Hughes needs Tiger magic to carry over

On a cold September night in 2003, I witnessed Lehigh's 28-13 thrashing of the Princeton football team during a visit to campus. The game was so bad, my host and I left for the swing dancing open house.

Last year, I watched from the Yale press box as 12 busloads of students rushed the field to celebrate the Tigers' 34-31 comeback victory over the Bulldogs.

This time — despite a 14-point Princeton deficit at the half — the only dancing that occurred was on the field.

Something about the 2006 team gave its fans confidence, regardless of the score. The Class of 2007, which suffered through a 2-8 debut season in 2003, gave us reason to hope. Those Tigers, despite plenty of opportunities to give up, refused to lose sight of their goal of an Ivy League championship and capped their careers with two tremendous seasons.

The 2006 Tigers were talented and hard working, but what finally gave head coach Roger Hughes his first title was a little something more. Their desire and composure down the stretch led to two overtime victories and another two wins decided by just a single field goal. Talent alone can't accomplish that.

At the end of last season, Luke Steckel '07 summed up the team atmosphere when he said, "We love each other more than the other team loves themselves."

It remains to be seen whether this year's team can win a repeat championship, something that is notoriously hard to do in a league with so much parity. Having lost a number of All-Ivy seniors, the media has so little faith in this year's Tigers that they were picked to finish fourth in the league, without a single first place vote.

What the media fails to recognize is that the extra something that propelled last year's team did not simply disappear with the Class of 2007. Coach Hughes explains it best: "You hope you create a culture within your program where it is no longer acceptable to accept a second-best effort."

The mission of last year's team was simply stated: Win a championship. But upon this year's team hinges the future of Princeton football. They don't necessarily have to repeat last season's success, but they do have to prove that Tiger fans will not see a season like 2003 for a long time. These Tigers carry the buden of establishing a winning tradition, showing that last year was not a fluke accomplished by a bit of luck and a group of special seniors.

Success breeds success for a simple reason: recruiting. The best team in the Ivy League is most likely to land the best Ivy League recruits, and recruits are what sustain a championship program. The gleam of Hughes' championship ring has already swayed a few high school seniors into thinking that their football future is brightest as a Tiger.

But in a sport where even the best players often don't find playing time until their junior years, the ripples of last year's success are still a few years off. To forge another successful season, the Tigers will need to channel the grace under pressure they called upon so often last season. Jeff Terrell '07 was the face of last year's team, the man who again and again came up with the big play to seal the win. With his departure, the quarterback position remains one of the biggest question marks for Princeton.

Senior Bill Foran has been waiting two years for the role after narrowly losing the starting job to Terrell in 2005. In Terrell's short absence last season, he engineered a touchdown drive against Harvard, displaying he is more than capable under center. A sprinter on the track team, he has always been a force on special teams and even at wide receiver. There is no doubt the man can run.

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The question really is whether the coaches and offense will adapt to his different style. Foran says he loves to pass, but he is indisputably a different quarterback than Terrell. The coaches readily admit the need to adapt, and they have showed creativity in using Foran's strengths in the past. If the team can adjust and Foran can take the heat, there's no reason the offense can't be as successful as last season's.

Foran will have first-team All-Ivy senior co-captain Brendan Circle to catch his passes at wide receiver, and the experience of senior Rob Toresco and junior R.C. Lagomarsino at running back. The offense's versatility should keep defenses on their toes. Defensively, the coaches' biggest worry is the secondary — where they were hit hard by losing first-team All-Ivy selections J.J. Artis '07 and Tim Strickland '07 — but in general, there is plenty of talent to step up.

Standing on the sidelines, as he has for the past six years, will be Hughes. He has seen the worst and the best of Tiger football. After sticking by this program through barren years and taunting media, he has reached the top of the heap. This year and those that follow will determine whether he can be mentioned with Princeton dynasty-builders like Bill Tierney and Pete Carril.

Hughes is a staunch supporter of the Ivy League and a likeable man, apt to tear up during a press conference at the success and character of his "boys."

Originally hailing from Nebraska, Hughes describes himself as both the "corniest coach in America" and "old school." Hughes likes to say that success makes you "slow to learn and quick to forget" — quick to forget the hard work that got you there.

But I have little doubt that losses like the one I witnessed in 2003 are constantly motivating Hughes. He knows how thin the line can be between success and failure — a single missed field goal, just one poor block.

After all, fans are always quick to forget success, as well as failure.