Terrell named Ivy Player of the Year, five others make first-team

A 9-1 season. Thrilling defeats of league rivals Harvard and Yale. A bonfire in front of hundreds of Princeton students. And an Ivy League Championship for the first time in over a decade.

Add the title of Ivy League Player of the Year to senior quarterback Jeff Terrell's mediocre list of accomplishments.

Following the team's 27-17 defeat of Dartmouth this past weekend to cap off an Ivy League championship season, Terrell won the Asa S. Bushnell Cup. The award is the highest league honor any Ivy League player can achieve and is given to the best player in the league.

Terrell is only the sixth Tiger and second quarterback to win the award. The last quarterback to win was Jason Garrett '89, who went to the same high school in Ohio, the University School, that Terrell attended.

Three Tigers were unanimous All-Ivy selections: Terrell, senior punter Colin McDonough, and senior cornerback J.J. Artis. Additionally, senior defensive back Tim Strickland and junior wide receiver Brendan Circle were both chosen for the first team as well.

Terrell's play was instrumental in securing the title for Princeton this season. He passed for 2,445 yards, completing about 60 percent of his passes — numbers that put him fifth in a single season. Those passes translated into 17 touchdowns, and Terrell added four rushing touchdowns of his own. Moreover, with 4,166 all time passing yards, he ranks fourth on the Princeton list.

Those numbers, though, belie the drama of this season's competitions. The Tigers launched comeback wins against Lafayette, Colgate, Harvard and Yale. Against the Leopards in the season opener, the Tigers fell behind at halftime, 10-0, but got things going in the fourth quarter to secure a win.

Perhaps the most dramatic memory for Princeton players and fans from this season, though, will be from the Penn game, in which Terrell took an unscripted pitch from junior running back Rob Toresco as he was stopped short to run into the end zone around the far end of the line.

Terrell managed to put his offense back together to find his receivers in the fourth quarter against Yale in a memorable away contest. Though the Tigers were down 28-14 at halftime, Princeton outscored the Bulldogs, 14-3, in the last stanza to take the win. Down 31-26 with 10 minutes to play, Terrell found senior wide receiver Brian Brigham for 57 yards to set up the winning touchdown catch by Circle.

All told, the Tigers won five games by four points or less. With as thrilling as virtually all of the Tigers' games were this year, Terrell's remarkable award might end up being the least memorable part of the storied 2005-06 football season.