DEFENSIVE STAND: Princeton University football players, from left, linebacker Ozzie Nicholas, defensive back Jackson Fischer, and linebacker Liam Johnson celebrate after a stop in recent action. Last Saturday, the Tiger defense came up big as Princeton edged previously undefeated Harvard 21-14. The Tigers, now 3-3 overall and 2-1 Ivy League, moved into a five-way tie for first place in the league standings. Princeton will play at Cornell (3-3 overall, 2-1 Ivy) on October 28. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Coming off a disappointing 28-27 overtime loss at Brown that dropped it to 2-3 and hosting an undefeated, high-powered Harvard squad, the Princeton University football team underwent some soul-searching last week.

“We got together after that last loss, a game we should not have lost, a game where we made some critical errors and we showed up this whole week,” said Princeton senior star linebacker and co-captain Ozzie Nicholas. “We worked really hard. We worked hard on the culture. We worked hard on the scheme. Guys were locked in this week.”

In looking to stymie a Crimson squad that came into Saturday averaging 41.2 points a game, the Tigers stuck with a basic scheme.

“Our game plan was to do our base defense, our game plan was to fight and just play every snap like we have the whole season,” said Nicholas. “We play great defense and we just decided to do it today. That was our base defense and that is just what we do.”

With Princeton jumping out to a 14-0 lead at halftime as Jiggie Carr scored on a 34-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and AJ Barber making an 8-yard TD reception just before halftime, Nicholas fired up by the Tigers’ solid start.

“We were all over the place, we were swarming,” said Nicholas of a defensive charge which flustered Harvard star quarterback Charles DePrima, forcing him into an interception and smothering his running game. “The guys were confident. We haven’t felt momentum like that all season and we felt amazing.”

In the second half, Harvard seized momentum as DePrima passed for a TD in the third quarter and Shane McLaughlin ran for a score midway through the fourth quarter. 

“We knew that the first half was good but the second half is where it mattered, that is where the real fight was,” said Nicholas. “They put up two touchdowns, respect to them. They had good drives. We knew what we did wrong. We switched up some schemes and the guys just kept fighting. That is what our team does.”

The Tiger offense fought back as Blake Stenstrom found Connor Hulstein for a 10-yard TD pass to put Princeton up 21-14 with 1:28 left in regulation and culminate an 8-play, 45-yard scoring drive.

Nicholas and his fellow defenders made one last stand as they turned back the Crimson with Will Perez intercepting a DePrima aerial to close the deal for the Tigers as they prevailed by the 21-14 margin, improving to 3-3 overall and 2-1 Ivy League, jumping into a five-way tie for first place in the league standings.

“Coach [Steve ] Verbit can tell you himself, I am in his ear all game, ‘send me coach, send me when it matters,’” said Nicholas, a 6’2, 225-pound native of Encinitas, Calif., who ended the game with a game-high 10 tackles and a sack. “My linebacker coach [Mike] Weick said put it on his shoulders, put it on his back and send him around the edge. We called the same play three times in a row and I was all over that guy.”

The Tiger offense did its job when it mattered most with its late scoring march

“A key point in practice this week was to start early and finish,” said junior receiver Luke Colella. “We talked about finishing all week. The game plan came out and we did exactly that.”

There was a sense of urgency as Princeton started the decisive drive.

“It was we have got to get the job done, we can’t stall here,” said Colella. “We have got to get the job done. We lost a close game to Brown last week and we stalled. We just said on the sideline, ‘finish, finish.’”

Colella helped set up the big finish, making an 18-yard reception on a third down and 9 to get the Tigers to the Harvard 15-yard-line.

“I came across the middle, there was a man on me … and man on the other guy coming across and they kind of smacked into each other,” said the 6’0, 190-pound Colella, who made five catches for 98 yards in the win. “Blake gave me a perfect ball in the chest and the rest was just get upfield and get as many yards as we can, get the first down. It was, ‘let’s protect the ball and let’s keep going.’”

In Colella’s view, the win could be a turning point for the Tigers as they snapped a two-game losing streak.

“I think learning from the losses helps,” said Colella. “I think our team, our culture came together this week. We said it is time to stand on business. It is time to do what we are supposed to do and what we do day in, day out. Some of those men in there are the hardest workers I have ever been around. They inspire me everyday. When you have got a lot of men doing that together and inspiring each other, there is endless potential there.”

Princeton head coach Bob Surace looked to inspire his players as they went through the topsy-turvy contest.

“When you have lost close games as a coach, I look at the process. But when you are 20 years old, you look at the result,” said Surace. “I am seeing us growing, just making a little bit of inconsistent error and they are looking at not again. I can be a little negative, but I was going to be up the whole game. I am going to go over to the defense after the second touchdown and saying, ‘we have got this … they are not scoring gain.’ I am going to go to the offense and saying, ‘this is the series.’ Intentionally with a young team, I was going to be really positive.”

The Tiger defense turned in a positive effort, limiting Harvard to 220 yards total offense and snaring three interceptions.

“They are really good, credit our guys,” said Surace. “I thought we had a really good plan that was executed very well. Their quarterback is one of the best players we have faced. I thought our plan was really good to contain him. It was responsibilities. We did a good job at the line of scrimmage on defense and we kept him in the pocket for the most part which led to some of the plays we made on the ball.”

On offense, Princeton did a good job overall despite some untimely penalties.

“We got caught in some negative plays in the second half, that is not a defense you want to be second and 14 or have a false start,’ said Surace, who got 244 yards passing from QB Stenstrom with Carr rushing for 56 yards. “They are just too good. We got off track a little. I thought that all of the different things our offensive coaches did to put them in stress with our motions and shifts was a great game plan. Other than the negatives, we executed really well.”

Playing at Cornell (3-3 overall, 20-1 Ivy) on October 28, Princeton will have to execute well to remain atop a crowded Ivy race with Penn and Dartmouth also at 2-1 in addition to the Tigers, Big Red, and Crimson.

“I  told them, ‘This is great and I want you to enjoy it, but I hope we handle tonight, tomorrow, and Monday because there are no easy weeks right now,’” said Surace. “Everybody is beating each other so if we don’t show up with our best game, it is going to be a long week. Hopefully we keep growing. We are young. Every week we have grown, I am seeing it. It is still a work in progress, so a win doesn’t change that. We still have work to do. We can’t have a false start, we can’t do 12 men on the field. We had some errors we can’t have.”

Nicholas is confident that the Tigers will keep growing as they look to run the table with four games remaining.

“It feels amazing, I think our season has led up to this moment,” said Nicholas. “We have learned how to stay in these dogfights and today we put it away. We are going to continue to put these games away because we are confident in ourselves. We know that when these fights get hard and when it gets late in the second half, we know how to stick with it. You can never count us out.”