Football: Tigers set to host opener

With senior linebacker and tri-captain Steve Cody out for the remainder of the year with to a leg injury, Princeton (0-1) will once again be forced to adjust its playing style to fill a serious personnel gap when the football team takes the field against Lafayette (0-2) in Saturday night’s home opener.

“[Cody] is one of the best in the country,” head coach Bob Surace ’90 said. “He has the ability to make plays — big plays — by himself. Nobody is ever happy when any player is injured, but everybody has been great about staying focused and about continuing to be focused. [Without him,] it’s now more important than ever that every defenseman executes their responsibilities. It’s up to the guys to play team defense now.”

The Tigers’ play on the defensive end of the ball will be especially critical against the Lafayette. The Leopards boast two of the better backs in the league, including Jerome Rudolph, who has already rushed for 154 yards this season.

“It’s going to be a difficult task,” Surace said. “Lafayette’s offense is like thunder and lightning — they’re an explosive team.”

Though an ankle injury kept Lafayette’s starting quarterback, Ryan O’Neil, from playing for more than half of the Leopards’ most recent game against Penn, he is expected to be fit and healthy by Saturday — at which time he is sure to be a threat. O’Neil threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns in Lafayette’s opener against Georgetown in a tight game that nearly saw the Leopards eke out a last-minute victory.

“[O’Neil] is a great quarterback,” Surace said. “We’re a little unlucky in the sense that he was out [for much of the game] against Penn but is back for us. We expect him to be very good on Saturday.”

With Cody out of the starting lineup, it will be crucial for the remaining defensive players, including sophomore linebacker Andrew Starks and senior linebacker Jon Olofsson, to play airtight defense. O’Neil is vulnerable to being sacked — he was taken down three times against Georgetown — and a high-pressure defensive line should be able to seriously trouble O’Neil on Saturday.

From an offensive perspective, Princeton will find itself creating multiple scoring opportunities if it continues to play with the same kind of strength and fire that it displayed against Lehigh, when junior quarterback Tommy Wornham and senior wide receiver Trey Peacock connected for an 80-yard touchdown pass. The play was the Tigers’ longest pass play since 2004.

In addition to Peacock and Wornham, senior running back Jordan Culbreath — who will be playing in only his second game since last September on Saturday — will factor heavily into Princeton’s offensive performance. Culbreath, who is still easing his way back into full-time play, is expected to play for half of the game against Lafayette, just as he did against Lehigh. Culbreath’s presence brought an energy and a spark to the offense that seemed to be missing for much of last year, and he played without showing any rust from missing almost the entirety of last season. Culbreath currently leads the team in rushing yards and contributed more than a third of Princeton’s total rushing offense against Lehigh.

Beyond individual performances, it will be the team’s overall focus that will decide the outcome on Saturday.

“We’ve emphasized that college games — especially with good teams like Lafayette — come down to a few plays,” Surace said. “There were so many instances [against Lehigh] where if our guys had taken one more step, they would have made a block or an interception or something else. We have to finish plays if we want to be successful. Everyone has to take that one more step.”