Happy 100th

When he passed away in 1995 at the age of 95, Donald Griffin could say that he had personally met someone in every Princeton class dating back to 1858. 

His obituary referred to him as "Mr. Princeton," and who would ever argue that? He was the face of the Alumni Association for 60 years, and there currently is an award for excellence in management that is given annually at Princeton that is called the Donald Griffin Award.

For all the time he spent associated with Princeton University, perhaps his single greatest moment came exactly 100 years ago today. 

It was on that day — Oct. 28, 1922 — that Princeton defeated the No. 1 team in the country, the University of Chicago 21-18, in one of the most famous football games in the first 100 years of the sport. For starters, it was the first football game ever broadcast on the radio.

Then there was the matter of the significance of the game. The win propelled Princeton to the 1922 national championship, and the 1922 Tigers would be known as the "Team of Destiny."

The game at Chicago ended with an epic goal-line stand. Donald Griffin made the last stop, alongside the legendary Pink Baker. 

This is what Walter Trumbull wrote afterwards in the New York Herald: 

"After one of the most brilliant battles ever fought on a football field, Princeton, seemingly beaten, came back with courage which was superb and fighting spirit that flamed and crackled, to turn defeat into victory. The Princeton players will deserve their place in Princeton's hall of fame, for, in all the history of Princeton football, there were never men who accomplished more than did these men upon a foreign field."

As a sidelight, Donald Griffin's granddaughter Cynthia Griffin Ferris became a three-sport athlete at Princeton in her own right, and she is featured in TigerBlog's book on the first 50 years of women's athletics at Princeton (click HERE for more information). When TB spoke to her for the book, she mentioned how her grandfather took her to Palmer Stadium when she was little to watch Princeton football and how she'd sit between him and Baker at the games.

Princeton had three more games after defeated Chicago in 1922 and had no let up. Fast-forwarding 100 years, another Princeton football is unbeaten, also with four games left in the season.

The 2022 Tigers bring a 6-0 record into tomorrow's game on Powers Field against Cornell (kickoff at 1). Princeton comes in off its 37-10 win at Harvard last Friday night in one of the best all-around performances Princeton needs to mirror the 1922 team and refocus after the big win.

In its last three seasons, Princeton has gone into Week 7 against Cornell needing a win to set up a showdown in Week 8 against Dartmouth in games that featured two 7-0 teams. This time, Princeton needs to keep winning as the Ivy race moves past the halfway point.

It's still possible for a late-season matchup of unbeatens, and that would come in Week 10 if Princeton and Penn both win their next three. It's way too early to consider that, though, as both teams have major hurdles left to clear before they can worry about that.

For Princeton, it starts against a Cornell team that is 4-2 on the year, 1-2 in the Ivy League. After that, Princeton is home against Dartmouth, at Yale and then home against Penn. None of those four are layups.

The Ivy standings right now have Princeton and Penn at 3-0, with Harvard and Yale at 2-1. Cornell and Dartmouth are 1-2 and looking to make the race more confusing.

This weekend starts tonight, with Yale at Columbia. Tomorrow's games have Penn at Brown and Harvard at Dartmouth in addition to the Princeton-Cornell game.

Will the 2022 Princeton Tigers match the perfect record of the Team of Destiny? There might as well be 100 years between now and the end of the season, before such conversations can happen in earnest.

First, there are four games to be played, and all four of them will be extremely challenging. 

It'll be Princeton-Cornell at 1 on Powers Field tomorrow. Today? Happy anniversary to the Team of Destiny.