You Gotta Lovett

TigerBlog was riding his bike the other day when out of nowhere a song popped into his head.

And so he started singing, actually out loud. Did you ever do that? You're singing audibly, though you think nobody can hear you?

Anyway, this song got into his head, and so he was singing it as he rode. "A long, long time ago. I can still remember how that music used to make me smile ... "

Of course you know the song.

"So bye, bye Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry."

TigerBlog has written about "American Pie" before. In fact, he went into pretty depth about the song in January of 2011. Remember when TB wrote this?:
TigerBlog first heard the song back at Camp Toledo in the old, old days. For those who don't know, "American Pie" is maybe the most analyzed song in the history of American music, not to mention among the very best. 
It's a Don McLean song from 1971, one that starts "A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile." It's familiar chorus goes: "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry. Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this'll be the day that I die."
The meaning of the song is a mystery. Google "American Pie meaning" and 800,000 responses come up, lead by the website understandingamericanpie.com. TigerBlog has heard interpretations that include references to Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, the Kennedy assassinations, Martin Luther King and others.

Actually, that's a good question. How many people who read now were readers back in 2011? Certainly the audience has grown dramatically, but how many are still with TB from 2011, or even back to 2009 or 2008, when TB first started doing this?

Is there someone out there who has read every entry? Today is Entry No. 2,116. Whose read them all?

Anyway, TigerBlog digresses.

His point is that when he got back to his car and turned it on, the song on the radio was ... "American Pie."

It was spooky. Can TB see the future? Would you want to see the future even if you could?

Here's one prediction that TigerBlog is fairly certain will come true: Princeton will host Brown in football tomorrow. Kickoff is at 3.

It's Oct. 15, and it's the second home game of the year for Princeton. Michigan, by the way, played five straight home games to start the season before playing its first road game last week at Rutgers (it seemed to work out okay for the Wolverines).

For Princeton, it's the first of six straight Ivy League games to end the season, of which four are at home, including the game next week against Harvard.

Princeton is unbeaten in the league. Okay, it's 1-0, but it's still something-and-0.

There are three "something-and-0" teams in Ivy football. Harvard is 2-0. Princeton and Penn (who plays Columbia tomorrow) are both 1-0.

The direction of the Ivy League football season is still uncertain for the Tigers. Certainly it'll get more defined in the next two weeks, with Brown and Harvard at home.

Through four weeks, TigerBlog can marvel, though, at what John Lovett is doing.

Actually it goes back to last year. From the start of the 2015 season through now, Lovett has carried the ball 79 times. Of those 79 carries, 18 of them have gone for touchdowns.

That's extraordinary.

Lovett is third in the FCS in points per game at 13.5. The two players ahead of him are Chase Edmonds of Fordham and Corey Avery of Sam Houston State.

Edmonds has 105 carries and 12 rushing touchdowns. Avery has 60 rushing attempts and eight rushing touchdowns.

Lovett? This year he has 35 carries and nine rushing touchdowns.

Lovett is on pace for 22.5 rushing touchdowns this season.

The Princeton record for touchdowns in a season is 19, set by the great Keith Elias in 1993. You know how many rushing attempts he had that year? How about 305.

You know how many rushing attempts Lovett is on pace for this year? How about 87.5.

What TigerBlog doesn't have is a record of how many times Lovett has turned third-and-short or fourth-and-short into a first down, keeping a drive alive, keeping the ball away from the other team. Lovett is an extraordinary weapon.

And he's more than just a short yardage threat.

He's technically, actually, a quarterback. He is 19 for 30 for 149 yards and two touchdowns this year. The last two years combined he is 30 for 45 (that's 66.7 percent completions) for 243 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.

Oh, and he's also the second-leading receiver on the team this year, with 10 catches for 103 yards this year. Last year, he caught 25 passes for 318 yards and another touchdown, which adds up to 35 catches, 421 yards and one touchdown.

Those numbers are insane. So is his impact on the Tigers offense, which is averaging 35.5 points per game.

Lovett alone is worth the (very low) admission price for Princeton football.

Princeton versus Brown. Kickoff at 3.