Stifling defensive play responsible for solid win

"'Cause I struggle with forward motion, I struggle with forward motion ... 'Cause forward motion is harder than it sounds. Well every time I gain some ground I gotta turn myself around again. It's harder than it sounds."

-Relient K, "Forward Motion"

Somewhere, deep in a certain writer's motley library of music is this less than spectacular song by Relient K. After Saturday's contest between Columbia (2-1 overall, 0-1 Ivy League) and Princeton (3-0, 1-0), however, you might be able to find this tune on repeat in the media player of Lion's head coach Norries Wilson. Forward motion — a tenet of Columbia's success, at least until the Tiger defense showed up and stopped it.

"This defense, I think, is playing with a lot of passion right now," head coach Roger Hughes said.

And that passion translated into a Princeton victory Saturday afternoon. On a day when the offense was less than pretty, the defense was bruising, battering and most of all, effective.

The numbers reflect the story perfectly. The Lions managed to scrap together a meager 134 yards of total offense. On average, Columbia picked up three yards per play and scored only six points after scoring a combined 60 points in its last two outings on the gridiron. But perhaps the most telling statistic for the Lions was the brutal inefficiency of the offense on third downs. Out of 11 third down conversion attempts, the Lions managed to convert — well, they didn't convert any.

One of the biggest defensive plays came in the third quarter. Columbia's offense took over after a failed Tiger field goal attempt. Quarterback Craig Hormann began the drive with a futile attempt to test the Princeton secondary. Once again, the Tigers had a perfect, smothering secondary. A rare completion to running back Jordan Davis brought up third and four. Horman went to Davis once again, but Davis managed to pick up only three yards because the hard-hitting Princeton defense forced him out of bounds on the left sideline.

Fourth and one: desperate for even a little bit of offensive momentum, Wilson decided to go for it. Hormann handed off to Davis, who tried to go up the middle, but before he could even reach the line of scrimmage he encountered the quick Tiger penetration.

With no room to maneuver, Davis was quickly brought down for a loss of one yard.

That stop gave the sputtering Princeton offense excellent field position at the Columbia 30-yard line. It was enough for the Tigers to net three more precious points that put the game at 17-6, essentially icing the contest.

That's not to say that the Lions didn't have their chances. To the contrary, they had plenty, mainly due to the astronomically high number of Princeton turnovers. Two fumbles and two interceptions gave the struggling Columbia offense great field position on multiple occasions, but the defense simply wouldn't allow the Lions to take advantage of the short field.

"They took us out of some things offensively we wanted to do," Hughes said. "I credit our defense for defending very poor field position and very adverse conditions, making big plays to keep us in the game."

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Big plays like senior defensive back Brig Walker's spectacular interception deep in Princeton territory helped save face for the offense. In what could have been the blunder of the game, senior wide receiver Brian Shields muffed a punt following yet another three and out, giving the Lions excellent field position at the Tigers' 36-yard line.

The defense could have panicked, could have tired. As this season has shown, though, that's simply not this year's defensive squad's mantra.

"Well, you know, it's interesting because some defenses when they come into a sudden change situation, they come into the field and say, 'Here we go again,' we just stopped them now what are we doing," Hughes said. " ... And the neat thing is they just don't get rattled. There's no panic, there's no rattling."

Two plays later, Walker coolly leapt into the air on the right side of the field, struggling with the Columbia receiver, and somehow, after a series of bobbles, miraculously came down with the ball.

"He [Walker] pulled out of the blitz to get over there and he made an unbelievably athletic play to bring that ball down," Hughes said.

Disaster averted.

Perhaps the most fitting play, however, came in the waning moments of the game. After senior punter Colin McDonough sniped a punt to the Lions' own three-yard line, Columbia committed a false start penalty, putting the Lions essentially on their own one-yard line. After making an adjustment to the Columbia screens at halftime, senior defensive end Mike Meehan blindsided Hormann in his own end zone. The safety added two more points to the Princeton lead and completely iced the game.

"It actually turned out to be almost like a delayed blitz, how I just dropped off and then just cut in front," Meehan said.

Fitting, because on a day when the offense did just enough to win and more than enough to lose, the defense managed to grab a little glory and rightfully so. The statistics weren't gaudy — just one interception, one sack — but they didn't need to be. The Lions' only score of the game came off of an untimely Terrell interception. The scoring drive read one play, 13 yards and 29 seconds off the clock.

Who knew moving forward could be so difficult.