Friday, September 19, 2025

Tee It Up

TigerBlog cannot think of any team in any season that has had to deal with the injuries that the 2025 Indiana Fever have. 

Their star, and the WNBA's No. 1 draw by far, is Caitlin Clark, and she was limited to only 13 games this season. Behind her, one by one, Fever player after Fever player went out with season-ending injuries, especially in the backcourt. 

Chloe Bibby. Sydney Colson. Sophie Cunningham. Aari McDonald. All gone for the year. The loss of Cunningham — a great shooter, defender and especially presence — was especially brutal. 

Bibby had emerged as a fortunate find when Clark went out, and then in a blink she and her dead-eye three-point shooting were gone. After that, Cunningham said that the team was "cursed" this season. 

Somehow the Fever managed to stay afloat and above .500 and reach the WNBA playoffs. And somehow, they managed to take down the Atlanta Dream last night 87-85 in the third and deciding game of their opening round series, vaulting them into the Eastern Conference finals. 

That game, by the way, was enthralling, as Indiana had its first and only lead of the second half with 7.4 seconds left. 

How can anyone other than Fever coach Stephanie White be WNBA Coach of the Year? 

TigerBlog hopes that the 2025 Princeton football team doesn't have to deal with even a fraction of the impact of injuries that Indiana had to deal with this season. 

For the Tigers, they'll tee it up tomorrow at noon against San Diego. The Toreros come across the country with a 1-2 record, with a win over Southern Utah sandwiched around losses to Cal Poly and Montana State. 

San Diego's coach is Brandon Moore, whose name might be familiar. He is, after all, a longtime NFL linebacker, mostly with the 49ers. He was also one of the key players on the 2000 Oklahoma Sooners, who defeated Florida State 13-2 in the Orange Bowl in January 2001 to win the national championship. 

Moore's counterpart this week is obviously Bob Surace, who enters his 14th season as the Tiger head coach. What is he thinking about his team's first game?

You can hear his voice for yourself right HERE, on the main page for Princeton podcasts. Surace joins play-by-play man Cody Chrusciel on the First In Football podcast, episode 1 for 2025.  

Here is a sneak preview: 

San Diego had one of the top defenses in the FCS a year ago. It also had the most opportunistic, with six defensive touchdowns, the most of any Division I school regardless of level. 

The Toreros have allowed at least 27 points in all three games and an average of 36.3, but their schedule has been tough. The defense has yet to score, but then again, the offense hasn't allowed its opponents to have a defensive TD either. 

In fact, you know how many times San Diego has turned the ball over in its first three games? How about zero. 

No fumbles. No passes intercepted. No other FCS school can make that claim (obviously this excludes the Ivy League teams).

San Diego also averages 173 yards per game on the ground, as opposed to 134 through the air. The team has only attempted 24 passes per game, and that's even with having been behind in its two losses. 

It's a great opportunity for the Tigers on their opening day. That's what Surace said on the podcast. 

The difficult part is playing a team that is on Game 4, which means that the early-season kinks have been worked  out. The difficult part for a team playing an opponent that has yet to play is that there is no film for the season yet, no idea what new pieces will be in what places. 

The weather should be perfect. The team has had Sept. 20 circled for the entire training camp. 

The ball gets put on the tee on Powers Field tomorrow, the start of a 10-game sprint into November. What kind of season will it  be? 

Hopefully a successful one, like the Indiana Fever's. 

And, unlike the Fever, a healthy one.  

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