New Tigers to face Eli, Crimson vets

The Citadel

Princeton’s first game of the season comes against The Citadel, a military academy in South Carolina. This is the only non-conference game against a team outside the Patriot League; last year the Tigers played Hampton and nearly won before falling short late. The Citadel plays in the competitive Southern Conference, which includes Football Championship Series champion Appalachian State, famous for its upset of Michigan last season. Head coach Roger Hughes cited both the reenergizing of alumni and a boost to recruiting as reasons for scheduling the game.

“They’re a clear step up from where we’re at,” Hughes said. “I’m not ready to say they’re at the mid I-As yet, but it’s in the gray area in between, and frankly it’s the area where we want to recruit our kids from. The other thing in recruiting that helps is that we’re gonna play against some of the best talent we can compared to the rest of the Ivy League.”

The biggest question for the Tigers entering this game will be whether the secondary can handle Bulldog wide receiver Andre Roberts. An FCS All-American, Roberts hauled in nine receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown with long receptions of 41 and 42 yards against Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse Clemson earlier this season. Clemson coach Tommy Bowden went as far as to suggest that Roberts could have a future in the NFL. Heat and humidity will also factor into the equation, and to help prepare the team for southern weather, Hughes has been holding practices between 2 and 5 p.m.

Lehigh

Last season: Lehigh 32, Princeton 21

Princeton’s first opponent of last season returns to Princeton Stadium for the Tigers’ home opener this year. Coming off a tough 5-6 season that ended with a 21-17 home defeat at the hands of bitter rival Lafayette, the Mountain Hawks have started 1-1 following a 19-0 home victory over Drake and a 33- 14 loss to No. 21 Villanova.

Lehigh lost star quarterback Sedale Threatt to graduation but returns two preseason Sports Network All-Americans in senior defensive lineman Brian Jackson and senior linebacker Tim Diamond. Junior defensive lineman B.J. Benning has also been impressive in preseason camp for the Mountain Hawks. Last year, Princeton was done in by five first-half turnovers and was unable to recover from a 23-0 halftime deficit.

This year, the Tigers’ capacity to hold on to the ball will be once again tested. The offensive line’s ability to create an inside running game, which Princeton has lacked in recent years, and to allow senior quarterback Brian Anderson to execute the newly implemented spread offense will also be deciding factors in the game.

Columbia

Last season: Princeton 42, Columbia 32

Columbia has typically been one of the easier games on Princeton’s schedule, as Hughes is 7-1 against the Lions, including a current four-game win streak. Last year, the Tigers ended up 42-32 victors after a topsy-turvy afternoon that saw 966 yards of total offense. Unlike many of its other games, Princeton did a great job on both sides of the ball on third down. The Tigers held Columbia to six of 13 while converting 11 of their own 15 third downs.

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One of the Lions’ bright spots for the game was running back Jordan Davis, who racked up 105 yards on just 18 carries. Davis returns this season as Columbia’s offensive leader, and it will be up to Princeton’s vaunted defensive line to halt the Lions’ workhorse.

Colgate

The last time Princeton took on Colgate, quarterback Jeff Terrell ’07 scored the go-ahead touchdown on a four-yard rush in overtime, and though the Red Raiders countered with a score of their own, they were unable to convert the ensuing two-point conversion. The emotional 27-26 victory was one of many thrilling victories during the Tigers’ storied championship campaign of 2006. This time around, Princeton will have a fiercer team on its hands, as Colgate missed a Patriot League title by one game last year.

The Red Raiders look to wear down opponents with their physical offensive line, led by six-foot, six-inch All-Patriot League right tackle Nick Hennessey. Running back Jordan Scott will demand as much attention as any player Princeton faces this season: The senior has already notched three 1,000-yard seasons and is 748 yards away from breaking the school’s all-time rushing record. Princeton’s front seven will be faced with their second major challenge in as many weeks.

Brown

Last season: Brown 33, Princeton 24

Brown will be Princeton’s first major Ivy League challenge. The Tigers received a rude welcome last October in Providence when the Bears offense rang up 453 yards of total offense on the way to a Brown victory. Little has changed for the Bears personnel-wise since the last meeting.

Second-team All-Ivy quarterback Michael Dougherty will lead a team that boasts nine All-Ivy players and 18 returning starters. Dougherty was the nation’s third-leading passer a year ago, and the Bears led the league in total offense (424.2 yards per game) and scoring offense (31.2 points per game).

Princeton’s untested secondary will be hard pressed to clamp down on both first-team All-Ivy wideout Buddy Farnham and second-team All-Ivy wideout Bobby Sewall, who averaged an impressive 7.56 receptions per game. Brown senior defensive back and co-captain Darrell Harrison, All-Ivy defensive end James Develin and All-Ivy linebacker Jon May will spearhead the Bears’ defense, which will be looking to prove its stalwartness even when not playing with large leads.

