Sports: October 9, 1996
TIGERS LOSE TO BIG RED IN FIRST-EVER OVERTIME
Cornell scores 13 in fourth quarter to tie game, gets 14 more in OT to win, 33-27
In 20 years of covering football for PAW, I thought I had seen everything, but I never saw a game go into overtime. Until this year, it generally didn't exist at the collegiate level. That's why in 1995 the Tigers were able to win their first outright Ivy title by kicking a tying field goal on the last play of their game against Dartmouth. Some people complained afterward that Coach Steve Tosches should have gone for a touchdown, and the win, with one second left and the ball just one yard from the goal line. A tie, even when it gives you undisputed possession of the league championship, has a kissing-your-sister quality to it.
During the off season, the NCAA put in an overtime tie-breaking procedure and, wouldn't you know it, Princeton's very next game, this year's debut against Cornell at Schoellkopf Field on September 21, ends in a tie, 20-20. No kissing your sister any more. This time, it was smash-mouth football. The NFL has sudden-death overtime. In the NCAA, it's more like slow-death. In a method similar to soccer's shoot-out, or perhaps baseball's extra innings, the officials turn off the clock and the teams play successive over- times, taking a turn apiece at trying to score from the 25-yard line, until one comes up short.
What is the strategy for these overtimes? This was the first one in league history. (Columbia and Harvard tied that day too, at 13-13-with Columbia eventually winning, 20-13-but Princeton and Cornell had started an hour earlier because of TV scheduling.) Both head coaches had worked out their plans in advance. Cornell's Jim Hofher said after the game that the Big Red had scrimmaged simulated overtimes regularly. And years ago Tosches was an assistant coach at the University of Maine for a game that went six extra periods. Unlike the pros, where a team will often kick on almost any down as soon as it gets past the 20 rather than risk a turnover, in this last-licks style of overtime, it appears to be better to play more conventionally, advancing the ball with run plays or with possession-style passes, hoping for a touchdown.
Cornell won the toss and went first, scoring a touchdown on its fifth play, a 13-yard pass from quarterback Brian Opre to wideout Scott Busch in the back of the endzone. Convinced that he had hauled in the game winner, Busch did a standing backflip-and incurred a penalty for excessive celebration. That meant that, following the point-after, the Tigers took possession half the distance in from the 25. (Incidentally, both teams keep using the same side of the field, which now has each 25-yard line painted with an extra-wide stripe.) And on the very first play, tailback Marc Washington '97 scored an answering touchdown in an ambitious, spinning run through the middle and out the side. Kicker Alex Sierk '99 retied the game, 27-27.
In the "second" overtime, Princeton went first. (If you're getting confused, you're not alone: the Ivy League's new play-by-play and statistics software package crashed when the game went beyond the fourth quarter.) But a holding penalty pushed the Tigers back and helped to force an interception by making them try a longer pass. Cornell then ran nine successive plays up the middle, finally scoring on a quarterback plunge from the one-yard line.
As sad as the 33-27 final score was for Princeton, the saddest part was that the Tigers ended up letting Cornell score more during its two overtime possessions than they did in the first three quarters of the game. And, of course, the Tigers also let the Big Red score three times in the fourth to tie the game. With 15 minutes to go, the score had been 20-7, Princeton.
Both teams started the contest featuring tag-team quarterbacks, a strategy that worked unexpectedly well for the Tigers last year. As one might expect when four quarterbacks play in a game and not one has completed a varsity pass, neither team scored during the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Princeton settled down behind Brett Budzinski '97. (Jackie Dempsey '98 is the Tigers' other quarterback.) A sprinter on the track team who was touted as an option quarterback, Budzinski put together an 85-yard drive that was mostly passes and which ended with a six-yard reception in the endzone by Alex House '97. Sierk's kick was good.
