Five Tigers injured as Colgate blows out Princeton, 35-10

On the final play of the first half, the football team wanted to play it safe, so sophomore quarterback David Splithoff decided to take a knee.

But he tripped over the foot of one of Princeton's offensive linemen and ended up on the turf.

It was that sort of game Saturday afternoon for the Tigers (1-2 overall, 1-0 Ivy League), who were routed by Colgate (3-2 overall, 1-0 Patriot League). Princeton scored first, on a 33-yard field goal by senior kicker Taylor Northrop, but the Red Raiders answered with 28 straight points en route to a 35-10 victory.

"Basically, that was an old-fashioned butt-kicking, and they lined up and kicked our backside," head coach Roger Hughes said.

The statistics agreed with Hughes' assessment. Colgate outgained Princeton, 506-175, in total yards and had nearly a ten-minute edge in time of possession. The Raiders outrushed the Tigers by a 241-63 margin and had 27 first downs to Princeton's 13.

The game was decided by three consecutive Red Raider drives in the second quarter and the first drive of the second half. Colgate scored touchdowns on each of the marches down the field, which went for 79, 60, 89 and 80 yards. Before the drives, Princeton led, 3-0, and by the time the Tigers finally stopped the Raiders, they trailed, 28-3.

Although the 60-yard drive came on one long pass play from Colgate quarterback Tom McCune to Joe Parker, the other drives were marked by their methodical progression down the field. The Raiders' first scoring drive went 13 plays for 79 yards, including a fourth-down conversion.

Princeton had stopped Colgate earlier in the game on a fourth-and-one inside its own territory, but with 10 minutes, 56 seconds to go in the second quarter, the Raiders decided to go for fourth-and-one again from the Tiger 22.

McCune rolled out and found his tight end, John Frieser, camped out in the middle of the field for ten yards.

Colgate punched it in two plays later, when fullback Matt Kobelski went off-guard from the three-yard line and crossed the plane. On the ensuing possession, the Tigers were called for holding, backing them into a first-and-20 situation that they were unable to convert. Northrop punted and Colgate took over on its own 40-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, McCune took a deep drop and heaved a wobbly pass that floated over freshman corneback Jay McCariens' head and into the outstretched arms of his favorite target, Joe Parker. The Raider receiver waltzed into the end zone, and Princeton trailed, 14-3.

The Tigers put together a few first downs on their next series, with Splithoff throwing for two and running for one. But once again, penalties caught up with Princeton after it reached Colgate's 28 yard line, and it ended up being forced to punt again. On the day, the Tigers had seven penalties, costing them 56 yards.

The Raiders took over at their own 11-yard line with 3:36 left in the first half. Colgate brought in backup tailback Jamaal Branch, who had 3 carries for 36 yards on the drive. Branch finished with 20 carries for 150 yards. In its two previous games combined, Princeton had given up only 138 yards to running backs.

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Colgate drove all the way from its 11 to the Tiger 1-yard line. On third-on-goal from the 1, McCune faked a handoff to Branch and rolled to his right. The quarterback turned and hit an open Kobelski in the end zone with just ten seconds left in the half, making the score 21-3.

Northrop booted the ball into the end zone in the beginning of the second half, and the Raiders took a touchback. Then they put on a passing clinic. Princeton's defense prevented Colgate from establishing the run on the drive, but McCune was 4-5 for 73 yards. On fourth-and-12 from the Tiger 25, he hit Parker on a slant and the receiver outraced three Princeton defenders to the end zone.

"Their offensive line and defensive line dominated us," Hughes said. "There is a mental toughness to this game that we have to acquire. We had it last week, so we know we can do it, but for some reason, we didn't have it today."

As if the loss were not enough, several key Tigers suffered injuries in the course of the game. Early in the first half, junior wide receiver Chisom Opara, Splithoff's favorite target, caught a nine-yard slant from the quarterback and was hit by three Colgate defenders. His head and neck twisted awkwardly as he hit the turf.

As a precautionary measure, medical personnel carted Opara off the field on a stretcher as to avoid any further injury. The junior was moving his arms and legs, however, and returned to the Princeton sideline in the second half with a neck brace and a diagnosis of a sprained neck.

Opara was only one of five Tigers who missed snaps due to injury. Senior linebacker Chris Roser-Jones, who had two interceptions last week, missed the game with a hamstring pull sustained in Wednesday's practice. The coaching staff held out sophomore free safety Brandon Mueller because of a shoulder injury. Splithoff suffered two bone-crushing hits in the fourth quarter and left the game, looking dazed. The sophomore appeared to be fine after the contest.

The most serious injury, however, was to sophomore defensive end Joe Weiss, who broke his fibula in the first half and will probably miss the rest of the season. Weiss had seven tackles in his short stint on the field Saturday.