Football: Tigers host Lions, aim for revenge

As disappointing as the football team’s first two losses were, the Tigers truly have a fresh start on Saturday with the start of league play. Princeton (0-2) will face Columbia (0-2) in its third consecutive home night game, trying to avenge last year’s 42-14 defeat against the Lions in Manhattan.

Despite a tough 34-22 loss to No. 14 Lehigh in the opening week and an even tougher turnover-plagued 34-9 loss to Bucknell in the following game, the Tigers will have an opportunity to climb the Ivy League standings against another winless opponent.

“We play Columbia next week,” head coach Bob Surace ’90 said following the Bucknell game. “We need to get back to work, and we need to do it better. I’m disappointed in the way we played and performed, and I’ve got to do a better job getting us ready.”

The Lions opened up their season across the Harlem River at Fordham, leading 7-0 after Columbia quarterback Sean Brackett hit wide receiver Kurt Williams for a touchdown. However, following a 100-yard interception return by the Rams, Fordham quarterback Peter Maetzold beat the Lions’ defense for two scores. Despite a late touchdown pass from Brackett to wide receiver Mike Stephens, Columbia fell 21-14 on the road.

The following weekend, the Lions took on Albany at home. The Great Danes rushed out to a 24-14 lead in the first half, and the hosts could not respond in the second half, allowing another three touchdowns before marking the scoreboard again. Columbia gave up 446 yards of total offense, committing four turnovers in the 44-21 loss.

Brackett, who leads Columbia’s offense at quarterback, has some dangerous targets available to him. Both Williams and Stephens recorded a touchdown and more than 100 receiving yards against Fordham, and Brackett will look to take advantage of a vulnerable Princeton secondary. The signal-caller also has the ability to keep the ball himself and run, but he also has two strong options at tailback in Marcorus Garrett and Nick Gerst.

The Tigers will attempt to replicate the early success on defense they had against Bucknell last week, especially against the ground game. Princeton has three of the Ivy League’s top 10 tacklers: Junior safety Mandela Sheaffer has nine tackles per game and junior linebackers Andrew Starks and Tim Kingsbury both have 8.5.

Starks led the Tigers with nine tackles last weekend, including 2.5 behind the line of scrimmage, and will face a familiar opponent this weekend. The linebacker had one of his best games against the Lions last year with 12 tackles, six of them solo takedowns.

The Tigers have not yet forced a turnover this season. For Surace, turnover margin is a point of emphasis this week. While the offense needs to do a better job of holding onto the ball, it is up to the defense to force turnovers.

“When you go into a game, you have to be plus-two,” Surace said after last week’s game. “If we can get into the habit of being plus-two, we can be sitting in here and I’ll be a little happier.”

Additionally, the defense seemed to tire in the fourth quarter against Bucknell, as the Bison got their running game going while they ran out the clock. Surace described the fatigue as more mental than physical.

“We’ve got to play a full 60 minutes, and we’ve got to get more turnovers — bottom line,” senior linebacker and co-captain Steve Cody said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Senior quarterback and co-captain Tommy Wornham will be looking to bounce back after throwing three interceptions and fumbling a bad snap against Bucknell last weekend. Despite his trouble keeping possession of the ball, Wornham did become only the eighth Princeton quarterback to pass for more than 3,000 career yards last weekend.

“I need to get the offense playing better,” Wornham said. “I’m the quarterback — I run the offense. I need to get us playing faster and I need to play a better game. I need to do more research during the week and prepare better.”

Offensive coordinator James Perry seems to have found an effective combination of backs lining up behind Wornham. Sophomore fullback Jason Ray was one of Wornham’s favorite passing targets during the first half last week, and at tailback Surace has a veritable stable. Junior Akil Sharp is listed first on the depth chart and takes many snaps, but he is complemented by speedy sophomore Brian Mills — who scored Princeton’s only touchdown last week — and freshman Chuck Dibilio, who had a breakout game in his collegiate debut against Lehigh.

Lining up out wide are receivers senior Isaac Serwanga and freshman Matt Costello, with junior Shane Wilkinson in the slot. Wornham will need to rely more on his receivers running their routes instead of forcing passes into tight coverage, which was his biggest problem last week.

“A quarterback has to show poise,” Surace said. “You’ve got to drop back, make your reads and just keep executing and good things will happen.”

Linebacker Zach Olinger leads Columbia’s defense and ranks fourth in the league with 10 tackles per game. The Lions have had success getting into their opponents’ backfields, accumulating four sacks so far, and defensive lineman Seyi Adebayo has stolen 13 yards from opposing offenses with three tackles for losses. However, Columbia has shown itself to vulnerable in the air, giving up more than 200 passing yards to both quarterbacks it has faced.

For Wornham to show that poise, he and his backs will need better protection from the offensive line. Wornham was sacked twice and Princeton lost 53 yards from scrimmage, including 12 yards on Wornham’s sacks.

It is an important weekend for the Tigers as they look to snap a 10-game losing streak and a two-year losing streak to Columbia, their longest ever in a rivalry dating back to 1874.