Princeton Football Will Face Dartmouth At Yankee Stadium During Historic 2019 Season

PRINCETON, N.J. — During a season that will be a celebration of both tradition and history for the Princeton University football team, the Tigers will play at a venue synonymous with both terms. On Nov. 9, 2019, only three days after the 150^th anniversary of the first college football game ever — played between Princeton and Rutgers — Princeton will take on Dartmouth at Yankee Stadium.

"We are extremely proud to partner with Dartmouth and the New York Yankees to celebrate Princeton and Ivy League football in one of the world's most spectacular sports venues." said Mollie Marcoux Samaan '91, the Ford Family Director of Athletics at Princeton. "Just as Yankee Stadium has housed so many iconic moments, Princeton has played an important role in the development of college football since its very beginnings. We are thrilled to provide this unique opportunity to our student-athletes and to be able to celebrate the generations of Tiger alumni who have represented the University so successfully — on the playing field, in the classroom, and in the community — for the past 150 years."

The 2016 Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers — winners of two of the last four Ivy titles — and Dartmouth will meet for the 99^th time during the 2019 season. Dartmouth currently holds a 48-44-4 advantage, though Princeton clinched its 11^th Ivy title in program history last fall with a 38-21 comeback win over the Big Green.

"We are thrilled to be playing in Yankee Stadium against Dartmouth," said Ivy League Coach of the Year Bob Surace '90, the Charles W. Caldwell Jr. '25 Head Coach of Princeton Football. "Princeton football is known for its tradition of excellence in college football, and we are excited to partner with the New York Yankees organization, the standard of tradition and excellence in professional sports. Our 28 national titles and their 27 World Series titles are both the leaders in our respective sports by a large margin, and there is no better venue to celebrate the fact that college football started with Princeton than Yankee Stadium."

"It's terrific that our players will get to experience playing in Yankee Stadium," Surace added. "For our PFA members, alumni and fans, we'll be planning a full weekend of events around the game."

This will be Princeton's first game in a historic professional venue since Nov. 16, 1997, when the Tigers defeated Yale 9-0 inside Giants Stadium during the famed "Road Warrior" season; the Tigers played all 10 games on the road that season while Princeton Stadium was being built.

Besides games at Ivy rival Columbia, Princeton has also played 20 games in New York City at the historic Polo Grounds, including two against Dartmouth. The Tigers' last win there came on Oct. 29, 1910, when All-America halfback Talbot Pendleton scored a 75-yard touchdown run for the only score in a 6-0 win over Dartmouth.

While Surace — a lifelong Yankees fan — will be thrilled to take the field at Yankee Stadium, he won't be the first Princeton coach to compete there. Reigning Ivy League Baseball Coach of the Year Scott Bradley was the second pick of the Yankees (NFL Hall of Famer John Elway was their first pick) in the 1981 draft. He broke into the major leagues wearing Yankee pinstripes in 1984 and stayed in the majors until retiring in 1992.

Mitch Henderson, the reigning Ivy League Men's Basketball Coach of the Year, was also drafted by the New York Yankees as an outfielder with the 24th pick of the 29th round, 815th overall, in 1994. Henderson won three Ivy League basketball titles for Princeton as a player, and then he coached Princeton to the 2017 Ivy men's basketball title.

Charles Caldwell, the legendary Princeton player and coach for whom Surace's position is named for, played for the New York Yankees in 1925. Caldwell would return to Princeton, where he coached the Tigers to the 1950 national championship; he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961.

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