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Princeton Football Emphasizing Work Ethic As it Aims To Build on Last Year's Progress
by Bill Alden
Sitting at a table in the press box high atop Princeton Stadium for the recent Princeton University football media day, head coach Roger Hughes was tanned, fit, and bursting with optimism, looking nothing like a man whose team has been picked to finished fifth in the Ivy League by the preseason media poll.
With a cloudless blue sky dominating the plate glass window behind him and rays from the strong mid-morning sun cascading through the room, Hughes' mood was as bright as the day.
"I think this is going to be an exciting year, I like our team a lot," said Hughes with his voice rising. "The work ethic of this team has been the best we've seen in the four years our staff has been here. We purposely tried to run a physical camp, a hard camp. Hopefully, we're going to see the fruits of that throughout the season."
Coming off a 6-4 season last fall in which the Tigers produced five come-from-behind wins in posting the first winning season in Hughes' tenure at Princeton, the program appears to be on solid ground.
"It's better when you win instead of losing," said Hughes, who comes into the fall with an overall 12-17 mark at Princeton. "I think winning the close games last year gave our kids a lot of confidence. The way we came back to win that last game against Dartmouth gave us a great taste in our mouth for the offseason."
But the program had to deal with a bitter taste in the offseason as it unexpectedly lost three defensive stalwarts =8B linebacker Zak Keasey and defensive backs Jay McCareins and Brandon Mueller =8B due to academic ineligibility.
Hughes believes the team can move on from that setback. "We spoke about it the first evening of camp and I won't allow the players to talk about it again, at least in front of us," said Hughes, referring to the loss of the three defensive players who each earned All-Ivy recognition last season.
"What's done is done and we have to turn the page. We want to learn from that experience and make sure these things don't happen again. Obviously, we're going to be more inexperienced than we'd like to be at this point in the secondary and at linebacker."
With the holes created by the loss of the defensive stars, the Tigers will be relying heavily on the defensive line, the team's most experienced unit. Princeton's front four are bookended by two of the Tigers most decorated players, first-team All-Ivy defensive end Joe Weiss, and second-team All-Ivy performer and co-captain Tim Kirby. Experienced defensive tackles Jeff Micsky and George Pilcher will anchor the middle of the line.
The Tigers will look to utilize their strength up front to take the heat off the new faces working in behind it. "When you have a veteran defensive front, they can do more things for you," said defensive coordinator Steve Verbit. "They can take a lot of pressure off the linebackers and with the experience they have, they understand how important it is to keep those linebackers free."
The linebackers who stand to benefit from the defensive line's prowess include senior Steve Jameson together with sophomores Justin Stull and Abi Fadeyi, who are expected to step up and make a big contribution.
In the secondary, Princeton may be starting two freshmen which puts additional responsibility on senior All-Ivy honoree Blake Perry. The Rancho Sante Fe, Calif. native had a banner season as a junior, recording 66 tackles (48 solo), seven tackles for a loss, five passes defensed, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and a sack.
Hughes believes Perry's experience and versatility will allow the Tigers to use him in a variety of roles. "Blake has been outstanding," said Hughes, who will be looking to junior free safety Nick Brown and senior strong safety Sam Snyder to hold the fort in the back. "We'll move him around in the secondary. He's played outside linebacker in certain defensive packages."
Princeton's offensive packages will depend on who has the reins at quarterback. Coming into preseason camp, the Tigers appeared to be looking at a potential QB battle between senior co-captain Dave Splithoff, who is coming off of shoulder surgery and is the fifth all-time leading passer in school history with 3,446 yards, and the talented but relatively inexperienced junior Matt Verbit, who started the final four games last season after Splithoff went down with his injury.
However, with Splithoff's shoulder having flared up in camp and Verbit having looked in fine form, there might not be much of battle. "Splithoff came out in the first couple of days in camp and threw too hard so we're letting his arm settle down a little bit," explained Hughes.
"On the flip side, Matt Verbit has performed extremely well. I'm very pleased with how he is doing, he's much more comfortable in the pocket. If Matt is playing really well, it would be crazy to take him out. I do think we're a better team with both QBs healthy."
As for the Tigers' ground game, there is a healthy competition between several backs to make up for the considerable loss of Cameron Atkinson, who ended his career as Princeton's third all-time leading rusher with 2,449 yards.
Speedy junior Jon Veach, who comes into the season with 446 yards rushing in his Tiger career, looks like he'll be the first option at tailback. Others who should see action there include Branden Bensen and Greg Fields.
At receiver, Princeton's main deep threat should be junior big-play wideout B.J. Szymanski, who averaged 17.2 yards per catch last season as he hauled in 33 receptions for 567 yards and two touchdowns. Senior split end Blair Morrison should emerge as Princeton's key possession receiver, coming off a junior year in which he made 22 grabs for 255 yards.
Princeton has a pleasant problem at tight end as senior Mike Chiusano has rebounded with a vengeance from a shoulder injury and should supplement the returning platoon of senior Randy Bly and sophomore Jon Dekker.
At offensive line, the Tigers will be going with a group of untested players but offensive coordinator Dave Rackovan believes that unit could emerge as the foundation of the team's attack. Senior tackle Kevin Manning is the line's key returner. Others who should be in the mix include juniors Paul Lyons and Trey Greene together with sophomores Andrew Wilson, Dave Szelingowski, and Keith Jones.
"I like the progress we're making there, we're more athletic in the offensive line than we have been," asserted Rackovan. "It's just a matter of how quickly they'll see and adjust to every different situation that comes up."
The Tigers are facing a very difficult situation this Saturday night as they open their season by hosting formidable Lehigh, which is already 2-0 this season and knocked off 2002 Division 1-AA playoff team Fordham 23-16 last weekend.
Hughes vowed that his squad will apply its work ethic to the challenges it will face this season starting with Lehigh. "One of the words that we want to be defined by this year is toughness," said Hughes, whose squad built a 24-7 lead against the Mountain Hawks last year before losing 31-24.
"We may not always be pretty but we are going to be one of the hardest working teams in the league. Basically, the guys have developed the attitude that when we're on the field we're going to get it done work-wise."
