The Top 15 Wins of the Bob Surace Era: Part 2

Bob Surace '90 returned to his alma mater with a mandate — from the administration, from alumni, and from himself — to restore Princeton football to the top tier of the Ivy League.

The first two seasons left Tiger fans wondering if that hope was nothing more than an impossible dream.

The 12 years since? They've delivered a run unlike anything Princeton had experienced in generations.

Now in his 15th season as head coach, Surace is tied with Hall of Famer Dick Colman for the most Ivy League titles in program history (four). His 83 victories leave him just six shy of the program record held by Hall of Famer Bill Roper.

Throughout this season, we'll celebrate this era by revisiting the 15 most impactful wins from Surace's tenure. Every two weeks, three games will be highlighted until we count down to the top three, revealed in the final week of the season. Wins from this season aren't included — at least not yet — so, hopefully, the list will require a little reshuffling along the way.

First Series: Games 13-15

#12: Princeton 38, Dartmouth 21 • Nov. 19, 2016

The Setting: For the fourth time in program history, Princeton had the chance to clinch an Ivy League championship on its home field during the final weekend of the season. It had been a dramatic two weeks for the Tigers, who defeated previously unbeaten Penn to open November, and then watched Penn top unbeaten Harvard to create a three-way tie atop the standings. The opponent was Dartmouth, the reigning Ivy League champion and a team looking to play spoiler on the final day of the season. The Big Green was well-versed in spoiling Princeton's final weekend throughout the decade. Bob Surace had won more Ivy League titles in his first six years at Princeton (one) than he had games against Dartmouth (zero).

The Story: Despite playing brilliant games over the previous two weeks, Surace knew closing the deal against Dartmouth would be challenging. The Big Green led twice in the first half, including a 14-10 halftime edge, and it was within three points at the start of the fourth quarter. Critical plays on all three phases turned a thriller into a celebration, starting with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Chad Kanoff to Jesper Horsted early in the final quarter. Mark Fossati recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and Scott Carpenter caught a short touchdown pass one minute later to break the game open. Interceptions by Chance Melancon and Rohan Hylton closed any late comeback plans by the visitors, who fell 38-21 to a team that was picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll and was now celebrating its second Ivy League title in four years.

The Significance: Over the previous 20 years, Princeton had won three Ivy League titles (1995, 2006, 2013), and only once did they end that championship season with a victory. Surace remembered the bitter taste from closing the magical 2013 season with a snow-filled road loss at Dartmouth, not to mention the taste from the other five season-ending Big Green defeats. There was no margin for error this time; Penn won its finale to clinch a share of the title, so the Tigers needed the win to take the title. Princeton entered the game having won the previous two by a combined margin of 59-3, so the early Dartmouth punches really could have staggered this group. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but Princeton had more than enough in reserve to punch back harder. The Tigers, who would end the season with the Ivy League's top ranked total, scoring and rushing offenses, ran for 219 yards and scored five touchdowns in front of a delirious home crowd.

#11: Princeton 52, Harvard 17 • Oct. 20, 2017

The Setting: Preseason Ivy League co-favorites Princeton and Harvard were meeting in front of a national TV audience on Friday night with their back against the walls. Both had surprising early-season Ivy losses, and each had a gauntlet of an Ivy League schedule still ahead of them. It was only the sixth Friday night game ever for Princeton, which had only won twice at Harvard Stadium over the last 20 years. The Tiger offense had been clicking at that point, posting back-to-back 50-point showings in dominant wins, but everybody knew this game would look much different. Everybody was pretty sure of it, at least.

The Story: Turns out, everybody was wrong. This list is filled with comebacks, late thrillers and title-clinching victories. This game doesn't fit into any of those categories. It was more surreal than anything else. Chad Kanoff, in the middle of a historic quarterback season for Princeton (more on that later), completed his first 21 passes of the night and threw for 421 yards and two touchdowns in a stunning 52-17 road win on the NBC Sports Network. Seven of Princeton's first eight drives ended in points, including six that resulted in touchdowns. Jesper Horsted caught two touchdown passes and threw for a third, and he posted 246 receiving yards in the game. Charlie Volker experienced one of the quietest three-touchdown rushing performances you'll see, and the defense forced two turnovers and held Harvard to a 3-of-10 performance on third downs. If there was a critical point in the game, outside of Princeton arriving on time, it came late in the second quarter. The Crimson scored a touchdown with 1:28 remaining to get within two scores and possibly carry momentum into halftime. Princeton responded with a 5-play, 80-yard drive, including three Horsted catches, and all but ended the game with a 14-yard touchdown run by Volker. By the time the Tigers scored on their first two possessions of the third quarter, they were looking like the clear class of the Ivy League.

