Football: Another trip to Lehigh, another co-captain felled by serious injury

The offense seemed promising to those in attendance. Junior quarterback Tommy Wornham was returning as the starter after a solid first year at the top of the depth chart, and senior running back and co-captain Jordan Culbreath was making his triumphant debut after a year away from the game due to illness. Senior receivers Trey Peacock and Andrew Kerr were raring to cap off their careers with hallmark seasons. New offensive coordinator James Perry had refigured and reenergized the unit over the summer.

But the Tigers (0-1) held onto the ball for less than 1 minute.

Fortunately for the Tigers, their discomfort with the new offensive scheme wore off quickly, as they gathered more than 500 offensive yards by game’s end, including 392 passing yards from Wornham and 196 receiving yards from Peacock. Even Culbreath got in on the fun in his return to the field, gaining 56 yards on nine carries. Unfortunately for Princeton, though, this year’s matchup with Lehigh (2-1) held eerie similarities to last year’s. And unlike last time, the Tigers did not even get a victory out of this trip.

As in 2009, the Mountain Hawks played multiple quarterbacks against Princeton (then it was due to strategy, now to injury). And like last year, the teams were evenly matched, with physicality and long plays defining the flow of the game.

And worst of all for the Tigers, as in 2009, one of the squad’s unquestionable stars, leaders and co-captains was felled by injury, potentially out for the season.

Last year, it was Culbreath, the All-Ivy League star rusher. On Saturday, it was senior inside linebacker and co-captain Steve Cody, a pre-season All-American who finished last year ranked fifth in the Ivy League in tackles per game. Cody went down with an apparent leg injury while making a tackle late in the fourth quarter, and he did not get up until he could be hoisted into a stretcher and then carted off the field. It was a scary moment for the Tigers, who now seem likely to have lost a leader at Lehigh’s Goodman Stadium for the second straight year.

While initial rumors held that Cody would be out for the season, the Athletics Department has not yet issued a statement. After the game, Surace said he would have an update on Cody’s status early this week.

Despite his early departure, Cody played a large role in disrupting Lehigh’s offense Saturday, grabbing 12 tackles, including half a sack.

The Tiger offense seemed similarly inspired, completing its longest pass in six years (an 80-yard touchdown bomb from Wornham to Peacock), its most passing yards in four years and its most field goals (five, by junior kicker Pat Jacob) in half a decade. However, Princeton’s inability to convert its impressive drives into more than three-point scores came back to bite it, and its 10 penalties for 91 yards did not help. The Tigers were within one touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, when Lehigh finally sealed the 13-point victory.

“It was obviously a physical football game, and there’s a lot of momentum swings in that game,” Surace said after the loss. “It comes down to a few plays, and we were a few plays short. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and correct some things, but I couldn’t be prouder of how hard we played.”

Surace expressed disappointment with the result — the loss broke a two-game Tiger win streak against Lehigh — but he also maintained a measured, positive outlook as he looked forward at his tenure as the coach of his alma mater.

With the rock of his defense still in undetermined condition, the coach recalled the team’s 2009 season as a potential source of inspiration, despite its overall record of just 4-6.

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“Last year, we had to overcome [Culbreath’s injury],” he said. “It sounds like it’s going to be the same thing this year. We have to come together. You know ... I don’t think anyone in the stands can blame these guys effort-wise.”

So perhaps Saturday’s game was not quite like last year’s. The previous one was an ugly win that held little in the way of promise for the rest of the season. If the weekend’s offensive fireworks were any indication of things to come, though, and if Surace is to be trusted when he affirms his belief that his players are capable of pushing on even without one of their most prominent teammates alongside them, then the squad need not panic quite yet.

After all, they have been through this before.