Princeton Hosts Local Rival Lehigh On Mascot Day In Final Showdown Before Ivy League Sprint

Both Princeton and Lehigh understand what it takes to ascend to the top of their respective conferences. After all, each has won a league championship in the last two years.

By this time next week, both will be trying to repeat that journey this fall. But for now, two tradition-rich universities — as well as football programs — will meet Saturday afternoon on Powers Field trying to soak up every last ounce of momentum before embarking fully on the league slate.

This will be the 60th meeting between Princeton and Lehigh. The Tigers have won a significant majority of those games (40), but the Mountain Hawks have held the advantage of late, with wins in five of the last six meetings, as well as 13 of the last 17.

Princeton enters the game as one of four unbeaten FCS programs in the nation, and it began its Ivy championship chase this past Friday with an impressive 45-10 victory at Columbia. Lehigh had a bye week after a daunting September schedule, and it would love nothing more than an early October win before trying to defend its 2017 Patriot League title.

Sure, both teams want to improve before getting back into league play, but this has become one of Princeton's most historic non-Ivy rivalries, and a win over Lehigh would count way more than a simple confidence builder.

Tickets are still available for Saturday's game, which promises to be another terrific experience for the family. It's Mascot Day, and fans can come take pre-game pictures with the Tiger and all its mascot buddies, and watch them compete at halftime. There will be a free mascot magnet giveaway to first 1,000 fans. The game is presented by the Princeton Marriott at Forrestal.

Week 4: Lehigh (1-3) at #23 Princeton (3-0)

Date • Time • Location	Oct. 6, 2018 • 1 pm • Powers Field at Princeton Stadium
Watch Live	NBC Sports Philadelphia/California, SNY Tape Delay l WatchESPN
Tickets	Princeton Ticket Office
Radio	103.3 FM l Listen Live on the TuneIn App
Game Coverage	Live Stats l @PUTigerFootball l @PUTigers
All-Time Series	Princeton leads 40-17-2
Last Meeting • Current Streak	LEHIGH 42, Princeton 28 (2017) l Lehigh 1
Princeton Information	Note Packet (coming Friday) l Roster l Schedule l Statistics
Lehigh Information	Roster l Schedule l Statistics
Ivy League	Standings l Statistics l Weekly Release
Last Week	Princeton 45, COLUMBIA 10 l Lehigh bye week
Next Week	Brown at Princeton • Oct. 13 2018 • 1 pm • ESPN+

Lights, Camera, Action
Princeton returns to Powers Field at Princeton Stadium this Saturday for its final non-league game of the season, a 1 pm showdown against Lehigh on both ESPN+ and NBC Sports Philadelphia. Cody Chrusciel (play by play), Dave Giancola (analyst), and Jon Mozes (sideline) will call the game on ESPN+, which will stream the final seven games of the Princeton season. Fans can also listen to Patrick McCarthy (play by play) and Coffee Jones (analyst) call the game on TuneIn radio and WPRB 103.3 FM.

Original Eleven
Senior lineman Mike Wagner was the guest of Monday's Original Eleven podcast, which you can listen to below. He discusses a random drill from a freshman-year practice that changed the course of his career, the growth that went into his 2017, when he led the FCS in sacks after four weeks, and a freshman who has already caught his eye. Craig Sachson and Cody Chrusciel also discuss the Week 3 win over Columbia and reflect on the strong September.
History Lesson
This will be the 60th meeting between Princeton and Lehigh. The Tigers have won a significant majority of those games (40), but the Mountain Hawks have held the advantage of late, with wins in five of the last six meetings, as well as 13 of the last 17.

Rank And File
Princeton broke into the AFCA Coaches Poll Top 25 last week as the #25 team in FCS, and the Tigers moved up to #23 this week following their 45-10 victory over Columbia. This is the highest Princeton has been ranked since Week 10 of the 2013 Ivy League championship season, when it was ranked 19th in the Coaches Poll. Princeton is the third team in the "Receiving Votes" portion of the STATS FCS Top 25; the Tigers were #22 entering Week 10 of the 2013 season.

Final Four
Princeton is one of four teams in the FCS that enters October with an undefeated record. #1 North Dakota State and #20 Colgate both sport 4-0 records, while #23 Princeton and unranked Dartmouth are both 3-0.

