PU's One Man Wrecking Crew

Princeton 45 Columbia 10


Why Princeton Won

Tiger QB John Lovett was simply unstoppable as a rusher and efficient enough as a passer to engineer the Princeton victory almost on his own. Lovett ran basically at will, gaining 174 yards on 17 carries for two TD's. He wasn't as deadly as a passer, but efficient enough with 135 yards in the air and another two TD's. On defense, the Tigers only allowed just 213 total yards from the CU offense.

Why Columbia Lost

In addition to being unable to stop Lovett, the Columbia offense couldn't gain much momentum or consistency other than one impressive 2nd quarter drive.

Key Turning Points

-Sophomore CB/KR Will Allen made a spectacular 91-yard kickoff return to give the Lions a 1st and goal at the six to start the game. But Columbia failed to move the ball even one yard on three plays and the Lions had to settle for a Chris Alleyne chip shot FG and a 3-0 lead instead of a 7-0 exclamation point to begin the game.

-With the score 13-10 Princeton and 13:35 left in the 1st half, Columbia took over at its own 35 after forcing a rare Tiger punt. The Lions got as deep as a 3rd and 1 at the Princeton 30. But a three yard loss on a rush by Lynnard Rose and then a false start penalty ended the drive. The Tigers took five minutes to score a TD on the ensuing drive and the game was essentially over.

Columbia Positives

-The Lions actually did a decent job in pass coverage, keeping Lovett to an unspectacular 12-22 passing. But pass defense numbers are often skewed by rushing stats, and that was certainly at play in this game.

-Allen's opening return was a thing of beauty and it earned him Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

-Dante Miller only had eight carries, but he milked 35 yards out of them for a 4.4 yards per carry average.

-Ronald Smith was particularly brilliant running with the ball after the catch on Columbia's lone TD drive.

Columbia Negatives

-The Lions simply had no answers for Lovett and didn't seem to even try to stack the line of scrimmage against him. His passing ability seemed to make that too risky.

-The Columbia offense was tentative and running in a slow gear most of the evening.

Columbia MVP

It's hard to find an MVP in this game, but I'll go with the league office and give it to Will Allen on the back of that great opening return.