Improve to 2-2 in the Ivy League and 3-4 overall in a thrilling game full of special teams drama. Sophomore running back Jordan Cubreath ends the game with 11 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Zell's field goal is wide right
With five seconds left. The gamesmanship worked. Tigers are going to win this one.
Zell ready to try again
Princeton uses its last timeout. This game has been brought to you by Haterade.
47-yard field goal attempt
Zell knocks it through the uprights, but Princeton calls a timeout before the snap and the play is blown dead.
26 seconds to go
Second down and 10. Ford evades sack in backfield, runs out of bounds for loss of a yard with 17 seconds to go.
Wide open Big Red receiver comes up with big grab down the sideline
But a huge penalty brings the play all the way back.
Second and two on Cornell 48
Ford out of shotgun. Picks up first down, barely. 1:24 to go in the game.
Hughes elects to go for it on fourth and ten
Mroz out of shotgun. Incomplete pass. Turnover on downs. Cornell takes over with 2:01 to go.
Still passing
With 2:11 to go in the game and taking over the ball at Cornell's 28, Mroz goes for the endzone on a super-dangerous pass to Circle, which is batted down by a Big Red defensive back. A draw play on third down brings up fourth down.
Yes, that Rob Toresco
Apparently he plays special teams too. And the senior fullback may have just come up with the biggest special teams play of Princeton's season, recovering Coyle's punt after the Big Red couldn't handle it.
Mroz out of shotgun
Hands to Culbreath, who can't quite pick up the yardage. Coyle comes out to punt on fourth and one.
Mroz calls timeout on third and two
At Princeton 31-yard line. This is a good one to talk over. Princeton has two timeouts left.
With 5:34 to go, Cornell driving
Big Red on its own 43. Ford goes deep down the sideline with a high-arcing pass, but sophomore cornerback Dan Kopolovich outruns the Big Red receiver and makes a ridiculous diving catch for the interception. Tiger ball. Dudes in the Cornell coaches box are barking mad.
Tigers lead 34-31
Following the Culbreath monster run, which was his second touchdown of the game, and which put him over 100 yards rushing for the day
Culbreath of fresh air
Culbreath busts out another ridiculous run, taking a pitch from Mroz at the Princeton 42 and carrying it all the way into the endzone.
His 58-yard touchdown ended with a nifty cut late in the run to elude a Cornell defensive back waiting to wrap him up shy of the endzone. Junior wide receiver Adam Berry also made a great block on the play. A Big Red defender face-masked Cubreath about a quarter of the way into his run, but that penalty was heartily declined.
Ford sandwich
Sophomore linebacker John Callahan and junior linebacker Collin McCarthy team up to sack Cornell's quarterback. The Tiger defensive comes up with another stop, forcing a Cornell punt.
Mroz takes over at midfield, hands to Culbreath for a nice gain, but a penalty against Princeton negates the rush.
8:56 to go in the game, Cornell still up 31-27
The Tiger defensive has been making stops. It will have to make at least one more here to give the offense a chance for the go-ahead touchdown.
Intentional grounding brings up third-and-26
Mroz fires to Circele out of the shotgun for a gain of 12, but its not enough and the Tigers must punt.
Senior linebacker Doori Song comes up with a crushing tackle on special teams to pin the Big Red punt-returner at the Cornell 18.
Circle again
Nice hands catch and tiptoes around his defender for another nice gain. The officials bring out the chains and he's just inches short of a first down.
On third and inches, Mroz takes the snap and pushes forward through the line for the first down. Princeton has first and ten on its 46-yard line.
Circle sighting
Mroz hits Circle on the numbers for a first down, moving the ball to the Princeton 35-yard line.
Karacozoff-ed!
Sophomore defensive end Joel Karacozoff blasts out of the backfield to sack Ford on a crucial third-and-eight play. Pumped, Karacozoff smacks Ford with both hands on the backside as he lays crumpled on the ground. Really big play. Zell comes out to attempt a long field goal and it is short, no good.
Karacozoff is basically a third-string defensive end, filling in for the injured junior Tom Methvin, as well as his backup, injured senior Aaron Carter. The converted tight end has been coming up with big play after big play, though, since being inserted into the lineup.
Just like that
Mroz's pass is tipped at the line of scrimmage and pops up into the air. A Big Red defensive back grabs it out of the air and wins possession back for Cornell at the Princeton 19-yard line.
Fourth quarter underway
Cornell is once again in Princeton territory, with the ball at the 40 on third down and seven. Ford once again finds a wide open teammate for a first-down, but Jesse Baker is leveled by a Tiger tackle and loses control of the ball near the sideline. Somehow, the ball stays in bounds and another Princeton player dives on it to take away the first down and give the Tigers back possession. Huge play. Sophomore corner Dan Kopolovich on the fumble recovery.
