Napoleon invaded Russia, the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth and I picked the football team to finish 3-7. Hindsight is 20/20 and with the Tigers sitting pretty at 4-0 it's easy to see my prediction won't be coming true.
In a brief defense, I wasn't alone. In the preseason the media picked Princeton to end the year sixth in the Ivy League. I can't say what motivated them to place the Orange and Black so low, but for me it was the exodus of talented seniors that I thought would doom our squad.
Jay McCareins '05 singlehandedly won at least two games for us last season. I don't mean to imply that the rest of the team did nothing, but rather that his late-game heroics twice swung games in our favor that we otherwise would probably have lost. He is now gone, and has taken his production with him.
Princeton is also without its entire offensive line from last season, a senior-laden group that was one of the best in the Ivy League. At the start of the year, I envisioned that an inexperienced, porous O-line would be the downfall of our offense.
On the other side of the ball, Princeton graduated nearly its entire corps of linebackers, which never bodes well for a defense.
Yet despite these obstacles, the Tigers now find themselves with an undefeated record four weeks into the season for the first time since 1997. What, then, went right?
Frankly, many of the areas I thought to be weak turned out to be solid or even strengths for the Tigers. My biggest concern going into the season — the inexperienced offensive line — has proven itself to be one of the top units in the Ivy League.
Going into the game against Colgate, senior quarterback Jeff Terrell had only been sacked twice, second-least in the Ivy League. This weekend, Terrell was tackled three times, but that didn't prevent the Tigers from coming away victorious.
The line is charged with protecting Terrell, and if the quarterback's success is any indication, then the front four have been performing spectacularly. After not even being among the top-five in Ivy passing last fall, Terrell has stepped into his role as a senior leader and has been the focal point of the Tigers' offense.
Terrell is averaging 225 yards passing per game, which is good for second in the Ancient Eight, and has also thrown the ball for six touchdowns.
On the other hand, he has also shown a tendency to occasionally make poor decisions or throw into double coverage, which accounts for his co-Ivy-leading six interceptions. Nevertheless, his skill and experience have been significant contributors to the team's success thus far.
While the offense has played well, the defense has played even better. Led by senior defensive backs Tim Strickland and J.J. Artis the defense has smothered all of Princeton's opponents.
The Tigers have held their opponents to 14 points per game, which is second in the Ivy League. Linebackers senior Brig Walker and junior Tim Boardman have both emerged forces in the middle to more than fill the hole left by departed seniors.
What comes from the combination of new linebackers, an experienced defensive line and exceptional defensive backs is a unit that has kept the Tigers on top in every game, even when the offense was having trouble clicking, as was the case against Columbia.
But more important than any individual efforts this year has been the impact of the team mastering the little things.
For instance, on Saturday Colgate threw caution to the wind and went for the win with a two-point conversion in overtime, rather than playing it safe with an extra point. On a quarterback draw, sophomore Tom Methvin stood up the Raiders' quarterback short of the goal line to preserve the win. In years past, it seemed as if the quarterback was always making it into the end zone on plays like that.
The Tigers are excelling in other small areas as well. Opposing teams have attempted 11 fourth-down conversions against Princeton this season, but only four of those attempts have been successful, the best rate in the Ivy League. Heading into this weekend, Princeton was sixth in the Ivy League in penalties, while its opponent was second. The list could go on.
The point is that while past Princeton teams have found ways to lose, this year's team is finding ways to win.
If Princeton can keep up the level of success they have established early, it may end up that McCareins — who picked the Orange and Black to finish 10-0 — may come away looking like the genius when the season concludes.
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