CRUNCH TIME: Princeton University football running back John Volker gets corralled by two Dartmouth defenders earlier this season. Last Saturday, Volker rushed for 56 yards and one touchdown but it wasn’t enough as Princeton fell 42-28 at Yale. The Tigers, now 2-7 overall and 1-5 Ivy League, host Penn (4-5 overall, 2-4 Ivy) on November 23 in their season finale. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

It proved to be a disappointing case of déjà vu for Bob Surace and the Princeton University football team as the Tigers played at Yale last Saturday.

Jumping out to a 28-21 lead over the Bulldogs early in the third quarter, things went downhill from there for Princeton. Yale reeled off 21 unanswered points to pull away to a 42-28 win before 7,594 at the Yale Bowl, dropping the Tigers to 2-7 overall and 1-5 Ivy League.

It marked the fifth straight road loss for Princeton this fall and it followed the script which has seen the Tigers hanging tough in each of these games only to see the roof fall in down the stretch.

“We had the lead versus Columbia (a 34-17 loss on October 5), against Lehigh (a 35-20 loss on September 21) we brought it to a one-score game,” said Princeton head coach Surace. “Against Mercer (a 34-7 loss on October 12), for a team that is top 10 in the country we were right there and at Harvard (a 45-13 loss on October 26), we got it to where it was a one-score game and then this one. In all five road losses, they have been very competitive games that from the mid-third quarter through the end, we looked like we have lost our legs. It is not that we are not trying.”

The Tigers got off to a promising start in the 146th renewal of the Ivy League’s oldest rivalry and the second-oldest rivalry in all of college football. 

Princeton recovered a Yale fumble on its second possession and cashed that in for a touchdown on a three-yard run by Ethan Clark to go up 7-0. After the Bulldogs responded with 14 straight points, the Tigers knotted the game at 14-14 on a one-yard TD run by Clark. The Bulldogs then regained the lead on a fumble return for a touchdown. Princeton ended the half with a 14-yard TD pass from Blaine Hipa to AJ Barber to make it 21-21 at the break.

“We had 21 points but even with that, we left a little bit out there,” said Surace. “It was a tough day to throw the ball down the field, it was gusty. We had a couple of opportunities in terms of that as well. For the most part, we did a very good job offensively with just a few negatives that prevented this from being a complete shootout.”

On their first possession in the third quarter, the Tigers got a very good play from senior running back John Volker as he raced 37 yards for touchdown to give Princeton a 28-21 lead. Yale responded with a pair of TDs in a 4:24 stretch in the third quarter and tacked on another TD early in the fourth quarter to end the scoring.

The running of Clark and Volker was a bright spot on the day for the Tigers as Clark gained 79 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns while Volker rushed for 56 yards on nine carries with one TD.

“I would say that Volker and Ethan had a full week of practice,” said Surace. “When we played Dartmouth, neither one of those guys practiced. We knew it was going to be a game day decision because they didn’t practice so that piece was good. Having a full week of practice certainly makes a difference. This is a tough sport to play. We play tough teams and when you are just doing walk-throughs and then going in on Saturdays, it is hard to be at your best. These guys, and I have a number of them, are playing at 75-80 percent fighting through things. I really thought John and Ethan both really looked like it was early in the season for them, they looked healthy.”

Surace is confident that the Tigers will keep fighting as they host Penn (4-5 overall, 2-4 Ivy) on November 23 in their season finale.

“It is Senior Day — that is such an emotional day. For many of the guys, they are playing their last game,” said Surace. “They have all meant so much to the program. They have had some incredible highs and we are going through some disappointment right now. The great thing with these guys, I promise you if you walked over into the stadium for practice, you are going to see guys hustling their butts off. When we go out on Tuesday, it feels like 2018 (when Princeton went 10-0). Their attitudes are great, the accountability is great, they work hard. We are just not getting the results. It has been tough. I am going to hug every one of them on Saturday. Life is sometimes not fair. When things are going great the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Princeton will have to play hard to get a good result against a dangerous Quaker squad.

“Offensively they had a quarterback (Aidan Sayin) who started for three-and-a half years that got hurt,” said Surace. “They are playing a younger guy (Liam O’Brien), a junior; this guy is a running threat, that has really opened up their run game. They have one of the best running backs (Malachi Hosley) in the conference. they have an outstanding receiving corps. They are always physical up front on both sides. Their linebackers are their leaders, they are sideline-to-sideline physical players. They are good on the back end as well.”

With Penn coming off a tough 31-28 loss to Ivy frontrunner Harvard last Saturday, Surace knows that Tigers will be in for a fierce battle as the rivals will be with be hungry to end the fall on a high note.

“They, like us, had some bad bounces yesterday; when you watch them, they are a very good team,” said Surace. “The difference between them being in first place and Harvard being in fifth is a couple of bounces. It is always a physical game. They have a big senior group too so it will be a very emotional game. I feel like we have had some great games against them over the years.”