And so I return to a dynasty that I really loved when I played it first. I noticed that I've been going through dynasties left and right recently with the possible exception of my Penn dynasty. By contrast, the early dynsaties lasted into 2006, 2007, and even 2008. I'm thinking that if the Princeton dynasty doesn't last very long, even with the hyper-tweaked rosters of every team to match what I want, then I might need to take a good long break from this game. It's fun to play my dynasties, but if I'm not enjoying it like I once was, then it's time to take a good long break. Or possibly get a newer game and play as someone like the Presbyterian Blue Hose and make a bunch of firehose jokes and possibly even some evelope-pushers that almost need to be moved to The Edge, ALMOST. But for now, I'm going to try to enjoy my Princeton dynasty as long as I can. If I get them to at least 2007 without an urge to make a new dynasty, then I may continue this series.

== YEARLY RESULTS ==

2003: 12-1, #3 AP Poll, #3 Coaches Poll, W Rose Bowl 116-24 vs Washington
2004: 11-2, #10 AP Poll, #10 Coaches Poll, L National Championship Game 32-35 vs Penn State
2005: 12-1, #1 AP Poll, #1 Coaches Poll, W National Championship Game 84-0 vs TCU
2006: 13-0, #1 AP Poll, #1 Coaches Poll, W National Championshp Game 105-0 vs Virginia Tech
2007:

__________________
Click on the beautiful Altoona skyline to go to my website about central Pennsylvania.

8/23/03: Dartmouth (I-AA)___________________________W 91-0
8/30/03: @ #5 Kansas State ________________________ W 73-0
9/6/03: @ #25 Penn State___________________________L 10-79
9/13/03: #2 Oklahoma______________________________ W 74-17
9/20/03: #10 Michigan _____________________________ W 35-13
9/27/03: #4 Texas_________________________________ W 77-6
10/4/03: @ Nebraska_______________________________ W 63-0
10/11/03: #3 Miami_________________________________W 80-7
10/25/03: @ #18 Virginia ___________________________ W 73-10
11/1/03: #17 Tennessee____________________________ W 56-10
11/15/03: @ Utah State_____________________________W 84-0
11/22/03: #13 Florida State__________________________W 77-0
1/1/04: vs #5 Washington - Rose Bowl_________________W 116-24

From this, I predict a great year for Princeton, no more than two losses for the Tigers. Despite their struggles in I-AA football, these Ivy Leaguers should not only survive, but thrive in I-A football. I predict an 11-1 season, or possibly 12-0 if they can find a way to get past Penn State. The second most daunting game on their schedule looks to be the game against Michigan, this coach usually only struggles with Big 10 teams and some Big East teams like Boston College and Syracuse as well as Notre Dame. But he completely owns Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas State. Also, this schedule has a new feature, absent from previous schedules. I'll post some updates as the season wears on.

Updates:

8/23/03: Princeton breaks with tradition, foregoing the standard 84-0 initial win for this coach and winning 91-0 instead.
8/30/03: Princeton beats a top five team, meanwhile Penn State one-ups Princeton's 91-0 win with a 105-0 win of their own
9/6/03: Joe Paterno continues domination of Princeton's coach, despite PSU surrendering first touchdown of the year to Princeton
9/13/03: Princeton has scored 70+ on top teams twice so far, meanwhile, so has Penn State who scored 72 on Nebraska
9/20/03: Princeton beats #13 Michigan 35-13 to get ranked, #15 Penn State beats Kent State 112-0, #11 Miami loses to Boston College
9/27/03: Princeton accidentally runs up the score, coach suspends culprit backup tailback, Penn State beats Minnesota 126-0
10/4/03: Princeton beats Nebraska 63-0, Penn State beats Wisconsin 69-3, Miami survives and will climb in the rankings next week
10/11/03: Princeton beats Miami 80-7, Penn State beats Purdue 54-3, Northwestern is the only other unbeaten Big Ten team now
11/18/03: #4 Virginia beats Florida State 33-10 to set up big game with #6 Princeton. LSU, Auburn, ND, and PSU also are unbeaten.
10/25/03: Princeton beats Virginia 73-10 in game where suspended player sneaks back in, Penn State routs Iowa 60-7 today.
11/1/03: Princeton pulls away to beat Tennessee 56-10, PSU beats OSU 66-0. Northwestern remains unbeaten, LSU remains #1.
11/8/03: Unbeaten Northwestern and Penn State clash for Big Ten crown, Penn State wins 80-3. Notre Dame also remains unbeaten.
11/15/03: Penn State beats Indiana 116-0, Princeton beats Utah State 84-0, #1 LSU loses 17-24 to Alabama, Iowa State beats Colorado.
11/22/03: Princeton finishes 11-1. Penn State and Notre Dame will play for national title. Penn State beats Michigan State 52-9.
12/6/03: GREEN LANTERN WINS THE HEISMAN! Also, Penn State and Notre Dame will play for the MNC. Princeton plays Washington.
1/1/04: Penn State beats Notre Dame 20-6 to win third national title for Joe Paterno, Princeton beats Washington 116-24 in Rose Bowl.

