McCareins saves the day

As the clock wound down Saturday afternoon at Princeton Stadium and the football team clung to a tenuous three-point lead, it looked as if the game between Princeton (2-0 overall) and the University of San Diego (3-1) would come down to the little things: a missed extra point 10 seconds into the second quarter, pass interference calls which led to a Torero field goal or two fourth-down conversions by San Diego on a long fourth quarter drive.

But all those little mistakes were overshadowed by one big play. With just over a minute remaining in the fourth quarter and the Toreros marching toward the end zone, senior cornerback Jay McCareins stepped in front of a pass from San Diego quarterback Josh Johnson on the Tigers' one-yard line and returned the ball 99 yards the other way along the left sideline for a game-sealing touchdown.

San Diego needed just two plays to score a touchdown of its own on the next drive, but McCareins cleanly fielded the ensuing onside kick to seal a 20-17 victory for Princeton. The final interception was not the first time McCareins made his presence felt in the tightly contested game. McCareins had picked off two passes in the first half and knocked down four other pass attempts over the course of the day, including one in the end zone just five plays prior to the final interception.

He also made an impact on special teams, taking over all return duties for senior Greg Fields, who was held out of the game with a severely strained hamstring. McCareins' 116 return yards on kickoff and punt returns coupled with his 113 return yards on his three interceptions gave him 229 total yards of production for the day — three more than the 226 total the Princeton offense produced.

Tired defense

If McCareins' heroics won the game for Princeton, it was the amount of time he — along with the rest of the Princeton defense — was forced to spend on the field that almost lost the game for the Tigers. San Diego dominated Princeton in time of possession, keeping the Tiger defense on the field for 38 minutes and 50 seconds.

The fact that it had spent nearly 40 minutes of a 60-minute game struggling to keep the Toreros in check explained why the Princeton defensive corps seemed to be running out of gas as San Diego drove down the field in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. That would not, however, in their minds be an acceptable excuse for a loss.

The Toreros trailed the Tigers by three points when they got the ball on their own 20-yard line with 7:20 remaining. San Diego proceeded to run off an impressive 15-play, 67-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions and took 6:06 off the clock. Princeton twice looked like it was about to stop the drive, but passes of 10 and 13 yards on fourth down — both caught over the middle by diving wide receiver Wes Doyle — kept the Toreros' hopes alive.

It wasn't until McCareins intercepted the ball and tight-roped his way down the left sideline with an escort of three blockers that the Tigers could breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"Luckily I'm real fast, so I didn't get caught," McCareins joked after the game.

Offense slows

At the end of the first quarter, no one expected the game would later take such a dramatic turn of events to secure a victory for Princeton.

The day started with three-and-out drives by both teams, and it wasn't until its second possession that the Tigers offense got rolling. After taking the ball in prime field possession thanks to McCareins' first pick of the day, Princeton moved 43 yards down the field in a six-play drive highlighted by a 16-yard run right up the middle by sophomore fullback Rob Toresco. The drive was capped by a two-yard pass from junior quarterback Jeff Terrell to senior tight end Jon Dekker, who was wide open in the left flat.

The Tigers' next drive lasted a mere seven seconds, as Terrell's first pass — an underthrown ball to the right side of the field — was picked off.

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After Princeton got the ball back, head coach Rogers Hughes replaced Terrell with sophomore Bill Foran, who engineered an 81-yard drive behind 20-yard completions to Toresco and senior tight end Jon Dekker. On the first play of the second quarter, with the ball on the Torero four, Foran kept the ball himself on an option to the left side and stretched across the goal line for the score.

After a missed extra-point, the Tigers would be stuck at 13 points for the next 45 minutes as their offense sputtered. After gaining 129 yards in the first quarter, Princeton only managed to gain 98 yards in the final three quarters combined. In the second quarter, the offensive corps was on the field for a mere 2:34 and gained only 13 yards, four of which came on Foran's score.

But led by McCareins and senior linebacker Justin Stull, the defense was able to preserve the lead for the Tigers, even in the face of continual pressure from the San Diego offense. The Toreros gained 415 total yards, including 316 in the air, but were unable to truly break through the Princeton defense.

Contributing to that result was the defense's exceptional play on third downs: San Diego went zero-for-eight on third-down conversions in the first half and just three-of-18 for the game. As a result, except for a five play, 81-yard drive that began the third quarter and the two play, 55-yard drive that came in the final minute of the game, the best San Diego could do was two first half field goal attempts, the first of which Torero kicker Hutch Parker pushed wide left.

With a win against the previously unbeaten Toreros, the Tigers now find themselves undefeated entering Ivy League play for the second consecutive year. Princeton hosts Columbia at 1:00 p.m. at Princeton Stadium next Saturday.