In the football team's first two games of the season, the Tigers found ways to win. But on Saturday, the team didn't have to do much searching at all.
Princeton easily discovered the formula for a blowout win: keep your offense on the field for 40 minutes and 12 seconds, more than ample time to establish some dominating and devastating rhythm.
"I had confidence, and I felt like I could carry on the rhythm early on [after the first drive]," junior quarterback Jeff Terrell said.
And while Terrell played a solid game, a confluence of factors allowed the Tigers to utterly frustrate Columbia en route to a 43-3 win.
As both Terrell and head coach Roger Hughes agreed, the ultimate key to Saturday's win was the strong play of Princeton's all-senior offensive line, led by offensive captain and senior outside lineman Ben Brielmaier. "When our offensive line plays well, we have a chance to move the football," Hughes said. "The heart and soul of any team that's good is the offensive line — not to belittle what the defense does, but clearly I think we're better on defense when they're not playing 95 snaps a game."
Play after play, the offensive line opened up holes for the Tigers to run through. Princeton's running corps finished with 57 rushes for 324 yards. And it wasn't just sophomore tailback Rob Toresco or junior fullback Cleo Kirkland who carried the ball — even sophomore quarterback Bill Foran found himself scrambling ahead for yards when he saw time late in the third and fourth quarters.
"The mentality [was] we had to run the ball effectively to win," Hughes said, noting the high quality of Columbia's secondary. By forcing the Lions' defense to be always on guard for the threat of the Tigers' running game, Princeton could then spread Columbia's secondary a bit thinner, opening up the passing game.
"They had the number one pass defense coming in, and, because we were able to rush the ball, we were [then] able to throw the ball effectively," Terrell said.
But you can't get your running or passing game going, at least not to the tune of 43 points, without being on the field an awful lot of the time. It all goes back to rhythm: in dominating the possession game, Princeton put itself in position to capitalize time and again, scoring points all eight trips into the red zone.
That momentum kept building on itself, creating a ferocious wave of Orange and Black that swamped the Lions, wearing down their defense and hardly allowing their offense to take its spot on the field. In fact, the Tigers' rhythm was so good that Hughes decided against putting Foran in the game in the first half as he had planned to, deferring his substitution to the third quarter.
"We were doing so well offensively, and I thought Jeff was in the zone — his passes were crisp and on the money — so I wasn't going to chance a change in the rhythm, especially coming out in the third quarter," Hughes said. "Even in the third quarter, I told Jeff, 'You need to take this one down and score so we can get some other guys in the game here, and [you need] to establish your dominance,' and he really did that."
Hughes also indicated that, as long as Terrell built up solid rhythm early in the game, he would hold off putting Foran in. The Tigers hope that the kind of rhythm they were able to build on Saturday will translate into serious momentum as they prepare for more difficult Ivy League competition.
"The difference between the last two games [and this game]," Kirkland said, "is that we're finally getting into a rhythm and we're learning to have confidence in the way we do things."
That sort of confidence and momentum is just what the doctor ordered for Hughes.
"I use less blood pressure medicine in games like [Saturday's]," Hughes joked.
It remains to be seen whether this Princeton team can help keep Hughes' blood pressure down. Three games into the season, the Tigers have never trailed in a game. They have defeated three previously undefeated teams. They have, by any standard, some momentum.
But as Hughes pointed out after the win, early momentum is only the start. He was quick to say that he doesn't feel any better about this year's 3-0 start than he did about last year's.
"We have not handled success well [in past seasons]," Hughes said. "It's a 10-round fight, and what happened in the third round today has no bearing on what happens next week."
Princeton will continue its search for a successful Ivy League season in the coming weeks. It remains to be seen what the Tigers will find.
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