Game 595: Princeton bashes Butler Bulldogs to open 150th season, 49-7
Princeton, NJ – The score stood 42-0 in favor of Princeton at the end of the first thirty minutes of play on Saturday. Collegefootballfan.com decided to go home at that point and actually watch some games on TV rather than watch a football practice between two teams wearing a lot of clean uniforms. Good choice, the second thirty minutes resulted in a 7-7 tie to give the Tigers a 49-7 season opening victory.
Princeton on the prowl
PU started off 2019 like last year although not as well when they took it to these same Bulldogs, 50-7. New starting QB Kevin Davidson, a senior, replaced last year’s Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, John Lovett, now with the Kansas City Chiefs. In his 2019 debut, he passed for 341 yards and two TDs. RB Collin Eaddy rushed for 59 yards and two TDs. WR Andrei Iosivas, hauled in two TD passes – one from Davidson and one from fellow wide-out Dylan Classi, all in the first half. Over the course of the game, nine Tiger ball carriers combined for 168 rushing yards. Eight Tiger receivers totaled 375 yards via the pass. The opener for the 150th edition of Princeton Tiger football ended one-sided to say the least. Butler tallied zero yards returning kicks and zero punt return yards. Princeton hiked the ball 30 times during the first half to amass 378 yards and 42 points. Game over! Outta’ here!
Tiger Tamer
Head Coach Bob Surace, Princeton starting Center class of ’90 and former Cincinnati Bengal assistant for nine years, looks to have his Tigers charging for another Ivy League championship. He is one of only two people to win Ivy league titles as player (1989) and as head coach (2013, 2016, 2018). His 2013 and 2018 Tiger teams featured the two highest scoring teams in Ivy League history. The Tigers seem ready to pounce on some more football accolades in 2019.
Next!
Butler (1-3, including a 57-10 thrashing to No. 1 North Dakota State to open their season) heads to Florida to play the Stetson Hatters, a Pioneer League foe. Princeton, 1-0, travels due west to Bucknell (0-3) of the struggling Patriot League which thus far has an anemic, non-conference record of 4-20 combined. Their first challenge doesn’t appear on their slate until October 26 when Harvard comes calling on Old Nassau.
We plan to go back to Princeton Stadium when the Tigers face a traditional rival, the Yale Bulldogs. On November 16. It should be more interesting with ESPN Game Day in attendance. This weekend will be our last of two games weekends as we close in on Game 600 on October 19. On Friday at 8 pm, we’ll see Penn State clash with Maryland for the third year in a row. The Lions have won the past two by a combined score of 104 to 6. Penn State (3-0) has to prove they’re ready for some better competition on the field, and Maryland (2-1) desires to improve over the last two years when the Lions trounced them. On Saturday, we’ll be at The Linc in Philly to see Temple (2-1) under new HC Rod Carey lead his team against their coach of the last three years, Geoff Collins, who brings his Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-2). Should be an interesting game to watch here.
