Tigers overcome Quakers in Philadelphia, near Ivy title

In an interview at the beginning of the school year, Penn President Amy Gutmann spoke to the state of Quaker athletics. The comparison to Princeton athletics came up.

“Maybe Princeton has more wins than any of the other Ivies when you add them up,” Gutmann told the Daily Pennsylvanian. “But would you trade for Princeton’s football team? I don’t think so.”

That was in August. But on a sunny afternoon this Saturday, the football team, though not perfect, was more than good enough to convert a wild back-and-forth contest into an emphatic victory as Princeton (7-1 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) defeated Penn (4-4, 3-2) 38-26 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The win put the Tigers in the driver’s seat for the Ivy League title with just two games left in the season.

“Mrs. ‘I don’t think so’ should understand the heart our guys have,” head coach Bob Surace ’90 said after the game, referring to Gutmann’s comments. “I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”

Saturday’s matchup was not as dazzling a performance as last weekend’s 53-20 victory over Cornell, which saw junior quarterback Quinn Epperly throw 29 straight completions. It was also a far cry from the Tigers’ 51-48 triple-overtime win against Harvard. Instead, Princeton had to slog against Penn and recover from sloppy first quarter to take control of the game in the second half en route to a comfortable win.

“Credit to our guys, especially the guys up front, on being able to grind some things out,” Epperly said. “I think it just shows our effort and our work ethic that it was definitely not a pretty game on the offensive side, but we were able to get a win today.”

The battle at Franklin Field was a physical one which saw seven turnovers. It was the Quakers that coughed up the ball six of those times, which contributed to the final result.

“If you play any good team and you turn the ball over five, six times, whatever the total was, it’s hard to win the game,” Penn head coach Al Bagnoli said. “To their credit, they protected the ball a lot better than we protected the ball, especially in the second half where the game really was on the line.”

Down 16-0 in the second quarter after the Quakers scored early in the frame, the Tigers finally recovered their offensive rhythm. Epperly and his receivers engineered a scoring drive that ended in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Epperly to junior wide receiver Seth DeValve. Princeton went for two, and Epperly completed to senior wide receiver Roman Wilson, narrowing the score to 16-8.

The ensuing Penn drive was cut short when junior linebacker Mike Zeuli recovered a botched handoff to Quaker tailback Stephen Kulcsar, and the Tigers converted the turnover into a 27-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Nolan Bieck.

Penn took back over on offense and Quaker quarterback Billy Ragone drove to the Princeton 33-yard line before senior linebacker Elijah Mitchell jumped up at the line of scrimmage to swat down a Ragone pass, catching the ball squarely in his chest and holding on to it to take the interception all the way for a touchdown. After the extra point, the Tigers, who had been reeling after a dismal first half, found themselves with the lead, 17-16 with just over a minute to go in the half.

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“We blitzed on the play, and fortunately we got a good amount of pressure,” Mitchell said. “I pulled up for a little bit and that just put me in position to make a play. I caught the ball and tried to do something with it.”

But Ragone and company were not going to let Princeton keep the momentum going into the half. Ragone quickly hit wide receiver Ty Taylor for a big 27-yard completion, and on the next play he found wide receiver Ryan Mitchell open just in front of the goal line and completed the 34-yard touchdown pass. Epperly would knee the ball after the kickoff, and the Tigers, sucker-punched after roaring back in the second quarter, were down 23-17 going into the half.

The Tigers were not fazed. The defense, having given up that late touchdown, opened up the second half by forcing the Quakers to punt. On Princeton’s next possession, the offense worked down the field with the help of three third-down conversions and took the lead back on a two-yard run by Epperly, again on third down. The Tigers led by one, 24-23, after the extra point.

“They were awesome,” Surace said. “I didn’t have to say much at halftime. Elijah took over the halftime speech … I had chills. He had the guys rocking and rolling and bouncing off the walls as we went into the second half.”

From there, Princeton took over the game. The Tigers’ defense did not allow Penn another touchdown, giving up only a 28-yard field goal by kicker Connor Loftus in the fourth quarter. Senior defensive lineman Greg Sotereanos, senior defensive end Caraun Reid and Mitchell led the defense: Sotereanos forced a fumble, Reid had two tackles and a sack and Mitchell added a sack to his pick-six. Sophomore cornerback Anthony Gaffney also had a pick late in the game.

“We needed to play our game better,” Mitchell said. “We were missing a lot of tackles, and guys were out of position. Once we handled that, we knew our pressure would start hitting, and we eventually got back to the win.”

Meanwhile, Princeton took care of business on the opposite side of the ball, with another rushing touchdown from Epperly to open up the fourth quarter and a 14-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Connor Kelley as an insurance touchdown late in the game.

The fourth quarter stood in stark contrast to the first. Early penalties called on the Tigers had Princeton starting its first drive at its own nine-yard line. After a Tiger three-and-out, the Princeton defense held strong and forced the Quakers to do the same, but Penn punter Max Kurucar’s punt was downed at the Tigers’ three-yard line. The ensuing two series by each team essentially replicated the first two, and after the Quakers’ second punt, Princeton started at its own four-yard line. This time, however, Penn capitalized, forcing a holding penalty by the Tigers’ in the endzone. This resulted in a safety, and the Quakers led early, 2-0.

It was a testament to the Tigers’ defense that, despite early offensive troubles resulting in great field position for the Quakers, it managed to keep Penn from taking total control. The first quarter had the Tigers pinned against their goal line for multiple possessions, but even with the short fields the Quakers had from a number of Princeton three-and-outs, Penn could not finish the job.

“If you would look at most defense that were put on the field so many times after the offense going three-and-out — to give up the number of points they did was actually a testament to [the defense],” Epperly said.

“That’s the best defense we’ve played,” Surace said. “They’re really good. They really attacked us in a way that made us uncomfortable.”

Two series later, Epperly hit Wilson for 14 yards to finally lead Princeton out of its own endzone. The Tigers were able to drive into Penn territory a few plays later with a 29-yard completion from Epperly to Kelley. Three plays later, Penn defensive end Sam Chwarzynski tipped Epperly’s pass into the air at the line, caught the ball and took the open field all the way to the endzone. After the extra point, the Quakers led 9-0, the score they would take into the second quarter.

Yale will come to Princeton Stadium to take on the Tigers for Homecoming next weekend. With a win, Princeton can clinch a second consecutive bonfire. If Penn defeats Harvard on the same day, the Tigers can clinch the Ivy League title outright.