Tigers clip Columbia in overtime despite mistakes

NEW YORK — "Winning masks a lot of problems," head football coach Roger Hughes warned late Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't as if anyone was fooled.

No, on this day, the problems were far too egregious to be masked. The writers he was addressing, the fans who watched from the stands, even the players themselves — they all knew the truth. Princeton was lucky — very lucky — to escape New York with a 27-26 overtime victory over Columbia.

The Tigers (3-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) made a plethora of mistakes, mistakes that would have cost them the game if the Lions (0-3, 0-1) had not made so many of their own. And still, it took the heroics of two-way junior Jay McCareins just to send the game into overtime.

So although Hughes was happy to take the win, it's hard to imagine he was truly pleased by what he saw. Perhaps his two biggest concerns should be the two cardinal sins of fundamentally solid football, penalties and turnovers. After all but avoiding those ills in the season opener, Princeton has been increasingly plagued by both in the two games since.

"We did things to keep Columbia in the game," Hughes said. "We've got to tighten up the defensive penalties. We had way too many that kept [Columbia] drives going."

Indeed, the Tigers shot themselves in the paws repeatedly by racking up 11 penalties for 101 yards. At times, it was almost surreal, like when freshman nose guard Tim Boardman was pulled offsides on two consecutive third-quarter plays, earning himself a quick seat on the bench. Other times it was downright dumb: the Lions benefited from 15-yard personal foul penalties on both of their fourth-quarter scoring drives.

Then again, Princeton also benefited from mental mistakes. On the Tigers' first scoring drive of the fourth quarter, they were twice stopped on third down only to be bailed out by roughing the passer and face-mask calls. And, on their game-tying drive at the end of regulation, they picked up valuable yardage after Columbia was flagged yet again for roughing the passer.

While the penalty parade, in the end, was a wash, the turnover battle was not: Princeton clearly lost. The Lions did not turn the ball over at all, but senior quarterback Matt Verbit tossed his first interception of the season and the Tigers put the ball on the turf four times.

Twice, Verbit was the guilty party, once losing the ball as he scrambled for extra yardage and once botching a snap (he recovered). He barely avoided another disaster when he recovered a second errant snap, which had flown over his head in shotgun formation. Princeton also struggled with high snaps last week against San Diego.

But the most damaging dropped ball came late in the third quarter, when senior tailback Branden Benson fumbled on Columbia's seven-yard line. The blow was particularly crushing as it came after the Tigers had marched over 70 yards.

Benson was immediately relieved by senior Jon Veach and did not play again. Benson and Veach had previously rotated every few series, as usual. At the time, Benson had been more productive, picking up 70 yards and a touchdown.

After the game, Hughes said the switch to Veach "had nothing to do with punishing [Benson] for fumbling," but rather was based on Veach's superior blocking ability. The move would ultimately pay off, as Veach finished with 73 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

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Beyond the obvious errors, smaller mental breakdowns also hurt the Tigers. The Lion tandem of Rashad Biggers and Ayo Oluwole rushed for 235 yards, mostly on draws and counters up the middle. Hughes admitted the Tigers' run defense needs refining, saying he wasn't sure his defensive linemen and linebackers "were in the correct gap all the time."

Ultimately, however, it was Columbia's failure to fill gaps that did the most damage. Princeton assistant coach Don Dobes recognized a weakness in Columbia's protection scheme that the Tigers aggressively attacked.

"We thought if we could get their wing to squeeze down more, we had good enough speed off the edge that if we cut it tight enough we'd have a chance to get it," Hughes said.

McCareins got it, all right, twice flying untouched from the left side to block kicks without even leaving his feet. And with the ball, McCareins' outstretched hands repelled the Tigers' struggles, too.

But the problems, like the ball, didn't just disappear. They lingered on the turf, easy for all to see.

Then again, deservedly or not, the standings say 3-0.