FAST TRACK: Princeton University football player Charlie Volker eludes a foe in recent action. Last Saturday at Lehigh, sophomore running back Volker, an Ivy League champion sprinter, rushed for a career-high 82 yards on 13 carries for three touchdowns but it wasn’t enough as Princeton fell 42-28 to the Mountain Hawks. The Tigers, now 1-1, will look to get back on the winning track when they play at Columbia on October 1 in the Ivy League opener for both teams. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Playing at Lehigh last Saturday, the Princeton University football team’s offense was clicking, moving effectively on the ground and through the air.

The Tigers rolled up 199 yards rushing and 243 yards passing, putting 28 points on the scoreboard.

But Princeton couldn’t slow down the Lehigh offense as its quarterback, Nick
Shafnisky, passed for 461 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Mountain Hawks to a 42-28 win before 5,493 at Goodman Stadium.

While Princeton head coach Bob Surace acknowledged that Shafnisky is a special player, he noted that the Lehigh offense was hardly a one-man show.

“He is terrific but they have a very good offensive line and five skilled guys on the field at all times that are really good; that presents a lot of problems,” said Surace.

“When there are just one or two guys you can game plan that. You just can’t sit on one thing all game because they have too many weapons. It becomes a little bit of a cat and mouse game that way. We wanted to mix things up and a couple of times they caught us in situations where their call was probably better than the call we called. The hard part is that we had some breakdowns in responsibilities and against a team like that, they are not going to miss.”

Despite moving the ball consistently, Princeton made things harder on itself by throwing three interceptions.

“We can’t turn the ball over three times, that is first and foremost,” said Surace.

“It is not just one guy when those things happen. We had protection breakdowns and they happened on all three of the turnovers, that is not good. Those are tough learning moments to happen on the field.”

The Tigers found themselves in a tough position from the outset as Lehigh took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in 11 plays, taking a 7-0 lead after a Shafnisky 7-yard touchdown pass to Derek Knott.

Princeton answered back later in the quarter as it put together a 71-yard scoring drive that culminated with an 8-yard touchdown run by Charlie Volker to make it a 7-7 game.

After falling behind 21-7 with 4:17 left in the first half, Princeton narrowed the gap to 21-14 at halftime as Volker, the 2016 Ivy League 60-meter champion, scampered 22 yards for a touchdown with 1:39 left in the second quarter.

A pivotal sequence took place in the third quarter as Princeton blocked a field goal attempt and then squandered that break with a penalty and an interception. Lehigh proceeded to march 36 yards in a drive that
culminated with a Shafnisky TD pass as the Mountain Hawks took a 28-14 lead and never looked back.

“We get really good field position and we throw a pass where we wind up with a first down and we make a really poor decision on a penalty that should not have happened, it was behind the play,” lamented Surace.

“Instead of having first down and being down seven points, we are backed up to the 45 and then we throw an interception two plays later. Those are the type of things that we have to get out of.”

A bright spot for Princeton is the production it is getting from its running game as sophomore Volker rushed for a career-high 82 yards on 13 carries with three touchdowns while junior star John Lovett gained 75 yards on five carries and senior tri-captain Joe Rhattigan chipped in 45 yards on 12 attempts.

“We have a lot of good running backs, Charlie and Joey are getting the bulk of carries and John Lovett continues to get the ball as many times as we can get it to him,” said Surace.

“He is good in every facet. Charlie had a little more space this week when he got his opportunities. He caught the ball very well when we threw it to him. His overall game continues to improve.”

The Tigers, though, must tighten up the pass defense. “We have to get better; I have to figure out ways to get us to be more detailed and more precise,” said Surace.

“For us to not affect the QB and disrupt him more is disappointing. It was a little harder this week because he is talented with his feet as well, he is very mobile. We did not do a good job of generating pressure and that compounded some of these things.”

With Princeton starting Ivy League action by playing at Columbia (0-2) on October 1, Surace knows his team needs to be sharper in all phases of the game as he expects a slugfest in the contest against the Lions.

“We have a lot of corrections; we have to do a better job of getting through to the guys on exactly what we want and we have to get it executed that way,” said Surace.

“I said the good news is that we open league play and that is where the trophy is. We have to come out and play a much better game. They are going to be a physical team. Last year it was one of the most brutal rainstorms ever when we played them. It was a heavyweight bout and the teams were just slugging it out. There weren’t a lot of yards. Just judging from their statistics in the first two games, I think they gave up 170 yards in their last game and they have given up 30 points in two games. That is a pretty awesome defense.”