My last memory of junior defensive back Jay McCareins prior to this season was Oct. 19, 2002. I was cruising the sideline at the football game against Brown, heading for the locker room to help coordinate the postgame press conference. The Bears were driving, down 16-14, and threatening to score. Their quarterback dropped back to pass, looking for his All-American wide receiver Chas Gessner, but McCareins kept pace, leapt up, and intercepted the pass more or less with one hand. The game was over.
Little did I know at the time that Mr. Football would miss the entire next season of play, or that he would come back this season to save head coach Roger Hughes' behind.
Very rarely does one player singlehandedly beat a team, but I don't think there's any other way to describe what McCareins did Saturday against Columbia.
With the game still scoreless early in the second quarter, Princeton quarterback Matt Verbit threw an interception that gave Columbia possession at the Tiger 31-yard line. Princeton's defense held, and the Lions' drive stalled 16 yards later. Alex Smith came on for a 33-yard field goal attempt, and McCareins stuffed it, rushing in from the far left side.
Okay. Big play, but it's still early. Not huge . . .
. . . yet.
The game, as you know, went into overtime tied at 20. One could argue that McCareins' block saved the game. The Tigers faced a fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line with nine seconds left in the game and would've had to go for it had that earlier field goal been good for Columbia, as the deficit would have been 23-17 instead of 20-17.
Now, I realize that had that field goal gone in, the entire face of the game would've changed, but humor me. As it was, sophomore Derek Javarone chipped a 21-yard field goal through the uprights to send the game to the extra period.
It didn't take Columbia long to score in overtime. After winning the toss, the Lions handed the ball off three times to running back Rashad Biggers — the best running back in the country named Biggers — and sat back as he racked up 25 yards on those three carries and the go-ahead touchdown.
All they needed for a cozy seven-point lead was a little ole extra point. We're talking a 19-yard kick — takes about two seconds from the time of the snap to get it off. A trained monkey could hold a block for two seconds. A trained donkey could make the kick.
McCareins, with the aid of junior linebacker Abi Fadeyi opening his lane, flew in from the left side and blocked the kick to turn a dire situation into a winnable game.
You know the rest. A Jon Veach touchdown. A Javarone extra point. Princeton wins by a half-safety.
Are you ready to give Mr. Football all the credit yet? OK, wait — there's more.
McCareins had 42 yards receiving on the final drive of regulation, the one that yielded the game-tying field goal. The first catch was the biggest — a 14-yarder on a fourth-and-six from the Tiger 36-yard line. If he drops that pass, ballgame's over.
Later, he made a 21-yard reception on a third-and-six from the Columbia 45, officially launching the Tigers into field goal range. Two plays later he made a seven-yard reception to get his team in the red zone.
A week earlier, in San Diego, McCareins made an interception near the sideline and appeared to be heading out of bounds before gaining his footing and returning the pick 36 yards for a touchdown that put the Tigers up 21-0 and gave them the stranglehold on that contest.
Football is 3-0. Without McCareins, they are definitely 2-1, probably 1-2. There are eleven men on the field at the same time, but no other Tiger can boast that kind of importance to his team.
Other observations on the first 3/10 of the football season:
1. Is football really 3-0? Man. Hartmann said they'd be 1-2 at this point. He's never wrong! My whole belief system is crushed. Last year, though, this team would be 1-2. The 2003 Princeton football Tigers found ways to lose. This team is finding ways to win, even when they don't play their best all-around game.
2. How does San Diego lose any games at home? I don't get it. They have the best home field advantage in college football.
"Yes, come to Southern California. It'll be great. You can take a trip to the beach Friday night, head out to the bar. We'll send some complimentary 'hospitality' your way. What? The game? What about it? It's just Division I-AA, who cares? What? Hangover? What are you, Yalies?"
3. Apparently Colgate is the greatest team in the world and there is no chance Princeton can beat them. I actually saw the new ESPN college football rankings, and it goes like this:
1. USC
2. Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Minnesota
5. Toothpaste
We're in trouble.
4. I would like to see the offense win a game again. As exciting as it is to win a game with two defensive touchdowns and another with two blocked kicks, I'm guessing one of these weeks the defense is going to run out of miraculous game-saving plays, unless maybe junior linebacker Justin Stull manages to blow out the knee of Colgate's stud running back Jamaal Branch.
5. The athletic website begins its preview article of the Princeton-Colgate by saying that the Tigers have swept only one three-game road trip since 1893.
Do you know how many instances there have been where the Tigers have played three straight road games since 1893? Six — 1901, 1938, 1969, 1981, 1987, and 1997. The successful sweep, a four-gamer, came in 1997, which gets a huge asterisk because the Tigers were forced to play every game on the road while Princeton Stadium was being built.
I was all excited when I saw this stat, but it turns out to be, much like this column, a bunch of fluff. One thing we can take away from it, though: that four-game road winning streak in 1997 was capped off by a win at Colgate.
Bring your toothbrush.
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