Cornell came back to tie the game on the next drive, but Princeton took advantage of two key penalties-and the enterprising running of Washington-to set up a one-yard plunge by fullback Nathan McGlothlin '99. But Sierk's kick was blocked, and the score was 13-7 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Tigers' inexperienced defensive line continued to stuff Cornell's all-America tailback, Chad Levitt, every time it mattered, and cornerback Damani Leech '98 and free safety Tom Ludwig '98 were playing some of the best pass defense in memory. And on offense, McGlothlin plunged through the line and shook off tacklers like a grizzly shedding ticks, and sprinted 69 yards for a touchdown. The Big Red seemed done.
But it was the Tigers who were cooked. In the fourth quarter, suddenly, Levitt was invincible, Cornell receivers were wide open, and the Big Red scored a field goal, a touchdown and point-after, and another field goal in less than seven minutes to tie the game at 20-20 with less than five minutes left. Cornell blocked a 46-yard field goal with two minutes on the clock, then ran Washington out of bounds at the 18-yard line to end a hope-and-glory, 60-yard run in the last play of regulation time.
-Stephen R. Dujack '76
DEFENDER KELLY LEADS FIELD HOCKEY TO STRONG START
The bliss of ignorance holds no attraction for Kathleen Kelly '98, though the cocaptain of the field hockey team has found that some knowledge comes only through defeat. In 1995 Princeton won the Ivy title and completed an unprecedented second straight undefeated season. But when the Tigers met North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament on November 12, they were trounced, 6-0.
"After that game I said to myself, 'I'm not feeling like this again,' " says Kelly, a psychology major from West Long Branch, New Jersey. In that game, she says, the Princeton players didn't know what it took to play championship-quality field hockey and were intimidated by North Carolina. "But UNC showed us what it was like to play at that level. Now I know the intensity that it takes, and I try to bring everyone up to that level." Though Princeton (5-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy) is off to a strong start, nothing less than perfection on the field will satisfy Kelly, as she and her teammates aim for a national title. The keys, Kelly says, are intensity and composure.
In September the Tigers appeared to be well on their way to a fourth-straight NCAA tournament appearance. In their first two games, they overwhelmed Ohio, 10-1, and La Salle, 11-1-setting, and then breaking, the school record for goals in a game (which had stood at nine). The Tigers followed those victories by smothering Ohio State and Cornell, 2-0 and 5-0, before beating Syracuse, 3-2, in a game that wasn't as close as the score.
With the graduation of star attack Lisa Rebane '96, Princeton needed to find a new leader. Kelly and cocaptain Amy MacFarlane '98 have taken that role. According to head coach Beth Bozman, this year's players are unusually focused, driven to becoming a top-flight team: "Everybody steps up and takes responsibility, but make no mistake-MacFarlane and Kelly are the leaders, and their leadership is key to our success."
Kelly says Princeton's balance and strength can easily be seen in its offense. The team has at least four proven scorers-MacFarlane, Molly O'Malley '99, Kate Carroll '00, and Kirsty Hale '99-and relies on what Bozman calls an "opportunistic" approach. The coach wants her team to vary its point of attack, moving the ball to a "sweet spot" in front of the goal from either side or taking it down the middle, a strategy that must be terrifying for an opposing goalie.
Carroll might unleash a hard-slicing shot from several yards out. Hale might shovel one from a mad scramble in front of the net. O'Malley might cram one in off of a rebound or penalty. And MacFarlane could score from anywhere. Since the goalie can't be everywhere, she must choose, and so far, she's often chosen wrong: Carroll has 12 points, Hale has 13, and O'Malley has 15. MacFarlane leads the team with 17.
On defense, Kelly, who guards opponents' best attackers, "stays composed" when other teams attack. "There's a lot of pressure, but I know what it takes," she says. North Carolina showed her that "what it takes" is being close to perfect. "We can't even have little lapses . . . Teams in the tournament will capitalize. This year, our practices have been intense, and our preseason was, too. We're completely confident that we can play with anyone. We know we have the talent."
In three years, Kelly has acquired two qualities-composure and intensity-that are really only one: confidence. That confidence, combined with skill, may move the Tigers to the top of the college field.
