jette, have combined for 69 catches on their own this year.
On The Road Again
Brown Stadium has been one of the toughest places for Princeton to win this century. Despite winning its most recent game there (39-17 in 2013), the Tigers have only won once in their last five trips to Providence.
We're Going Streaking
Both Princeton and Brown enter Saturday's game on winning streaks. Princeton has won all four games this season, while Brown defeated both Rhode Island and Holy Cross over the last two weeks. The last time Princeton played a game in which both teams had won at least two straight games was the Colgate game last season, which the Raiders won 31-30.
Conversion Chart
Princeton has the nation's second-ranked third down conversion percentage (56.7%), and it has been over 50% in three of four games. Last weekend, Princeton converted on 11 of its 15 third-down opportunities; in its only road game of the season, the Week 1 win at Lafayette, Princeton converted on 14 of 18 third-down opportunities.
In the three games played in dry conditions, Princeton is 23 of 24 on third down attempts of six yards or fewer. Of the 23 conversions, 16 of them were on either 3rd and 1 or 3rd and 2.
Four Score
Sophomore quarterback John Lovett became the first Princeton player to rush for four touchdowns in a game since Quinn Epperly (Week 2, 2014) when he scored four times in last week's 44-20 victory over Colgate. Lovett, who is tied for the Ivy League lead with five touchdowns this season, ranks second in passing yards (82), third in receiving yards (117) and fourth in rushing yards (123) for Princeton.
That Winning Feeling
Junior Chad Kanoff is the first Princeton quarterback to win the first four starts of his career in nearly a quarter century. The last one to do it shared his first name; Chad Roghair won his first five starts of the 1991 season.
Kanoff is completing 58.5% of his passes for 188.2 yards per game. If you take out the Columbia game, which included torrential rain and 20 MPH winds, his passing average would be 242.7 yards per game, which would be fourth-best in the Ivy League (Brown's Marcus Fuller leads the Ivies with 314.8 passing yards per game).
Cup Of Joe
Junior Joe Rhattigan earned his first career start last weekend when both seniors DiAndre Atwater and Dré Nelson missed the game due to injury. Rhattigan led the Tigers with 66 rushing yards, and he scored his fourth touchdown of the season. Rhattigan has scored at least once in three of the four games this season.
Catching On
During the preseason scrimmage his freshman year, Isaiah Barnes suffered a season-ending (and potentially career-threatening) ankle injury. Barnes has worked his way back and had a career performance with eight catches for 92 yards last weekend in the win over Colgate. Barnes currently leads Princeton with 11 receptions and 155 receiving yards this season.
For the sake of comparison, Brown's Garrett Swanky has 11 catches and 112 receiving yards this season. Both totals rank a distant fourth for the Bears. Brian Strachan leads Brown with 35 catches, and he had 10 for 146 yards and a touchdown last season against Princeton. Troy Doles leads the Ivy League with 505 receiving yards this season; he had 200 against Princeton last season.
I'm Honored
Freshman Charles Volker became Princeton's first player to earn an individual Ivy League honor this season when he was named Rookie of the Week after rushing for 64 yards and a touchdown last weekend. Volker, Princeton's first Rookie of the Week since Dorian Williams (2013), scored on a 62-yard rushing touchdown, the longest run for a Princeton player in the Bob Surace era. The last Tiger to record a longer run was Tommy Wornham '11 (68) during a 2009 game at Lehigh.
Catch Of The Day
Junior Trevor Osborne didn't have a touchdown reception in the first two seasons of his career, but he currently leads Princeton with two this season. After scoring the team's first points of the season against Lafayette, he caught a five-yard pass for the only touchdown in a 10-5 victory over Columbia.
Ahead Of The Game
Princeton has led for 188:17 of a possible 240:00 of game action this season. It has trailed for only 4:04, and never in the second half.
Shut The Dor-ian
Princeton safety Dorian Williams, who ranks seventh in the Ivy League in tackles (31), knocked away a potential touchdown pass in the third quarter that would have brought Colgate within three points last weekend. He had 10 tackles in the win over the Raiders, and he ranks 11th in the FCS with 6.0 solo tackles per game.
