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Wu's 99-Yard Play Ignites Princeton Football As Tigers Swamp Brown 34-14 to Get 1st Win
By Bill Alden
When the Princeton University football team was shocked earlier this month by a last-second Hail Mary pass in its loss to Columbia, back-up receiver Clinton Wu was one of the Tigers who got burned on the play.
Last Saturday against Brown, it was Wu who provided the spark that electrified the Tigers. With Princeton trailing 7-6 in the third quarter and facing a third and 12 from its own one, Wu caught a Matt Verbit pass on a slant pattern and raced into history as he flew down the sideline for a 99-yard score.
The scoring jaunt, which was the first 99-yard touchdown play in both Princeton and Ivy League history, gave the previously winless Tigers the jolt of confidence that spurred them to a convincing 34-14 triumph over the Bears before 9,879 at Brown Stadium.
In reflecting on Wu's play, Princeton head coach Roger Hughes hopes that it could also make history as a defining moment that turns a season around.
"Verbs made a great throw and Clinton made a great run and the rest is history, " said Hughes, whose club improved to 1-4 (1-1 Ivy League). "I hope it can be a turning point. It certainly lifted our emotions Saturday, the kids went nuts. Even when Brown (1-4, 0-2 Ivy) responded with a touchdown, the kids weren't worried. We had our batteries really charged up."
Princeton was certainly in need of a jolt when Wu struck as it had sleepwalked through the first half, trailing 7-6 as its offense sputtered and defensive back Blake Perry provided the team's points on a 58-yard return of a fumble recovery.
Hughes, though, felt that his squad had Brown where it wanted it to be despite the moribund display which had seen the Tigers have the ball for just 8:33 and Verbit hit two of 10 passes. "There was some frustration," said Hughes, recalling the locker room scene at halftime. "I told the guys that we were totally in the game with a good chance to win. I told them to clean up the mistakes and good things will happen."
After Wu made something great happen, Branden Benson and the Tigers' ground game took control of the game in the fourth quarter. With Benson relentlessly ripping through the Brown defense, the Tigers put together three scoring marches in the fourth quarter to turn a 14-14 tie into a 20-point rout.
Benson, a 6'1, 205-pound junior from Auburn, Washington, ended the afternoon with a career-best 128 yards rushing on 22 carries. He bulled in for touchdowns on two of the Tigers' fourth quarter drives and has now picked up a total of 280 yards rushing in the team's last three games.
Verbit recovered from his shaky first half to end up hitting on 11-of-27 passes for 178 yards. Wide receiver B.J. Szymanski was Verbit's main target as he made six catches for 76 yards.
In Hughes' view, Benson's yardage was the product of good work all around. "It was a credit to our offensive line," said Hughes. "Benson has improved markedly. We expect him to play even better. You certainly couldn't tell that his hamstring was bothering him."
Hughes had praise for his defense which yielded yardage but was stingy when it came to surrendering points. "The second level defenders, the linebackers and defensive backs, played much better," said Hughes, who got a 15-tackle performance from sophomore linebacker Justin Stull.
"There weren't the missed assignments we've had in the past. [Dave] Splithoff [former quarterback] had his best game on defense so far, he had some big plays. Tim Stickland kept improving at cornerback as the game went on. J.J. Artis got burned early and they decided to pick on him. He rose to the challenge."
The end result of the Tigers' good work on both sides of the ball was a predictably raucous post-game celebration as they let loose some of the frustration that had come with getting off to the first 0-4 start in the program's history.
"Pandemonium," was Hughes' one-word answer when asked to describe the dressing room atmosphere. "It was like we had won the Super Bowl. The attitude of the team has been so good, everybody has been working so hard. We needed some success to validate that effort."
Hughes, though, knows that his team can't afford to rest on its laurels as it heads up to Cambridge, Mass. this Saturday to face undefeated Harvard (5-0, 2-0 Ivy).
"The Harvard game is a huge challenge, we can't afford to get full of ourselves," said Hughes, whose teams have scored at least 32 points in eight of their last ten wins since 2001.
"The effort level in the fourth quarter Saturday was tremendous, I hope we can carry that over. We can't have a start against Harvard like we did against Brown. We need to be happy, but not satisfied."
