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Football hosts Yale in Homecoming matchup

After dropping a heartbreaker in overtime to Penn, the Princeton Tigers will look to even their record in the Ivy League as they take on Yale in the homecoming game.

The Tigers (5-3, 2-3 Ivy League) were neck-to-neck with Penn throughout their last game, clawing their way to a 20-10 lead by halftime. However, the Quakers (5-3, 4-1) would even the score at 20 by the end of the fourth quarter. Ultimately, the game would come down to a 35-yard field goal attempt by Princeton with four seconds to go.

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Senior kicker Nolan Bieck had gone 10 for 10 on the season, but on this occasion a Penn surge thwarted him. The Quakers blocked the field goal to send the game to overtime, when they would go on to win 26-23.

The loss stings for the Tigers and removes them from contention for the Ivy League title, but they cannot afford to dwell long on it. After all, they have a new opponent to worry about: Yale.

The Bulldogs (5-3, 2-3) share an identical record with Princeton and present an offense that averages over 374 yards per game. Coach Bob Surace ’90 highlighted the similarities of Yale’s attack to the offensive schemes of the Tigers’ previous opponents.

“They’re obviously coming off of a great win over Brown,” said Surace, referring to Yale’s 41-14 victory last week. “They have a quarterback, Morgan Roberts, who is certainly one of the best players in the league. Last year they had a terrific year, despite a lot of injuries to their offense, but they’ve got a lot of those guys back — their running backs are terrific. Kind of like last week, we’re going to see a dual-threat quarterback, a very explosive offense.”

Additionally, Coach Surace emphasized the size and formidability of the Yale defensive unit.

“Their defense — they are really big,” he observed. “It’s probably the strongest defensive front seven we’ll face just in terms of size and physicality, those types of things. And they’re very athletic on the back end. Cole Champion, one of their safeties, is one of the most physical players in the league.”

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Against this determined front, Coach Surace noted that his team would have to ready themselves for a focused game in the trenches.

“We’re going to have to be terrific with our responsibilities and finish on defense,” he stated. “We’re going to have to do a great job with our fits and staying low and driving our legs, because they’ve really dominated the lines.”

Junior quarterback Chad Kanoff also emphasized the importance of intensity in practice in preparation for this opponent.

“It’s all about practicing hard,” he said. “Making sure that we are executing and controlling what we can control. Just making sure we’re not making careless mistakes, jumping offsides and things like that, and practicing really hard.”

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Although the loss to Penn has proved bitter, Kanoff has noted that the Tigers are ready to move on from last week and embrace the challenge.

“I mean, I guess that was a tough game, a close game,” he remarked. “But it was a good experience, gave us a lot more fire, and we’re just ready to play hard.”

Coach Surace also expressed confidence in his team’s ability to regroup and move forward from last Saturday’s disappointment.

“I mean, obviously, right after the game there’s disappointment and frustration because the guys have played so hard and played so well,” he said. “But it’s no different than any other game. When we get togetheron Sundaywe move forward, and we make the corrections we need to make and hopefully we get our issues fixed, and then it’s on to the preparation. But our guys — our seniors — have been terrific with our attitudes and how we approach things, and they know the importance of the next game and how important Yale is. So we’re going to go out there and have great preparation.”

A win for Princeton would move the team to 6-3 and even its in-conference record. The Tigers will play in a contest steeped in tradition: Yale and Princeton played their first game in 1873, and have met 126 times since; Yale holds the overall series lead, 68-48-10. Additionally, this weekend’s game serves as homecoming for Princeton — with its accompanying festivities and significance.

However, Coach Surace continued to emphasize focus on the contest at hand.

“The significance [of the contest] is that they’re a really good team and that they’re the next game,” he observed. “That’s where your mindset has to be.”