HarvardLast season: Harvard 27, Princeton 10

Last year’s Ivy League champion returns 22 starters and comes into the season as the No. 24 FCS team. Offensive tackle James Williams and cornerback Andrew Berry were both named Sports Network preseason All-Americans. Last season, Andrew Berry was so effective that during a four-game span, there were no passes thrown to the receiver he covered.

All-Ivy quarterback Chris Pizzotti returns to call the shots for a well-balanced offense that saw production both from returning running backs Cheng Ho and Gino Gordon and through the passing game. Returning wideout Matt Luft caught 43 passes for 721 yards and averaged an impressive 16.8 yard per catch to go along with six touchdowns.

With strong players on both sides of the ball, Harvard will be as tough an opponent as the Tigers will face all season. Princeton will need not only to play mistake-free football to defeat the Crimson, but will also need an extra edge like superb special teams or an outstanding individual performance.

Cornell

Last season: Princeton 34, Cornell 31

Last season’s only Friday-night fixture for the Tigers came in a rainy clash against Cornell on the day midterms ended. Those who remained on campus witnessed a dominant performance by then-sophomore Princeton running back Jordan Culbreath, who racked up 145 yards on 11 carries while scoring on runs of 49 and 58 yards. The 58-yarder was featured as the best play of the day on SportsCenter’s Top 10 that night, an incredible accomplishment for an FCS player. The Tigers finished with 277 rushing yards as a team to go along with six forced turnovers, and despite a poor passing day from backup quarterback Greg Mroz ’08, Princeton escaped with a 34-31 victory.

This year, the Big Red offense returns quarterback Nathan Ford, who doubles as a baseball player, hulking tackle Steve Valenta, who has a legitimate shot at the NFL, and standout running back Luke Siwula. Defensively, Cornell will look to safety Tim Bax along with a powerful defensive line to improve a defense that was relatively weak last season.

Penn

Last season: Penn 7, Princeton 0

Conservative game-planning and effective defense kept this game in the single digits, with Penn scoring the game’s lone touchdown on a 26-yard run early in the third quarter.

The Quakers return five offensive and five defensive starters. Defensive backs Chris Wynn and Tyson Maugle, linebacker Jay Colabella and offensive lineman Chris Kovalcik were all All-Ivy honorees; Wynn and Maugle totaled seven interceptions together last season, while Colabella finished the season with 46 tackles.

Penn will once again test Princeton’s ability to put points on the board. Extra pressure will be on Anderson to beat the defensive backs, as the Quakers will likely fill the box and let their secondary match up with Princeton’s receivers one on one.

Yale

Last season: Yale 27, Princeton 6

The score is not indicative of how close of a game this really was last season. Princeton outgained Yale 361 to 272, had 25 first downs compared to Yale’s 13 and held superstar running back Mike McLeod to 107 yards on 36 carries.

But the Tigers did themselves in with four turnovers, two of which were fumbles on Yale’s two-yard line, and blown coverage that led to an 80-yard touchdown pass for the Bulldogs. Yale headed into its final game of the year last season undefeated with only a 7-2 Harvard team standing in its way of an Ivy League title. The Crimson obliterated the Bulldogs 37-6 at the Yale Bowl, however, holding McLeod to 50 yards on 20 carries in what was by far his worst outing of the season.

McLeod, now a senior, is in position to break the career rushing record for an Ivy League running back, and he probably won’t stop running until he’s brought Yale the Ivy League title. But as was seen last season, Yale’s offense is largely one-dimensional, and if the Tigers can put together another effective game plan to stop McLeod, this could be an upset in the making. Defensively, Yale is led by senior linebacker Bobby Abare, a two-time first-team All-Ivy honoree and a team captain.

DartmouthLast season: Princeton 17, Dartmouth 14 (OT)

Princeton concluded its 2007 season on a high note at Dartmouth, as Anderson completed the first 11 passes of his first career start, then led the Tigers on a game-winning overtime drive that ended with a field goal from then-junior placekicker Connor Louden. Despite being picked seventh in the preseason media poll, the Big Green has reasons to believe it will be better this season.

Dartmouth will look to junior quarterback Alex Jenny to pick up the slack following the graduation of Tom Bennewitz. Linebacker Andrew Dete, offensive lineman Alex Rapp and running back Milan Williams are the Big Green captains. They, along with 12 other returning starters, will look to provide continuity to a team that showed life at times last season but was plagued by offensive inconsistency and weak defensive play. Princeton has won its last four games against Dartmouth and should be able to continue its streak this year.