I think by now, we all know how these games against I-AA cupcakes work. He'll build a 56-0 halftime lead then let off the gas so the backups can get game experience. Dartmouth is a pretty easy team to beat up on, so this one could get even more out of hand than many other games against I-AA teams do. But Princeton is a team that doesn't have a good offense or defense and an okay special teams unit.

Prediction

Princeton: 77
Dartmouth: 0

How do you know that your team played a dominant game? How about when your opponent's sacks given up is greater than their total passing yards? Or how about when your only complaint is that your players can't put on the brakes enough to keep the score as respectable as possible? With the backups playing the final 31 minutes of today's game, there was really no way to keep the score respectable, it was 56-0 at halftime and could have been 63-0 if not for the fact that they did put on the brakes at the 1 yard line. This could have been a 105-0 beating, actually. But late in the game, first the backup halfback couldn't stop in time to fall so that the third stringer could be subbed in, and then the third string tailback moved downfield so fast that they couldn't not score that final touchdown to make it 91-0. Perhaps the headline should be "Princeton breaks with tradition with extra touchdown late in the game". All kidding aside, this was a great game by Princeton. The Tigers led 40-0 in first downs, 945-(-122) in total yards, 418-19 in passing yards, and 527-(-141) in rushng yards, putting Dartmouth into the statistical category of I-AA teams that this coach held below 20 passing yards, below -100 rushing yards, and below -100 total yards as well as no third down conversions and no first downs. And don't forget to add into the forced 20 or more sacks category, as Princeton forced 20 sacks and gave up none. Princeton was 4-4 on third down while Dartmouth was 0-13 on third down. And for today's penalties, Dartmouth had all 3 for 17 yards in what was a very clean game despite its official rivalry status, but as soon as this coach takes over a school, it becomes a rivalry in name only. But then again, these are Ivy League schools so you're not going to see the kind of hatred you see with other schools, like in the Ohio State-Penn State rivalry. But it looks like Princeton is actually a really good team.

Stat of the game: 91 - Usually this coach scores 84 points in his first game at a new school, but broke with tradition due to an accidental score by his backup halfback that was meant for his third stringer, and he was willing to break with tradition to give him his time in the sun.

It was over when: Princeton moved up to I-AA and hired this coach. No team from I-AA has ever been competitive with this coach's teams, even Montana State beat Montana 77-14 and Delaware State beat Morgan State 62-7. But this coach likes these games because they maintain a link to their football past, so he doesn't mind playing I-AA teams that used to be rivals, despite the lopsided scores that result.

Box Score

__________|1Q__2Q__3Q_4Q_|
PRINCETON_|28_|28_|21_|14_|
DARTMOUTH|_0_|_0_|_0_|_0_|

Time to see if Princeton can continue this coach's domination of Kansas State and if Kansas State can live up to the hype of their #5 ranking.

Prediction

Tigers: 56
Wildcats: 17

This wasn't a football game, this was a glorified scrimmage match against the junior varsity squad. Last week's game, by contrast, was a glorified scrimmage match against the local junior high football squad. Kansas State played not much better than Dartmouth did. The trash talk leading up to the game was mostly Kansas State saying that they'd do better than Dartmouth, well they DID pass for 20 yards instead of 19. And because of the dirty play, Princeton added a rub it in field goal at the end. "That has to be the dirtiest game I'd ever seen" the Princeton coach said, "It's not that these guys kept making silly mistakes, most of their penalties were personal fouls". Well, Princeton did lead 25-1 in first downs, so perhaps KSU was frustrated that they couldn't live up to their lofty ranking. Princeton didn't roll up nearly 1000 yards, but they did hold an edge of 635-(-36) in total yards, 233-20 in passing yards (KSU only completed one pass, even less than Dartmouth completed, one for 12 and one for 7), putting both Princeton opponents at less than 40 yards of total passing yardage, and they held a commanding edge of 402-(-56) on the ground. They forced a dozen sacks but gave up none, but much of KSU's poor rushing yardage was due to the fact that they kept calling basic running plays and rarely gaining more than a half a yard, usually losing a few yards. KSU was 1-16 on third down, with that 20 yard pass giving them their only glimmer of hope early, while Princeton was 9-11 on third down and 1-1 on fourth down. Princeton had no penalties today while Kansas State had 12 penalties for 82 yards, many of them facemasks and illegal blocks on kick returns. One of those facemask tackles led to an injury, Princeton's fullback may be out for the season, but we'll know more when we find out the true nature of this injury. The final field goal would not have been kicked, according to the coach, had Kansas State played a cleaner game, and the TD before may have not been scored. But even without the extra payback points, it was a one-sided romp.