A night after the Princeton student body celebrated Halloween
These orange jerseys with black helmets and black pants seem perfect. So is this just a one-time thing to show off for the ESPNU audience or a permanent change? Who makes the decisions about Princeton uniforms? The "Prince" promises to investigate these pressing issues.
Tigers forced to punt on ensuing drive
In recent games, it has been the Tiger offense that has been crippling the Tiger defense, forcing them into short-field situations after ugly turnovers. This game, the Princeton defense's utter inability to defend against the Cornell passing game is just demanding way too much from the offense to keep the Tigers in the game. Every Princeton offensive possession that ends in a punt feels like just that much more of a failure.
Cornell threatening once again
Ford pushes the Big Red quickly back to the Princeton eight yard line. On third down and eight, he nearly connects with his receiver for a touchdown, but it glances off his fingertips. Zell comes on for the field goal and knocks it through.
Big Red leads 31-27 with 4:25 to play in the third quarter.
Mroz overthrows Adam Berry by a mile
The junior wideout was wide open and sprinting downfield.
On third and nine, Mroz throws up the middle to no one in particular.
Freshman Matt Ransom handles the kickoff return
Tigers take over possession with a little under 10 minutes to go in the third quarter.
Big Red grabs back the lead, 28-27
Ford keeps it himself and dives up the middle for the two-yard touchdown.
Cornell faces third-and-four at Princeton 12
Ford continues to move the ball downfield. Timeout Cornell.
Ford is 20-for-24 passing
For 156 yards at the half. But those two interceptions have offset a lot of that magic. Among the Cornell receivers, Bryan Waters has seven catches already for 97 yards (yeah). And Canty has 43 yards receiving with two touchdowns.
Good news for those of you concerned with Ryan Coyle's punting stats
That punt Coyle had blocked earlier in the game does not count as a fat goose egg in tabulating his season-punting average. So he's averaging 44.0 on punts for this game, which should keep him among the leaders in the Football Championship Subdivision. His average of 45.1 yards per punt coming into the game led the Ivy League by almost three yards, and ranked fourth nationally. Apparently those two years apprenticing the legendary Colin McDonough '07 were quite useful.
Culbreath with three carries...
And 78 yards. That's 26 yards per rush. Give it to him every time?
Mroz, meanwhile, has rushed for 62 yards on seven attempts. That's three more yards than he has passed for. Mroz is just six-for-14 in the air, but has avoided the interception bug.
Thousandaire
The guy on the field for the AllState $1,00 field-goal try nails a 25-yard attempt off a tee. That is not easy, folks.
Tigers up 27-21 at the half
The Tigers were lucky to only give up 21 points, but the 27 points on offense were all hard-earned. Sophomore Jordan Culbreath is really emerging as a force at running back.
13 seconds left in a really good half
Cornell has the ball at its own 34. Might kind of like those timeouts back now. With the clock against it, the Big Red is content to run out the clock.
You know where you can stick your timeouts?
Da-da-da-danggggg. Princeton busts out a fake field goal straight out of NFL Blitz, with senior holder (and part-time wide receiver) Brendan Circle standing up with the snap and sprinting forward into the endzone for a 22-yard touchdown run. Cornell picked up on the trickery late, put quick enough to chase down Circle. Good blocking and sheer determination on Circle's part, though, powered him into the endzone.
Princeton makes the point-after this time. 27-21 Tigers.
Hey why not?
Cornell calls another timeout, at this point unabashedly sipping on Haterade.
In the NFL, you can't call two straight timeouts.
Fourth-and-three with 0:27 to go in the half
The Tigers will attempt a 39-yard field goal. Cornell calls a timeout to ice Conner Louden. "Icing" is one of the most player-hating moves in all of sports.
Culbreath tearing it up
The sophomore is the only Tiger rusher in the backfield and Princeton is going to him consistently and reaping the benefits. Almost single-handedly, he moves them to the Cornell 22-yard line.
21-20 Cornell
Big Red running back Randy Barbour punctuates a long Cornell drive with a touchdown run up the middle and Peter Zell knocks in the extra point to put the Big Red on top. Barbour is the reigning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, having churned out 159 yards in Cornell's 38-31 win over Brown last week--including the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
Worst two-interception half ever
Despite the two picks, the Tiger secondary considers to get absolutely lit up. Ford is finding receivers open on midrange routes whenever he wants.
