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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
FB Friday: Surace Recaps Penn Game, Talks Seniors, Poe-Kaz, Home Finale
November 13, 2015 | Football
You can watch the video by clicking the link above. The game preview can be found below.
They came off back-to-back 1-9 seasons. They came because of their belief in both the University and this staff, and they could share the vision that the coaches had for this program.
They came, they built a foundation and they will leave with both Princeton diplomas and Ivy League Championship rings.
The Princeton Class of 2016 never experienced a losing season in Orange and Black, an incredible feat considering the Tigers had six straight losing seasons coming into 2012. Saturday, they play for the final time on Powers Field, and they are looking to complete the first 5-0 home season since 2006 and only the second since 1993.
But they brought more than victories. They served as mentors and role models for a talented set of younger teammates who will continue building on this foundation for years to come.
But that is for the future. The Class of 2016 still has more to do, and it starts today in one of the best rivalries in the Ivy League — it's the 138th Princeton-Yale showdown, Saturday at 1 pm on the Ivy League Digital Network.
| Yale Bulldogs (5-3, 2-3 Ivy) at Princeton Tigers (5-3, 2-3 Ivy) |
| Time/Location | Nov. 14, 2015 • 1 pm • Powers Field at Princeton Stadium |
| Coverage |
Ivy League Digital Network l WPRB 103.3 FM l Live Stats |
| @PUTigers l @PUTigerFootball l @PUTigers_Live | |
| All-Time Series | Yale leads 75-52-10 |
| Last Meeting |
YALE 44, Princeton 30 (11/15/14) |
| Last At Site | PRINCETON 59, Yale 23 (11/16/13) |
| Last Five Years |
Yale 3-2 |
| Current Streak |
Yale 1 |
| Princeton Links |
Game Notes l Roster l Schedule l Stats |
| Yale Links |
Game Notes l Roster l Schedule l Stats |
| Last Week | Penn 26, Princeton 23 (OT): Game Story l Highlights/Interviews |
| Next Week |
Nov. 21, 12 pm • Princeton at Dartmouth • ASN/Ivy League Digital Network |
Follow Along
Princeton's showdown with Yale will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network, with Dan Loney and Dave Giancola providing the call. You can also listen live on 103.3 FM WPRB, as well as on wprb.com.
Historic Rivalry
This is the 138th meeting between Princeton and Yale, making it the longest-running rivalry in the Ivy League and the second-longest active rivalry in all of college football (Lehigh and Lafayette will play for the 151st time next weekend). Yale leads the all-time series 75-52-10, but the two teams have split the last two, the last four, and the last six meetings. No team has won more than two straight games in this series over the last decade.
Yale won last year's game 44-30, thanks in part to a 405-yard passing game by quarterback
Morgan Roberts. Current Princeton senior co-captain Matt Arends had 10 tackles and in interception in the game.
Home Cooking
Since the start of the 1994 season, Princeton has gone 5-0 at home only once (2006). The Tigers will have the opportunity to match that performance today, as they have gone 4-0 at Powers Field this season. The Tigers are averaging 38.3 points per game at home this season, a total that is even more impressive when you consider they only scored 10 in a driving rainstorm against Columbia in early November.
Home Cooking II
One trend that Princeton would like to keep alive for one more week, and only one more week — ever since the Tigers' 40-7 opening-day win at Lafayette, the home team has won every game this season.
Close But No Cigar
In two of Princeton's three losses this season, the Tigers had the ball in a tie game with less than two minutes remaining. At Brown, Princeton quarterback Chad Kanoff was hit on a pass attempt and intercepted; at Penn, Princeton had a 35-yard field goal blocked at the end of regulation.
That Winning Feeling
Princeton needs one more victory for its second winning season over the last nine years. Between 2007-11, the Tigers went 18-42 (.300). Since the start of the 2012 season, the Tigers have gone 23-15 (.605).
Head Of The Class
The Princeton Class of 2015, which still has three games remaining, will be the first graduating class without a single losing season (5-5, 8-2, 5-5, 5-2) since the Class of 1995.
In the two years prior to the arrival of the Class of 2015, Princeton went 2-18.
Cup Of Joe
Junior Joe Rhattigan, who missed the Brown game due to injury and was limited at Harvard, has averaged 117.5 rushing yards per game over the last two weeks, and he has scored three touchdowns over that stretch. Rhattigan currently ranks fourth in the Ivy League with 74.9 rushing yards per game; Yale sophomore Deshawn Salter stands one spot ahead of Rhattigan at 78.3 yards per game.
