Football: Princeton opens road slate, visits Hampton

The football team makes its first road trip of the season this weekend, traveling to Virginia to challenge the Hampton Pirates. In the Tigers’ final non-league game of the 2011 season, they hope to build on last week’s strong performance, in which they notched their first win of the season, 24-21 over Ivy League foe Columbia. The Pirates, on the other hand, are trying to recover from two difficult road losses that were decided by a total of seven points.

Saturday afternoon’s game will mark just the second time the Tigers (1-2) and the Pirates (2-2) have faced off in program history. Princeton hosted the first meeting in 2007, in which Hampton overcame a 27-14 deficit at the half to defeat Princeton 48-27. Head coach Bob Surace ’90 said that the unfamiliarity would not be an issue in preparation this week, as the game plan would be structured around exchanged tape and self-scouting. The only disadvantage the Tigers face, he said, is that they were unable to prep for Hampton in the offseason as they do for teams they play annually.

This week’s game will definitely challenge the Tigers in their quest to avoid finishing with their first winless non-league record since 2003. The Pirates bring a potent offense to the field, averaging just short of 30 points and 400 yards per game. This highly productive offense is led by quarterback David Legree, a Syracuse University transfer, and tailback Antwon Chisholm, last year’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s Rookie of the Year. According to Surace, Legree is a dual-threat quarterback who can throw the ball with exceptional velocity, while Chisholm is a presence in the backfield due to his speed and ability to gain tough yardage at the end of plays.

“Hampton has a number of terrific athletes and all of them pose a threat,” said junior linebacker Andrew Starks, Princeton’s leading tackler. “We will have to contain them by working hard this week and playing sound, assignment football on Saturday.”

Princeton’s offense will also be put to the test this weekend against a Pirates defense that Surace says has possibly the largest defensive line and fastest secondary that Princeton will face this year. But after a 227-yard performance on the ground against Columbia, Princeton will again try to establish the run against a Hampton defense that is allowing an average of 174.5 rushing yards per game this season. In practice this week, the Tigers have also focused on capitalizing on offensive possessions and avoiding turnovers, which have plagued them in the first three weeks. This will be especially important, as the Pirates’ defense has forced an average of 2.5 turnovers per game this season.

Saturday’s contest kicks off a three-game road trip, evening out a schedule that began with three straight home games. A victory against the Pirates could set the tone for critical Ivy League games away from Princeton Stadium in the next two weeks.

Last week’s thrilling victory over Columbia and the looming Ivy League schedule were far from the team’s mind as they traveled down to Hampton on Thursday afternoon. As Starks said, “I have been looking forward to Hampton since about 11:30 on Saturday night.”