The Hylton Hotel
Junior Rohan Hylton ranks third in the Ivy League with 34 tackles this season, and he had 11 in the win over Colgate. Hylton led Princeton last season with nine tackles in the 27-16 win over Brown.
Quarterly Report
The Princeton defense has not allowed a single third-quarter point this season, and it hasn't allowed more than seven points in any individual quarter this season. The only time an opponent has scored more than seven points in a quarter was the fourth quarter against Lehigh, and one of the scores came on a fumble return for a touchdown.
Seeing Red
The Princeton defense has been especially strong inside the red zone this season. Opposing teams have crossed the Princeton 20-yard-line 13 times this season, and they have managed a total of four touchdowns in those attempts. Colgate was in the red zone five times last weekend; the Raiders scored two touchdowns, had two field goals blocked and failed on a fourth down.
Fresh Faces
Princeton played four freshmen on its defensive line against Colgate last weekend, including Edward Rudinski, who enters the Brown game with sacks in back-to-back games. Rudinski shares the team lead in sacks (2) with Khalil Bryant, Kurt Holuba, and Henry Schlossberg.
What Can Brown Do For You?
In 2012, it was during the practice week before the Brown game when Princeton sophomore Khamal Brown required immediate, life-saving surgery following the rupture of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in his brain, which caused him to miss the next 16 games, including the 2013 championship season. Now the starting strong safety for Princeton, he leads the Tigers with two interceptions this season.
Brown's first interception following the surgery came last season against Brown.
Tackling The Issue
Junior Birk Olson recorded six tackles through the entire 2014 season. He has moved into the starting lineup at the outside linebacker position, and he ranks fourth on the team with 17 tackles this season.
Just For Kicks
From Week 2 of the 2000 season through Week 7 of the 2014 season, no Princeton kicker made a field goal of at least 45 yards. Since Week 8 of last season, reigning first-team All-Ivy League kicker Nolan Bieck has made kicks of 46, 46, 45 and 45 yards. The latter 45-yarder came during the gusty, rainy Columbia game last weekend.
Bieck has now made 22 of his last 23 field goal attempts, with the only miss hitting the upright.
Five Alive
Nolan Bieck ranks fourth all-time at Princeton with 32 career field goals. He needs four to tie Alex Sierk (1995-98) for third. Twenty years ago, Sierk made one of the biggest field goals in program history.
Scholar(ship)-Athletes
Princeton went 3-0 in its non-league games for the first time since 2006, but this stretch also marked the first time that Princeton went 3-0 against scholarship schools during the Ivy League era, which dates back to 1956.
Coach Speak
Bob Surace, one of two men to win an Ivy title as both a player (1989) and head coach (2013), won only two of his first 22 games at Princeton. He has won 18 of 28 since, including eight in a row during the 2013 championship season. He was a 2013 finalist for the Eddie Robinson Jr. National Head Coach of the Year award.
Reid It And Weep
Caraun Reid, the co-captain of the 2013 Ivy League champion football team, became the first Princeton football player to score an NFL touchdown in nearly 30 years when he scooped up a Russell Wilson fumble and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown last Monday night (10/5/15).
The last Princeton player to score an NFL touchdown was Bob Holly '82, then quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, who scored on a 20-yard run against San Francisco.
Head Of The Class
Senior co-captain Matt Arends was named one of 135 semifinalists for the 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments, by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Arends, a senior in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, has played cornerback, safety and linebacker during his Princeton career. He has earned both All-Ivy and Academic All-Ivy League honors, and he has also served internships with the US Global Leadership Coalition in Washington, DC, as well as the US Department of State in the US Embassy in Paris. Arends also spent five weeks in an intensive French Immershion Program in Quebec.
The Crystal Ball
Princeton will return to New England next weekend when it heads to Boston for a showdown with the reigning Ivy League champion Harvard Crimson. The game will be televised on the American Sports Network. Check the Princeton web site this week for local listings.
Trick Or Treat
Princeton will return to Powers Field in two weeks, when it hosts Cornell at 3:30 pm on Halloween Day. The game will also be shown live on the American Sports Network. Princeton has won the last two in this series, including a 53-20 win on Powers Field two years ago. Tickets are available by calling 609-258-4TIX.