A Wild Week 10 On The Way

So TigerBlog apparently put on the Vikings-Bills game yesterday at the perfect time.

It was 27-23 Buffalo with less than a minute to go when TB flipped it on just in time to see a fourth-and-goal from inside the 1 for the Vikings. A quarterback sneak from Kirk Cousins was ruled short, and replay confirmed it (this was an incredible call by the official by the way, as there were lots of big bodies in the way and Cousins was really, really close to being in).

Now it was Buffalo ball, but well inside the 1. On the first play, Buffalo's Josh Allen fumbled the snap, and the Vikings recovered. Touchdown Minnesota.  And what happened next? Allen marched his team into field goal range to tie it and force overtime. Darryl Johnston called it the most incredible last two minutes of a football game he'd ever seen, and TB didn't even realize at the time that Justin Jefferson of the Vikings had made one of the greatest catches you'll ever see.

At that point, TB was rooting for a tie between these teams, who could be headed to a Super Bowl rematch. And wouldn't that be the best Super Bowl matchup ever, between two teams who are a combined 0-8 in the big game all time? 

Anyway, the Vikings won 33-30, getting an OT field goal and then intercepting Allen in the end zone to end it.

And speaking of ties, TB will get back to them in a second. 

Shifting to Princeton football, if you're unfamiliar with the early 1980s for Tiger football, it was a time of passing.

Lots and lots of passing.

In fact, there have been 13 times in program history where a Tiger quarterback has attempted at least 50 passes in a game, and ten of those 13 games happened between 1981 and 1985.

The top eight single-game passing attempts marks belong to just three players — Bob Holly, Doug Butler and Brent Woods. Those are legendary names in Princeton quarterback history.

The player who is now in ninth place is Blake Stenstrom, who threw 52 times against Yale Saturday for the most by a Princeton QB since Doug Butler's 59 passes against Colgate in 1985. 

Unfortunately for the Tigers Saturday in New Haven, Stenstrom could have used a 53rd attempt before he just ran out of time. The result was a 24-20 Yale win and a guarantee of a crazy end to the Ivy League football season this coming Saturday.

Stenstrom threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns on the day, completing 34 of his 52 passes. His 34 completions tie him with Butler for sixth best in a game (Quinn Epperly and Chad Kanoff hold the record of 37, both within the last 10 years).

Had he gotten a 53rd attempt, it would have come with Princeton on the Yale 15, which is where the game ended. Stenstrom had just brilliantly driven the Tigers 65 yards on 12 plays in 95 seconds, but his final pass was high and that was that game.

It was a thrilling game, but it wasn't the ending Princeton wanted. The loss was the Tigers' first after eight wins to start the season, and it set up what will be a wild final Saturday in the Ivy League.

Here's where the concept of the tie comes back in.

Princeton is 8-1, 5-1 in the league. Yale is also 5-1 in the league. Penn is 4-2. Harvard is 4-2. The schedule has Penn at Princeton (kickoff at 1) and Yale at Harvard (kickoff at noon).

Should Penn and Harvard both win, then the Ivy League would have itself its first-ever four-way tie for the football championship.

On the other hand, should both home teams win, then Princeton would be the outright champ. If Yale wins and Princeton loses, then Yale is the outright champ.

There have been three times in league history where there has been a three-way tie, most recently in 1982. Twice Princeton has been involved in a three-way tie, in 1966 and 1969. About the only certainty right now is that there won't be a three-way tie in 2022, because three teams can't be 5-2 without a fourth at 6-1 and three teams can't be 6-1.