POWERFUL RESPONSE: Princeton University running back Will Powers heads upfield in recent action. Last Saturday, senior standout Powers rushed for a team-high 83 yards as Princeton topped Cornell 38-27. Princeton, now 4-3 overall and 3-1 Ivy League, hosts Penn (1-6 overall, 1-3 Ivy) on November 8. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Bob Surace sensed that his Princeton University football team was in the right frame of mind when the players complained vociferously about some unfavorable officiating calls at Cornell last Saturday.

“The big word this week was passion,” said Princeton head coach Surace, whose team was coming off a deflating 49-7 loss to Harvard on October 25.

“We didn’t want to ignore the technical things but it was let’s see guys flying around the field and enjoying themselves. The guys were hooting and hollering when Dre Nelson’s 50-yard kickoff return was called back on a penalty and we didn’t get an interception because they said the Cornell quarterback’s knee was on the ground.”

Channelling that passion into some good execution, Princeton posted a 38-27 win over the Big Red before 5,313 at Schoellkopf Field, improving to 4-3 overall and 3-1 Ivy League.

While the Tigers sputtered in the early going, things clicked as the game went on.

“We got rolling from the the mid-first quarter to the fourth quarter,” said Surace. “We executed well in all three sides of the game.”

Senior quarterback Connor Michelsen executed superbly, hitting 23-of-33 passes for 281 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.

“He has a strong arm, we got the ball downfield to Trevor Osborne, Connor Kelley, and Scott Carpenter,” said Surace of Michelsen.

“As good as that was, I liked the way he handled things play to play. He scrambled when reads broke down and he hit his checkdowns. He showed a general maturation as a quarterback. You want a QB to be an extension of the coach and execute the plays well.”

Senior receiver Kelley played the game of his career, making a personal-best 13 catches for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

“We have had a few injuries at the wide receiver position; we wanted to do some things and get him the ball in different ways,” said Surace.

“When [Matt] Costello went down, that added to his plate. He was exceptional, he ran the ball hard and finished plays. It seemed like every catch gave us a first down.”

Princeton drew first blood as it took a 3-0 lead on a 36-yard field goal by Nolan Bieck late in the first quarter.

After Cornell forged ahead 7-3 early in the second quarter on a halfback option touchdown pass from Luke Hagy to Ben Rogers, Michelsen started clicking. He found Dre Nelson on a three-yard touchdown pass to put Princeton up 10-7. Minutes later, he connected with Carpenter for a 16-yard scoring strike as the Tigers increased their advantage to 17-7.

The Big Red narrowed the gap to 17-14 at halftime as quarterback Robert Somborn hit Lucas Shapiro on a five-yard TD pass.

The third quarter turned into the Connor Kelley show. In the first minute of the quarter, he hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Michelsen as Princeton took a 24-14 lead. With just seconds left in the quarter, he made a 28-yard scoring reception to give the Tigers a 31-14 cushion heading into the last 15 minutes of regulation.

Cornell made it a 31-21 game when Somborn found Shapiro for a 10-yard TD play. The Tigers responded with an 11-play, 78-yard march that culminated with a two-yard touchdown run by Kedric Bostic. The Big Red added a late TD on a 6-yard run by Hagy and got the ball back on an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff.  Princeton held the Big Red on downs and was able to run out the clock.

Although the defense yielded 447 yards, Surace liked what he saw on that side of the ball.

“We forced some turnover opportunities early,” said Surace, noting that the Tigers had one interception called back and had a sack/fumble where it didn’t get the ball along with an Anthony Gaffney interception.

“We still have to tighten up some things. We need to be tighter in coverage. We didn’t generate a pass rush in the fourth quarter after doing that well in the first three. Overall, we did a number of good things.”

It was a good thing for Princeton to pull away from Cornell in Ithaca, where it had lost seven times in its last nine games.

“The objective is to score more than the other team,” said Surace. “It was good to see us come out and play as hard as we did and finish it off the way we did. We have struggled up there, I think I read that the last nine games there were within a TD so it was good to come out and win like we did.”

Princeton will be looking for another win to keep pace with Ivy leader Harvard (7-0 overall, 4-0 Ivy) as it hosts Penn (1-6 overall, 1-3 Ivy) on November 8.

“It is not the record you expect from a Penn team, they play a brutal non-conference schedule with teams like Villanova and Fordham,” said Surace.

“They have had some heartbreakers. You watch them and they are the tough, physical Penn team you are used to. They throw the ball more. They get the ball down the field, they are the most explosive Penn team we have seen. We have to come ready to go. When the guys come out on Tuesday, they won’t be thinking this is a one-win Penn team, they will be thinking it is a tough, physical team that played Brown to the last play and had a tough, physical loss to Dartmouth.”