Terrell quarterbacked football team to an Ivy title

Senior Jeff Terrell has not had it easy. At the end of his sophomore year, he had yet to play a single down for the football team, having ridden the bench every game his freshman and sophomore seasons while witnessing the team compile a less-than-inspiring 7-13 overall record without him.

Even going into his junior campaign, Terrell faced an uncertain future — three other young guns were competing for the vacant starting quarterback spot on the eve of the 2005 season. Terrell won that battle and kept on winning for two years, as he has built one of the most impressive careers in the long and storied history of Princeton football.

Having been given the nod as starter, Terrell promptly led the Tigers to a 7-3 record — their best in 10 seasons — and a second-place Ivy League finish. Terrell developed quickly as a passer in 2005, best showcased perhaps in a 30-13 win at Penn in which he threw for three touchdowns, including a dramatic 60-yard bomb to Derek Davis '06. That season, he completed 55 percent of his passes and accumulated 1,721 total yards and 10 touchdowns.

Terrell added a new element to Princeton's offense by using his speed to pick up ground as a rusher, averaging nearly four yards per carry, and scoring five touchdowns on the ground. Blessed with a suffocating defense on the other side of the ball, Princeton held hopes for a 2005 Ivy title before Yale came to town in November and shocked Terrell with five interceptions in a loss that dealt a crippling blow to the Tigers' dreams of a championship.

That infamous day would only serve to motivate Terrell, as he came back his senior year for a thrilling season that will be long remembered among the Tiger faithful. The numbers tell part of the story — nine wins, 21 touchdowns, 2,500 yards, a 131.3 passer rating — but Terrell's performance in fall 2006 transcended mere statistics. At times, Terrell was simply brilliant.

The definition of a leader on the field, Terrell marshaled his team to win after win, shouldering the load of the offense with strong, accurate passes that had the rest of the Ivy League fearing the Orange and Black.

Terrell was at his best in the clutch; during the seemingly countless moments when the season was on the line, he elevated his game to carry his team to another improbable victory. This characteristic was on display in his overtime touchdown run against Penn on Nov. 11, a play that landed him atop the night's Top 10 plays on ESPN's SportsCenter. It was on display again when he exorcised the demons of last year's loss to Yale in a virtuoso 445-yard performance that gave Princeton its long-awaited bonfire.

When the dust cleared at the end of this season, Terrell had led Princeton to its first Ivy League championship in over a decade, with the team's first nine-win campaign since 1964. For his efforts, Terrell was unanimously named first-team All-Ivy and winner of the 2006 Bushnell Cup winner as the League Player of the Year.