"Well, what you witnessed there, fellas, was a good old-fashioned butt kicking," head football coach Roger Hughes said, summing up Saturday's loss to Colgate (6-0 overall, 2-0 Patriot League). He was right.
The 30-3 loss marks the first time Princeton (0-4, 0-1 Ivy League) has lost its first four games ever. That's saying a lot, since it is the oldest football program in the history of the sport (Princeton lost to Rutgers in the first intercollegiate game in 1869).
Hughes laid the onus for the poor performance on execution, not bad game-planning or play-calling.
"I'm not blaming the kids, but execution," Hughes said. "We had some dropped balls, some misreads up front. We had a lineman block the wrong way on a pass protection one time. Part of that execution is we're going against a pretty good team, and we've got to give them their due."
The Tiger offense also did not take advantage of the four takeaways by the defense, cashing in for only three points.
On its first drive, which Colgate head coach Dick Biddle said he considered a pivotal point in the game, the Tigers came out firing on all cylinders. With a good mix of rushes and passes, Princeton moved the ball all the way to Colgate's 27-yard line for a third-and-one play.
Junior quarterback Matt Verbit dropped back to pass, but Nick Susko took him down for a five-yard sack. Princeton did not convert on fourth down.
"We ran a naked bootleg to the right side," Hughes said of the third-down play. "The tight end was open, and [Verbit] for whatever reason didn't see him, and he had pressure on him right away, and he ended up getting sacked. I'm not trying to blame Matt; that's what happened on the play."
On the legs and arm of quarterback Chris Brown, Colgate rolled down the field to jump out in front, 7-0. As if its previous drive had not killed enough confidence for Princeton, junior running back Jon Veach lost the ball on the very next play. The Raiders were in the endzone one play later. Tailback Jamaal Branch ran 24 yards, with Princeton defenders acting merely as gnats who could only touch him but not take him down.
With just under seven minutes remaining in the first quarter, the score was already 14-0.
On the first play of the second quarter, sophomore linebacker Justin Stull intercepted Brown, whose throwing was much inferior to his running throughout the game. Princeton was unable to take advantage, however, and the drive ended on a fourth-and-25 punt.
Colgate's next two drives also ended in Brown turnovers: an interception by senior strong safety Sam Snyder and a fumble caused and recovered by Stull. The responses from the Princeton offense were another punt and a Verbit interception.
Colgate decided to get it out of the quarterback's hands on the next drive, and the stellar Branch carried the load. He ran for 48 of his total of 191 yards on this drive alone, needing only seven rushes to do so. His 17-yard run around the Tiger defense on the short side of the field ended another touchdown drive. The point-after try was pushed wide left, and Colgate led 20-0.
Princeton's next drive, late in the second quarter, seemed to end in a booming 54-yard punt from freshman Colin McDonough, but Colgate's J.B. Gerald misjudged the ball and let it slip through his fingers as he tried to catch it over his head. Princeton recovered the ball at Colgate's 14-yard line.
With excitement bubbling up in Princeton Stadium, Verbit came back on the field and threw a perfect pass that would have netted the Tigers four to six yards. Senior tight end Randy Bly dropped it. The Princeton offense could not get the ball moving, and the Tigers settled for a field goal, their only points of the game. The halftime score was 20-3.
Colgate came out in the second half with little to fight for, since Princeton could get nothing going on offense.
Nonetheless, the Raiders notched a field goal on their first drive of the half, which was highlighted by a 38-yard Branch run.
Princeton tried to get things moving on its next drive, which covered 51 yards and 13 plays. The 13th play was a fourth-down incompletion.
Early in the fourth quarter, Branch ran for his third touchdown, spreading the lead to 30-3.
Both teams went through the motions in the fourth quarter, subbing in clean jerseys and running out the clock, thogh Princeton ran a few feeble no-huddle drives that ended in nothing.
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