Princeton/Cornell Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

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With no game to grade this week the Commissioner is able to store up energy before the Wild Rumpus coming on Saturday.  We loaded up the entire Tire Store crew and headed to New Jersey to visit relatives.  Boy, if we had taken along some snow tires and chains we could've made a killing.  We were a little concerned before we left home that we might run into some chilly weather.  Instead, we ran into one of those really bad days where you are driving down a local street and one of the guys who goes and covers the hurricanes for the Weather Channel is standing on the side of the road with a cameraman.

But we are always interested in any sort of football and so we went Saturday to watch Princeton play Cornell.  Rutgers and Princeton played the first ever intercollegiate game, so we were excited to see a game in the cradle of college football.  With the Commissioner’s indulgence we have decided to grade that game -- from the Princeton perspective since that is the alma mater of  my brother-in-law -- the true heir to the Tire Store empire.

Before we get the grades, a little bit of background is probably appropriate.  The Princeton Tigers play in the Ivy League.  They list a 105 man roster but no one is on scholarship.  The University itself has about 5,000 undergraduate students.  They play at 27,800 seat Princeton Stadium, a replacement for the historic Palmer Stadium, which was closed in 1996 after over 80 years of hosting football games on campus.  Interestingly, the new stadium seats fewer fans than the old one did.  But it is a nice generally-horseshoe shaped stadium offering good views of the field and a scoreboard with a Jumbotron.  The field is some version of prescription turf.  Tickets are $9 at the gate; programs are free.

On game day, they fly an American flag over the entrance to the stadium and on either side of it a Princeton flag and the flag of the day’s opponent.  Outside the entrance to the stadium there are two artsy and impressive looking polished metal sculptures of Tigers, the Princeton mascot.  We understand that at one point ivy was trained to grow around these two statues (ivy is a big deal around Princeton) but after several unfavorable comparisons to Chia pets, the ivy was removed.  Good call in our estimation.  The Princeton band is, um, somewhat smaller than the Million Dollar band.  The members wear orange and black plaid sport coats, hats, and slacks.  We understand that musical talent is not a requirement and some members of the band only loosely play instruments.

The Princeton team has players from all over the United States.  Their sizes, at least according to the program, are somewhat, though not a lot, less than you would see in the larger conferences.  The game was not televised and it is easy to forget how quickly a college game can move when there are no television commercials or instant replay deliberations intruding on the flow of the action.

If this wasn't a one-time thing, we would be tempted to grade everything as an “Incomplete”.  They apparently regularly enjoy a weather phenomenon on the northeast coast of the United States called a "nor'easter".  Without getting too far afield we will just say that it turns cold very quickly, the wind blows very hard, and a significant amount of heavy wet snow falls.  In this particular case, on Friday afternoon it was sunny, near 50, and on the whole not a bad afternoon at all.  By Saturday morning it was overcast and the rain was mixing with snow by 9 AM.  By 2:00 we would estimate that 4 or 5 inches of snow had fallen.  By Saturday night over 300,000 people in New Jersey were without power.  To their credit, even people who live in New Jersey mentioned that this was an unusual event.

To say that the weather had an impact on the game would be like saying that the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill had an impact on the Gulf of Mexico.  I am not making this up:

• some children built a 4 foot tall snowman in the stands just below the press box;
• during halftime they brought a Bobcat onto the field to scrape the snow off the sidelines, hash marks, and yard lines;
• at one point on a first and goal situation the back judge called timeout and literally swept the snow away from the goal line with his foot in case he had to make a call about whether the ball had broken the plane.

The team that was playing with the wind at their back could throw the ball distances that their quarterbacks probably only achieved in PlayStation games before Saturday; into the wind, they threw it, like, well, like I do.  Kicking into the wind was harsh enough, but added to that there was so much snow on the field that the ball would come down and stick like you had hit a golf ball into a sand trap.

The crowd for the game was very small.  We understand that Princeton usually averages about 5,000 fans a game but a combination of the weather and the student body being on fall break made the attendance far lower than that.  The fans that we met were welcoming and hospitable.  They were knowledgeable about Princeton football and the game in general.  They did not seem to know much about other teams either from their conference or around the country.  The new stadium has been constructed with areas for skyboxes but for the most part it is now unfinished storage space.  Where it is completed it is less a series of individual boxes than a long, open, climate controlled space with a row of chairs near the window. 

