In first start, Toresco kept clock winding

With the fourth quarter winding down and Lafayette threatening to steal the lead from the football team Saturday, Princeton was forced to rely on a running back who had entered the game as nothing but a zero — statistically, that is.

Prior to that afternoon in Easton, Pa., sophomore Rob Toresco had never carried the ball in a college game nor registered a single statistic during his Tiger career. That's not to say he was completely unproven: Toresco won the starting fullback job in the off-season after impressing his coaches in summer and spring practices, and he had run well on a few carries earlier in the game.

Now, though, there was even more on his plate than blocking and the occasional carry. With junior tailback Cleo Kirkland out of the game with leg cramps, the duty of primary ball carrier fell to Toresco. His mission was simple: keep pounding away at the tiring Lafayette defensive line and keep the chains and clock moving.

So with the hopes of Princeton's coaches, players and fans resting on his shoulders, Toresco took the ball again and again — six times in the final three minutes, 26 seconds of the game — and did just that, icing the Tigers' season-opening 23-21 win over the late-charging Leopards.

Moving into a new role

Though it was his first time in an elevated role with the Tigers, Toresco was not completely unused to helping a team win games. At Hunterdon Central High School in Flemington, Toresco rushed for 4,900 yards and 54 touchdowns in three seasons on the varsity football team. Those impressive numbers made him a worthy member of the second team all-state in New Jersey as a senior in 2003.

But last season as a freshman, Toresco did nothing but watch from the sidelines while the tailback duo of Branden Benson '05 and Jon Veach '05 carried the ball and fullback Joel Mancl '05 delivered punishing blocks.

Despite his limited role during the 2004 campaign, a strong spring practice followed by an equally impressive training camp made Toresco the best choice for a starter in the revamped Princeton backfield. While controversy swirled around the selections for starting tailback and quarterback, Toresco slid into the starting fullback role and began to take his lumps as one of several younger offensive players forced into leading roles.

Running down the clock

The young player quickly found his way into a high-pressure situation the first time he saw significant play in a collegiate game. With 3:26 remaining in the Lafayette game, Princeton held a tenuous two-point lead after the Leopards returned a kickoff for a touchdown. It was over those final 206 seconds of the game that Toresco proved to his coaches and teammates why he was named the team's starting fullback heading into the season.

The Tigers handed the ball to Toresco six of the next seven plays and were rewarded for their faith in their young fullback as he gained 33 yards on those carries and wound the clock down to three zeroes, despite Lafayette having three timeouts to use at the start of Princeton's drive. Toresco's effort culminated with a third-and-five conversion the play after Lafayette burned its final timeout. After Toresco's success in moving the ball, junior quarterback Jeff Terrell simply kneeled down on the next two plays to ice the Tigers' victory.

Not only did Toresco impress with his ability to produce in a late-game pressure situation, but he also gave Princeton production in a position that was not even his own. Toresco started the game at fullback, while the primary running responsibility was with Kirkland.

After the game, though, head coach Roger Hughes said he was perfectly comfortable with Toresco carrying the ball late in the game and that he might have done so even if Kirkland had not been bested by leg cramps.

"We have a lot of confidence in Rob," Hughes said. "We feel fortunate to have a guy who can take the load when the game is on the line, yet he is big enough to be a blocker up front."

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The Tigers' multi-talented fullback used both of those abilities to help Princeton claim the win against Lafayette and should continue to be a valuable asset for the Orange and Black in the future.

Kirkland will likely be back next week to resume his role at tailback, but Toresco demonstrated that Kirkland is not the only rushing weapon that defenses must watch out for in the Princeton backfield.

The next time a close game winds down, the Tigers will have anything but a zero in the backfield when the pressure begins to mount. Whether he is blocking for Terrell in a two-minute drill or pounding out short gains trying to run out the clock, Toresco has proven himself capable of doing whatever it takes to help carry Princeton to victory.