Lafayette's third down strength dooms football

Princeton football had a chance on Lafayette's first possession Saturday to put all the struggles from last week's Lehigh game behind them. The Tigers won the opening toss, deferred, kicked off to the host Leopards and ran their defense out to set the tone.

After two plays, Lafayette was just shy of a first down. Princeton needed one stop to stall the drive, force a punt and give itself good field position in a game in which it had to score first to build some confidence. Instead, the Leopards' hard-nosed running back, Joe McCourt, went up the middle for one yard and a first down.

This would be the tone for the rest of the first half. The Tigers' defense forced ten third-down situations in the opening two quarters, an amazing eight of which were converted.

Lafayette did nothing fancy. The home team was not completing 70-yard touchdown passes or returning punts for scores. The Leopards used patience and video-game-quality execution to pound Princeton into submission in the early going.

McCourt's short run moved the chains, but it was not a backbreaking play. Lafayette was still at its own 30-yard line and the Tigers' defense was still fresh.

Marko Glavic, the Leopards' quarterback, followed the first-down run with a scramble of his own for no gain. He then threw an incomplete pass on second down.

Just like that — third-and-10, an even better chance for Princeton to get the offense on the field. But Glavic found wide receiver John Weyrauch for 19 yards, the Leopards' longest play from scrimmage in the game and another first down.

Two-for-two on third downs, if you are scoring at home.

After two solid runs by McCourt, a Tiger penalty set up second-and-five. McCourt was stuffed for no gain, but Glavic again found Weyrauch for 10 yards on the next play, yet another third down conversion.

With Lafayette now at the Princeton 24-yard line, keeping the Leopards off the scoreboard looked increasingly improbable. Still, the Tigers had a chance to stop them there and force a long field goal try.

Glavic then threw two straight incomplete passes to bring up the fourth third-and-10 situation of the drive. There was no way they could convert again. Right?

Jeremy Burkes caught an 11-yard pass from Glavic with Princeton again just one stop away from forcing some kind of kick, and the drive went on. Glavic found Brendon Stanford for an 11-yard gain on the next play, and Lafayette had first-and-goal at the two-yard line.

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Time for the big goal line stand.

McCourt was stuffed on two consecutive plays, bringing up third-and-goal. With the defense reeling, the Leopards called McCourt's number again, and the back, who had three touchdowns in the game, punched in the early touchdown.

When the smoke cleared, the drive encompassed 18 plays, 80 yards and nearly seven minutes of time, numbers that would make any coach drool over the methodical brilliance.

But the key number is the third downs — five. Five times the Tigers had a chance to minimize damage, and all five times Lafayette drove a nail into the chests of the Princeton defense with another conversion.

Exhausted, the Tigers were no match for the Leopards on their second drive. This time, Lafayette never even needed a third down as it drove 33 yards on seven plays and even converted a botched extra point attempt into a two-point conversion to take a 15-0 lead.

Shadows of the Lehigh game were rolling over Fisher Field as Princeton found itself buried under miscues and poor clutch defense once again.

The Leopards' next drive was a 10-play, 64-yarder that led to another score. On a third-and-one from the Tigers' 45-yard line, Glavic turned a busted play into a 16-yard run and another conversion. On third-and-six from the Tigers' nine-yard line, Glavic found McCourt through the air for a touchdown and a 22-0 lead.

Lafayette converted its first seven third downs and knocked out Princeton even quicker than Lehigh had. A second fumble later in the half led to a fourth Leopard touchdown and an absurd 28-0 halftime lead.

The light rain hitting the field during the second quarter turned into a downpour at halftime, a fitting tribute to the Tigers' mishaps and lack of defensive execution. The game was over after 30 minutes.