Football loses to Columbia on Hail Mary

Five seconds left on the clock. Princeton and Columbia knotted at 27. Columbia has the ball on the Princeton 49-yard line. Everybody in the stadium knew what was coming — the Hail Mary.

Columbia (2-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) quarterback Jeff Otis scrambled behind the line of scrimmage. He had trips right, every receiver racing to the end zone. Princeton (0-3, 0-1) countered with seven defensive backs, including junior receiver B.J. Szymanski.

Otis unleashed a spiraling ball toward the mass of players. Szymanski was behind Columbia's six-foot, six-inch tight end Wade Fletcher. The six-foot, five-inch Szymanski tried unsuccessfully to knock the ball away from behind, and Fletcher grabbed it and fell to the ground with the game-winning touchdown as the Lions pulled out the 33-27 win.

Momentum had looked all on the side of Princeton before that throw. The Tigers were down 27-20 with 8:41 left in the game just the drive before. They had given up 27 straight points, but stormed back with a 16-play, 66-yard, eight minute, 15 second drive to tie the game and presumably send it to overtime, since it left only 26 seconds on the clock.

Junior quarterback Matt Verbit and junior running back Jon Veach provided the offense in all but one play of the drive, which saw two fourth-down conversions — including the one-yard touchdown run from junior running back Branden Benson — and the demoralization of the Columbia defense.

"That was a little disheartening to see that happen," Columbia head coach Bob Shoop said. "It was a deceptive drive. There weren't a whole lot of big plays. They just nibbled at us."

Even this monumental drive, which left Columbia only 26 seconds to put the ball in the endzone, should not have been necessary.

Princeton came out of the tunnel onto the field like a team that was going to have fun. They joked around in pre-game more than in the last two games and looked calm and confident.

The Tigers' offense started a little jittery, though, going three-and-out on its first possession. Still, the Princeton defense gave the team a boost on Columbia's first drive, which did not gain a yard.

Princeton gained nine yards on its first play of the next drive, but on second down the Tigers were whistled for holding and a personal foul penalty after the play, resulting in a loss of 25 yards. Undaunted, Veach ran for 10 yards on second and 26.

The third down that came up next set the tone for the first quarter. Verbit scrambled out of the pocket, pulled up and threw a strike to Szymanski. Szymanski's defender dove in front of him, trying to knock the ball down — but missed — and Szymanski finished the play by running 71 yards into the endzone.

The following drives followed the same pattern. Columbia went three-and-out on its next two drives, and Princeton scored touchdowns on its next two.

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When the horn blared for the end of the first quarter, the spell wore off for the Tigers, though, and the Lions woke up.

Lions come back

Columbia kicked two field goals and scored a touchdown on its next three possessions. The touchdown was set up by a 57-yard punt return by Travis Chmelka. Princeton, on the other hand, got only one first down and a missed field goal on its next three drives.

"It's good we gave up 20 points early," Shoop said. "It was like a game of runs in a basketball game."

At halftime, Columbia had hoisted itself right back into the game, down only a touchdown at 20-13.

In the first half, Veach and Benson had pounded through or bounced around Columbia defenders as easily as the fat kid in a Moonjump. Together, they averaged over seven yards per carry. They shared the load all night as each carried the ball 17 times. Benson rushed for 102 yards; Veach had 99. The passing game was just as effective on the stat sheet, with Verbit going 13-for-24 for 212 yards.

Despite those great numbers, Princeton could get no new ones on the scoreboard in the third quarter, just like in the second.

The Tigers could have broken Columbia's backs on its first drive of the third quarter (one of only two thanks to Columbia's ball-controlling attack). Princeton moved the ball from its own 20-yard line all the way to the Lions' 22.

Benson rushed for 44 yards on the drive, but his last two runs yielded nothing. They were on third-and-one and fourth-and-one at Columbia's 22, and they ended Princeton's chances to close out the game. The Lions followed up the drive with another field goal.

On its next drive, Columbia went 75 yards but settled for a field goal after a goal-line stand. Columbia kicker Nick Rudd scored a school-record 13 points in the game.

Columbia recovered a Verbit fumble at Princeton's 28 only three plays later. The Lions went up 27-20 after a touchdown and two-point conversion, setting up Princeton's final drive, followed by the Hail Mary.

Columbia started the game slowly, but once they got rolling they kept putting points on the board a few at a time, sealing the fate of the streaky Tigers.

Shoop summed up the mentality of his team, which has had a complete turnaround from last season's 1-9 squad.

"We play to win. We don't play not to lose."