Stat of the game: 1 - One pass, one first down, one third down conversion. That's all Kansas State could muster against Princeton's mighty defense. And whose bright idea was it to rank these guys as #5 coming into the year? Looks like that trash talk was just a bunch of hot air.

It was over when: Kansas State's players started talking trash. You just don't talk trash against a team coached by a coach that practically OWNS you. None of this coach's teams have ever lost to Kansas State. Even Delaware State beat them 42-31, so this was no surprise.

Box Score

__________ |1Q__2Q__3Q_4Q_|
PRINCETON_ |14_|21_|28_|10_|
#5 KSU_____|_0_|_0_|_0_|_0_|

Wooo boy, this one could get ugly. Princeton may have a good coach, but JoePa has this coach's number for the most part, and I don't see that changing here. Prinecton is a good team, but I don't see them winning this game, but they may make a little bit of a stand. Just a little.

Prediction

Penn State: 55
Princeton: 13

In a game that's been nicknamed the "Crescent Moon Game" because of the moon in the sky and the way the flow of the game seemed to go (fast to slow to fast), Penn State followed up a 105-0 blasting of cupcake Temple with a 79-10 beating of a very good Princeton team. Like I predicted, Princeton would put up a fight, and they tried to keep the score reasonable for as long as they could, and succeeded until the fourth quarter, which is when things just flat out fell apart. Statswise, Penn State led 19-15 in first downs, 438-244 in total yards, 217-133 in passing yards, 221-111 in rushing yards, and forced four sacks of Princeton's QBs, the first sacks Princeton gave up all year, while Princeton forced two sacks on Penn State's QBs, the first sacks given up by Penn State all year as well (although one was initially counted as a tackle for loss). Penn State was 9-15 on third down while Princeton was a sad 2-15 on third down. The biggest stat of the game? Princeton turned the ball over a shocking eight times today, five of those led to Penn State touchdowns. In what was a very clean game, both teams combined for two penalties for 12 yards. But it's worth noting a quarter of Princeton's yards came on their touchdown drive.

Princeton actually drew first blood in tonight's blasting by driving down to the 29 yard line after returning the kick to midfield and booting a 46 yard field goal to go up 3-0, but Penn State quickly made it 7-3 after returning the kickoff for a touchdown, and then after forcing a quick three and out, made it 14-3. Princeton drove downfield and made it to the 4 yard line but threw an interception in the end zone, and Penn State took advantage of the interception and drove downfield and made it 21-3 early in the second quarter. Penn State then added a touchdown to make it 28-3 from a pick six. The rest of the half was mostly a punt fest between the two teams, and Brad Nessler said that if Princeton wants to win this, they need to do more than shut down Penn State, they need to score. Penn State made it 31-3 after a long field goal. In a largely uneventul first half of the third quarter, Princeton drove downfield and scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 31-10 and Penn State was held to three and out. Princeton returned the punt to the 15 yard line and Kirk Herbstriet said once they made it to the 4 yard line "It looks like we might be looking at a genuine comeback happening here" until the Princeton halfback fumbled at the goal line and the fumble was returned 100 yards to give Penn State a touchdown that made it 38-10. Late in the third quarter, Penn State made it 45-10 and Lee Corso said "Goodnight! This game is OVER, baby" and Kirk Herbstriet said "It really was over when Princeton couldn't make it 31-17 but instead found themselves down 38-10". But the fourth quarter is when things began to unravel. A punt return touchdown as the first play of the fourth quarter and a fumbled kickoff return for touchdown made it 59-10 just one minute into the quarter. A pick six made it 65-10, only because of the blocked extra point. Penn State's backups added two touchdowns against Princeton's backups as the Crescent Moon Game came to a close and Penn State made a case for a Top-10 ranking and Princeton hopes to recover from this game next week.

Stat of the game: 16-3 - No, that's not a football score, that's JoePa's record against this coach during his first year with his new team when playing Penn State in Beaver Stadium counting tonight. This coach has most teams' numbers, but Penn State has this coach's number.

It was over when: With the score 31-10, Princeton's running back fumbled the ball at the goal line, blowing a chance at a comeback and blowing whatever momentum Princeton had going for themselves and in the process, giving Penn State a 38-10 lead, since that fumble was ran back 100 yards for a touchdown. After that, Princeton's intensity and fire had completely vanished and Penn State cruised to an even uglier blowout win. And so, a relatively good game with Penn State winning comfortably turned into a deceptive 69 point win over Princeton.

Box Score

__________ |1Q__2Q__3Q_4Q_|
PRINCETON_ |_3_|_0_|_7_|_0_|
#24 PSU____|14_|17_|14_|34_|

The Sooners have just suffered an embarrassing loss against Alabama last week that dropped them from #2 to #8. Princeton looks to take advantage of Oklahoma's woes while also hoping to overcome some of their own shortcomings exposed by mighty Penn State last week.

Prediction

Princeton: 48
Oklahoma: 28

They racked up yards by air, by land, and if there was a way, they would have done so by sea, too. When you pile up 650 yards of offense on a top-10 team, you know your offense is good. When you hold them to less than 100 yards, you know your defense is good. When your field position is specatacular, you know your special teams are good. Let's just admit it already, Princeton is a good team. Yeah, they got blasted by Penn State, but who wouldn't? At least they put up a fight for three quarters, unlike Temple and Nebraska who were squashed like bugs from the opening kickoff. And just like Penn State dominated Princeton, Princeton dominated Oklahoma. Princeton led 29-5 in first downs, 653-85 in total offense, 315-146 in passing yards, and most impressively, 338-(-61) on the ground. Oklahoma gave up seven sacks, but couldn't do much to disrupt Princeton's passing game, forcing no sacks. Princeton was a respectable 16-24 on third down while Oklahoma was a less impressive 3-13 on third down. Both teams punted, but all of Princeton's punts were in the first half, when the game was still in doubt. Princeton generally looked like the much better team today, despite suffering from a Penn State blowout loss hangover.

Scoring one more point than they did against Kansas State, but giving up 17 points (all in the first half), the Tigers were in danger early but put the game to bed early in the third quarter. But the way it started out, people thought that the general prediction of an Oklahoma rout was going to come true. The Sooners, on the first play from scrimmage, completed a beauty of a pass that went for 76 yards and a touchdown to make it a quick 7-0 Sooners lead. But the Princeton Tigers tied the game right up with a touchdown pass of their own, a 55 yard strike to their halfback. The game seemed to change after the Gameday crew mocked the Princeton defense with Brad Nessler saying "And now it's the OFFENSE that makes their way back out onto the field", and Lee Corso said "Yeah, and you know who's trembling? That Princeton secondary" and Kirk Herbstriet said "That defensive secodnary should be trembling after all those yards they gave up last time. The Sooners just made short work of them". More like trembling WITH RAGE! Because the very next play was a quarterback sack, and that same secondary that Lee and Kirk made fun of early on ended up picking off that quarterback on one out of every four Sooners drives henceforth. I think if anyone was shaking with fear, it was that quarterback. But even though the defense made their adjustments, the offense had yet to make theirs. It remained a deadlocked tie until Princeton's kicker booted a field goal to make it a 10-7 game. The halfback would expand the lead to 17-7 early in the second quarter and then 24-7 on the following drive. And on the next drive, Brad Nessler said right after an interception "These guys just keep digging themselves a hole deeper and deeper and if they keep it up, there's no way they'll get out". Kirk Herbstriet then said "They'll have to stage some kind of second half comeback". Lee Corso said "Second half comeback? Forget it. This coach is a second half coach, if you're behind in the first half, watch out sweetheart, it's going to get UG-LEE! Your best bet is to pounce on them like Penn State and Notre Dame like to do, even though Penn State doesn't always win, I can only remember three games that they didn't hold a halftime lead over this coach". As they continued chattering on, with Brad Nessler talking about he likes to have his suits dry cleaned downtown everytime they come here, Princeton booted a field goal. After a three and out from Oklahoma, Kirk then said "Looks like it's about to be 34-7". But then Princeton went three and out, and as they were punting, Lee Corso said "Not so fast my friend, Oklahoma still has some fight left. Woah, do they ever. He's going to take it!" Brad then cut in saying "Touchdown Oklahoma! It's not over yet!". It was now 27-14, and Oklahoma wasn't done. They would tack on a field goal before halftime. During the halftime show, they discussed that Princeton had looked great but Oklahoma had built some momentum. Well, that momentum would fade away in the second half as Princeton added a quick touchdown and would end up with a 55-17 lead after three, and the backups would add the game's final points to make it a 74-17 game. A stunned Bob Stoops said "I don't think I've ever lost like this. In the first half we seemed to have a chance, but they just clobbered us in the second half. This team should be considered for the national championship or at least a BCS bowl". Or maybe Oklahoma just isn't that good. We will find out soon enough. But at this point, I'm thinking Princeton is a Top-10 team.

Stat of the game: 4 - For four consecutive games, Princeton's HB rushed for over 100 yards, including 107 against Penn State. Heisman?

It was over when: The third quarter began. Princeton's 28 point third quarter had turned a 27-17 shootout into a 55-17 blowout in the blink of an eye. With the scrubs in, all they had to do was coast to victory in the fourth quarter, but the touchdowns still just kept on a-coming.

Box Score

__________|1Q__2Q__3Q_4Q_|
PRINCETON_|10_|17_|28_|19_|
#8 OU ____ |_7_|10_|_0_|_0_|

Something tells me that this game will be yet another ridiculously one sided blowout, although I just can't see Michigan laying down after the first quarter and letting Princeton pile on the points. In the battle of teams who use the winged helmets, Princeton wins. Sure, they're not going to score the 112 points that Penn State scored on Kent State, but Michigan is a much better team than the Golden 4000 Flushes.

