Epic 20-Play Drive, Epic Defensive Effort Give Princeton 10-7 Win Over Columbia

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Football

September 20, 12PM

vs San Diego

Princeton, N.J.

Football

September 27, 3PM

at Lafayette

Easton, Pa.

Football

October 3, 7PM

vs Columbia

Princeton, N.J.

Football

October 11, 12PM

vs Mercer

Princeton, N.J.

Football

October 18, 12PM

at Brown

Providence, R.I.

The drive, like every other drive for the Princeton football team these past two weeks, started in the misty dampness of Powers Field. The figurative sunshine was 81 yards away. Time was starting to wane. It's not overstating things to say that the season was in a precarious way, even with seven games to go.

So what happened? Princeton put together a drive of beauty, a drive of toughness, and ultimately a drive that won a game the Tigers really needed. It started on the Princeton 19 early in the fourth quarter in a game that was getting away. It ended 20 plays later in the Columbia end zone.

The spectacular drive, coupled with a monster defensive effort all night, gave Princeton a 10-7 win over Columbia in the Ivy League opener for both. It came on a rainy night in Princeton, making it two straight weeks of miserable weather from which the Tigers' home field became a place where offense was at a premium.

A week earlier, Princeton had lost to Bryant 16-13 in overtime. This time, Princeton was not going to let that happen again.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The only scoring of the first half was a 28-yard Jeffrey Sexton field goal midway through the first quarter. Columbia would get its only points on a two-yard interception return by defensive lineman Just Townsend three minutes into the third quarter, making it a 7-3 Lions lead.

It stayed that way into the fourth quarter, when a Columbia punt had Princeton back on its 19 with 12:14 left. To that point, Princeton had 162 yards of total offense for the night. Now the Tigers needed 89 more. And they got every one them … barely.

Princeton's drive went 20 plays, covering those 89 yards in 10:07, running it nine times, throwing it 11 times and converting three fourth downs along the way. The first two were passes from Blake Stenstrom to Luke Colella, getting eight yards on a 4^th-and-6 and three yards on a 4^th-and-2. The last one came on the final play of the drive, when John Volker bulled it in from the two on a 4^th-and-goal.

Columbia got the ball back and converted two fourth downs of its own before Ryan Savage recovered a fumble after Sekou Roland sacked Columbia QB Caden Bell for a 22-yard loss with 16 seconds to go.

Stenstrom finished the game 26 for 43 for 191 yards, and seven of those completions went to Colella, for 53 yards. Princeton's defense did not allow a point and held the Lions to 179 total yards, including only 71 through the air.

Ozzie Nicholas had 10 more tackles for the Tigers, while Liam Johnson had nine.

KEY PLAY
The Volker touchdown won it, but Princeton never would have had the chance were it not for the other two fourth down conversions. The second one was a tough catch for Colella on a pass that was a little behind him, but there was more to it than just the catch itself.

By that time, Princeton had already controlled the ball for 16 plays, and there were only four minutes left in the game. Had Princeton given the ball back there, it almost certainly would not have had time to get a stop, get the ball back and then drive for the touchdown it would need.

An underrated play on the drive was a 22-yard Jiggie Carr run on a 2^nd-and-10 play that brought the ball from the Tiger 31 to the Columbia 47. Getting across midfield was huge for the momentum of the drive.

THINGS THE BOX SCORE DOESN'T TELL YOU
* Princeton has won 13 Ivy League championships, and it won its Ivy opener in all 13 of those seasons.

* The win was Bob Surace's 75^th as Tiger head coach, tying him with Hall-of-Famer Dick Colman for third all-time at Princeton. He trails only Steve Tosches (78) and Bill Roper (89).

UP NEXT
Princeton has its final non-league game this coming Saturday, Oct. 7, at home against Lafayette. Kickoff is at 1.

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