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Game-Ending Hail Mary TD Heave Jolts Princeton As It Falls 33-27 to Columbia, Drops to 0-3 Start
By Bill Alden
As the Princeton University football players quietly filed out of their locker room Saturday night, their hair was still wet from post-game showers but the hurt hadn't been washed out of their faces.
The normally self-assured swagger of the broad-shouldered athletes was slowed to a trudge as they stared into space, trying to come to terms with one of the most jolting defeats in the recent history of the program.
After rolling to a 20-0 lead over visiting Columbia in the first quarter, the Tigers took the pedal off the metal as the Lions methodically fought back to take a 27-20 lead over Princeton midway through the fourth quarter.
Showing heart, the Tigers responded by marching 66 yards in 16 plays to knot the game at 27-27 with 26 seconds left. As the Princeton Stadium crowd of 8,575 looked ahead to an apparent overtime, Columbia hit the Tigers with a bolt of lightning as Jeff Otis connected with Wade Fletcher in the end zone on a 49-yard Hail Mary desperation heave as time expired to give the Lions a 33-27 win.
It was the first win for Columbia (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) at Princeton since 1945, a period in which the Tigers had enjoyed a 23-0-1 home mark against the Lions. What's more, the stunning setback dropped the Tigers to 0-3 (0-1 Ivy) for the first time since 1986 and left the young squad struggling to pick up the pieces.
When Princeton head coach Roger Hughes faced the media afterward in a hallway in the bowels of the stadium, he sat on the floor, seemingly seeking support from the wall as he fielded questions on the heartbreaking defeat.
"It feels bad, it sticks in your craw," said Hughes quietly with his face locked in a frown. "It feels like you threw up in your mouth. You get to mourn for about 24 hours and then you start trying to correct the mistakes. You can't give up, you can't quit, you have to keep working hard."
The ashen-faced coach said the team knew that the Hail Mary attempt was coming on the final play. "We practiced against it," said Hughes. "We had [wide receiver] B.J. Szymanski back there on the play, he's our biggest jumper. We just didn't make the play. Up there last year against them, we hit a Hail Mary at the end of the first half. The ball bounces funny ways, you've got to credit their kids for making the play."
Hughes, though, took pains to make it clear that shocking ending couldn't erase the character shown by his team. "I'm very proud of how we came back and how we started the game," said Hughes. "We had a little lapse in the third quarter. We were a better team when we stepped off the field than when we stepped on. The scoreboard may not show it but we certainly saw it on the field. They played their asses off, they gave everything and left it on the field."
Indeed, there were some positives to be gleaned from the evening. First, the Tigers broke their habit of starting off slow as they put together three scoring drives in the first 15 minutes of the contest. Princeton cut down on the mistakes, turning the ball over once and getting called for only four penalties.
Individually, quarterback Matt Verbit was sharp, hitting on 14-for-23 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown. Big-play wide receiver Szymanski added to his reputation as he caught three passes for 121 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown play in the first quarter that started Princeton's scoring.
The running game was in full throttle as the Tigers piled up 208 yards on the ground, led by Jon Veach with 99 yards and Branden Benson, who cracked the century mark for the first time in his career as he picked up 102 yards on 17 carries.
For Benson, though, accomplishing his first 100-yard performance provided little consolation under the circumstances. "This one hurts, this is real painful," said Benson, a junior from Auburn, Wash., who had come into the evening with 62 yards rushing on the season.
"It's a real tough one to lose at home. It's all a bad feeling. The reason you play well [individually] is to win and when you don't win, it's all for nothing."
Benson refused to blame anyone for the defeat or the team's slow start. "I don't think we had a letdown," asserted Benson with a grimace. "I don't see fault. The coaches are here 24/7 doing everything they can and the players are doing the same. I think we'll come out and do what we've been doing. We played our hearts out tonight, we've got to keep doing that."
Hughes, for his part, vowed that the team won't suffer a lingering impact from the loss. "This team has been very resilient," said Hughes, whose club hosts 5-0 Colgate this Saturday, which is riding an 11-game winning streak with its last loss having come to Princeton last October.
"I would be surprised if they didn't bounce back. Hopefully by Thursday, the team will have forgotten about it. We play a really good team in Colgate. We have to bring our A-game to play a team like that."
Judging by the dazed expressions on the faces of the Princeton players late Saturday night, however, it is hard to imagine that the team will soon forget how it fell to Columbia.