Prediction

Princeton: 63
Michigan: 14

In a game that started off in painfully familiar fashion, many Princeton fans were thinking "here we go again", thinking that this would be the Penn State game all over again. But instead, it wasn't. It was actually a fun game to watch and very much in doubt until that final touchdown sealed Michigan's fate late in the fourth quarter. For much of the game, Michigan moved the ball fairly easily on Princeton's defense, but after the first quarter, it seemed like two different teams were playing, mistake prone Princeton began to play flawless football and Michigan, who had played phenomenal for the entire first quarter, began to look more and more vulnerable as the game wore on, making critical mistakes that killed their own momentum, but things began to really fall apart for them when they missed that field goal that would have made it 21-16. After that, Princeton seemed to move the ball effortlessly on the Wolverines. As a result of that stellar second half play, Princeton held an edge of 22-16 in first downs, 455-253 in total yards, and 346-123 on the ground, while Michigan held an advantage of 130-109 through the air, mostly shutting down Princeton's passing game and even forcing a rare interception along with two uncharacteristic fumbles. Princeton gave up a sack, but forced four of Michigan's QB. On third down, neither team really looked sharp, but Princeton was 9-17 on third down, fairly efficient, but remember that they were only 3-11 on third down before the fourth quarter, and 2-2 on fourth down, one of those fourth down conversions was a touchdown that proved to be a key momentum swinger. Michigan was 4-13 on third down, only managing one second half third down conversion. Michigan held the ball today for 31:42, partly aided by their 10:43 time of posession edge in the first quarter that led to an 18:52 first half TOP edge. But I think the most impressive stat today is Princeton's fourth quarter explosion of touchdowns that turned a mostly Michigan dominated game into a deceptive score that had depicted a one-sided affair.

The game couldn't have started any worse for Princeton or any better for Michigan, the Wolverines returned the kickoff to the 35 and with the help of a facemask penalty, started at the 50. They drove down the field, but stalled at the 8 and were forced to kick a field goal. Princeton's next drive ended in a fumble, but luckily they held the Wolverines to a punt, their next drive also ended in a punt, but then disaster struck. The Wolverines completed an 82 yard pass on third down to take a 10-0 lead and just knock whatever life was left out of the Tigers, or so it seemed. Princeton would throw an interception on their next drive, and Brad Nessler said that "Princeton has to stop the bleeding if they don't want this to end up like the Penn State game". And by only allowing a first down before Michigan punted away, they did just that, but the punt returner muffed the punt and got lucky when he fell on it with a defender right there that could have just snatched that ball right up and made it 17-0. Thankfully, with the end of the first quarter, the teams on the field seemed to be two different teams afterwards. The Tigers would drive downfield and nearly were held to a field goal following a sack and a stuffed run attempt by the fullback, but on third down, the halfback managed to elude defenders and run 8 yards into the end zone to cut the lead to 10-7. But on the next drive, Michigan would give up a sack of their own and punt the ball back to Princeton, who was gaining a little momentum. But after being held to a three and out, the momentum quickly shifted back to Michigan who drove downfield and tacked on a field goal from the 5 yard line to make it 13-7 at halftime. In a game that Michigan was dominating everywhere but the scoreboard, Princeton had done a fantastic job of hanging in there, something they couldn't do against Penn State, which is why they lost to the Nittany Lions. But the second half would begin with the Tigers coming out with renewed energy and would go much differently than they had through the first half.

Princeton put together a long drive to start the second half that ended with a touchdown to take the lead 14-13, but Michigan would drive down the field themsleves, but their pass to the end zone would be intercepted, squashing their chance to regain the lead and momentum. But they would hold Princeton, but Michigan would go three and out themselves, giving up a sack in the process. Princeton drove downfield then and early in the fourth quarter, completed a fourth down conversion pass to the end zone to increase the lead to 21-13. Michigan drove downfield themselves and were planning to answer with a field goal, but the field goal went wide left and Princeton wasted no time expanding the lead to 28-13 with a big touchdown run. Michigan soon afterwards threw a pick, and one 20 yard touchdown run later, Princeton had put it away 35-13. Michigan went three and out again, and Princeton put the backups in. The backup halfback fumbled and got hell from his coach as Michigan got the ball at their own 45 and began driving downfield, ready to score some pride points. But they would only get to the 25 yard line before the clock ran out. And so, Princeton shows that they can overcome adversity in beating a good opponent and hopes to find themselves ranked after today's game where they overcame an early hole to go on a 35-3 run to beat Michigan.

Stat of the game: 21 - The 21 points in the fourth quarter is the most for the Princeton Tigers so far this year and it put the game away.

It was over when: Princeton followed up an interception with a touchdown that made it 35-13. Before that point, Michigan was still in it.

