The Big Question

The Princeton football team rolled through the first two weeks of the season, outscoring Lehigh and Stetson by a combined 95-0.

What did anyone learn about Princeton in those first two weeks? The Tigers are good. There's no denying that. 

What was the main question for Princeton heading into its third game, against Columbia Saturday afternoon in the Ivy League opener for both? It was simply this: What would Princeton do when things weren't going easily?

It's a fair question. No team rolls through a 10-game season without ever having to answer that question. Princeton's turn came Saturday afternoon. 

Princeton scored the first 10 points in the game, but it seemed like more. Then, in Princeton's "Drago's been cut" moment, Columbia put together a 10-play, 66-yard march in the third quarter to put the first points of the year on the board against the Tigers. Suddenly it was 10-7.

For the record, by the way, the 10 consecutive scoreless quarters to start the season were the most by a Princeton defense since the 1933 team opened with seven straight shutouts. Digging a little deeper, the 10 straight scoreless defensive quarters to start the season were the most against teams that are currently Division I since 1915, when the Tigers shut out Georgetown, Rutgers and Syracuse.

And none of that mattered at all when Columbia made it 10-7. Now the question was in full force. What would Princeton do when things weren't going easily.

Answer? The Tigers turned it up on both sides of the field. 

From that point, Princeton put together two more touchdown drives. From that point, Columbia had five more possessions. Total yards on those five possession? How about 47. Final score: Princeton 24, Columbia 7.

Diving in a bit, Princeton went three-and-out after the Columbia touchdown. The Lions then put together two first downs, the second of which came after a taunting penalty after an apparent stop. Now Columbia had first and 10 at the Tiger 26.

Things were getting dicier.

Columbia gained seven yards on first down and then threw an incomplete pass. Third and three, Princeton 19. The Lions were on the verge of taking the lead. At worst, they were on the verge of tying it. Dicier indeed.

That's when the one of the two biggest plays of the day happened. Jeremiah Tyler fired in from his linebacker spot and disrupted Columbia quarterback Joe Green, who stumbled and fell for an 11-yard loss (Tyler had that sack and two other tackles for loss among his five tackles). The potential tying field goal then became a 48-yard attempt, rather than a 37-yarder, and it went wide.

The other huge play came right at the end of the first half. Princeton had its 10-0, but Columbia was driving, reaching the Princeton 20 with 13 seconds left but with no timeouts. What happened? A sack by Uche Ndukwe (he had 2.5 for the day). That was it, right? Time would expire before Columbia could get the field goal team on the field, right? Nope. Princeton was called for a delay of game, and one second was put on the clock.

Now Columbia had a chance for a field goal to get on the board. Since the Lions would get the ball to start the second half, this was a huge moment. And .... ?

Blocked. By whom? TigerBlog thought Matthew Jester. The box score says Daniel Beard. In true Princeton defensive form, it hardly mattered. One for all and all.

Princeton's defense may not have had a third-straight shutout, but that wasn't important. The Tigers showed more again Columbia than they did in the first two shutouts. This time, the points weren't coming as quickly. This time, there was a greater sense of defensive urgency when Columbia had the ball.

The Princeton D was impressive. The Tigers were, as the coaches love to say, fast and physical. And they were also something else. They were deep. Anyone could be the next one to make a big stop. 

Columbia came in having scored at least 30 in both of its first two games. The Lions were sixth in the FCS with 271.5 rushing yards per game. They'd score seven points, which was one point fewer than the total rushing yards. Princeton has now allowed nine rushing yards all year.

On a per-game average, that's 2.3 points and 3.0 rushing yards allowed per game. Those are winning numbers. 

Up next is nationally ranked Monmouth. After that would be six more Ivy games. Nothing is easy. 

That's why it was important for this team to show what it could do when things got tough.