The Standard Is The Standard: A Story on Princeton's Offensive Line

It was third and five from the Brown 37-yard line.

Princeton led by 14 but needed a first down to keep the drive and clock moving.

The Tigers got even more than they could have asked for.

Collin Eaddy took the ball from Cole Smith, saw a big hole, and scampered untouched to the end zone.

Princeton went up three touchdowns and never looked back.

"By the time we got to the last touchdown run, shoutout to Niko (Ivanisevic) and Reily (Radosevich), there was a huge hole, and nobody was there," said Eaddy after the game. I went right through it, got to the second level, and walked into the end zone. I appreciate those guys, I call them 'people eaters' and they were eating people up. We were able to move the ball efficiently play after play especially running the ball."

Princeton's offense ranks fifth in the NCAA FCS in scoring (41.2) and ninth in total offense (455.2). It plays at a fast pace with no huddling. What's like for offensive linemen to be a part of offense that is always on the go?

They love it.

"It's really fun to be a part of because you get to go out there when the defense can't respond and put points on the board," said Connor Scaglione.

"Our offensive philosophy is fast, physical and hungry so that defines the pace we go at," said David Hoffman. Our unit identity is ATV (accountable, tough, violent) and that meshes with our philosophy.

"We've played 10 guys (offensive lineman) in a game before and haven't skipped a beat," said Princeton offensive line coach Chris Zarkoskie. "We put Jalen (Travis) and Jonathan (Boyd) in during the Brown game and we went right down the field and scored. You also have upperclassmen leaders who are behind good football players in Ford Roberts and Zackary Zambrano, and they don't skip a beat either. There's also Blake Feigenspan who operates the offense when Niko needs a drive or play off. I'm really fortunate in how the first five gel and how they influence the next group which makes them all better."

Two players that have been vital in the team's offensive success have been Eaddy and Smith. Eaddy leads the FCS in rushing touchdowns with 12 while Smith was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week after he broke the program's single-game record for completion percentage (92.6) and had the second highest single-game passing-yard performance (476) against Brown.

"It just goes back to the trust we have in each other," said Ivanisevic about Eaddy. "It gets us excited to block for him and all of our backs honestly. They all run hard, and we play hard for them, so it builds off each other. It makes for exciting things because we spend so much time together, so we enjoy each other's success."

Go look at a celebration photo of Eaddy's touchdown runs … or any touchdown for that matter.

Who are the first people there to celebrate?

The offensive line.

A How It Started vs. How It Ended production featuring @presidenteaddy.

What a run! #NA22AUBound pic.twitter.com/LT6wkquf07
— Princeton Football (@PrincetonFTBL) October 3, 2021

Smith, who was named captain despite having only five games of experience coming into the year, has been outstanding for Princeton. For the season, he is 106-for-152 (69.7 completion percentage) for 1,514 yards, 10 touchdowns and has added two Ivy Player of the Week accolades.

"From the second, he was named the starter, we had supreme confidence in Cole," said Henry Byrd. "We've seen what he's done from when he was on the scout team to second team to next man up. It's not really a surprise to see him throw the ball around like that."

"To see his work ethic and him putting in the time and the hours especially when he didn't have that playing experience was inspirational from my perspective," said Radosevich about Smith.

There were a lot of unknowns after the cancellation of the 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Players were all over the place, but they managed to keep tabs on each other.

"During the spring where everything got shut down and we were at home, it got pretty lonely at times," said Byrd. "The thing that kept me going was seeing how hard my teammates were working. Every single day, we would send a video of our competitions and we pushed each other to go harder. The standard never changed even though we had guys all over the country. At no point did anyone let up. The standard is the standard and we all had the same goals the day we went home as we do today."

"Building off each other across the country and seeing how everyone was working, it got contagious across the team," said Ivanisevic. "It was really inspiring and whenever you were feeling down on yourself, you could see how everyone else was working and it pushed you forward."

"There was system of accountability among the team and our group," said Radosevich. "Working out became less of a chore and more of encouragement."

Zarkoskie also had an interesting perspective as he was hired in February of 2020 right before the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

"It was different and unique," said Zarkoskie about the time away from campus. "I was lucky and continue to be because of the leadership of this group and it goes down to the younger guys being so mature, positive and self-motivated. A really tough situation was made easy by the guys."

The standard is the standard is something that permeates throughout the team and the locker room. How does a team that's going for its fourth Ivy League title in eight seasons maintain its goals?

"I think it goes back to culture and it's both top down and bottom up," said Hoffman. "Our coaching staff, strength and operations staff work together and put us in the position to play at our highest level. It's also bottom up in the sense that the players hold each other accountable. I know coming in as freshman, I had great senior mentors who played a lot and showed me the ropes. As you get experience through the years, you get to be that leader to other guys coming in. It was special in our class to have so many leaders and just natural for guys to delay their lives for a year to come back and it says a lot about the program we have going here."

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