Young offense must learn on the job

Freshmen aren't the only ones on campus who might have been feeling a bit confused this week — the football team has been trying to figure a few things out as well.

With the graduation of quarterback Matt Verbit '05 and the running back duo of Branden Benson '05 and Jon Veach '05, Princeton's offense has found itself without any clear answers so far.

"We've got a more experienced offensive line, but we really don't have any established skill players," head coach Roger Hughes said.

But, as he also noted, inexperience brings forth opportunity, and with several players competing for each of the vacant starting spots, the Tigers certainly have plenty of viable options.

The questions surrounding who will attempt to fill the gaping hole at running back was settled only in the past few days. Sophomore Rob Toresco and junior Cleo Kirkland will start at fullback and tailback, respectively. Toresco, in particular, had a strong spring and shows promise.

"He's certainly in the mix somewhere in our backfield, whether it's fullback or tailback, and we have the luxury of using him at both," Hughes said.

Additionally, sophomores Derek Brooks and Ray Simnick may get a few touches at tailback.

The situation at wide receiver is a bit less clear, and there's still plenty of competition. Senior Greg Fields, who led the team in receptions and all-purpose yards last year, will lead the wide receiver corps.

Beyond that, senior Derek Davis is a probable starter with Fields on Saturday. Senior Monte McNair has been sidelined with a shoulder injury that will keep him out of this week's game, but speedy junior Brian Shields will also compete for time. All are skilled players who saw some action last season and will be key to this year's Tiger offense.

"The receivers played great in the [intrasquad] scrimmage, and they are going to be great assets for us this year," junior quarterback Jeff Terrell said.

Terrell was named as the team's starting quarterback this week, giving a bit of certainty to his receivers.

"As a wide receiver, it's important to be able to have one quarterback to get the timing right, to get used to the way they throw the football," Fields said.

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Fortunately, though, the receiver corps will not have to shoulder the burden of two quarterbacks. When practice began this August, Hughes had four potential players vying for the starting position: Terrell, junior Chris Lee and sophomores Bill Foran and Greg Mroz. After the Tigers' scrimmage against Yale on Sept. 3, the field was narrowed to Terrell and Foran.

While Foran has sometimes been billed as the more athletic player and Terrell as having a slightly better understanding of the offense, Hughes emphasizes the slight differences.

"Jeff has another year in the offense, so I think he's a little more experienced with what we're doing," Hughes said. "But Bill is a very bright kid and very football smart and certainly he's picked it up, so both have similar qualities."

In the end, Hughes chose Terrell because he thought he was "a little more consistent," though he emphasized the difficulty of the decision. Hughes also noted that Foran — who saw action at wide receiver as a freshman — will still probably see some time in the pocket.

The team's inexperienced quarterback — Terrell has never started a varsity game — will be protected by an all-senior, highly experienced offensive line, led by offensive captain and senior tackle Ben Brielmaier.

"The nice thing is hopefully the line can take some of the pressure off the quarterback — if our center can adjust the protections, it takes the heat off the quarterbacks having to do that," Hughes said.

Both the factors of a young quarterback and a strong line might encourage Princeton's offense to run the ball more — and the mobile Terrell might be the ball carrier.

"We may ask our quarterback to run a little bit more than what we've had. We've always had those types of schemes in our offense, [but] ... we may have to emphasize those a little more again because of the fact that they're young and we may have to get our running game going a little earlier," Hughes said.

To put it all together, as a team without any real superstars, Princeton's success on the gridiron will depend on how it can function as a cohesive team — Hughes says he's very pleased with the team's chemistry so far. In camp, the team has emphasized exactly that, keeping the competition for starting spots tough but positive. Foran noted that, though the competition for starting spots was intense, everyone remembers that "we're teammates first."

The team chemistry is an important step — but only the first of many the Tigers must take if they hope to contend in the Ivy League. Questions are to be expected in August, but September demands answers.