TOUGH TO STOP: Princeton University football player Isaiah Barnes fights for extra yardage in recent action. Last Saturday at Cornell, senior receiver Barnes enjoyed a career game, making seven catches for 170 yards, including a 95-yard TD reception, as Princeton rolled to a 56-7 win over the Big Red. It was the second-longest touchdown pass in Princeton history, trailing only a 99-yard connection between Matt Verbit and Clinton Wu in a 2003 win at Brown. Princeton, now 5-2 overall and 3-1 Ivy League, hosts Penn (5-2 overall, 4-0 Ivy) in a crucial league contest on November 5. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

In the wake of the Princeton University football team’s painful overtime loss to Harvard on October 22, Bob Surace admonished his players to move on. 

“I told them the worst thing, the biggest disappointment we would have would be if we didn’t come out of this and play our best football,” said Princeton head coach Surace.

“It is life, sometimes you don’t get a break in a close game and other times you do. We didn’t take advantage of opportunities where it didn’t become a one play game and that is the key.”

Last Saturday at Cornell, Princeton took advantage of its opportunities early and often, jumping out to a 35-0 lead over the Big Red by halftime. Closing the deal as it displayed some of its best football in years, Princeton cruised to a 56-7 victory, improving to 5-2 overall and 3-1 Ivy League.

“I thought we showed a real good finish, we didn’t allow it to come down to OT or a call,” said Surace in a bit of an understatement as his team outgained Cornell 645 yards to 263 and built a 32-13 edge in first downs.

“We are not going to allow this victory to linger. You have got to make corrections and work on improvement and everything else.”

Junior quarterback John Lovett produced an historically good performance against Cornell, throwing for four touchdowns, rushing for two, and catching another.

“We have some really talented players and John is as talented as anybody we have had here,” said Surace of Lovett, who passed for 194 yards, rushed for 47, and had 19 yards receiving on the way to being named the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season.

“We are going to have specific things designed for him in specific situations. He does a great job of executing and playing hard. When he and Chad Kanoff are on, we really seem to be explosive on offense. We really rely on them a lot.”

The Tiger pass receivers enjoyed an explosive day as senior Isaiah Barnes made seven catches for 170 yards, including a 95-yard TD reception, while senior Trevor Osborne had three catches for 55 yards and a touchdown and sophomore Jesper Horsted ended with four receptions for 79 yards.

“I thought we were really fast on routes,” said Surace, noting that the offensive line blocked well throughout the contest and that senior quarterback Kanoff was sharp in hitting 17-of-23 passes for 198 yards.

“Trevor Osborne’s and Isaiah’s touchdowns were things of beauty, we got separation.”

Freshman running back Ryan Quigley continued to separate himself from the crowd, rushing for a career-high 102 yards, highlighted by a 50-yard TD run.

“He is just a football player, from the first time I saw his video I fell in love with him,” said Surace.

“You want this guy on your side, he just keeps getting better. He must have rushed for over 600 yards in our JV season. He is still learning, it takes a while as we saw with Charlie Volker last year. There is a progression at running back where they need to learn the protections, the routes, and all that. As he has been learning that, he has continued to run with a lot of effort.”

Princeton’s defense turned in another solid effort. “They have been a good offense throughout the year,” said Surace of the Big Red.

“I thought for the most part we tackled well. We are getting really good pressure on the quarterback and we are covering tighter. That has got to continue because we saw what we can look like in the first two games when we didn’t get as much pressure on the quarterback and we were just a little bit off in our coverage.”

The Tigers will be under pressure this Saturday when they a host high-powered Penn (5-2 overall, 4-0 Ivy) squad, whose offense features a trio of stars in  quarterback Alek Torgerson, running back Tre Solomon, and wide receiver Justin Watson.

“They are just rolling through teams; they are just picking teams apart, going up and down the field,” said Surace.

“They are always exceptional physically and they have utilized every bit of the field, vertically, horizontally. Watson, Torgerson, and Solomon, not just this year but over history, are elite players in this league. They are surrounded with just tremendous players.”

The Quakers are also formidable on the other side of the ball. “Defensively, they get after it,” added Surace. “In the games I have seen, they have played really well on defense. This is truly a complete team and it is shown week in, week out in how they are playing.”

While Princeton has proven that it is a complete team with the routs over Cornell, Brown (31-7), and Columbia (48-13), Surace knows the Tigers will have to be at their best to compete with Penn.

“We need to have a day where we play very well,” asserted Surace. “You expect that they are going to play very well, it is all they have done all year. It has the makings of a really good game but not if we don’t play well.”