TOUGHING IT OUT: Princeton University running back John Volker battles for some extra yardage in a 2022 game. Last Saturday, senior Volker rushed for a game-high 91 yards and a touchdown as Princeton defeated the University of San Diego 23-12 in its season opener. The Tigers are hosting Bryant (1-2) on September 23 in their home opener. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
By some metrics, it would appear that the Princeton University football team endured a long afternoon when it opened its 2023 season by playing at the University of San Diego last Saturday afternoon.
“If I check with the analytics people, we lost the turnover battle 2-0, we lost the penalty battle, I think we had 40 more yards in penalties, and we didn’t finish drives,” said Princeton head coach Bob Surace. “All of those are things the analytics people say you have got to focus on. They would have said we lost the game by 20 points.”
But playing with intensity and executing when it counted, Princeton was able to grind out a 23-12 win over the Toreros before a crowd of 1,191 at Torero Stadium.
“I was just saying to Mike Willis (Tiger offensive coordinator), ‘If you watch the film, most of the plays were really good,’” said Surace. “That is very encouraging. You watch it play to play and there are so many good things that you would have thought you have won by 20 points.”
Heading to California last week, the Tigers were chomping at the bit to get started after going through an arduous fall camp. more