Back and better than ever, Princeton QB Lovett eyes run at Ivy League title
PRINCETON » John Lovett may not have able to physically participate for the Princeton University football team last season, but that didn’t stop him from getting better.
Now fully recovered from shoulder surgery, Lovett, the 2016 Bushnell Cup winner, is going to get his chance to direct the high-powered Tiger offense as a fifth-year senior.
“It was obviously frustrating as a competitor not playing on the field,” Lovett said. “It gave me an opportunity to really enhance my mental aspect of the game of football. There was as ton of film study because I couldn’t physically participate, so mentally I was challenging myself.”
The Ivy League doesn’t allow for redshirts, so Lovett had to withdraw from school in the spring semester and return in the fall in order to retain his last year of eligibility. While that meant no spring practice, it gave Lovett a chance to get in the gym and work on his physique to handle the rigors of a full season under center.
Lovett is listed at 6-foot-3, 230-pounds, which he said is about 15 pounds heavier than where he was at during his junior season.
“I feel like I’m bigger, faster, stronger,” he said. “It’s all good weight, so I’m ready to go and have a good season.”
During that 2016 campaign, Lovett scored an Ivy League record 21 touchdowns (20 rushing, one receiving) and threw for another three. Still, he was very much the finisher, while Chad Kanoff, now with the Arizona Cardinals, did most of the throwing between the 20s. Lovett has completed 52 of 92 passes in his career (Kanoff attempted 388 passes last season alone), so he needs to adjust to becoming an every down quarterback.
“It’s also the mental aspect of the game,” Lovett said. “I think that helps you make better decisions when you’re on the field. I don’t think there’s a particular throw, it’s just important to make good decisions.”
But he also understands he has to protect his body.
“I need to be smart as far as knowing the situation of the football game and knowing when it’s necessary to run someone over and when it’s necessary to step out of bounds,” Lovett said. “As far as the competitive aspect of the game, I’m going to play as hard as I can.”
Ninth-year head coach Bob Surace was asked if he would tweak an offense that averaged 38.2 points and 483 yards per game to better fit Lovett’s skillset.
“As coaches at this level, you recruit the best guys who fit Princeton and put them in the best positions to succeed,” Surace said. “... To John’s credit, he’s worked really hard to become a more accurate thrower. It’s showing in camp and our execution so far from his end.”
Surace, however, is known throughout FCS for his two quarterback system, one which he rode to Ivy League titles in 2013 and 2016, but had to abandon last season due to Lovett’s season-ending injury. The jewel of his top-ranked FCS recruiting class is quarterback Brevin White, a four-star Southern California native profiled by Sports Illustrated after he snubbed a late overture from Alabama to remain with Princeton.
“Brevin throws a very good football,” Surace said, “but all the things you got to go through to be a varsity quarterback, we’re watching and seeing him get better at.”
Picked second in the league behind defending champion Yale, the Tigers don’t open up until Sept. 15 at Butler, so Surace wasn’t giving anything away, although it wouldn’t surprise anyone if White develops into the thrower and Lovett the finisher at some point.
“I think we might have been one of the first ones to do it (with two quarterbacks), and I don’t know if anyone else has followed through and doing some of the things we’re doing with that, but we look at trying to get the best players on the field and what’s going to work for that game,” Surace said. “John, you want the ball in his hands whether it’s throwing it, which will be the majority of the time, running it (or) catching it. When it makes sense, we’ll try and do those things.”
All of Princeton’s Ivy League games will be available on ESPN+, a streaming service that costs $4.99 per month. ESPN+ replaces the Ivy League network as home to the conference’s sports.