Football Analysis: 142-year-old team has first 1-9 campaign

As it had in each of its previous games this season, Princeton struggled to finish drives and was unable to capitalize on its scoring opportunities. After making their way to the Big Green’s 34-yard line in their opening possession (the kind of quick start that has become typical of Princeton’s offensive play), the Tigers stalled and were forced into a third-and-long situation, a position with which the battered team has been all too familiar this year. Princeton managed to convert only 32 percent of its third downs this fall, marking the team’s lowest efficiency rate since at least 2006. On Saturday, the Tigers successfully converted only 23 percent of their third-down opportunities. Dartmouth, on the other hand, operated with 60 percent efficiency — a strikingly high number that only begins to hint at the defensive problems Princeton faced.

Indeed, every time the Big Green found its way inside the Tigers’ 20-yard line, Princeton withered and fell apart. Dartmouth made four excursions to the red zone Saturday afternoon and scored all four times, earning three touchdowns and one field goal. The Tigers’ red-zone defense has been a consistent problem all season: Princeton’s opponents scored on 91 percent of their red-zone opportunities this fall, and 74 percent of those scores were touchdowns.

“The season didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to,” sophomore linebacker Andrew Starks said. “We didn’t see it coming.”

The lone defensive high point came for senior linebacker Jon Olofsson, who tallied 13 tackles against Dartmouth to finish the season with 103 total stops. Along with injured senior linebacker and tri-captain Steve Cody, Olofsson is one of four Princeton players in the last decade to record at least 100 tackles in a single season.

On the other side of the ball, Princeton’s offense was unproductive and inefficient against the Big Green. The Tigers, who finished the season with a 77 percent red-zone conversion rate, were unsuccessful on each of their three trips inside Dartmouth’s 20 — Princeton’s worst performance this season.

“We’ve got to finish drives,” head coach Bob Surace ’90 said. “In games where we’ve struggled, we’ve had opportunities to get back into it, but we didn’t do well in the red zone.”

Coming into Saturday’s game, Princeton hoped to help senior wide receiver Trey Peacock record the fourth 1,000-yard receiving season in school history. Peacock needed 68 yards to write his place in the history books, which seemed achievable given his 95.5 yards-per-game average. However, because of the Tigers’ struggles, Peacock managed only two receptions for a total of 23 yards, leaving the senior 45 yards shy of the golden number.

Credit must be given, at least in part, to Dartmouth’s defense. Despite allowing its opponents an average of 367 yards per game this season, the Big Green gave up only 282 yards to the Tigers and allowed them nearly six minutes less possession time than its opponents have averaged throughout the year. The disparity in ball possession was most striking in the third quarter of the game, when the Big Green was in control of the ball for 11 minutes, 20 seconds, and Princeton possessed it for only 3:40.

Penalties also plagued the Tigers on Saturday: A total of nine calls went against Princeton, costing the team a total of 58 yards. A large number of infractions, including multiple offsides and false starts, appeared to arise from a lack of concentration on the Princeton side.

“It was frustrating the errors we made,” Surace said. “Any time there are those [kinds of penalties], there’s got to be some type of lack of focus. We’re not good enough offensively to overcome getting knocked back [by penalties] like that.”

Despite the disappointing end to his debut season, Surace restated his belief in the potential of Princeton’s football program.

“Everything is there,” he said. “You walk prospects around and there’s a lot to sell [at Princeton]. We’ve got a great group of young men, and I’ve got to do a better job of getting them to be better football players.”