Football's streak snapped

ITHACA, N.Y. — Apparently, the Tigers' parents never told them to always finish what they start.

Amid three turnovers and an offense that couldn't find a way to finish its drives, the Tigers (6-1 overall, 3-1 Ivy League) fell to Cornell (3-4, 1-3), 14-7.

Those measly seven points came out of a total of 328 yards of offense, significantly higher than Cornell's 274 yards.

"All week, we talked about focus and finish and we didn't finish drives," head coach Roger Hughes said. "We moved it well at times, but we didn't get in the end zone when we needed to."

By the end of the first quarter alone, it looked as though the Tigers had come away from midterm week tired and unprepared, particularly after the team's emotional win over Harvard. Princeton managed only one first down, 17 yards of total offense and two fumbles in the first stanza.

"It's hard to play at the same level of intensity [every week]," Hughes said.

Fortunately for the Tigers, though, they didn't lose those fumbles, and their defense held Cornell out of the end zone. Princeton stopped the Big Red at the Princeton 37 on third down and forced a punt after a steady march downfield.

Senior quarterback Jeff Terrell, meanwhile, seemed to have a hard time hitting his targets early on. On a drive to start the second quarter, he overthrew junior wide receiver Brendan Circle and, a few plays later, senior wide receiver Brian Brigham before Princeton had to punt again.

But Cornell had some bad luck too. The Big Red responded with another march down to Princeton's 30-yard line, but the Tiger defense again stalled them to force a long field goal attempt that bounced off the crossbar and back into the end zone.

On their next drive, the Tigers were more than happy to help Cornell out a bit. Taking the ball at the 30, Princeton advanced for a first down before, on second and 10, Terrell tripped over sophomore tailback Pete Ploszek in the backfield for a five-yard loss.

Faced with the pressure of third and 15, and perhaps a bit of frustration too, Terrell threw an interception on the next play that Cornell returned to the one-yard line. From there, it only took a rush straight up the gut for the Big Red to get on the board first, 7-0, with four minutes, 10 seconds left in the half.

Though the Tigers had won the toss and deferred to the second half, they couldn't make anything of it and failed to even cross midfield.

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With Cornell taking possession, star tailback Luke Siwula pounded the ball ahead for his team. After he got his team another first down at the Princeton 40, the Big Red aired out a long pass for a touchdown to cap off an 89-yard drive and take a 14-0 advantage.

Not to be deterred, though, sophomore tailback R.C. Lagomarsino got the ball early on in Princeton's next drive and rushed up the far side, dodging one tackle and pushing another man aside before being brought down at the Cornell 40, a 38-yard rush.

Terrell and junior fullback Rob Toresco got touches on the next plays before Lagomarsino again got Princeton a first down at the 15. Terrell then found junior tight end Jake Staser for a new set of downs at the two, and from there, Toresco ran around the right end of his line and into the end zone.

Princeton, though, wouldn't be able to find a second touchdown to tie the game. After punts by each team, senior free safety Tim Strickland managed an interception, but Princeton failed to convert on fourth and six from the Cornell 28.

The Tigers had another chance, too, after a big fourth and one stop on Cornell, but this time Terrell fumbled the ball around midfield after the Princeton offense gained only one first down.

It was the same story again a few minutes later, with Princeton forcing a fourth-down punt by Cornell. The Tigers took over with 2:43 left at the 15, and Terrell marched his team up the field with three first downs, the last on a pass over the middle to Staser to advance to Cornell's 38. After another first down, Terrell spiked the ball at first and 10 on the 25 with 0:31 left in regulation.

Throwing to Brigham's side on the next play, Cornell intercepted Terrell's pass to end the game.

"We felt like we could do it," Terrell said of his team's repeated attempts to tie the game. "We felt like we were going to do it the whole time."

When it comes to the Ivy League race, Princeton still can do it. The Tigers face Penn next weekend, and will likely need to defeat them, as well as undefeated Yale, to remain in the race.

If Princeton can indeed finish what it started this season, then a crown certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility.