Ivy League Champions!

• Penalty flag on the final play, but fans are storming the field anyway.
  
• Now the event staff people are giving up in terms of preventing a storming-of-the-field. They are surrounding the goal posts on each side of the field to prevent their being torn down. What's our endowment again? We can't afford two new sets of goal posts?
• Penalty was against Dartmouth--it doesn't matter. Game over. 27-17 Princeton. As the Tigers and Big Green line up to shake hands, a sea of Orange & Black collapses on the field.
  
• Forget "co-champions." The Tigers beat Yale head-to-head.

The yellow-shirted event staff is surrounding the field

• Will they be able to prevent the student section from storming the field once this one wraps up?
  
• 4 seconds left...
  

Kicking off for a championship

• This one's pretty much in the bag with 63 seconds left and Lichtenstein back to kick off to the Big Green. Milan Williams takes eight seconds off the clock on a kick return up the middle. A big penalty pushes Dartmouth back to their own 19-yard line.
  
• Fritz incompletion on 1st down. 43 seconds left now.
  

27-17 Princeton!

• Toresco zooms in around the right side of the line for a three-yard touchdown on third down. Lichtenstein's extra point puts Princeton up 10 with 1:03 to play.
  

2nd and goal from the 3 for Princeton

• With 1:13 on the clock. Dartmouth has burned its 2nd timeout (has one remaining).
• Munde and Toresco in backfield, Terrell takes snap and, with a blitzer in his face, lasers one low for tight end Billy Mitchell, who can't come up with it in the endzone before it hits the ground. Close call.

Circle, who else?

• First down Tigers--Terrell hits Circle up the middle for a huge first down.
• 1st and goal from the nine-yard line.
• Lagomarsino with the carry, takes it up the middle six yards to the three-yard line.

Yale victorious

The Bulldogs have defeated Harvard 34-13. Princeton now needs a win to share the Ivy League title with Yale. A loss, and it would just be another second-place finish.

Terrell looking like Chris Young

• The kid's a great pitcher. He pitches one ahead to Toresco up the middle on second down, and Toresco pushes forward for another first down.
• A seven-yard gain by Lagomarsino follows. Lagomarsino and Toresco are taking control of thsi game and shedding seconds off the clock. Lagomarsino walks off the field after hitting the ground with some minor injury but he looks like he could be back.
• Meanwhile, Toresco is stuffed up the middle to bring up third-down. Dartmouth calls a timeout with 1:53 left in the game.

Six minutes left in the season

• 2nd and 3 for the Tigers at their own 40-yard line. Terrell hits Lagomarsino up the middle, Lagomarsino puts a nifty move on Dartmouth cornerback Jason Blydell to shake upfield for the first down.
• Lagomarsino carries up the middle for a six-yard gain. The Tigers are picking away and the clock is ticking away. 4:32 to go, Toresco gets the handoff, surges forward for another first down.
  

Will the defense come alive?

• A pack of Tigers come up with a big stop in the backfield, forcing the Dartmouth running back into a two-yard loss.
• Dartmouth faces 3rd and 12 from their own 41-yard line. A stop here would be monumental, especially for the confidence of a defense that hasn't done much of anything today in terms of slowing Dartmouth's methodical attack.
• 5-yard holding penalty makes it 3rd and 17...
• Brig Walker hits Fritz in the backfield, forces him out of the pocket. He gets past Walker and rushes forward, but can only pick up three yards, well shy of the first down.
• Brian Scullin comes on to punt for Dartmouth, Shields receives.
• Princeton takes over at their own 33.
  

Fourth down failure

• Following Kelleher's interception, the Tigers march to the Dartmouth 32-yard line, but the Big Green force fourth-and-two for Princeton. Terrell gets it to Brigham for a potential first-down catch, but he can't hold on while leaping into the air. Turnover on downs. Dartmouth takes over with just under nine minutes left in the game.
  

Kell yes!

• Junior defensive back Kevin Kelleher comes up with his fourth interception of the year--and none have been bigger. He steals Fritz's deep pass out of the air at the Princeton 40-yard line and returns it to midfield.
• Coming into this game, only two players in the Ivy League had four interceptions on the season, so assuming neither of them had picks today, Kelleher could now be tied for the league lead.
• More importantly, the Tigers have the ball at the Dartmouth 39-yard line now and are threatening once again. They need a touchdown, not another field goal, to put this game away.
  

Can the Tigers answer?

• It's suddenly starting to look more likely. Terrell just hit Circle down the sideline for a big first down, and Princeton has the ball at the Dartmouth 13-yard line.
• Toresco bullies his way upfield for a five-yard gain.
  
• 2nd and 5 at the nine-yard line, Terrell in the shotgun with Lagomarsino and Toresco in the backfield. Pitch to Lagomarsino, who is upended for no gain.
  
• 3rd and 5 from the nine, Toresco can't haul in Terrell pass. Fourth down.
• Dartmouth assistants wanted a fumble on that play again (which is absolutely ridiculous, it was a clear incompletion). They've toned down their vocal fury though, looking sheepishly into the press box, censoring themselves, and one of them saying,"God dang, they're killing us."
• Lichtenstein--not Louden--comes in to attempt the field goal. That's Lichtenstein's first field-goal attempt of the season. He nails it. 25-yarder. That's pretty clutch, to come on and make his first attempt of the year to give Princeton the lead with the Ivy championship on the line. Not going to do much for Louden's confidence, though, assuming he's not injured and just got benched for that blocked attempt earlier in the game.
  
• 20-17 Princeton with 12:58 left in the game.
  

Stay classy, Dartmouth assistants

• The visiting coaches' box is attached to the press box, where I and all the other members of the media are sitting right now. It's enclosed in glass, which means everything going on inside can be seen and--more importantly--it is poorly sound-proofed. This makes for some enjoyable scenes. On the Princeton drive preceding Dartmouth's most recent scoring drive, a questionable no-fumble call went Princeton's way. The Dartmouth assistants started shouting curse words I didn't even know existed. The press box is packed today with the families of alumni, who are the special guests of the Athletic Department, since today is Alumni Giving Day. There are children walking around, and they are probably crying now following the latest display by the Dartmouth assistants. After a particularly colorful remark about the excrement of a male cow, one of the guys from the coaches' box looked over and realized that there were women and children staring at him in shock. He looked a little guilty, but mostly just enraged.
  

Dartmouth back in the redzone

• 1st down and goal from the three-yard line for the Big Green, who are marching downfield at will against the Princeton defense once again.
• Two-yard gain brings up 2nd and 1, Song comes up with a goal-line stop to set up 3rd and 1
• 3rd and goal from the 1, Tigers come up with another stop. Dartmouth is going for it.
• 4th and goal from the 1...Dartmouth pounds it in through the line, a QB keeper by Fritz, for a touchdown, silencing the Princeton crowd, which was just starting to get as loud as it had all day after three straight goal-line stops. Now, Princeton Stadium is in shock.
• Kempler comes on for the extra-point attempt and nails it to tie the game, 17-17. There is 1:24 on the third-quarter clock.
  
• 11-play, 61-yard drive for Dartmouth.
  

Louden attempt blocked

• Dartmouth defensive end Cullen Gilchrist just went all Dikembe Mutombo on Princeton kicker Conner Louden, swatting a 27-yard field goal attempt to the ground. Talk about demoralizing for the Tigers. Dartmouth takes over still down just seven points.
  

Cleo Kirkland sighting

• The senior tailback--who was second on the team in rushing yards last year as the primary tailback before being slowed by injuries--just ran for a one-yard gain. He lost his starting job going into the season, and received only a handful of carries all season. He's been in for a number of plays on this drive, though.
  

Princeton on Dartmouth's 33

• 1st and 10 with a chance to put some more points on the board. The defense came up with a big--and much-needed--stop to start the second half after a lackluster defensive performance over the first 30 minutes. Now, it's time for the offense to create some separation in this game.
• Terrell hits Circle up the middle for an 8-yard gain. 2nd and 2 at the 25-yard line. Terrell takes the snap, rolls to his right like he's going to keep it himself, then pitches back to Toresco at the last possible moment. Toresco takes it 14 yards to the Dartmouth 11-yard line.

Second half under way

• Princeton kicks off and stops the Dartmouth kick returner short of the 20-yard line. In case you hadn't noticed, sophomore placekicker Conner Louden doesn't handle kickoffs and hasn't all season. That job belongs to freshman Matt Lichtenstein, who has done an admirable job, and apparently has a stronger, but less accurate, foot than Louden. He blasted this one nearly into the endzone.
• Dartmouth is stuck on 3rd and 17 from the 13 yard-line. Fritz launches a pass down near midfield to a streaking receiver, but Princeton cornerbacks Tom Hurley and J.J. Artis leap to knock down the pass.
  

Update from Cambridge

• Yale leads Harvard 20-7 with the third quarter coming to a close. Just looking at the stats and not having seen the game, it would appear to be a pretty ugly defensive battle. Neither team's quarterback has even completed half of his passes. Harvard's record-setting senior running back, Clifton Dawson, has been incredibly ineffective in his final collegeiate game (averaging just about 2 yards per carry) while his counterpart Mike McCleod--the Ivy League's leading rusher--hasn't been much better for the Bulldogs.
• But Yale's up comfortably, and that's all that matters for the Princeton faithful.
  

Halftime stats

• Brigham with seven catches for 77 yards for Princeton (Circle held to just two catches for 22 yards-- Dartmouth has really been honing in on him).
  
• Mike Fritz has been as effective as usual for Dartmouth, completing 10 of 17 passes for a touchdown and no interceptions. Terrell has completed 19 of 30 for more yards than Fritz (165 to 137), but he's thrown an interception to go along with his touchdown pass.
• Princeton has the edge in time of possession, about 17 minutes to 13 minutes, but the Big Green are obviously right in this one, and couldn't have asked for a much better situation to be in to give themselves a chance to spoil Princeton's season.
  

Dartmouth responds yet again

• Brian Evans comes up with a huge gain downfield, bringing the Big Green deep into Princeton territory. Evans and Princeton senior safety Tim Strickland had both leaped and gotten hands on the ball, and seemed to come down with the ball together. It's ruled a mutual reception, which means the pass is automatically awarded to the offense. A couple plays later, and Dartmouth star reciever Ryan Fuselier comes down with a Big Green touchdown in the front of the endzone, outleaping a Princeton defender and getting both feet in for the grab.
• Extra point is good, and Dartmouth pulls within seven with just over a minute remaining in the half. 17-10 Princeton.
• Princeton gets the ball back and moves it to midfield as the clock winds down. On the final play of the half, Terrell evades a pair of Dartmouth blitzers in the backfield and launches one deep and high towards the endzone. A pack of Big Green defenders swarm around the ball and bat it down.
• Halftime.
  

29-yard Louden field goal attempt...

• Is good. 17-3 Princeton with 1:48 to go in the half.
• That's Louden's ninth field goal of the season. Going into the game, the sophomore was in a four-way tie for third-place in the Ivy League with 8 field goals. Cornell's Peter Zell was second with 9 and Brown's Steve Morgan had 10. So, Louden could end up being the Ivy League's most prolific kicker by day's end. He's made 9 of 15 attempts. It should be noted that his longest make is only 38 yards, though. The offense has been getting him close.

Ploszek monster return on the ensuing kickoff

• Makes me look good for those compliments earlier by running the kickoff back up the middle to near midfield.
• Tigers march to the Dartmouth 24-yard line, thanks largely to a 15-yard carry by Lagomarsino.
• Fourth down and 4 at the 24, and the Tigers are going for it. Just out of field-goal range and too close to punt.
• Terrell in shotgun, Toresco in motion. Toresco shoots out to the left sideline undefended, Terrell hits him in stride and he cuts upfield for the first down.
• Terrell hits Toresco again on the next play, up the middle for a seven-yard gain.
• 2nd and 3 from the 12, Terrell nearly intercepted on a pass intended for Circle. The Darmouth assistants in the coaches' box are furious they didn't come up with that. I think one of them yelled out "I got it!" while the ball was up for grabs. That guy's not reliving his glory days.

Dartmouth bounces right back

• Dartmouth deep into Princeton territory, moving the ball quickly and at will on this drive.
• Princeton gives Fritz way too much time, and he completes a pass up the middle to the Princeton 7-yard line for a first down.
• The Tiger line stuffs two straight runs to set up 3rd and goal at the 4-yard line for Dartmouth.
• Fritz takes the snap, lobs one up into the left corner of the endzone. It hangs up there too long, Strickland gets in front of the intended receiver, and swats it down to the ground with authority.
• On fourth down, the Big Green kicker Andrew Kempler comes out and nails a 21-yard field goal. That was a 14-play, 62, yard, six-minute drive, and the Princeton defense looked vulnerable.
• Princeton 14, Dartmouth 3 with 4:34 to go in the half.

14-0 Princeton

• Toresco runs around the offensive line to his right for a one-yard touchdown. Louden nails the extra point. Just over 10 minutes left in the second quarter.
• Still can't believe that catch by Brigham to set that up. He was literally pinned between two Dartmouth defenders, and Terrell somehow squeezed the ball in there to him as he fell to the ground. It was impossible to tell from up here if he had caught it, but he stood up with the ball in his hands and the catch was ruled good. I almost pounded the glass here, too, in amazement, but that darn Dartmouth coach beat me to it.

3rd and inches at midfield

• For Princeton at the start of the second quarter. Terrell keeps it himself and pushes through the line for two yards and the first down. Into Dartmouth territory again.
• Pete Ploszek lays a mean block at the line of scrimmage, upending a Dartmouth blitzer and sending him onto his head. With the extra time, Terrell launches a bomb downfield into the hands of Brigham, who hauls it in and brings it to the Dartmouth 22-yard line for a 26-yard completion. Brigham with 52 recieving yards on the day.
• 2nd and 2 at the 14 after an 8-yard completion to Circle up the middle. Terrell keeps it again, rolls left, and picks up another rushing first down.
• Now it's 3rd and 5 at the Darmouth 6-yard line following two consecutive running plays. Terrell in the shotgun, fires it in between two Dartmouth defenders to Brian Brigham, who somehow pulls it in at the one-yard line. It looked for a moment like he hadn't come up with it, and Dartmouth defenders were calling for an incompletion, but the refs signal a catch.
• One of the Dartmouth assistants up in the coach's box bangs a fist against the glass after the call and shouts an expletive audible throughout the press box. I thought "The Big Green" was rated G.

At the end of the first quarter...

• The Princeton Tigers lead, 7-0.
• In between quarters, there is a fat, pink pig mascot wearing blue suspenders and a white chef's hat dancing around at the 20-yard line. Behind him, there is some sort of apparatus, operated by two human beings, launching actual, edible hot dogs into the stands. As one hot dog makes its way up towards the press box, it disintegrates in mid-air. These characters must have come in from Hanover.

Unhappy Halftime at Harvard

• Yale leads the host Crimson 20-7. If the Bulldogs win, Princeton needs to win as well to share the Ivy title. The final score of the that game should be announced here at Princeton Stadium some time after halftime.

Back in the right hands

• Senior linebacker Brig Walker forces a Dartmouth receiver to cough up the ball while racing down the sideline. As the reciever falls out of bounds, the ball somehow manages to stay inbounds, spinning around a couple times right near the sideline before junior linebacker Doori Song can dive on it to recover for Princeton.
• 3rd and 4 at the Princeton 23, Terrell rolls out, might have had room to run for it himself, but instead throws incompletion to end the drive. A fourth-and-out is a blessing for the Tigers though after that interception.
• McDonough comes on the punt, pins Dartmouth back at their own 29.

