Football Finishes Non-Conference Action vs. Lafayette

By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com

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Two teams with league championship aspirations will play their final nonconference game of the season Saturday afternoon, and both will be looking to build momentum as they head into the heart of their respective league schedules.

Princeton (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) will welcome Lafayette (4-1, 1-0 Patriot) to Powers Field at Princeton Stadium Saturday at 1 pm ET. The Tigers have held the edge in this series with 12 straight victories, but this looks to be one of the toughest Lafayette teams in recent history. The Leopards are off to their first 4-1 start since 2009, a run that includes a dominant 24-3 home win over Columbia and the Patriot League-opening 56-22 win over Bucknell.

The Leopards' only loss of the season? That came at Duke, which is currently ranked in the Top 20 of the FBS national poll.

This is exactly the type of test that head coach Bob Surace wants his team to face before it heads into Ivy League play with a trip to Brown. Princeton just completed one of the strangest opening months in its long history — which is saying something, since it has the longest history of any college football team. After flying out to California for a season-opening win at San Diego, the Tigers played back-to-back home games in dreadful weather conditions.

How bad has it been? Neither team reached 17 points in either of the last two games. The last time Princeton played two straight games where neither team reached 17 was Week 8 and 9 of the 2008 season. By itself, the Tigers had scored at least 17 points in 32 consecutive games, and 59 of the last 60.

For a while, it looked like the rain would be the least of Princeton's issues last Friday night. The Tigers trailed 7-3 in the fourth quarter of its Ivy League opener before going on a memorable 20-play drive that took more than 10 minutes, included three fourth-down conversions and ended with a game-winning touchdown run by John Volker.

Drives like that can do more than win a game. They can galvanize a team that is still finding itself. They can set a foundation for success. This Princeton team would love nothing more than to start building on that foundation this Saturday against a team that seems to have a pretty sturdy foundation of its own in place.

Week 4 Game Notes
History Lesson • Princeton holds an all-time 45-4-3 lead in a series that dates back to 1883. The Tigers are currently on a 12-game win streak over Lafayette, its longest in series history, which includes a 23-2 road win last season. The Leopards' last win in the series came on Sept. 27, 2003, a 28-13 win in Easton.

Getting Defensive • The Princeton defense pitched a shutout in last week's Ivy League-opening win over Columbia, even if the Tigers still had to rally for victory. The Lions' lone points came on a defensive touchdown, but the Columbia offense was held to only 179 yards of total offense. Princeton has held each of its three opponents under 210 yards of total offense this season.

Rank and File • The Princeton defense ranks either first or second in almost every major Ivy League statistical category. The Tigers rank first in total (194 y/gm), rushing (59 y/gm), and passing (135 y/gm) defense, and they rank second in scoring defense (11.7 pts/gm). Princeton also ranks first in opponent first downs (12.3 per game) and second in third-down conversion percentage (22.9%).

The Wizard of Oz • Senior co-captain Ozzie Nicholas leads the Ivy League with 31 tackles this season (10.3 per game), which includes a team-best 10 in last week's win over Columbia. Nicholas also has a sack and two quarterback hurries this season.

Johnson & Johnson • Senior co-captain Liam Johnson, the third Johnson bother (Tom '19, James '22) to be a Princeton starting inside linebacker and team co-captain, is the reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. He ranks second on the team this season with 20 tackles, and he had a game-high eight in the win over Lafayette last season.

Sack Race • Sophomore Bakari Edwards leads the Ivy League with four sacks this season. The first-year starter has recorded at least one in each game, and he has also recorded a forced fumble and a safety.

Ground Attack • Sophomore John Volker ranks third in the Ivy League with 88.0 rushing yards per game, and he has scored touchdowns in all three games this season. His biggest score came last Friday night, when he converted a late 4th-and-goal for a one-yard score to give Princeton the 10-7 win over Columbia. Volker is tied for second in the Ivy League with three rushing touchdowns this season.

Driven To Succeed • Entering the fourth quarter last Friday night, Princeton's longest drive of the season had been 12 plays and had taken 5:28 off the clock. Needing to go the length of the field to take the lead, Princeton drove 20 plays for 81 yards in 10:01 to score the go-ahead touchdown in a 10-7 victory over Columbia. Princeton's longest drive all of last season was a 14-play, 8:19 drive in the 37-10 win over Harvard.

Throw It Around • Blake Stenstrom is in his second season as the Princeton starting quarterback, and he had one of his best games last year in the win over Lafayette. He completed 30 of 40 passes for 290 yards and no interceptions in the road victory.

Cool Hand Luke • Junior wide receiver Luke Colella is leading the effort to replace NFL-bound wideout Andrei Iosivas and fellow 2023 graduate Dylan Classi at the wide receiver position. He has 16 catches this season, twice as many as and Princeton player so far this year, and he is tied for fifth in the Ivy League with 5.3 catches per game.

Coaching Close To Home • Both head coaches this weekend also won league championships as players for their respective programs. Bob Surace, a four-time Eddie Robinson Jr. National Head Coach of the Year finalist, won an Ivy League title as a player (1989) and four as the Charles W. Caldwell Jr. '25 Head Coach of Football (2013, 2016, 2018, 2021). Lafayette head coach John Troxell helped the Leopards win the 1992 Patriot League title, and he is now in his second season as head coach at Lafayette.

Coming Up Next • Princeton will head to Providence, R.I., next Saturday to resume Ivy League play with a 12 pm game at Brown. The Bears, led by head coach and former Princeton offensive coordinator James Perry, are 2-1 on the season, with the lone loss coming in a 34-31 thriller at undefeated Harvard.

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