Neither team is having a great year.  Cornell was favored to win the game and did so 24 – 7.  The game was probably closer than the final score indicated.  Football is no different whether you play in the SEC, the Ivy League, or the pee wee version sponsored by the County Parks and Recreation Department.  You need to run the ball, stop the run, avoid critical turnovers, and win the kicking game.  Princeton's loss on Saturday was mostly attributable to a failure in these areas although it did rush the ball acceptably well.

With no further whining about the weather conditions, here's how I grade the game:

Offense:  C-.  I would like to tell you what sort of offensive scheme Princeton likes to run, but I don’t really know.  The weather conditions limited play calling and execution.  Princeton was most effective running the ball to the left side, away from Cornell’s Cadell Williams, a mobile 260 pound defensive end who occasionally shifted inside, and was giving Princeton all sorts of trouble up front.  Princeton is playing a two quarterback system, and their freshman, Quinn Epperly has the potential to be an exciting player and gained nearly 100 yards net rushing. But if you aren’t a wishbone team, having your quarterback gain that much on the ground is a mixed blessing.  He also made a few mistakes and misreads and his fumble inside the Cornell five was a clear turning point in the game.  On the other hand, he made two or three very good reads and throws through the wind and snow.  Another freshman, rb Chuck Dibilio (Ivy League All-name team) gained well over 100 yards and looked good doing it.  He added a 20-yard td reception.  Princeton’s starting qb, Tommy Wornham, left the game with a hand injury. 

Defense:  C.  The Princeton defense was on the field a lot, and despite giving up well over 300 yards of offense played well enough to win the game.  The defense played multiple sets but seemed to base primarily from a 4-3 look, though the variety may have been dictated by conditions.  Running a 5-2 in the ice and snow might just be common sense.  Ten of Cornell’s 24 points were directly attributable to special teams mistakes.  Holding the Big Red to essentially 14 points was a good effort by the stop troops in spite of giving up drives of 80, 73, and 55 yards.  Cornell’s quarterback is a league leader in passing and made several spot-on passes despite the weather conditions.  Princeton’s dbs did have a tendency to get lost in coverage, but tackled pretty well.  Cornell had a 100-yard rusher, but it took nearly 30 attempts to get there.  The grade is reduced for the loss, an inability to get off the field on third and longs, and because near the end of the game the D could not get the ball back and give the offense a chance as weather conditions improved slightly.  Princeton’s best defensive player appears to be Andrew Starks, who led all players with 11 tackles.

Special Teams: D. Special-teams breakdowns cost Princeton dearly.  Cornell's first score came after Princeton's punter was forced to one knee to field a snap resulting in his being declared down deep in Princeton's end of the field (I couldn't really tell you where, it looked to be around the 20).  The weather may have played a factor in this play.  But the weather did not play a factor in Cornell's 78-yard kickoff return for a touchdown just before half time and immediately after Princeton had gained momentum with a touchdown – and its only lead of the day.  The ST also committed a couple of key penalties.  This grade would be lower but Princeton did manage to block a punt to set up its offense in great field position – its first punt block in six seasons.  Otherwise, we will just give the kicking specialists an Incomplete and applaud their courage to go out and do something no one should be required to do.

Coaching:  B  It is hard to earn a grade of B for coaching in a two-touchdown loss, but Coach Bob Surace had his players in a position to win the game.  The Princeton offense twice turned the ball over in goal-to-go situations.  Coaches also get credit for having the team geared up and ready to play on a miserable day.  Their no huddle offense limited substitutions by the Cornell defense and was run effectively – a challenge even in good conditions.

Next week Princeton takes on the Penn Quakers, a good team coming off a surprising (and rare) league loss on Saturday.  We’ll be otherwise occupied.

Bottom line, if you get a chance to see a game in a place like Princeton, we really urge you to do so.  It is a fun experience and the football is good.  But we don’t recommend you go in the middle of winter a/k/a October.

The Correspondent From The Tire Store