Close Calls
Five of the previous 10 meetings between Princeton and Lehigh were decided by four points or fewer. Only one of those 10 games was decided by more than two touchdowns, but it was the most recent meeting on Powers Field, a 52-26 win for Princeton in 2015, the last year the Tigers opened with a 4-0 record.

Right Turn
Princeton is one of two teams in the FCS (Cornell) without a single turnover this season. During the last 15 seasons, Princeton had not gone three straight games without a turnover prior to the first three of this season. Should the Tigers extend that streak to four today, it would mark the first time this decade that Princeton has had four turnover-free games in an entire season, much less in a row.

Second Chance
Princeton has not allowed a second-half point yet this season. Columbia had only four drives after halftime last week, and two ended in turnovers. Through the first three games, opposing teams have averaged only 3.3 second-half possessions per game (excluding a Butler possession with less than 30 seconds left).

Twice As Nice
Junior safety TJ Floyd recorded a pair of interceptions against Columbia last Friday, which gave him three over the previous two games. He is the first Princeton player with multiple interceptions in a game since Anthony Gaffney did so in a 2014 game at Columbia.

Sack Race
Senior Mike Wagner, a guest on this week's edition of the Original Eleven podcast, led the FCS in sacks last fall when he suffered a season-ending injury during a Week 5 matchup at Brown. He already leads Princeton in sacks (3) and tackles for loss (3.5) this season; he had two sacks and a forced fumble last weekend in the 45-10 win at Columbia.

On The Mark
Senior Mark Fossati saw his 2017 season end prematurely when he broke his leg in a loss to Columbia. He has returned as one of the team captains, and he leads Princeton with 21 tackles in 2018.

Johnson & Johnson
Senior Tom Johnson started all 10 games at the middle linebacker position last season, and he earned first-team All-Ivy honors after ranking third in the Ivy League with 95 tackles. His younger brother James is Tom's backup at middle linebacker, and the duo already ranks second (Tom, 18) and third (James, 15) on the team in tackles this season.

Oh Brother
The Johnsons aren't the only set of brothers on the team. Backup offensive lineman Stefan (guard) and Nikola (center) Ivanisevic are also brothers; Stefan is a senior, while Nikola is a junior.

You Gotta Lovett
Senior John Lovett enters today's game as the reigning two-time Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week. He rushed 17 times for a career-high 174 yards and two TDs, and he completed 12 passes for 135 yards and two TDs against Columbia, mostly in the first half. Lovett leads the FCS in points responsible for per game (28.7), is ranked second nationally in passing efficiency (185.2), and fourth in rushing yards per carry (8.9).

Piling Up The Honors
John Lovett earned his sixth career Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honor following the win over Columbia, which matches him with Keith Elias '94 and Quinn Epperly '15 for eighth-most all-time Player of the Week honors in Ivy history. The only Princeton player with more Ivy weekly awards is placekicker Taylor Northrop '02, a seven-time Special Teams Player of the Week.

Double Trouble
John Lovett wasn't the only runner who had great success at Columbia last Friday night. Sophomore running back Collin Eaddy rushed six times for 102 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown. Lovett and Eaddy became the first Princeton tandem to post 100-yard performances in the same game since Judd Garrett and Chris Hallihan did so against Cornell on Nov. 18, 1989. That offensive line was led by senior center Bob Surace, now the ninth-year head coach who oversaw Princeton's third straight victory by at least 35 points this season.

Catching On
Senior Steve Carlson has caught four touchdown passes over the last two games, including a pair of scores in the 45-10 win over Columbia. He is now fifth on Princeton's career touchdown receptions list with 15, one behind the tandem of Kevin Guthrie '84 and Roman Wilson '14.
The all-time Princeton leader is the guy on the other side of the field; senior Jesper Horsted, who caught three TDs in the home opener against Monmouth, has 20 career touchdown catches.

Rewriting The Record Book
While Jesper Horsted already has the career record for touchdown receptions, he has a chance at breaking the records for both career catches and receiving yards as well (see chart on page 3 of notes packet). He currently has 141 receptions, tied for fifth most in program history, and 1,969 receiving yards, fourth most in program history. To surpass both marks, Horsted would need to average 8.7 catches and 138.2 receiving yards per game the rest of the season.