-Paul Hagar '91
YACHTS, TAILBACKS, AND TITLES: MEMORIES OF PALMER STADIUM
Palmer Stadium, one of the most storied monuments in collegiate football, a handsome edifice, and a wonderful, atmospheric setting for the sport, is sadly in its last season, and its impending demise evokes a host of memories. Built in 1914, the stadium was a gift from Edgar Palmer '03, and it opened with a 16-12 victory over Dartmouth on October 24 in that year. Since then there have been several periods of undefeated glory, a few not-so-glorious times, memorable heroes, and some storybook games. Having hosted 82 years of solid football, Palmer has played a significant part in the growth of the game.
The stadium's history could, and probably should, make a book. This, however, is a short trip down a long and personal memory lane that started in 1930. I have taken in all but a few home games since 1935, including 28 years in the press box as a sportswriter for the Newark News and the Newark Star-Ledger, and one highly personal period as the father of a Tiger player, tight end Robby Robinson '65. (When he walked on the field for his first game-as a sophomore in 1962-I, who am not a smoker, ate a whole pack of Life Savers in five minutes.)
I have to confess that on my first visit to Palmer, for the 1930 Lehigh game, I was cheering for Lehigh (which won 13-9). A 12-year-old with no thoughts yet about college, I was with my uncle, a Lehigh alumnus. It was the week before the classic "Roper's last game" (which I heard on the radio), in which coach Bill Roper's final team, a heavy underdog to Yale after a dismal season, fell short of a monumental upset by one yard at the end of a heroic march as a rainy dusk settled over the field.
I soon became a Tiger fan, and memories of other early visits include the sight of a phalanx of tan, camel's-hair polo coats, the de rigeur uniform of the Tiger cheering section (which was then on the sunny side of the stadium, where it remained until World War II). Approaching the stadium from Lake Carnegie, a fan could see large yachts along the bank of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, with white-coated stewards serving guests in nautical "tailgate parties" on the yachts' fantails.
One of the great games of that era, which I happened to see and which more than ever confirmed my ambition to come to Princeton, was 1932's 20-0 victory over Columbia (which went on to win the Rose Bowl) by coach Fritz Crisler's first undefeated team. Its most memorable moment was a 55-yard punt return by swift seat-back Gary LeVan '36, at the end of which he juked past Columbia's all-everything hero, Cliff Montgomery, to score, leaving Montgomery flat on his face on the track after a missed tackle.
My freshman year started with a big thrill, a 7-6 squeaker over Penn before a wildly cheering crowd of 52,000 in a renewal of a series that had been interrupted since 1896. Another memory of that year was the day of the Rutgers game, when my second freshman football teammates and I returned to the gym after playing Lawrenceville to hear that the varsity was trailing 6-2 at the start of the fourth quarter. We made a mad dash toward the stadium in horrified disbelief, only to be told by people leaving the game that Princeton had scored, and scored again. By the time we arrived, out of breath, the Tigers had won, 29-6.
The most memorable game of that 1935 season was the Dartmouth game in the home finale. There had been a tremendous build-up, as both teams were undefeated, and the all-time-record crowd of 56,000 was packed into every corner and boosted by temporary stands in the end zone. The game was played in a blinding snowstorm, the weirdest atmosphere I ever remember at a game. The snow prevented people in the upper rows from even seeing the field. As if these circumstances were not enough, this contest became notorious for the incident of the "12th man," a drunk from the north endzone who staggered out through the snow and lined up in Dartmouth's goal-line defense. His heroic effort, quickly snuffed by startled officials, went for naught, as the Tigers scored to cap a 26-6 victory. No other game has ever quite matched that one.
After these glory days, things went downhill for a few years, although the 26-23 loss to the Elis (with their stars, tailback Clint Frank and end Larry Kelley) in 1936 was probably the single-most exciting game I ever saw at Palmer, or anywhere else, one of those up-and-down-the-field thrillers that the last team with the ball wins. Unfor- tunately, the Tigers were next-to-last.
After World War II, it took a while for the program to gather steam under the forceful leadership of coach Charlie Caldwell '25, who made a work of art out of the supposedly outmoded single wing. His first star was wingback George Sella '50, whose heroic feats made every game exciting, and he kept building momentum through the 1949-51 glory years of tailback Dick Kazmaier '52.