These video-scoreboard operators need to get their minds right
So they keep showing fans cheering up on the video scoreboard, right? But they hold the camera on each fan way too long, so the fan cheers for a while and gets really excited but then they are done cheering and the camera just sits on them and it gets really awkward. This happens way too often.
Tigers with the ball on the Cornell 7
Third down and 3 to go. Mroz rolls back and fires off his back foot to senior fullback Rob Toresco, who curls around the Big Red defender and lunges into the endzone.
The future is now
Former ESPNU "Summer House" star Cart Kelly, a sophomore defensive back, outleaps a Cornell receiver to intercept a pass tipped high into the air. Kelly then avoids an early tackle and sprints far up field, looking like a receiver as he dodges prospective Cornell tacklers.
Clearly, Kelly must have been pumped to hear this game was being broadcast on the network that made him a star.
Unredemption? Cornell 14, Princeton 14
A few plays after the interception by sophomore safety Wilson Cates, Cornell comes up with a blocked punt and a Big Red player dives on the ball.
On the first play of the ensuing Cornell drive, Ford finds Canty for their second touchdown hook-up of the game.
Redemption
The Tiger secondary comes up with a huge interception, ending the mounting Big Red drive and giving the ball back to the Tigers on their own half of the field.
Ford continues to thrive
Cornell moves quickly back into Tiger territory after Princeton's post-touchdown kickoff. The Tiger secondary is leaving people open like its their job.
Weapons, weapons everywhere
The Princeton offense really has an impressive array of playmakers. From running backs like Culbreath, junior R.C. Lagomarsino, senior Rob Toresco, and sophomore Kenny Gunter to wideouts like Circle and junior Adam Berry, there are a ton of guys on the Tiger roster who can bust out a huge play at any given moment.
It's really just a matter of figuring out a quarterback who can get guide the ship, and the coaches putting him in the best situation to make plays with his specific skill set.
Culbreath making a name for himself
Starting with the loss to Hampton three weeks ago, Culbreath has been proving himself to be a star-in-the-making in the Tiger backfield. This was his first career touchdown, but looking at this play, I can guarantee you it will not be his last. Culbreath has insane speed and makes some really great moves in the backfield, showing an uncanny ability to break early-arriving tacklers.
A great block set him loose after he made it past the Cornell linemen, and then he just showed off his speed for the final 30 yards.
Very impressive.
What rain? 14-7 Tigers
Sophomore running back Jordan Culbreath busts out a loco 49-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers back on top.
Has anybody seen Rihanna?
There are umbrellas popping up all over Princeton stadium. Unfortunately, the Tigers can't stand under them.
Chill out, lady
Some lady is standing up and screaming and cheering in the back of the press box after the Cornell touchdown. A security guard comes over to tell her to pipe down. You're not allowed to express emotion in here.
Cornell 7, Princeton 7
Ford finds a leaping Zac Canty in the near corner of the end zone, and the Princeton corner can't make a play on the ball. That was only Ford's fifth touchdown pass of the year.
Canty is only listed at five feet, eight inches. His backup, Tommy Bleymaier, is only 5'9".
Ford living up to reputation
The most accurate passer in the Ivy League--going into the game at 62.8 percent-- Big Red quarterback Nathan Ford has been absolutely picking apart the Tiger secondary, which has been one of the weakest units on the Princeton squad all season.
Rush defense on point
Another big stuff in the backfield for the Tigers, sticking Cornell in a third-and-six situation. Ford converts, finding a receiver up the middle for a first down.
Coyle unleashes a beauty
The junior punter sticks the Big Red back in its own territory with a booming punt that the Tigers down at the Cornell 45.
Tigers take over on own 4-yard line
Big moment for Mroz, who has to show he can make good decisions in these situations. On second down, he gets rid of the ball in time to avoid a safety facing a heavy Big Red rush, and throws away the ball to a safe part of the field.
Tigers can't convert on third down, so they'll be forced to punt.
Big Red facing third-and-22
After a penalty and a couple Tiger stuffs in the backfield, Ford runs out of bounds for a short gain on third down and the Cornell punting unit comes onto the field to give the ball back to the Tigers.
Cornell get's tricky
Ford hands off to a teammate, who hurls an off-balance rain-maker of a throw downfield to a wide-open receiver. Not much zing on it, but effective, moving the ball deep into Princeton territory.
Louden among the Princeton bright spots
The second-year starter is now a perfect 19-for-19 on extra points this year, as well as six-for-eight on field goals. Head coach Roger Hughes doesn't necessarily ask him to make the longest kicks, but in the situations he's been put in he's been very good.
