Strategically, football is far from a simple game. Coaches spend their lives figuring out ways to pick apart defenses or shut down offenses. For every contingency, there must be a plan.
But the strategy that fills playbooks the size of Faulkner novels reduces down to one simple law of the game:
Offenses confuse defenses that frustrate offenses.
For example, in football's first game at Lafayette, the Leopards huddled 15 players on the sideline, then ran 11 onto the field, making it impossible for Princeton to match up personnel.
When Princeton (0-2) opens its Ivy season Saturday at Columbia (1-1), it will face a similar but even more difficult defensive challenge.
Lion senior John Cavanaugh is listed as the starting halfback and the second-string tight end. But in any given offensive set, he can line up as a tight end, a fullback, a wingback or a slot receiver. Ordinarily, defensive calls are made by the coaches depending on who the offense has on the field. The call is then relayed to the players. Cavanaugh's position-shifting ability does not allow enough time for the coaches to make the call.
"This week, it's not going to be the coaches saying 'Play this,' " linebacker coach Don Dobes said. "We're going to put the onus on our players. Based on [Columbia's] formation, our guys are going to have to make the call."
Tomorrow, the pressure will fall on freshman free safety Blake Perry.
Defensively, lining up in the correct formation can mean the difference between a touchdown and a turnover for the offense. And if Columbia junior Jonathan Reese, one of the Ivy League's top tailbacks, finds Princeton out of alignment, he won't stop until he reaches the harbor.
Perry is responsible for reading the offensive alignment and then, in a crowded stadium in Manhattan, making sure his 10 teammates know what to do. And all this in the few seconds before the ball is snapped.
Dr. Perry
That's a lot of responsibility to put on a player who has started two games at free safety in his playing career. At Torrey Pines High School in California, Perry did not even play defense; he played wingback.
"He's had to learn a lot in a short time," Dobes said. "I don't know if he's got his Ph. D. yet, but he's getting close to his masters in secondary and coverage play."
To say Perry had a lot to learn is an understatement. He had to learn everything — a new position in a new system.
Preparation for his responsibilities against Columbia began on the first day of his Princeton career.
"What we try to do is start teaching it on day one," Dobes said. "The checks we'll be making for Columbia he started making on day two or three."
Perry's backups have been instrumental in helping him learn the ropes of his new position. Before school, Perry roomed with backup free safety junior Jon Ganter, who helped introduce him to his new responsibilities.
"There are just so many different calls we have. Coming in it was awkward because I really didn't know what I was doing," Perry said. "Jon would go over everything with me every night before I went to sleep.
"I was really nervous for the Lafayette game because I wasn't sure about my calls. Now I feel like I have everything under control."
Perry will have to do exactly that — have everything under control — in order for head coach Roger Hughes to get his first win.
And just in case there wasn't enough pressure, there's this: No team has ever lost its first Ivy game and gone on to win an outright championship.
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