With Kaz's remarkable knack for making a big play at the right moment-accompanied by perfectly drilled platoons and a defense led by tackle Hollie Donan '51-Princeton made every game a thrill to watch. The Tigers' crowning achievement was a 53-15 swamping of an undefeated Cornell squad, in 1951. Kaz's performance that day helped get him selected as Princeton's only winner of the Heisman Trophy. Amid all Kaz's heroics, one play in 1949 against Yale stands out as typical of his cool control. On a pass play in Yale territory, with the game in doubt, the center's snap went over his head. As he spun around to go after it, the ball bounced right back to him. So he turned back around and tossed a perfect touchdown pass to Sella to clinch the game.
The next mantle of stardom fell on tailback Royce Flippin '56, whose career was hampered by a leg injury in a preseason scrimmage with Syracuse. (While playing safety, he was blocked by Jim Brown-the Jim Brown-and his leg buckled.) He missed a lot of action, but always managed to make key plays, and winning touchdowns, against Yale.
But my main memory of Flip in action was only indirectly in Palmer Stadium. At a coaches' convention in a New York hotel, a purveyor of movie cameras used by coaches for game films was demonstrating one of his wares by projecting a picture out of his room onto a corridor wall. As Yale's coach, Jordan Olivar, was hurrying down the hallway, the camera projected a picture-seemingly out of nowhere-of Flip running 70 yards for a game-winning touchdown against Yale. Olivar cringed in horror at the sight, shaking his fist at the image on the wall as he fled to the elevator.
The next memorable era belonged to fullback Cosmo Iacavazzi '65, and included our last undefeated season, 1964. The lasting image I have of Cosmo is of him powering, airborne, into the end zone in a wedge play, scoring one of his record 31 career TD's.
This was an indication of the tough football the Tigers put out for Dick Colman. Though a very different personality from the terse Caldwell, the smooth-talking Colman had the same devotion to the single wing and the same ability to inspire his team to top efforts. It is interesting that Caldwell and Colman had the same winning percentage, an outstanding .694.
Then came a mostly low period for Princeton, highlighted mainly by the Tigers' upset of an undefeated Yale in 1981, in which the team, led by quarterback Bob Holly '82, scored with four seconds to go to win the game, 35-31, ending a 14-year losing streak against the Elis. That was my second-most-exciting game in Palmer.
When Steve Tosches took over, he set the Tigers back on a winning road, which reached a climax in the exciting feats of tailback Keith Elias '94 and the 1995 Ivy title. It would be a wonderful end to all this history if Princeton could get a repeat title in the good old arena's last year.
Go Tigers!
-Bill Robinson '39
SCOREBOARD
Men's Cross Country
(0-0 overall; 0-0 Ivy)
Lafayette Invit.-1st
Fordham Fiasco-1st
Women's Cross Country
(0-0 overall; 0-0 Ivy)
Lafayette Invit.-1st
Princeton Invit.-1st
Field Hockey
(5-0 overall; 1-0 Ivy)
Princeton 10, Ohio 1
Princeton 11, La Salle 1
Princeton 2, Ohio St. 0
Princeton 5, Cornell 0
Princeton 3, Syracuse 2
Football
(0-1 overall; 0-1 Ivy)
Cornell 33, Princeton 27
Men's Soccer
(0-2 overall; 0-1 Ivy)
Hartwick 2, Princeton 0
Cornell 1, Princeton 0
Women's Soccer
(2-2 overall; 1-0 Ivy)
Davidson 1, Princeton 0
James Mad. 4, Princeton 1
Princeton 4, Seton Hall 0
Princeton 2, Cornell 0
Women's Volleyball
(3-2 overall; 0-0 Ivy)
Princeton def.
Delaware St. by forfeit
Princeton 3, Fordham 1
St. John's 3, Princeton 0
St. John's 3, Princeton 2
Princeton 3, Seton Hall 1
Men's Water Polo
(3-2 overall; 0-0 Ivy)
Slippery Rock 12,
Princeton 10
Princeton 13, Bucknell 12
Princeton 11, Bucknell 9
Princeton 13, Richmond 10
Navy 12, Princeton 8