A-Mroz-ing
Mroz runs it right up the gut again for a 12-yard rush into the end zone.
Circle holds onto the snap and junior kicker R.C. Lagomarsino nails the extra point for a 7-0 Princeton lead.
Princeton takes back over
With Cornell moving upfield after a Tiger turnover on downs, the Tigers sack Big Red quarterback Nathan Ford and junior nose guard Matt Koch recovers the fumble to give Princeton the ball back right back on the Cornell 19-yard line.
1st and 10 at the 19
After another Mroz run out of bounds for the first down. Looking good so far. Let's see if the Tigers can keep the ball in their hands in the red zone long enough to get six points.
The only prescription is more Circle
Did you know that senior fullback Rob Toresco has more receptions this season than Circle, who was a first-team all-Ivy wideout last year? The Tigers absolutely must find a way to get him more involved. Honestly, it wouldn't hurt to see Toresco more involved either. He's looked good lining up at wide receiver, essentially, on a number of snaps, but he hasn't really been used effectively in the running game, when he's proved capable of really moving the chains consistently.
Mroz bursts up the middle
The senior quarterback keeps it himself and brings it deep into Cornell territory, to the 30. All three of the Tiger quarterbacks are really mobile. The problems, of course, have been decision-making, throwing technique, and interceptions.
Circle grabs 100th career catch
Becomes 7th player in Tiger history with 100 career receptions. It was a nice one, too, breaking a couple tackles and bringing it to the Princeton 40.
Woah, the orange just got a whole lot oranger
Princeton just ran onto the field in these crazy bright orange uniforms which, of course, look red on the Powers Field video scoreboard.
The uniforms, my friends, are something else. I am speechless. I am positive that when the Tigers were warming up on the field earlier, they were wearing black. Now, they still have the black pants and the black helmets, but the uniforms are straight-up orange. With black numbers. Crazy.
I'm pretty sure we're experiencing Princeton apparel history.
Nine minutes 'til kickoff
They just played "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the stands are still virtually empty.
Still no official word on who will start for the Tigers at quarterback, although the depth chart lists "Bill Foran OR Greg Mroz"
Junior defensive end Tom Methvin's status is also in question, as he is listed as a co-potential starter with sophomore Joel Karacozoff.
By the way, Karacozoff looked really good in the game against Harvard. The converted tight end--who still wears the pass-catching #85--was all over the place. But it'd be nice if both he and Methvin were available.
Seeing Red
Alright, so this has been bugging me for a while, but tonight its just going to get worse. The Department of Athletics bought this tight new video scoreboard for the beginning of the season, which is really cool to watch replays on and stuff, right?
But the problem is, the color scheme on the scoreboard is screwed up in a way that seems to affect one color and only one: orange. For some reason, on the scoreboard, the color orange always looks red. Isn't this the one color you would not want to show up wrong? Isn't this a problem that is worth fixing immediately? Especially for tonight's game, which is against the Cornell Big Red of all teams. As if it wasn't bad enough that Princeton's going to attract less than 1,000 fans to tonight's game, they are all going to look like Big Red fans on the scoreboard. Might as well have just played in Ithaca.
Fading fanaticism
Tonight's attendance figures could be ugly. Between the rain, the Fall Break student-body exodus, and the Tigers' 2-4 record, there are definitely less than 200 people here.
'Prince' Sports photo editor Wes Shim observes that there are probably more members of the Princeton and Cornell bands out practicing on the field right now than there are fans in attendance. He is correct.
Pre-game observations
Nineteen minutes to kickoff here at Princeton Stadium and the rain is coming down. That's not going to affect the playing field now that the Tigers have the Powers Field FieldTurf, but Princeton's receivers--who really struggled last week against Harvard's all-Ivy secondary--are going to have their work cut out for them in these slippery conditions.
Perhaps more significantly for the passing game, the Tigers were out here warming up a few minutes ago and the practice snaps were split by senior quarterback Greg Mroz and junior Brian Anderson. That means no sign of senior Bill Foran, who must still be feeling the effects of the concussion he sustained last week.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Live blogging of the Princeton-Cornell football game starts at 6:45 on Friday night
Please believe,
For all of you who just couldn't wait a day to go home for Fall Break, Sideline Dispatches is back in action, keeping tabs on the football team as it hosts Cornell Friday night at Princeton Stadium.
Sitting at 1-2 in the Ivy League, the defending champion Tigers know that their already diminished hopes at a title repeat will be gone forever if they can't pull this one out against the Big Red and standout quarterback Nathan Ford.
For now, check out the preview of the game in Friday's edition of the "Prince."
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