Box Score

____________|1Q__2Q__3Q_4Q_|
PRINCETON___|_0_|_7_|_7_|21_|
#13 UMICH __ |10_|_3_|_0_|_0_|

Princeton's looking mighty impressive so far, walloping their opponents left and right, most of them being highly ranked, such as Oklahoma. I think that Texas will likely suffer the same fate as Oklahoma and Kansas State, this coach knows how to manhandle teams from the Big XII.

Prediction

Princeton: 62
Texas: 24

As a general note about my blog, starting with this dynasty, I'll include some stats of the game and an "it was over when" like my blog and ESPN have, and I'll retroactively edit those into the games I already played with this dynasty. It'll make the blog entries look a little more real and a little more fun (and hopefully funny at times). Some of the games had insane results with the stats, earning funny comments.

It just isn't a game against a Big XII team unless you score over 70, right? Princeton's coach was content with 63-6 and actually was angry with his backup halfback for making it 70-6 late in the game, and THEN for running in another one after Texas fumbled away the kickoff with seconds left. "For that little stunt, he's facing a four to five week suspension. Texas did nothing to deserve having it rubbed in their faces like that. All they did was play football. Why did he do that? Probably to compensate for not getting the stats he wanted or the starting job. Or maybe because he only scored one touchdown at that point while my third string tailback scored a touchdown before that. But that clown is off the depth charts for as much as five weeks. I wasn't trying to make them look like they were no better than Dartmouth, but apparently HE was. He says that their tackle pushed him forward but what team would help the opponent score a touchdown? Bullshit I say, bullshit. He is exactly the kind of player I hate coaching. If he wants to be an ass, he can go play for Miami or something" the coach said, visibly still angry. That means that at the earliest, the backup tailback will be coming back just in time for their matchup with Tennessee. Texas's head coach after the game said "Princeton's head coach seems more upset about those last scores than I was. I'm surprised, but pleasantly so. That shows a lot of class on his part". Despite the annoyance with the halfback, today's game was a yawner overall. Texas scored first, but Princeton answered, it was 7-3 after one and 28-6 at halftime, after which Brad Nessler said that the game was a one-sided affair, but that was nothing compared to what followed with a 28 point third quarter to make it 56-6. Princeton was content with just one final touchdown until the punk of a running back punched in a touchdown and then took advantage of a Texas fumble to make it even worse, despite the plan being "Run half-heartedly, just get the first down to kill the clock, then let them tackle you or kneel down", but instead he juked, stiff armed, and sprinted his way to a touchdown. The Princeton coach also added "I'm actually so pissed off at him that I almost wish one of the Texas guys would have injured him while he was showboating, maybe dislocated his arm when he was stiff-arming, messed up his ankles when he was juking, or even given him a concussion". First time I've ever seen this coach this pissed off at a player for disobeying orders to not run up the score. What an ugly game. Not just for Texas, but for Princeton, who will have to deal with crap from the media all week long about how they ran up the score on Texas, when really it was that idiotic halfback that had ran up the score.

Statswise, this game is similar to what you may expect, maybe even less impressive statistically, because, well, the bratty running back ran up the score! That coach was about to go tackle him himself at the end, but he'd already scored by time he ripped his headset off. Princeton led 36-6 in first downs, a pretty neat square of the other team's first downs, although it looked more like a football score than a first downs margin. Princeton also led 739-(-49) in total yardage (interesting, 49 is the square of "7" a number that appeared a little too much today), 237-27 in passing yards (Texas only had 3 passing yards until late in the third quarter, but this coach and his players find a way to mess up everything good they have going, such as in this case holding Texas to a new 2003 low passing yards, but Dartmouth's 19 yards still stands thanks to the weak Tigers' secondary), and 502-(-76) on the ground today. Princeton gave up no sacks, but did force a record 23 sacks, exceeding the 20 they forced on Dartmouth on opening day (so they did something right). Princeton was a lackluster 16-18 on third down, while Texas was an equally weak 2-19 on third down. Yeah, I know those numbers are different, but I wouldn't be saying this if Princeton hadn't blown a 14-14 streak they had going. Their starting QB was machete sharp in passing, going 6-6-2, while the backup was as dull as a stump and also 98 cents short of a dollar in his decision making, going 2-6-0, looking like a true I-AA quarterback. Texas had 7 penalties for 51 yards while Princeton had 2 penalties for 26 yards, in general, a very clean game and really no dirty hits from either side.

