Youth to take up mantle after football season of near misses

With three players making the All-Ivy First Team and at least one being scouted for the National Football League at various games, one would think the football team must have had a successful season. Not so. One word can describe the Tigers' season — frustrating.

Princeton finished the second season in the Roger Hughes era a mediocre 3-6 overall, 3-4 in the Ivy League. While the Tigers did not finish at the bottom of the league, there was not much improvement in the final standings.

But as is typical of recent Princeton football seasons, there were shimmers of brilliance that proved to be the silver lining to the gray cloud that was the season.

At times, the Tigers would engineer near-perfect drives, mashing out rushing yards or making fools out of defensive backs.

Yet they were unable to win close games, the key factor in the lackluster season. The games against Brown, Harvard, Penn and Cornell were all decided in the fourth quarter.

Individually, some Princeton players had standout seasons. On the offensive side of the ball, sophomore quarterback Dave Splithoff finished his first full season as the starter. What many people do not understand is that Splithoff, while garnering fame last year with his breakout game against Brown, was a truly inexperienced quarterback when compared to his counterparts in the Ivy League.

With a final passing rating of 128.9, Splithoff finished fourth in the league behind the more experienced Neil Rose of Harvard, Kyle Rowley of Brown and Gavin Hoffman of Penn. Incidentally, those three quarterbacks' teams were the best three in the Ivies.

Splithoff completed 137 of 221 passing attempts for 1680 yards and nine touchdowns. At times, he was relied upon to carry the team Ñ as in the Lehigh game when he went 31 of 39 for 228 yards and the team's only touchdown. He threw five interceptions on the year, a respectable number given that this was his first year as a starter.

Splithoff's passes often landed in the hands of junior wideout Chisom Opara. Opara caught 36 passes for 581 yards and three touchdowns. Opara's value as a playmaker was all too evident when he missed the Brown game with an injury, and the passing attack was crippled. He also set the Princeton Stadium record for the longest pass reception, hauling in a 78-yarder against Columbia.

No one else had more than half as many catches as Opara. The second receiver spot was spread around as four Tigers made between 14 and 18 receptions. A big-play receiver who stepped up against Yale was freshman B.J. Syzmanski, whose four receptions and two touchdowns sparked the Princeton offense to victory.

On top of his passing rating, Splithoff also contributed as the second-leading rusher on the team, behind junior running back Cameron Atkinson. Together, they scored 12 of the team's 13 rushing touchdowns, with Atkinson contributing nine. Atkinson himself rushed 114 times for 660 yards. Freshman Jon Veach rushed 61 times for 266 yards and one touchdown.

However, Princeton's leading scorer was none other than senior kicker Taylor Northrop, the only offensive player to be named to the All-Ivy First Team. Northrop booted in 13 field goals and 21 extra points, totaling 60 points for the team. He also broke the team record for most field goals in a career, setting the new bar at 38.

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Professional scouts from teams such as the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers were scouting Northrop throughout the season.

On the defensive side of the ball, the team was riddled with injuries. Sophomores Joe Weiss and Blake Perry both suffered season-ending injuries, and other stars like senior linebacker Chris Roser-Jones missed games. Two defensive players, Roser-Jones and junior safety Kevin Kongslie, earned First Team All-Ivy honors. Sophomore defensive end Tim Kirby and senior linebacker and captain Bob Farrell each received an honorable mention.

On the year, the defense only gave up an average of 22.4 points per game.

While this young team has had its problems, it will not lose many players to graduation. Most notably, on defense, the team will lose Roser-Jones, Farrell and end Phil Jackman, but the defensive line will remain virtually intact with Weiss' return. On the offensive side, the team will lose its leading scorer, Northrop, and one lineman, Matt Peluse.