Beard's Interception Sparks Princeton Past Harvard 30-24 As Tigers Win 16th Straight

Saturday, October 26

Princeton, N.J.

1:00 PM

Princeton University

6-0 , 3-0

Harvard

4-2 , 2-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Harvard

Princeton Tigers

Daniel Beard is congratulated by Ike Hall (97) and Jake Strain (55) after his interception in the third quarter of Princeton's 30-24 win over Harvard.

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Beard's Interception Sparks Princeton Past Harvard 30-24 As Tigers Win 16th Straight

October 26, 2019 | Football

Box Score

Princeton was down at the half and maybe on the verge of down and out after the first two drives of the third quarter, both of which made it into Harvard territory, only to be stopped on fourth down attempts.

Harvard, who had stunningly taken the halftime lead on a 73-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the second quarter, now had the lead, the momentum and possibly the inside track to ending Princeton's long winning streak.

On a day that featured one big play after another, however, Daniel Beard was about to deliver the biggest.

Beard, a sophomore linebacker from Mobile, Ala., made an acrobatic interception on the first play after that second fourth-down stop. One play later Princeton was in the end zone, the Tigers were back on top in a game they would never trail in again and win No. 16 in a row would be the end result, courtesy of a 30-24 win in a game that matched two of the three Ivy League unbeatens.

Princeton improved to 6-0 overall and now 3-0 in the league, heading into a nationally televised Friday night game at Cornell. Harvard, who had its four-game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in the league, hosts the other unbeaten, Dartmouth, this coming Saturday.

"The coaches had the right call for that situation," Beard said of his interception, which he first tipped to himself and then cradled just before he hit the Powers Field turf. "My teammates did what they had to do. You just trust the techniques you've been taught by the coaches, and that put me in the right place to make a play on the ball."

Beard was one of three Tigers with an interception in the game, and those three picks turned into 17 points.

"Coach [Steve] Verbit always says that you never know when a big play is coming," said junior defensive back Matthew Winston, who had an interception and 28-yard return to the Harvard 18 with 4:41 left to set up the clinching touchdown, which came on a Kevin Davidson throw to Dylan Classi.

Matthew Winston ... RING THAT BELL! Watch: https://t.co/gnqud6X8Su pic.twitter.com/j9JAOYWJ3R
— Princeton Football (@PrincetonFTBL) October 26, 2019

Jeremiah Tyler, who was simply everywhere on defense and finished with 13 tackles, had the first interception of the day, way back after the Tigers' opening drive ended with the first Davidson-to-Classi touchdown. Tyler's interception led to a 46-yard Tavish Rice field goal, and it was 10-0 Tigers just 5:23 into the game.

Would this one be easy? Not in the least.

"This was a game of grit," said Princeton head coach Bob Surace. "We made mistakes. We faced adversity. But we never got down or turned on each other. We played with grit. They're an outstanding team, and we had to push through that."

Harvard came back with a touchdown early in the second, and the teams traded blocked field goals – Princeton's courtesy of Joey DeMarco – keeping it 10-7 until the last 23 seconds of the first half, when Harvard's Jake Smith found Jack Cook, who won the foot race at midfield and kept going for 73 yards and a 14-10 Crimson lead at the half.

That momentum grew when Harvard got the two fourth-down stops in its own territory.

It evaporated when Beard made his big play. Davidson cashed it in immediately, finding Collin Eaddy for the 31-yard score. The blocked extra point – Harvard has blocked seven kicks in six games – made it 16-14, but Princeton would not trail again.

Check out Davidson's touchdown throw as Eaddy gallops into the end zone! ?? Watch: https://t.co/gnqud6X8Su#MakeHi2t0ry | #CFB150 pic.twitter.com/oE3Wq6kGq4
— Princeton Football (@PrincetonFTBL) October 26, 2019

Eaddy, who rushed for a hard-fought 110 yards on 19 carries, gave Princeton a 23-14 lead in the third, but Harvard came back to make it 23-21 in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Winston's pick would set up a great TD pass from Davidson, who avoided the rush and stepped up to find Classi in the end zone.

Classi finished with seven catches for 107 yards, giving him his first career 100-yard receiving game and giving Princeton a third receiver this year to reach that mark, along with Andrew Griffin and Jacob Birmelin.

Harvard would kick a field goal on a third down with 30 seconds left to make it 30-24, but Andrei Iosivas recovered the onside kick to seal it.

Other notes

* Davidson finished 20 for 35 for 314 yards and three touchdowns. Jacob Birmelin caught three passes for 99 yards, with catches of 25, 33 and 41 yards.

* Delan Stallworth was in double figures with 10 tackles, eight unassisted. He also had two pass breakups.

* Beard had five tackles, one for a loss, in addition to his interception.

* Joey DeMarco and Matthew Jester each had a sack.

* Princeton did not turn the ball over and had only 23 yards in penalties as the Tigers continued to not hurt themselves.

* Princeton has now won three straight against the Crimson.

* Kickoff at Cornell will be at 6.