Stat of the game: 70 - For some reason, Princeton is always scoring in the 70s against Big XII teams, this time scoring 77 points, only two touchdowns less than their 91-0 romp over Dartmouth, but then again, it was 77-0 after three in that game, so it's hardly fair to say the games were similar, and very often the score in a game against a I-AA opponent is much lower than it could be, and a game against a highly ranked opponent that turns into a blowout usually ends up with the score ran up one way or another. And besides, it's pretty common to see blowouts over standards opponents end up being only 10-14 points less than their I-AA opener, looking at the box score gives you the best idea of the game, that Dartmouth game could have easily been 105-0 without running up the score, a touchdown was very nearly scored right before halftime, the first touchdown of the fourth quarter was seconds into the quarter, had it been scored in the third, you can bet your bottom dollar two would have been scored in the fourth with the way Dartmouth was playing. So it would have been 105-0 or possibly 112-0. Man, this is my longest stat of the game recap EVER. Just wanted to set things straight about this game, and I think I did.

It was over when: Princeton's offense took the field. After a quick 3-0 Texas lead, the Tigers seized complete control and just completely humiliated the Longhorns, making short work of their secondary and then torturing their defensive and offensive lines, running at will all day.

Box Score

_____________|1Q__2Q__3Q_4Q_|
#25 PRINCETON|_7_|21_|28_|21_|
#2 TEXAS_____|_3_|_3_|_0_|_0_|

Well, we know how this works by now. The Big XII team will move the ball on Princeton, score some points, but somehow, no matter how much the coach tries to prevent it from happening, the Tigers end up scoring in the 70s. My advice? Try to milk the clock up when you're 42-0, that way your incompetent running back can't make you unwillingly score 70+. But then again, scoring 73+ on the Huskers (provided it's a shutout, of course) may imply that Princeton is better than Penn State, but had a bad day. So I guess it's a win-win (or a lose-lose).

Prediction

Princeton: 75
Nebraska: 12

With all of the talk about how this was going to be closer than the experts think because Nebraska lost 72-0 to Penn State while Princeton lost by the similar 79-10 score, both runnaway scores with Nebraska's game being more one-sided, but all it did is prove that the transitive property is crap. This game was so one-sided that the backups were put in the game right before halftime and the backup QB completed both of his passes for the game. Not a single pass was thrown in the second half, although when the frustrated Nebraska players started playing a little dirty, the Princeton coach walked over and said "if one of my second string players gets hurt because one of your guys wants to play dirty and take it out on him that you're losing, I'll gladly sub the starters back in and score 100 on you". After that, the Huskers started playing a much cleaner game, and the Princeton coach decided to insult Nebraska's gameplan (partly due to the undisciplined play by the Husker defense) saying "It's hillarious how much they tried to run the ball at us. Did they really think they'd win with basic run plays? Whoever told them that we're weak against the run needs to be fired, our defense is built to stop basic run plays. Nebraska needs a better passing game if they want to win ballgames, an unscrupulous defense isn't going to win the big games for you". Bill Callahan was not amused saying "Yes you won, but you don't need to run it in. When we get better than you and are beating you, I'll be sure to tell you in that same smarmy tone you took with me that your players, who will be a little upset that they better play nice or else I'll make all of you sit in the corner until you decide to be good little boys, just like you pretty much did to me early today". The Princeton coach simply said "Had the situation been reversed, I'm sure he'd have been pissed off at his players being tackled by the facemask and such. He's just being a whiner, really taking what I said out of context, trying to paint me as an arrogant bully who talks down to everybody like I think I own them or something. Maybe he really does need to be given a dunce cap if he's going to make a big deal out of this. He should really be upset that I had to go so easy on his team to prevent this from getting as ugly as the Dartmouth game". That last one was probably the harshest. This coach always seems to get into arguments and even fistfights with other coaches, like a modern day Woody Hayes, but schools keep him around because he's as good as he is. But he's also brutally honest. He doesn't lie just to create a bunch of soap opera and reality show crap, he just tells the truth and others hate hearing it. The truth is, Callahan's team was trailing 42-0 at halftime and the backups were in.

Princeton led 42-0 in first downs, a school record, as well as 744-(-17) in total offense, leading 505-(-30) on the ground, and 239-13 through the air. That's right, Nebraska completed only one pass for 13 yards against the second string defense. But it wasn't enough to get a first down. Nebraska only gave up four sacks today, but that's because they were either throwing interceptions or trying to [unsuccessfully] run the ball against the Tigers. The Cornhuskers, of course, forced no sacks of Princeton's tough QBs. Princeton was 9-10-2 in passing today with no interceptions. Usually when Nebraska threw the ball they would be intercepted or sacked, but they did throw a few incompletions. No player on Nebraska's team had positive rushing yards. All were stopped behind the line of scrimmage on nearly every play. Nebraska also could not convert any third downs, the closest they came as 3rd and 1, but it ended up being 4th and 1 with a half yard loss on a pitch play. Princeton today was a sparkling 8-8 on third downs, pretty much playing a perfect game today, while Nebraska was a miserable, laughable 0-7 on third down, telling you how little they got to touch the ball today. Also, Princeton never punted and most impressively, held the ball for 52:11 today. Brad Nessler said at the end of the game "It seems like they've held the ball for the whole hour, so it's really no wonder that they won this game 63-0". With a mix of run and pass, they scored 21 in both quarters of the first half, and never attempted a second half pass, gaining 14 points with the backups, and one touchdown with a rarely used, typically fourth string tailback. This game was actually more dominant than Penn State's win over Nebraska. Although Nebraska did not gain nearly as many yards as Princeton did on Penn State, they certainly did better than the pathetic -17 they had today. While both teams led 21-0 after one, Princeton led 42-0 at halftime, while Penn State only led 34-0 at halftime and Princeton led 56-0 after three, while Penn State led 48-0 after three and likely would have won 58-0 had Nebraska not fumbled those back to back kickoffs after Penn State kicked that field goal, leading to touchdowns. Penn State's third string halfback scored the final touchdown, similar to how Princeton's did today. Amazingly, without all the Tigers' mistakes, Penn State would have only beaten Princeton by a score like 27-20, believe it or not, and Princeton may have actually won. It's beginning to look like the 79-10 blowout was a fluke and normally they would have given Penn State a run for their money. Well, they could hope for a rematch at the end of the year. But, if Princeton wants that to happen, they have to keep winning.

