Football: Perennial pushover tops Tigers

The stats tell the story of the game: 66 penalty yards, four turnovers on downs, two fumbles lost inside the 20-yard line, one interception. But the most painful numbers were those on the scoreboard: Columbia 38, Princeton 0.

The loss was Princeton’s (1-2 overall, 0-1 Ivy League) worst against Columbia (2-1, 1-0) in school history. On the bright side, the outcome paled in comparison to the Tigers’ biggest win over their New York rivals, an 85-0 thumping of the Lions back in 1890.

“The score pretty much indicates how the game was,” head coach Roger Hughes said. “In the first half, we turned the ball over and gave them scores. In the second half, we started with another turnover and didn’t create any turnovers, and that was really the story of the game … Offensively, we didn’t execute like we should have, and that falls on my shoulders.”

It didn’t take long for Columbia’s triple-option attack to make an imprint on the game. The Lions ran the ball on the game’s first six plays, taking the ball all the way to Princeton’s eight-yard line. From there, the Tigers held tough, breaking up two passes and forcing the Lions to turn the ball over on downs in the red zone. Senior defensive end Joel Karacozoff jumped up to bat down a pass at the line of scrimmage on the fourth-down play.

After trading short possessions, Princeton committed the first turnover of the game. Sophomore quarterback Tommy Wornham and junior tailback Meko McCray botched a handoff inside their 20-yard line. The Lions recovered the fumble, gaining possession only 19 yards from the end zone.

Columbia promptly cashed in on the Tigers’ miscue when quarterback M.A. Olawale snuck the ball in from the one-yard line. That touchdown and a missed extra point gave Columbia an early 6-0 lead.

Princeton appeared poised to counter after a 21-yard run from Wornham took the Tigers past midfield for the first time in the game. But for the second time in a quarter, a failed fourth-down conversion ruined a potential scoring drive. This time, junior wide receiver Trey Peacock was tackled short of the first-down marker on a short reception.

“We just didn’t execute like we should have,” Hughes said. “They didn’t do anything differently than we thought they would have. It’s just a matter of execution again. When it’s third down, you’ve got to make the throw, you’ve got to block.”

The second quarter turned into a defensive standoff. Neither Princeton nor Columbia could establish much on offense, and the game turned into a battle of field position.

The Tigers appeared to catch a break when a short punt from Columbia gave Princeton the ball on its own 40-yard line. A leaping catch in double coverage on third-down from junior wide receiver Jeb Heavenrich brought the ball into Lions’ territory. On the next play, what could have been a long touchdown run from senior fullback Kenny Gunter was called back by a holding penalty. Princeton’s drive then stalled, and the team was forced to punt once again.

An illegal-blocking penalty by the Tigers pinned their offense inside the 10-yard line with a little more than one minute to play in the first half. On the second play of the drive, Gunter committed the team’s second fumble of the game on the Princeton 11 with 51 seconds to go.

A holding penalty that pushed Columbia back 10 yards negated Olawale’s second touchdown run of the game and gave the Tiger defense a modicum of breathing room. Though Princeton was able to keep the Lions out of the end zone, Gregory Guttas’ 26-yard field goal gave Columbia a 9-0 lead.

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“We felt good in a number of respects. We felt like we’d taken their best shots, and it was only a two-possession game,” Hughes said. “We really felt like our defense had settled in. We felt like we’d dodged some bullets, and we thought that if we could get our ground offensively, we could claw our way up, but we weren’t able to do that.”

The Lions opened the scoring in the second half on another big play from their defense. Cornerback Jared Morine picked off a pass from Wornham and ran back 51 yards untouched for the score. Columbia added a two-point conversion to stretch its lead to 17-0.

Princeton attempted to use its special teams to provide a spark on its next possession. Freshman punter Joe Cloud took the long snap and tried to rush it past the first-down marker, but he was stopped short.

In desperate need of some points, the Tigers drove the ball on their next possession from their 12-yard line all the way to the Columbia 22. That was as far as Princeton could drive, and the offense turned the ball over on downs for the third time in the game.

“We’ve got to execute better. We’ve got to understand what we’re trying to do,” Hughes said. “We moved the ball well at times today. We’ve got to make sure we don’t put our defense in situations that are bad. In the second half, I thought we had a little bit of a letdown defensively. It could have been the fact that they were on the field for a long time.”

Columbia added to the scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter. Olawale lofted a deep pass to wide receiver Mike Stephens, who caught the ball in stride on his way to a 50-yard touchdown reception that made the score 24-0.

Following Princeton’s fourth turnover on downs, the Lions marched the ball up the field on a drive that was capped by a 27-yard touchdown catch-and-run from Olawale to wide receiver Austin Knowlin. The touchdown and extra point extended the Columbia lead to 31-0.

Columbia pushed its lead to 38-0 minutes later, putting together a 13-play, 49-yard final drive that ended on a one-yard rush from running back Leon Ivery.

“Clearly, we’ve got to find some answers offensively. I don’t know that our approach is wrong, but clearly we’ve got to make some changes to get more productivity,” Hughes said, “whether that means practicing differently or [that] our execution just has to be better. I’m really disappointed because I felt like we’ve had one of the best practices that we’ve had.”

Princeton will look to rebound from its loss this Thursday in a nationally televised night game at Princeton Stadium against Colgate.