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Win over Lafayette would put Tigers at 3-1

20131005_FBvColumbia_ConorDube_7190
20131005_FBvColumbia_ConorDube_7190

After a convincing victory over Columbia last weekend, the football team has attained its first winning record through three games since 2008 and currently holds a two-game win streak. Princeton’s (2-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) offense has proven that it has the explosive potential head coach Bob Surace ’90 desired with consecutive 50-point wins; however, with the toughest part of the Tigers’ schedule yet to come, how far that will take them is yet to be determined.

Leading the offense has been junior quarterback Quinn Epperly, who was named offensive player of the week on Monday. Epperly began to draw attention this season after he became the first Princeton player to rush four touchdowns in a game since Keith Elias ’94 in the Georgetown game; however, he earned league recognition after he added six touchdowns last weekend against Columbia. He now ranks third in the NCAA in points responsible for per game with an average 24.0 points per game, and after throwing four touchdowns in the Columbia game, became the first Tiger to throw four touchdowns in a single game since Chad Roghair ’91 threw five against Brown in 1991.

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“Quinn continues to consistently make winning plays every week,” Surace said. “He’s worked really hard, especially in some tight areas in the red zone and some key third downs.”

Also earning Ivy League recognition this week was senior receiver Roman Wilson, who was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll after receiving three of Epperly’s four touchdown passes. Epperly has now been part of at least one touchdown in each of his past eight games.

20131005_FBvColumbia_ConorDube_7190The 50-22 win over Georgetown and 53-7 win over Columbia mark the first consecutive 50-point performances by a Tiger offense since 1907. Yet, heading into a non-league game, the question will be whether the Tigers can keep moving forward with such high intensity and while keeping their momentum.

“I’m hoping, we’ve tried to not use the word ‘momentum,’ per se. It’s the next play, we talk about the cycle of the snap — we stole that from Jason Garrett and the Cowboys — but really focusing on the next play being the most important. Instead of having those ups and downs, you want to avoid having those big lapses, kind of like what we talked about after Lehigh — being consistent,” Surace said. “Make each day important; we only get 10 games, so make each one of them count and let’s not have the ups and downs of this opponent’s a league game, this opponent’s a road game, anything like that. Let’s make each preparation, each day count, and I really think we use practice to build competition and evaluate things, whether it’s personnel or plays, and then based on how guys perform in practice is mostly how we make judgment on what we’re going to run or who’s going to be running it.”

The Tigers have four players who currently average six yards or better per carry, including Epperly, sophomore running back DiAndre Atwater and sophomore running back Dre Nelson, who are all averaging 6.8 yards per carry, as well as senior running back Brian Mills who is averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers, led by senior defensive lineman Caraun Reid, have shut down their opponents’ run game, allowing only 84.3 yards per game rushing. Junior linebacker Mike Zeuli leads the team with 28 stops.

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“To reach our long-term goals, we have to be more consistent,” Surace added. “Let’s make each day our masterpiece.”

The Tigers host Lafayette Saturday at 1 p.m. in Princeton Stadium.

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