Princeton improving everywhere except scoreboard

PRINCETON — It seems each game Princeton is showing improvement everywhere except on the scoreboard.

The emergence of a freshman running back, improvement at the quarterback position and a career best defensive performance were the highlights when the Tigers faced Georgetown on Friday.

What doomed Princeton in its 21-20 loss was the inability to stop the Hoyas’ game-winning drive, a dismal 2-for-4 performance in the red zone, struggles in the kicking game and too many costly penalties.

“When you fight that hard and don’t come out on top it hurts,” said Princeton linebacker, Andrew Starks, who had a careerbest 16 tackles. “We had a lack of execution, penalties and stupid mistakes. We didn’t help ourselves out at all.”

One place the Tigers do get an assist is in the schedule.

They might be 0-2, but this week they travel to Columbia to begin the Ivy League schedule.

“You don’t get many fresh starts,” Starks said. “Fortunately, we have one this week with the Ivy League starting. These are the games that really matter. The opportunity is still there to make a run at a league title.”

DiAndre Atwater will help make that run easier.

Atwater, a freshman running back, was forced into the game a little earlier than hoped when Akil Sharp left with an injury. Atwater, the son of former NFL star Steve, made the most of his chance.

He rushed for 92 yards and scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 53-yard dash.

“You hate to see another teammate go down,” Atwater said. “But I knew when my number was called I had to be ready. We’ve been working hard all summer and all camp. So I just had to go out and show what I could do.’”

Coach Bob Surace had planned to use Atwater in the game, and once he did, he was pleased with the outcome.

“We’ve been excited about DiAndre,” Surace said. “He ran really well and he gave us a spark.’’

But the Tigers sputtered at the end of the first half.

Princeton was holding a 14-12 lead when it punted to Georgetown. The punt was muffed and Spenser Huston recovered for the Tigers at the Hoyas 17 yardline with 27 seconds left in the half.

Four plays later, the Tigers had lost eight yards and a 42yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

“Everything was going wrong,” Surace said. “We had a lot of communication errors and we totally lost momentum.”

Thanks to the improved play of Connor Michelson (11 for 22) under center, the Tigers regained the momentum to lead 20-18 heading to the final drive.

“We were winning the whole game, when the clock struck zero, I couldn’t believe it,” Atwater said. “We showed some good signs and we can build on that for this week.’’

Hopefully, the improvement will be on the scoreboard, too.