Football: Colgate comes calling

Last year, on a cold Saturday night in October, the football team took the field against Colgate to play a game that almost everyone thought they would lose.

For 3 hours, 19 minutes, Princeton played its heart out and essentially matched the superior Raiders stat for stat. Colgate, 14.3 yards per completion; Princeton, 11.3. Colgate, 3.5 yards per rush; Princeton, 4. Colgate, 318 total offensive yards; Princeton, 358.

When the final whistle blew — after two overtime periods had been completed in what seemed to be a never-ending game — there was only one stat left that anyone paid any attention to: Colgate 21, Princeton 14.

It was the kind of game that most players dream about being a part of — the kind of game that people can’t stop talking about, even days or weeks after it ends, because it was the kind of game that tends not to happen more than once.

There’s no doubt that the magic of last year’s game will be on Princeton’s (1-2 overall, 0-1 Ivy League) mind when it steps back onto Powers Field to take its shot at revenge against Colgate (2-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. Indeed, to those who were on last year’s squad, there is much that could trigger deja vu.

This year, like last year, the Tigers are coming off a tough loss to Columbia — a team that until recently was hardly a blip on Princeton’s radar screen.

The Tigers’ performance last Saturday in Manhattan was streaky at best, and the Lions exposed the tremendous weaknesses in both Princeton’s offense and defense. Junior quarterback Tommy Wornham was sacked twice last week, and the offense as a whole managed only 83 rushing yards — a repeat performance of that proportion would likely spell disaster for Princeton and could result in a blowout.

This year, like last year, the Tigers have been unable to find their rhythm in their first three games of the season. Though Princeton displayed remarkable tenacity against Lafayette in its double-overtime win, it followed up that victory with a game devoid of energy, characterized by lackluster play.

Head coach Bob Surace ’90 has said repeatedly that — at least for the Tigers — the difference between winning and losing is being able to take the extra step and finish plays. If Princeton can find that kind of vitality in its play, it would become even more likely that it could conjure another four quarters of the kind that they played against Colgate in 2009.

The Tigers hope Wornham can conjure up the same type of offensive dynamism that sparked the team’s offense in the first two games of the year. In the season opener against Lafayette, Wornham threw for a career-best 392 yards and the following week, he passed for 214 yards, rushed for 49 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. For his performance, Wornham received Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors.

In senior wide receivers Trey Peacock and Andrew Kerr, Wornham has found two reliable targets.

In Colgate, Princeton will find a team that — like last year — is both capable and confident. The Raiders have won 67 of their last 86 Patriot League games and recently defeated Georgetown at home 34-3. Colgate makes few mistakes and runs a penetrating offense that has averaged 21.5 points per game, while the Tigers’ defense allows their opponents an average of 36.7 points. Moreover, while Princeton averages 408 yards per game, it allows its opponents an average of 425.3 yards — a statistic that has likely not gone unnoticed by the Raiders.

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Like last year, then, it seems that the Tigers will wake up on Saturday morning with the odds stacked against them. By all accounts, this is a game that — at least on paper — will be a difficult one for Princeton to win.

That is, unless the Tigers can capture the magic that they’ve found in fits and starts and turn Saturday’s game into yet another one to remember.