15 completions in a row

• For Jeff Terrell. There's the record.
• Lagomarsino comes out of backfield for a 10-yard reception, bringing up third-and-four for Princeton at its own 41-yard line. 16 in a row for Terrell.
• Terrell intercepted! There goes the streak. Pass deflects off the face/hands of one Dartmouth defender, into the air, where it is hauled in by a Big Green teammate. Dartmouth has the ball in Princeton territory.

7:30 on the 1st quarter clock

• Princeton comes up with a third-down stop, forces Dartmouth to punt from back in their own territory. Tigers take over at their own 19-yard line.
• Terrell completes to Brian Brigham again--that's his 14th-consecutive complete pass, good enough to tie an all-time Princeton record. Wow.
• The only guy in the Ivies with a higher completion percentage than Terrell is his counterpart on the field today--Dartmouth QB Mike Fritz. But Fritz hasn't exactly come up with the big plays to lead his team to victories.

Tout le Munde!

• Sophomore fullback Jordan Munde--who nobody in this stadium other than the Princeton players figured was in the game to do anything in the game other than block--rolls out of the backfield and heads into the endzone wide open. Terrell hits him with a remarkably easy touchdown pass, the first of Munde's career.
• Munde has been used heavily in recent games as a blocker in goal-line situations, most notably at the goal-line in overtime two weeks ago against Penn. Munde was in for the series failed attempts at the one-yard line, that ultimately led to Rob Toresco's now-famous pitchback to Terrell to set up the game-winning extra-point. Munde plays blocking fullback in these situations, while Toresco shifts over to become the primary ball-carrier.
• Nice to see Munde get his reward, and moment in the sun. In the future, he could be a crucial part of our rushing game.

Black & Orange in Red Zone

• Terrell pass to Circle brings it to the Dartmouth 8-yard line. 1 and 10.
• Terrell fakes hand-off to Lagomarsino in backfield, rolls off, pump fakes a couple times, and pushes it to the one-yard line on a keeper.

Pretty grab by Brigham

• Who goes full-extension to haul in a Terrell pass near the sideline then tip-toes to stay in bounds. Junior Brendan Circle is the unquestioned MVP of the receiving corps, but senior Brigham is an amazing weapon in his own right. It's hard to tell where Terrell's making them look good and where they're doing the same for him.
• Princeton has a first down in Dartmouth territory with under 12 minutes left to play in the quarter.

Princeton back to receive

Sophomore Pete Ploszek brings it up to the 32-yard line. He was the surprise choice at starting tailback for the first game of the season, but lately he's been used mainly on special teams, and is a speedy, elusive kick-returner.

Major Props

They're calling all the seniors out onto the field to honor them in their final game, individually announcing their names, home towns, and academic majors over the P.A. system as they run out onto the field.

• Senior offensive lineman Brett Barrie is a philoshophy major. His philosphy? Crush opponents into the ground first, ask questions (like whether the guy was out of bounds and you'll draw an unnecessary-roughness penalty flag) later.

5 minutes away from the last 60 minutes of the season

The Tiger band is on the field forming an upside-down "d" and the clock on the scoreboard reads 5 minutes 'til kick-off. Princeton-Dartmouth: an Ivy League championship on the line for one and nothing much of signifiance on the line for the other...this one should be fun.

• Senior punter Colin McDonough made the front cover of the media guide today, for his final game of eligibility. He is to special teams what senior quarterback Jeff Terrell is to offense and what senior safety Tim Strickland is to defense--and those guys made the media-guide cover long ago--so there's really no better cover boy for Senior Day.
• Don't forget, in addition to the Ivy League crown, the Tigers will be battling today for the 1917 Sawhorse Dollar--awarded annually to the winner of the Princeton-Dartmouth game. I think I dissected one of those in biology class in high school.