INTO THE LIONS’ DEN: Princeton University running back Collin Eaddy gets stymied in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, freshman Eaddy rushed for 62 yards on seven carries in a losing cause as Princeton fell 28-24 to visiting Columbia in the Ivy League opener for both teams. The Tigers, now 2-1 overall and 0-1 Ivy, host Georgetown (1-3) on October 7. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Last fall, the Princeton University football team dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Harvard in late October but bounced back to run the table with four straight wins and earn a share of the Ivy League title.

The 2017 Tigers will need to display that same brand of resilience in order to be an Ivy title contender this fall, suffering a stunning 28-24 loss to visiting Columbia last Saturday which saw the Lions score the winning touchdown on a 63-yard scoring strike from Anders Hill to Ronald Smith II with 1:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Princeton head coach Bob Surace knows it won’t be easy to repeat that history after the Tigers fell in their Ivy opener before a crowd of 5,073 on hand at Princeton Stadium.

“The league from top to bottom is very strong, we are not the most talented team and anybody who thinks that we are is crazy,” said a red-faced and hoarse Surace, reflecting on a loss which snapped Princeton’s six-game winning streak stretching back to last season as it moved to 2-1 overall and 0-1 Ivy.

“We have to be a team that is disciplined. I have to do a better job coaching because we are not the same team as last year. We are missing six All-Ivy players on defense so we have got to be more exact.”

Surace tipped his hat to a surging Columbia, which is now 3-0 overall and has shown marked improvement since legendary former Penn coach Al Bagnoli took the helm of the Lions in 2015.

“They made plays; that is a team with seniors all over,” said Surace. “They are a good team, we are not better than that team. We have got a bunch of freshmen out there playing and they made some mistakes.”

On Columbia’s biggest play of the day, the game-winning 63-yard TD pass, the Tigers were hurt by their inexperience.

“We tried to get pressure on him [Hill] and we missed a tackle,” said Surace reflecting on the scoring play by Smith, who made 10 receptions for a Columbia — and Princeton Stadium — record 236 yards.

“In hindsight, they made a great play. They have some athletes at receiver and we were down a bunch of guys who weren’t playing because they got hurt.”

Senior quarterback Chad Kanoff made some plays to rally the Tigers in the final minute of the contest, connecting on three passes to get Princeton to the Columbia 37 yard line before getting intercepted by Ben McKeighan.

“He was trying to throw it away,” said Surace. “I asked him and he said he didn’t get it far enough.”

On the day, Kanoff did enough to put Princeton in position to win, completing 21-for-40 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns as Princeton overcame a 21-14 third quarter deficit to forge ahead 24-21 with 2:48 left in regulation.

“He did some really good things, there are going to be some plays that he would like to have back,” said Surace of Kanoff.

Junior receivers Stephen Carlson and Jesper Horsted did a lot of good things for the Tigers in the defeat as Carlson made eight catches for 146 yards and a touchdown while Horsted had eight receptions for 96 yards and two TDs.

“Stephen and Jesper really did a great job, both of those guys made some tremendous catches,” said Surace.

“Those are good defensive backs on Columbia; I think every DB they have is a taller guy, 6’0 or 6’1. Stephen is doing it in practice, he does it every day. There is a lot of chemistry with him and Chad.”

The Princeton defense, for its part, got worn down as Columbia made 11-of-21 third down conversions.

“We didn’t get off the field on third down and we are not a defense that is going to be able to play 100 plays,” lamented Surace, noting that star linebackers Thomas Johnson and Mark Fossati both had to leave the game due to injury.

“We are a little bit banged up and we don’t have the depth that we are going to have next week as long as some guys are healthy.”

With Princeton hosting Georgetown (1-3) on October 7, Surace is looking for his team to be sharper all around.

“We have got to be more disciplined, we made errors,” said Surace, noting that the Tigers committed four turnovers on the day with three interceptions and a lost fumble.

“I have got to do a better job making them understand that these games are going to come down to that. We are a very, very young team on defense and their defense is really good. In games like that, we have to execute better on third down and I have got to do a better job putting our guys in better positions.”