A Great Place To Watch A Game

TigerBlog watched much of the second quarter of Saturday's Princeton-Lafayette football game from the field. 

Just before halftime, he made his way up through the stands, all the way back up to the press box. He walked in and went up the spiral staircase that takes you to side by the PA announcer's booth, and he realized that he has spent more time there than anyone else in the stadium's history — or at least has done the PA for more games there than anyone else.

Rich Kahn, by the way, was behind the mic for the game Saturday. He's among the very best that's ever done public address. 

For some reason, TB glanced over to his left, at the hallway that goes to the security booth and then to nowhere. He thought back to the first time he'd seen it — and it made him laugh.

This was back during the stadium construction in 1997, when the elevator had not yet been installed. TB and the rest of the Office of Athletic Communications staff were invited to take a look at the press box, though getting there wasn't easy.

First, they had to walk all the way up through the winding ramps that make their way up the side of the stadium — and lights had not yet been installed. TB has not been on those ramps since that day, which was back in 1998. 

Then there was the matter of getting into the main press box from the top of the ramps. See, the floor had not yet been installed, so access was only doable by crossing wooden planks that covered an opening that dropped all the way to the concourse. 

TB watched from the field, the press box and the balcony past the Class of 1956 Lounge at various times Saturday. His conclusion is always the same — The stadium remains a great place to watch a game. There is no bad vantage point, and wherever you are, it seems like you're right on top of the field.

The outcome Saturday wasn't quite what Princeton fans would have wanted to see, as a very, very improved Lafayette team won the game 12-9. It was a real defensive struggle, with rushing yards and points at a premium, which was to be expected.

Lafayette now has next week off before taking on Holy Cross in what will likely decide the Patriot League championship, even though it's still October. Holy Cross, you might remember, won the league last year and then defeated a very good New Hampshire team 35-19 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament before losing to eventual champion South Dakota State in the second round.

If Lafayette wins its next game, then the game against Princeton will have a slightly different feeling to it. 

Whatever happens, it'll be ancient history for Princeton by then. It has to be. The Tigers now have six Ivy games in six weeks, which is of primary concern. 

It begins Saturday at Brown, with kickoff at noon. Right now, the key number for Princeton is 1-0, which is the team's record in the Ivy League. How many teams are unbeaten in the league now? Two, Princeton and Harvard, who is at Powers Field the following Saturday.

There are other numbers to consider, though.

There is, for instance, 12, which his where Ozzie Nicholas ranks in both solo tackles and total tackles per game in the FCS. Nicholas is a tackling machine. You can't miss him no matter where you are in the stadium. 

There's also 310. That's the number of passing yards that Blake Stenstrom had Saturday, after having 301 total the previous two games combined. It's amazing what you can do with a mostly dry football to throw. 

And 22.3. That was the average yards per catch for AJ Barber on his seven receptions against Lafayette. Barber's seven catches resulted in 156 yards, after he had eight catches for 84 yards for the season prior to the game. 

There's also three, which is the number of rushing yards Princeton had. That's not a great number. In college, sacks count as negative rushing yards for the quarterback, but even if you take that number away, Princeton only had 33 yards on the ground. 

Clearly, this season has a long way to go. Clearly, it's hard to say where this team is now, even after four games. 

Those questions will all be answered soon.