The Significance: The most critical play of the game for the Ivy League season had no bearing on the result of this game. Defensive lineman Kurt Holuba suffered an injury midway through the game that cost him the rest of the season, and it set off a chain reaction of defensive injuries that imploded Princeton's championship potential. The Tigers lost multiple defensive starters the following week, and by the time the Tigers concluded their season at Dartmouth, the defense was unrecognizable to the group that dominated Harvard on that Friday night. Nobody knows for sure what would have happened without the injuries, and this game might have ranked much higher had it come during a championship season, but it still holds an important spot for a couple reasons. First, it showed the potential of this Princeton core. It could do more than just win against a top opponent; it could dominate. This would matter heading into 2018. Secondly, it was the highlight victory in the Bushnell Cup-winning, record-setting season for Kanoff, who remains Princeton's career leader in completions (655) and passing yards (7,510). Kanoff broke the Princeton and Ivy League record for both single-season passing yards (3,474) and single-season completion percentage (73.2%). He tied the Ivy League record for most 400-yard passing games (three) and 300-yard passing games (eight) in a single season.

#10: Princeton 21, Harvard 14 • Oct. 21, 2023

The Setting: One week after a devastating 28-27 overtime road loss to Brown, which included a 50-yard Brown touchdown in the final minute of regulation and a blocked extra point in overtime that created the final margin, the Tigers faced a must-win scenario against a nationally ranked Harvard squad. The Crimson, undefeated with a Top-5 win already that season, were ranked 17th and ready to end a five-year drought to Princeton — a stretch that started with the afore-mentioned 2017 loss. The Tigers were 2-3 overall, but the three losses came by a combined seven points, so they felt like they could be competitive with anybody. Those feelings wouldn't mean much if they found themselves staring at a two-game deficit to Harvard with only four weeks to play.

The Story: For close to 45 minutes, Princeton seemed like it was going to comfortably extend its winning streak to six and jump right back into the league rave. Jiggie Carr and AJ Barber scored first half touchdowns, and Harvard was held without a first down on seven of its first 11 drives. Then came drives 13 and 14, and suddenly the game was tied. Princeton's offense sputtered for most of the fourth quarter, but it took advantage of one final opportunity when it got the ball near midfield with just over four minutes remaining. The Tigers had failed on its first five third-down opportunities of the fourth quarter, but Blake Stenstrom hit wideout Luke Colella over the middle to convert a 3rd-and-9 and re-energize the offense. Three plays later, on another third down, Stenstrom rolled left and hit an unguarded Connor Hulstein, who beat a late-coming defender to the pylon for the go-ahead score. The Crimson's final drive went backwards before it ended with a game-clinching Will Perez interception with 47 seconds remaining. Despite the second-half struggles, it was a brilliant performance from Stenstrom, who completed 21 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns to move to 2-0 as a starter against the Crimson.

The Significance: This is fitting to come right after the 2017 Harvard win. Not only are those two the bookends of Princeton's longest win streak over the Crimson in seven decades, but they are victories that likely would have been higher in this countdown had their seasons ended differently. Close losses plagued the Tigers throughout the season, including a two-point road loss at eventual Ivy League co-champion Dartmouth. Regardless, this remains a signature win for multiple reasons. First, victories over nationally ranked teams don't come every season; Harvard was undefeated, averaged 41.2 points per game and had one of the nation's top rushing offenses. The Crimson averaged 261.8 rushing yards when it made its way to Princeton Stadium, and it left with only 68 yards on the day. Second, there was a resilience shown by the home team that could inspire pride from its home fans. The Crimson had complete momentum when it got the ball with 7:22 left in the fourth quarter of a tie game. Over its next nine offensive plays, they would gain nine yards and throw the game-ending interception, while the offense would convert two third downs and score the winning touchdown in the waning moments. Heartbreak filled the first half of the schedule for Princeton, but the Tigers didn't let that break their spirits.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Players Mentioned

AJ Barber

Luke Colella

Connor Hulstein

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Princeton University Athletics