Quakers quarterback Gavin Hoffman had his pass deflected at the line of scrimmage by Princeton's Jason Rotman into the waiting arms of Gary Beem. The Tiger sophomore cornerback's first interception of his career should have given Princeton momentum, but two plays later, Chisom Opara was bottled up on an attempted reverse and he fumbled the ball back to Penn. Four plays later it was Penn that capitalized when Hoffman threw a 22-yard strike to Robert Milanese. It was Hoffman's only touchdown pass of the day and made the score 13-6. Princeton's next possession ended with a punt, but Taylor Northrop's kick sailed just six yards off the side of his foot to give Penn the ball back at Princeton's 29-yard line.
Short fields are no excuse for giving up points.
As a defense, your job is to go in there and stop the offense wherever and whenever they get the ball. Princeton got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff, but one play after Tommy Crenshaw left the game with a bruised elbow, Penn's Kunle Williams stepped in front of a pass from Jon Blevins, Crenshaw's replacement, and returned the pick 41 yards for a score to make it 27-6. Blevins would later have another pass intercepted by Williams, who returned it 100 yards for a touchdown and a new Ivy League record. I think that's what did us in right there. Turnovers and field position played a huge role in pushing Princeton into a must-win situation next week if the Tigers are to go .500.