Head Of The Class
Jesper Horsted was named one of the national semifinalists for the 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy, an award that recognizes an individual as the top football scholar-athlete in the nation. Candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.

Moving Up
Senior running back Charlie Volker continues to move up the Princeton rushing charts. He is now 14th in program history in career rushing yards (1,599), and he could move into the Top 10 by the end of today's game. He scored his 23rd career touchdown last week, which leaves him one short of eighth place (Walter Snickenberger) in the Princeton record book.
Volker is averaging 9.03 yards per carry this season, the third most in all of FCS football.

Stand On The Line
No position saw more change due to graduation than the offensive line (only All-Ivy tackle Reily Radosevich and two-year starter George Attea returned in 2018), but that group has thrived so far in 2018. Among the impressive feats so far by the group:
• Princeton's scoring offense ranks 2nd in the FCS (48.3 points per game)
• Princeton's rushing offense ranks 4th in the FCS (323 yards per game)
• The starting line has been called for only one penalty, a false start vs. Columbia; the only offensive holding call of the season came with the reserves in during the fourth quarter at Butler
• Princeton has only allowed three sacks this season

Flag Football
Princeton ranks first in the FCS in fewest penalties per game (2.0) and fewest penalty yards per game (20.0).

Conversion Chart
Princeton ranks fourth nationally with a 50% conversion rate on third downs. The Tigers were 6 for 11 last weekend, and they were 7 for 12 in the home opener against Monmouth.

O Captain, Our Captains
Princeton has four captains for the 2018 season. Senior John Lovett is the lone captain from the offense, while Mark Fossati, Kurt Holuba, and Tom Johnson are captains from the defensive side. Of those four, only Johnson was healthy for the entire 2017 season, when he earned first-team All-Ivy honors.

Working Sundays
Seth DeValve '16 became Princeton's highest-drafted player in the modern era when the Cleveland Browns selected him in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He entered his third season with 70 catches and three TDs for the Browns, where he plays tight end. Chad Kanoff '18, the reigning Ivy Offensive Player of the Year, signed a contract with the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason and made the team's practice squad. Last week, Caraun Reid '14 signed a contract with the Dallas Cowboys.

Fresh Faces
Princeton brought in the FCS' top-ranked recruiting class (per HeroSports.com and 247sports.com) last summer, and several members have played over the first two weeks. Among the highlights:
• Matthew Jester, Alex Kilander and Uche Ndukwe already have at least a half tackle for loss; Jester has a pair of sacks, including one last Friday at Columbia
• Trey Gray is averaging 4.4 yards per carry and is fourth on the team with 80 rush yards this season
• George Triplett is the team's starting punter, and he connected on a 43-yard kick in his home debut

ESP(rinceton)N
The new partnership between the Ivy League and ESPN means that all Princeton home games, as well as Ivy League road games, will be streamed live on ESPN+; that partnership extends throughout all Princeton sports, meaning the majority of Princeton home games will be streamed at ESPN+. A monthly ($4.99) or yearly ($49.99) subscription is less expensive than the Ivy League Network subscription would be, and it gives you access to the full platform of live events and other features of ESPN+.

Listen Up
There will be two weekly podcasts during the football season for Princeton fans. The "Original Eleven" returns for its second season, and it will be available at the beginning of each game week (typically Monday, Tuesday at the latest) to recap the previous game and chat with a member of the team. The new "Bob Surace Show" will be available on Thursday nights, and it will be a replay of the radio show held each Thursday at Alchemist & Barrister at Princeton. You can have both podcasts downloaded automatically — as well as the full library of Princeton Athletics podcasts — by subscribing to "Princeton Tigers."

Coach 'Em Up
Princeton head coach Bob Surace '90, the 2016 Ivy League Coach of the Year, is a three-time finalist for FCS National Head Coach of the Year honors. He is one of two men to win an Ivy League championship as both a player (1989) and a head coach (2013/2016).

The Crystal Ball
Princeton will remain home next week and will host Brown on Saturday, Oct. 13, during Alumni Weekend. This will be the first of six straight Ivy League games to close the season. Princeton has won five of the last six meetings with Brown, including a 53-0 win in Providence last year. If you can't make it to Princeton Stadium, you can watch the game live on ESPN+.

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