Rhattigan ran the ball 30 times last weekend; it was the most carries for one Princeton player since Chuck Dibilion rushed 31 times for 178 yards and three touchdowns in a 2011 game against Yale.
Conversion Chart
Joe Rhattigan ran the ball on 10 plays when Princeton faced either 3rd or 4th and short (2 yards or fewer). He was successful on eight of them, and he followed one of the misses with a conversion on the next play.
Double Trouble
Eleven Princeton players have rushed for double-digit touchdowns in a season at least once in their careers. Over the last decade, only Quinn Epperly (18, 2013) and Jordan Culbreath (10, 2008) have achieved that feat. John Lovett needs one more to become the 12th, and he needs three more to move into the single-season Top 10 at Princeton.
Dr. Dré
Princeton senior Dré Nelson achieved a rare double in his last home game; he both returned a kickoff 100 yards (probably closer to 103) for a touchdown and scored on a one-yard touchdown run. The return touchdown was the third of his career, while it was the sixth rushing touchdown of his career.
Nelson is averaging 6.3 yards per carry and 13.4 yards per catch this season. An All-Ivy League returner in 2014, Nelson is averaging 27.9 yards per return, 10th-best in all of FCS football.
Tackling The Issue
Princeton safety Dorian Williams, a two-year starter at free safety and an All-Ivy League honoree last year, ranks second in the Ivy League in tackles (66). The only player who ranks ahead of Williams, who had 10 stops last weekend against Penn, in the Ivy League is Yale defensive back Hayden Carlson, who has 71 tackles this season.
Cool Hand Luke
Junior inside linebacker Luke Catarius has started the last three games following an injury to All-Ivy starter Rohan Hylton during the Brown game. In the first 24 games of his Princeton career, Catarius recorded 20 tackles. In the last four, he has made 37 tackles, including a career-best 14 last week at Penn.
An Olson Twin
Junior lineman Birk Olson paced the Tiger defense with two sacks in the 47-21 win over Cornell last weekend. After recording only six tackles last season, Olson leads all defensive linemen with 29 this season, and he has a Princeton-best four sacks on the year.
Just For Kicks
Senior placekicker Nolan Bieck moved into a tie for second place on the all-time field goals list at Princeton last weekend when he made three in the overtime loss at Penn. He has made 38 career field goals, which is tied with his former kicking coach, Taylor Northrop '02. The all-time leader is Derek Javarone '06, who made 45 in his career.
Graduation Day
Princeton football tied for the top spot in FCS in the latest graduation success rate, as announced by the NCAA, with a final total of 98%.
Telling Mason's Story
Junior Mason Darrow, who publicly came out in a piece on OutSports.com prior to the 2015 season opener at Lafayette, was featured on a piece by College Gameday. Show host Rece Davis was on campus Tuesday, Oct. Oct. 20, and interviewed Darrow, head coach Bob Surace and two of Darrow's teammates, Jack Knight and Caleb Slate.
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.
Honoring The Honorees
At halftime of Saturday's game, Princeton will welcome back all former Poe-Kazmaier Award winners to the field. The Poe-Kazmaier Award is the top team award given by Princeton Football, and it includes College Football Hall of Famers, Bushnell Cup recipients, future NFL players, and the 1951 Heisman Trophy recipient.
They Saw Most Of Them
Two people who saw most of those Poe-Kazmaier Award winners are Bailey Brower Jr. '49 and Taz Brower. Today will be the 67th consecutive Princeton-Yale game that they will attend together, and it will be the 68th Princeton-Yale game that Mr. Brower has attended. His first was in 1945, during his freshman year at Princeton; following two years in the service, both Mr. and Mrs. Brower have attended this game every single year!
The Crystal Ball
Princeton will conclude its 2015 season next Saturday at noon when it heads to Hanover, N.H., to take on the Dartmouth Big Green. The game will be televised on the American Sports Network (check local listings) and the ILDN, and it will be available on both 103.3 FM WPRB and on wprb.com.
While Dartmouth (7-1, 4-1 Ivy entering the weekend) could still be alive in the Ivy League championship chase next weekend, Princeton will have plenty of motivation in that game. This senior class will have at least a .500 record against every other Ivy League team, but it has gone winless against the Big Green. In fact, the last time Princeton defeated Dartmouth was 2009.