By Bill Alden
Playing at Cornell last Saturday, the Princeton University football team got off to a hot start.
Taking the opening kickoff, Princeton drove 75 yards in nine plays with a dazzling 27-yard touchdown catch by freshmen star receiver Josh Robinson culminating the march as the Tigers went ahead 7-0.
“I thought we executed really well most of the game,” said Princeton head coach Bob Surace. “That drive was a good indicator. It was one play after the other. We were consistent. Josh’s play was amazing, keeping his balance. I was on the other side of the field but you knew it as something special. It was terrific.”
The Tigers built their lead to 17-7 at halftime as Ethan Clark scored on a four-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and Esteban Nunez Perez booted a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter.
But the execution slipped in the second half as Cornell took the kickoff and marched 75 yards to score a touchdown to narrow the gap to 17-13. In the fourth quarter, the Big Red cashed in a fumble with a TD pass as they went up 20-17 and held off the Tiger to win by that margin. The defeat dropped the Tigers to 3-4 overall and 2-2 Ivy League.
“We derailed ourselves with some negatives,” lamented Surace. “There as a holding call, a couple of sacks in the second half. Really it was four plays in the second half in four drives that got us off track. There are things we have to clean up. It is hard to win on the road, there is a lot of parity on our league. But to do so many things well and not get a win is where the disappointment is.”
Despite the negatives, the Tigers did give themselves a chance to win late in the contest as Kai Colon hit Roman Laurio with a 38-yard pass to get Princeton to the Big Red 42-yard line. A five-yard run by Colon moved it to the 37 but the Tigers stalled there with four incomplete passes.
“We hit a big play, Roman caught a long ball, it was close to going to the distance,” said Surace. “We are second and five on their 37 with a minute to go. The wind wasn’t bad but it was enough where you probably had to get to about the 20 for a field goal. We were about 15 yards away from being in a comfortable field goal range. Credit them, they deflected two balls. It is kind of a bear when the guy is really not up the field rushing and they are at the line.”
Noting that two defensive offsides penalties extended Cornell possessions, Surace acknowledged that the lack of experience led to some of those unforced errors.
“All three drives they had in the second half there were penalties that are ones that I have to instill discipline,” said Surace.“We traveled six more sophomores than seniors and part of it is injury and things like that. Those guys are playing well but I have got to look at are we putting too much on their plates. It is a youthful group and God bless them, they are working hard. The effort has been great.”
The Tigers did get very good efforts from junior Laurio, who made four catches for 97 yards, and defensive backs Nasir Hill and Evan Haynie as Hill made a game-high 11 tackles while Haynie made six tackles with a fumble recovery and an interception.
“Roman has been a steady Eddie, he has made some big plays,” said Surace. “It is a pretty deep group and Roman is one of them who has done really well. I thought our secondary as a whole played well, Evan and Nasir were both good.”
In Surace’s view, the Tigers just need to fine-tune some things to get back on the winning track.
“The message is we have to keep working to get better, there is a process,” said Surace, noting that Princeton also had some miscues in the 35-14 loss to Harvard on October 25. “When you have back-to-back weeks with six or seven plays making the difference. We just need to be better as coaches to get them to play with a little more focus on the play. There were 174 plays that I watched on the ride home. Most of them are either check-marked we won it or it was even-steven. Both teams did well. It was literally those seven, eight plays that are frustrating. We have got the figure out are we doing too much because it is literally two weeks in a row where it has haunted us.”
With Princeton playing at Dartmouth (5-2 overall, 2-2 Ivy), it will need make big plays to top a strong Big Green squad.
“You have to lace them and practice well and then play,” said Surace. “Their running back (D.J. Crowther) is really good. The little bit I have seen of their quarterback (Grayson Saunier), I think he is playing as a Player of the Year candidate. He is a dual threat. He is a big guy and he runs it well. In the games I have watched, he is making tight window throws. He has played really well.”