Big plays carry day for football

From the final stats, at least, it was hard to tell Princeton and Brown apart. After 60 minutes of fundamentally sound football on both sides of the ball, normally telling indicators such as yardage, turnovers, and penalties were equal between the two teams. And yet, when the Tigers walked out of Princeton Stadium on Saturday afternoon following a convincing 24-10 victory, no one in attendance doubted that they deserved the victory.

Princeton (4-1 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) won the battle of the big plays — and with it, the contest — with three game-altering highlights in the second half. Meanwhile, the Bears (3-2, 0-2) could only plod along unspectacularly, unable to muster the momentum-swinging plays it so desperately needed.

Although the Tigers' three biggest plays of the day may have seemed the result of pure luck, Princeton created its own breaks by doing the little things right.

The first was junior Greg Fields' 77-yard kick return. After Brown took a 7-3 lead in the third quarter, Fields caught the ensuing kickoff, found a hole, and scampered down the right sideline. The Tigers would punch the ball into the endzone four plays later.

While Fields' speed made the return possible, he couldn't have done it alone, benefiting from a solid initial wedge of blockers that picked up the Bears' gunners and a nice downfield block from junior defensive back Jay McCareins.

The Tigers' next big play — senior linebacker Zak Keasey's interception of a tipped pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, which lead to another score — also was the result of an assist from teammates. This time it was senior defensive end Chris Browne, who threw up his arms when he saw Bears quarterback Joe DiGiacomo release the ball in his direction.

"It's something we're coached to do," Browne said. "If the offensive line stops our rush, we're supposed to get our hands into the air."

Princeton's final fireworks came a few minutes later, when senior quarterback Matt Verbit found sophomore wide receiver Brian Shields for a 50-yard touchdown.

Shields was absurdly wide-open on the play because he blew by the cornerback covering him and the safety responsible for help coverage had been fooled by a play-action fake. Just as importantly, Verbit had plenty of time in the pocket, thanks to a halftime adjustment.

"We decided to go to max protection — seven guys — rather than bootlegging," Hughes said. "That's why were able to hold up."

Hughes made plenty of good decisions on this day, but none was bigger than his call to go for a fourth-and-one at the two-yard-line early in the fourth quarter. Senior running back Branden Benson rumbled untouched over left tackle for the touchdown and a 17-10 lead the Tigers never relinquished.

"The thought of a field goal did not cross my mind. We'd been knocking them off the ball," Hughes said. "We've got to play to win. We've got to play to cut their heart out, to go for the jugular as quick as we can, especially when we have that opportunity."

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Brown, on the other hand, could not take advantage of its opportunities. On the possession after Bensen scored, Brown wide receiver Jarret Schreck beat his man deep on a wheel route down the sideline. But DiGiacomo overthrew the ball and Schreck couldn't quite hang on for an easy six points.

Meanwhile, Bears star running back Nick Hartigan was held without a single big run, rushing for only 66 yards. None of his 24 carries was longer than seven yards.

"I didn't make a play all day," he said despondently after the game. "I didn't do anything out there."

There was one other play that wasn't made all day: the Tigers did not commit a single penalty, after struggling mightily with them the past three games.

Perhaps the lesson is that even on the day of big plays, it is the little things, and sometimes even the unnoticed intangibles, that count.