It Doesn't Always Go Your Way

Even before TigerBlog got out of his car Saturday, he knew that something was up.

There was more traffic, more tailgating, more people everywhere he looked. The energy was obvious as soon as he parked and walked towards Princeton Stadium.

It was Princeton-Harvard, 2-0 against 2-0, and it reaffirmed a great truth of contemporary American higher education - and the history of American higher education, for that matter.

Nothing - nothing - can unify a college campus like a big football game, even colleges that are ranked 1 and 2 every year in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

Here's another truth - not every big game goes your way.

Let's get back to the big game part.

Everywhere TigerBlog looked, he saw people brought back to this campus - or visiting this campus - for the footbal game, in numbers that nothing else short of Reunions can do. There were people of all age ranges, from little kids with their parents all the way through the old guard.

It's what football can do. No other sport can. Only football.

It's woven that deeply into the American consciousness, and has been that way for nearly 150 years, ever since Princeton and Rutgers played the first game ever.

What is it about football that trumps every other sport?

TigerBlog isn't sure per se. Maybe it's just the head start it's had. Who knows. Maybe it's the size of the stadium or the fact that there are fewer football games than any other sport, so they're more significant.

No matter. There is nothing to bring out the school spirit like football.

TigerBlog has never been to a really, really big-time college football game, unless you count Rutgers back when he covered some Scarlet Knights football when the Big East first started or even before that.

TB is talking about the SEC. Or the Big Ten. Games like that.

He wouldn't have wanted to spend his career at schools like that. He wouldn't mind going once, though.

This brings us to the game Saturday. After two heartstopping Princeton wins over Harvard, this one was, well, if you're a Princeton fan, you know what it was.

The final was Harvard 49, Princeton 7. It was a one-sided game to be sure, one that was 28-0 at halftime.

It was actually 21-0 Harvard late in the first half when the Crimson had to punt. It appeared to be clear that the Harvard player who touched the ball had his foot in the end zone, and TigerBlog assumed touchback.

Princeton ball, first and 10 at the 20. About two minutes left. And the Tigers were getting the ball to start the second half. Who knows? Score. Halftime. Score? It's a whole new ballgame.

Except the refs spotted the ball inside the one, and not at the 20. Princeton had to punt, Harvard got a short field and added a TD, and just like that, it was 28-0 at the break.

Just before the start of the second half, TigerBlog ran into defensive coordinator Jim Salgado in the press box. TB asked about the non-touchback, and he learned that the rule in college is different than the rule in the NFL. The rule in college says that the ball has to cross the plane of the goal line, and therefore it was correctly spotted inside the 1, even if the player had his foot on the goal line. In the NFL, that would have been a touchback.

So what does it all mean?

Well, for starters, it means that Harvard and Dartmouth are both 3-0 as they prepare to meet this Saturday in Hanover. If you're a Princeton fan, you're probably rooting for Dartmouth.

Why?

If you're an optimist, then you say that this past Saturday was one of those days and now Princeton moves forward with its final four games. Win out, and the Tigers are 6-1.

That would also mean Yale would have two losses and Dartmouth would have a loss. So that just leaves Harvard, who would need a loss to create a tie for the Ivy title.

Simple, right?

Good teams - and TigerBlog considers Princeton to be a good team - are never as bad as they look at their worst. Up next for Princeton is a game at Cornell and then a home game against Penn; the two are a combined 1-5 in the league.

Wins in both of those games are musts if the Tigers are going to have a meaningful last two weeks of the year, at Yale and then home against Dartmouth.

But if Princeton can go into Week 9 at 4-1 in the league, then that'll be a huge game - and Princeton will take its chances with that.

TigerBlog expected a close game on Saturday and didn't get it. He knows, though, that Princeton's season hardly ended with that loss.

Last year Princeton beat Harvard 51-48 in three OTs. The year before, Princeton scored a touchdown with 13 seconds left for the 39-34 win after trailing 34-10 with 12 minutes left.

Saturday? Princeton scored with 28 seconds to go. It was hardly as dramatic as the late touchdowns in the preceding two years. Those wins were in all-time epic classic games.

Saturday? It meant Princeton avoided a shutout.

Hey, it doesn't always go your way.