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Fifty-one first-half points propel Princeton football to win over Brown

Quigley

Ryan Quigley ran for three first half touchdowns in Princeton's win over Brown.

Photo Credit: Beverly Schaefer / goprincetontigers.com

Princeton football (5–0, 2–0 Ivy) used an offensive explosion to thrash Brown (1–4, 0–2) Saturday in Providence. The Tigers recorded 51 points and 426 yards — and that was just the first half.

Senior quarterback Kevin Davidson finished with 379 yards passing and five touchdowns, junior receiver Jacob Birmelin caught 12 passes for 186 yards, and senior running back Ryan Quigley ran for three touchdowns as Princeton beat Brown 65–22, extending its unbeaten streak to 15 games.

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Princeton’s 65 points were just one shy of the team’s modern-era record for points scored in a single game. The Tigers also finished the game with 634 yards of total offense, 11 fewer than the program record.

Brown’s first-year head coach James Perry spent seven years as Princeton’s offensive coordinator, and the parallels between the two teams’ offensive systems were evident. Brown used multi-quarterback sets, wasted little time between plays, and was aggressive with fourth-down conversion attempts.

Early in the game, it looked like quarterback EJ Perry and the Brown offense had a chance to keep pace with Princeton. The Bears scored the first touchdown of the game, and after Princeton responded with 17 unanswered points, Brown scored another touchdown to make the game 17–12.

But as the first half progressed, Brown’s mistakes started to pile up, and Princeton was able to rack up points against an outmatched Brown defense. Early in the second quarter, Perry dropped a sure touchdown on a fourth-and-goal trick play, and Princeton drove 95 yards, capped off by a 28-yard touchdown pass from Davidson to Birmelin to make the score 24–12.

Sophomore defensive back Christian Brown intercepted Perry on the next drive, and Princeton scored another touchdown, with Quigley punching it in from the one-yard line. Perry threw his first touchdown pass of the game to make the score 31–19 with 6:48 to play in the second quarter, but Princeton managed to score three touchdowns in the final three minutes to take a 51–19 lead into halftime.

Princeton was on pace to hit triple-digit points, but the Tigers slowed the game down considerably in the second half, coasting to the 65–22 win.

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The Princeton offensive line dominated all game, as Princeton rushed 46 times for 255 yards, and Davidson completed 27 of 35 passes without taking a sack. Princeton’s defense recorded five sacks and forced three turnovers.

With the win, Princeton moved to a perfect 5–0 on the season and 2–0 in Ivy League play. Possibly the only factor that mitigates the impressiveness of Princeton’s 2019 campaign is the quality of the teams it has beaten, as Princeton’s first five opponents have a combined 4–25 record. That will change next weekend, as the Tigers return to New Jersey for the Homecoming game against Harvard, which improved to 4–1 on the season Saturday afternoon.

NOTES

Junior running back Colin Eaddy missed the game with an injury sustained last week against Lafayette. Senior running back Ryan Quigley left the field in the second quarter with an injury, though he would later return.

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Senior defensive lineman Samuel Wright tied his career best after picking up his fourth sack of the season against Brown. First-year defensive back Daiveon Carrington recorded his first career interception late in the game.

Princeton has now scored in the first quarter of its last 29 games, a streak dating back to October 2016.