On any other Monday, TigerBlog would be starting off with the joyful news of Princeton's 35-7 win over Columbia Saturday afternoon.
This was not a normal weekend in Ivy League football though. Not after the news that broke Friday afternoon.
Regardless of which of the eight teams is yours, this was a weekend of sorrow in Ivy football, with the passing of former Yale coach Tony Reno at the age of just 52. A year ago he was a vibrant coach in his prime. Today he is gone.
The unfairness of life once again makes its presence known. And once again, all of the league's fans are left with the same emotions that they felt when Dartmouth's Buddy Teevens was taken three years ago — whether you met either man or not.
TigerBlog never met either, and yet he felt a sense of loss as well. Maybe it's because he's close with people who were very close to both Teevens and Reno who always spoke highly of them and were directly touched by the news.
One of TB's first thoughts was of Reno's son Dante, the Bulldogs' quarterback. Would he play so soon after his father's passing? He missed the previous game due to an injury. Would he be physically and mentally able to play?
Turns out he was. Reno completed 22 of 39 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-27 win over Merrimack. Can you imagine the emotions he felt? This is from a postgame story:
“He was a warrior; he was a fighter. He lived by the core values of the program,” Dante Reno told reporters after the game. “He loved football, loved his family. Just an overall great dude, great coach and an even better dad.”
This is what Princeton head coach Bob Surace posted on X:
💔 Amazing coach. Incredible husband and father. Grateful for our friendship
— Bob Surace '90 (@CoachBobSurace) October 2, 2026
As for Surace's team, TigerBlog goes back to something he mentioned Friday:
"Ordinarily, time of possession doesn't really tell you much. A team that can score quickly can have a lot of points and not a lot of possession time."
Columbia had almost twice the time of possession as Princeton — 39:39 to 20:21. And all of that added up to 35-7 Tigers.
Why? It's because Kai Honda became untackleable, of such a word exists. How did he do?
Well, are these numbers good: 14 carries, 219 yards, four touchdowns, 15.6 yards per rush. That's a lot of everything, except for carries.
TB starts with the 15.6 yards per rush. That's a new school record; the old one was set by Bill Tryon in 1951 against Lafayette. That was a famous game by the way. Princeton won 60-7 the week before a huge showdown against Cornell, so then coach Charlie Caldwell hardly played the starters. Tryon, who was Dick Kazmaier's backup that season, got the chance and ran for 161 yards on 11 carries, or 14.6 per.
Honda scored on touchdown runs of 40, 7, 53 and 70 yards. It conjured up memories of Michael Lerch's famous five-touchdown reception game against Brown back in 1991.
Lerch caught nine passes for 370 yards that day, for an average of 41.1 yards per reception. That record will stand forever. Will anyone catch Honda? He also leads the FCS now in average yards per rush at 8.97, which would also be the Ivy League record if he can keep it going.
TB has never met Honda, though he's willing to guess that he would credit his offensive line for opening gaping holes for him all day. Of course, he was the one who had to drive through them.
When you have that kind of an explosive day, you don't need a lot of possession time. Or plays, to be more exact. Columbia ran 82 of them. Princeton ran 47 of them.
The Tigers ran 31 times and threw it only 16. The Lions threw it 51 times.
Junior linebacker Connor Cronin continued his breakout season with a team-best 10 tackles. Torian Roberts had six tackles, all solo, with an interception (and 25 yard return), and Jake Moore and AJ Pigford had 1.5 sacks each.
Next up is a trip to Wagner, with its incredible stadium view. After that, it's six more Ivy games, but being 1-0 in the league is something that has to make you smile — until you remember what they're going through at Yale.
Condolences to the entire Bulldog program, especially to Coach Reno's family.
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