Princeton's time to shine

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 11 – Somehow, you knew that the football team wouldn't let it end in such an abysmal fashion. Somehow, you knew that the defense, which allowed Yale quarterback Matt Polhemus and running back Mike McLeod to run uncontested over the field in the first half, would take the field with a vengeance in the second half. And somehow, you knew that senior quarterback Jeff Terrell, who threw five interceptions last year's matchup between the Tigers and the Bulldogs would be as sharp as ever with the offense in hand.

Feeling confident that Princeton (8-1 overall, 5-1 Ivy League) would beat Yale (7-2, 5-1) would have been a bit much, especially considering the way that the Bulldogs dominated the Tigers in the first half. But when Princeton left the field, you got the feeling that this fight wasn't over — even if the Yalies were celebrating their victory prematurely. (Related: Read our play-by-play coverage on our Sports blog.)

Simply put, the Tigers could not have played a worse first half. The defense failed to record a single stop — the Bulldogs scored a touchdown on each of their drives save one, when their kicker missed a 36-yard chip-shot field goal. The offense was entirely out of synch during the first quarter, and Terrell fumbled away the rock on one of the team's best drives, deep in Yale territory.

Yet when the dust cleared, Princeton was only down by 14 points. Adjustments had to be made, obviously; McLeod had rushed 17 times for 151 yards, good for four touchdowns and an average of 8.9 yards per carry. Polhemus' rushing average bettered even McLeod's — the dancing, scrambling quarterback picked up 74 yards on only seven rushes, good for 10.6 yards per carry. Terrell and his entourage of receivers were breathing life into the offense, but that trend needed to be accentuated in the second half.

Making these kinds of adjustments, however, has defined the football personality of this team. Princeton has maintained a calm, cool mentality throughout this season, and that quality may have saved the Tigers' season on Saturday.

"I've said it all year long, this team is so even tempered and so even emotionally that we play a certain level. I call it relentless monotony and that's basically what we do," head coach Roger Hughes said. "It doesn't really matter what the other team is doing — we play at a certain level and we've simulated that better than any other team we've had here at Princeton."

The Tigers clearly illuminated Hughes' comments during the first series of the third quarter. Down by 14 points already, the defense needed to keep the game manageable for the offense. To make matters worse, it was the Bulldogs and not the Tigers that would have control of the ball to open the second half, and Yale had scored virtually every time it touched the ball in the first half.

The defense got its first stop of the game on that possession. You could see it on the field — the injured pride and the overwhelming confidence that this unit could, and would, stop the seemingly invincible Yale rushing attack.

And it did. A couple of good stops on the run forced Polhemus to pass, and senior cornerback J.J. Artis had excellent coverage on the throw. The Bulldogs had to punt.

Terrell and the offense put together a fantastic drive that ultimately stalled in Yale territory. Instead of punting or going for the long field goal, Hughes opted to go for it on fourth-and-14 — a testament to his faith in the defense. The Bulldogs instantly penetrated the offensive line and sacked Terrell, who never had a chance.

It turned out to be a fine decision, however, as the defense brought down McLeod twice for negative yardage, bringing up third-and-12. Polhemus had no choice but to pass, and his weakness was exposed. Over the course of the second half, Polhemus was forced to pass 11 times. He completed only three of those passes. With McLeod being stopped dead in his tracks every time, Polhemus had to pick up big chunks of yardage on third down. Even more importantly, the big bad Princeton 'D' only allowed Polhemus to rush three more times — and he picked up a very marginal five total yards on those rushes.

The defensive unit was back. The Tigers had been over-pursuing the ball in the first half, instead of staying patient and swallowing up the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage. Going for the sack on every down allowed McLeod and Polhemus to find wide-open green spaces.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"I think basically our D–line got a little bit anxious," Hughes said. "That allowed the offensive line from Yale to reach in, and McLeod has such great vision he was able to take advantage of that."

Case in point: In the first half, Princeton turned the ball over on downs at the Bulldogs' 39-yard line. On the next play, McLeod took the handoff, appeared as if he was going to go left but instead went right. The defense had swarmed the left side of the field, but the right half was a pasture for McLeod. He swallowed up the yards and was finally forced out of bounds at the 15. Two plays later, he ran it in for a TD.

In the second half, McLeod and Polhemus had nowhere to run, and the Bulldogs were forced to put together a balanced passing attack to complement their talented running game. The gauntlet was thrown, but no one in a Yale uniform picked it up.

"They had a great O-line that could take advantage of us," senior linebacker Brig Walker, who had eight tackles on the day and two for negative yardage, said. "We just had to ... play fundamental football, trust our coaches, focus and make the play that comes our way."

The Bulldogs moved 78 yards in the second half. To put that in perspective, McLeod alone had 151 yards in the first half — almost twice as many yards as the entire offensive unit had in the third and fourth quarters.

The defense held up its end of the bargain, and Terrell and the offense made sure the effort didn't go to waste.

Terrell finished the day completing 32 of 47 passes for 445 yards and three touchdowns — the fourth-highest yardage a Tiger quarterback has thrown for in the program's history. He spread the ball around, too, throwing two touchdown passes to junior wide receiver Brendan Circle, and one — the game winner — to wide open senior wide receiver Brian Brigham. Terrell even ran one in himself, after a pump fake forced an embarrassed Yale cornerback to jump into the air. Terrell jogged into the endzone unscathed.

Terrell put together one of the most memorable performances in program history.

"How do you describe 450 yards and I don't know how many touchdown passes?" Hughes said. "The nice thing is, when it looked like we were going to have to go to our two-minute offense, he's calling all the plays as he sees the secondary develop."

As badly as the Tigers played in the first half, they played well in the second half. Everyone chipped in, and really, it was everyone. It was a true team win. The defense, the wideouts, the running backs and, of course, Terrell — everyone made a play on the ball.

"I felt confident, going in to halftime. I thought we were moving the ball like we needed to," Terrell said. "I thought if we could come out with our two-minute offense and keep doing what we were doing — keep the defense back on their heels. I just tried to keep the offense upbeat in the halftime room — keep that focus."

That focus delivered every Princeton student's dream: a bonfire. But before everyone forgets, there's still something even more valuable to be played for: an Ivy League championship.