Stat of the game: 13 - Nebraska only managed an unlucky 13 yards against Princeton, and there is no doubt that Nebraska was unlucky. Zero first downs, zero third down conversions, and most of all, zero points. Nebraska kept trying to run the ball, despite losing yardage.

It was over when: Nebraska kicked off to Princeton. From that point, it was smooth sailing to one of their most dominant wins all year.

Box Score

_____________|1Q__2Q__3Q_4Q_|
#14 PRINCETON|21_|21_|14_|_7_|
HUSKERS __ __ |_0_|_0_|_0_|_0_|

A game that some expect to be a close game because of Miami's overinflated rankings will see the Hurricanes become the Tropical Storms.

Prediction

Princeton: 54
Miami: 6

The only bad thing about today's game is that whatever's been going around has affected some of the players. Near the end of the game, the coach was about to sub in Luigi Mario, the fourth string tailback (remember the second stringer, who has been nicknamed Major Jackass due to his stunt, has been suspended for awhile), and asked his brother Mario where he was, and Mario replied that Luigi had been in the bathroom since halftime. Other than that, there's really very little to complain about in today's 80-7 disassembling of the #6 ranked Tropical Storms of Miami. After Princeton took a 7-0 lead, Miami tied it up, but that would be the only points that Miami would manage against the Tigers, who made it 24-7 at halftime. The third quarter would put it at 59-7 and once it was 80-7, the Tropical Storms would manage one more pass completion, but it would prove meaningless. Miami was outgained today 39-2 in first downs, 750-(-48) in total yardage, 228-38 through the air, and 522-(-86) in rushing yards as the Tropical Storms would fail to cross the 50 of the Tigers except with kickoff returns occasionally. Miami gave up 11 sacks but forced none. Miami was 0-11 on third down and 1-3 on fourth down while Princeton was 11-15 on third down and 4-4 on fourth down. Their lone field goal was to put icing on the cake, not a fourth down call. These 4th down conversions were not all 4th and 1 or 4th and inches, many were much more than the general 4th and 2 or 4th and 3 limit that most coaches put on going for it. One was a 4th and 10 pass to keep the drive alive and one was a 4th and 6 run. Miami accumulated 9 penalties today for 56 yards while Princeton had none. Princeton also never punted today, not that they needed to, with their aggressive offense doing just fine.

Stat of the game: 4-4 - This coach is generally known for somewhat conservative playcalling, especially in the first half, and has even been known to punt at 4th and 1 at the 28 to pin the opponent deep rather than kick a 45 yard field goal (generally paying off with a safety), but this time around he was very aggressive, going for it even when conventional logic said otherwise, and it sure paid off. But his defense was playing well enough that it would have been a fairly safe bet anyway. This game is also possibly the best that Princeton has played all year.

It was over when: Princeton's defense adjusted and their offense just continued scoring. The Tropical Storms would never counter-adjust.

Box Score

______________|1Q__2Q__3Q_4Q_|
#13 PRINCETON_|_7_|17_|35_|21_|
#6 TS-MIAMI __ |_7_|_0_|_0_|_0_|

This is a huge game we have coming up here. Virginia right now is #4 and undefeated, and Princeton has one loss, but is ranked #6, with their lone loss being to unbeaten Penn State, who has been blowing out every single opponent easily, including 112-0 over Kent State, 126-0 over Minnesota, and 105-0 over Temple. Princeton at times looks almost as good as Penn State, but other times looks to be not nearly as good as the mighty Nittany Lions. Virginia, meanwhile, despite being ranked #4, shows obvious flaws that points to the fact that they are not as good as Princeton or any other team like that. This one's going to be a blowout. Not as close as the score, it'll be 21-0 by halftime.

Prediction

Princeton: 31
Virginia: 7