The Top 15 Wins of the Bob Surace Era: Part 1

By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com

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 81 victories leave him just eight 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.

#15 Princeton 36, Lafayette 33 (2 OT) • Sept. 25, 2010

The Setting: It is Game 2 of the Bob Surace era. Princeton, in the midst of four straight losing seasons since its 2006 Ivy championship year, had a respectable showing in a season-opening loss at Lehigh, but it came at a price. Injuries to Caraun Reid '14 and Steven Cody '12 would severly hamper the Tiger defense all season, while the offense would struggle to get on track in its first year under Surace and offensive coordinator James Perry. The team needed a highlight for the fall, and it would come during a picture-perfect September night on Powers Field.

The Story: Surace's first home game as head coach for his alma mater saw Princeton trail four different times, including in the second overtime session. The Tigers battled back each time, led by an inspired performance by quarterback Tommy Wornham, who threw two touchdown passes and rushed for a third one. Trailing 27-24 with just over five minutes remaining, Wornham led a 14-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a game-tying field goal by Patrick Jacob. The Tiger offense eventually took the field down 33-30 and drove to the 2-yard line, and then Jordan Culbreath broke through the middle of the line for the game-winning score.

The Significance: Where do we start? Surace, the former All-Ivy honoree and league champion, comes home to get his first win as head coach, and that ranks third among memorable aspects of the game. Following the win, Princeton's only Heisman Trophy winner, Dick Kazmaier '52, spoke to the team on the field; it would be the last time he addressed the team postgame prior to his death in 2013.

Most memorable of all, though, is the winning touchdown itself. The play wasn't particularly memorable, but it was the journey there for Culbreath that could fit inside a Hollywood script. He became the seventh Princeton Tiger to rush for 1,000 yards during a thrilling 2008 season. The following fall, instead of trying to match Keith Elias for back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns, he was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare and life-threatening disease. Instead of fighting for yards, he was fighting for his life. The idea that he was in the locker room with his teammates one fall later was a blessing in itself. The fact that he could secure victory—victory for Surace, victory for Kazmaier, victory for a new era of Tiger football—became a moment few will forget.

#14 Princeton 37, Harvard 10 • Oct. 21, 2022

The Setting: This is the first Harvard game on this list, but it is far —FAR — from the last one. This matchup had a lot going for it, including the fact that both teams were tied atop the Ivy League standings and came in with either the league's top-ranked scoring offense (Harvard) or scoring defense (Princeton). The game followed an emotional, five-OT Princeton win over Harvard in 2021 (safe to say that game comes later in this countdown). An ESPNU-televised Friday night matchup, this would be the first game at Harvard Stadium for most Princeton players, since the scheduled 2020 game was cancelled due to COVID. The Tigers made the most of it.

The Story: Tim Murphy's comments to The Harvard Crimson postgame said it all: "We got our butts kicked." Future Cincinnati Bengal Andrei Iosivas announced himself to the nation with a career performance, catching nine passes for 176 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown on the Tigers' first drive. Princeton never trailed in the game, though the lead would only be 14-10 at halftime. Princeton dominated after the break, scoring three touchdowns and adding a field goal in a 37-10 win. A 23-yard touchdown catch by Dylan Classi opened the second-half scoring, and touchdown runs by Ryan Butler and quarterback Blake Stenstrom put the game out of reach. Both Michael Ruttlen Jr. and Mason Armstead had interceptions for Princeton, which limited the Ivy's top offense to just over 300 total yards.

The Significance: Many figured this would be Harvard's revenge game following the 2021 heartbreaker, but this was a special Princeton team that showed just how high its ceiling was. A national audience got the chance to see what Iosivas was all about, and he delivered with a career night. This performance started a two-game stretch where Iosivas caught 19 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns and solidified himself as a future NFL player. Why isn't a dominant performance against one of your biggest rivals higher on the list? Well, it wasn't even the most dominant Friday night win over Harvard available, and a heartbreaking finish to the season keeps this from being a memorable win during an Ivy championship season. Regardless, this performance was indicative of just how strong the program was in the moment, coming off a championship season and looking like the frontrunner in 2022.

#13 Princeton 19, Brown 0 • Oct. 13, 2012

The Setting: For the first time in the span of 24 games, Princeton was on a winning streak as it headed into the heart of its Ivy League season. The Tigers had been 2-20 prior to wins over struggling Columbia and Lafayette teams in Weeks 3 and 4 of the 2012 season, but Bob Surace didn't have a statement win to that point in his young tenure. The Tigers, picked to finish last in the preseason poll, looked to get that victory against a Brown team that was the Ivy runner-up in 2011. Princeton also headed into that week with a life-threatening health situation on the roster, but more on that later.

The Story: Brown came to Princeton with an Ivy League-record 162-game scoring streak and championship dreams, and both were vanquished in the most complete game under Surace through the first 25 games. Not only did the Princeton defense limit Brown to 17 rushing yards and force three turnovers, but future All-American Caraun Reid '14 outscored Brown by himself with a second-quarter safety. The offense was both balanced (194 rushing yards, 186 passing yards) and creative (the first touchdown was scored on a pass to offensive tackle Spencer Huston). All of the sudden, a Princeton team that won two games over the previous two seasons was now 2-0 in the Ivy League and ready to host a powerhouse in Harvard. Perhaps we'll learn more about that game later this fall.

The Significance: Most of the games in the Top 15 will have a dramatic, game-changing play, or end with a championship celebration. This one doesn't feature a 60-yard rusher, a 150-yard passer, a 40-yard receiver, or a 10-tackle defensive player. What makes it so special is just how ordinary the win felt. For the first time since 2006, Princeton beat one of the top-tier Ivy League teams and felt like it just might contend in the Ivy League race. It might be hard to comprehend just how special that felt after the last decade, but it truly mattered in the moment. Nobody knew what to make of this Princeton team, but the fact that they had entered the conversation was a shocking turnaround over a three-week span.

But there was more to the win than the on-field dominance. During practice that week, starting cornerback Khamal Brown suffered what some thought was a head injury, but it turned out to be a rupture of an arteriovenous malformation and required immediate, life-saving surgery. His teammates dedicated the performance to Brown, and the normally stoic Surace held an emotional postgame TV interview on the field. The performance showed how connected the team was, and it was the foundation for the program culture for the next decade to come.

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