Oct. 13, 2001
Final Stats
Providence, R.I. - Michael Malan ran for 208 yards and two touchdowns to lead Brown to a 35-24 win over Princeton at Brown Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The loss dropped Princeton to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the Ivy League as the Tigers head to Harvard Saturday. Brown improved to 2-2, 1-1 in the league.
The game was a complete reversal of the passing heroics that have become the norm in the Princeton-Brown game. Brown alone had 126 passing attempts for 900 yards in the last two games between the teams, and Princeton and Brown had combined for 700 passing yards a year ago at Princeton.
Instead, on this day the teams combined for 538 rushing yards and just 264 passing yards.
Princeton was led by Cameron Atkinson, who had 148 yards on 18 carries. David Splithoff rushed for 77 yards on 15 carries, and his total would have been well over 100 yards had he not been sacked six times. Joe Rackley ran for 84 yards for Brown. Princeton led 7-0 when Atkinson ran 62 yards for a touchdown on the second series, but Brown answered with an eight-play, 88-yard drive that ended with a four-yard pass from Kyle Rowley to Chas Gessner.
Taylor Northrop kicked a 29-yard field goal on Princeton's next possession to make it 10-7, but Rackley recovered a fumbled punt in the end zone on the next possession to give Brown a 14-10 lead. Northrop's 42-yard field goal made it 14-13 at halftime.
Princeton's Kevin Kongslie intercepted his second pass of the day to set Princeton up at the Brown 46 early in the third quarter, and the Tigers then drove to the one. After three plays did not push the ball in the end zone, Northrop came on for an 18-yard field goal that made it 16-14 Princeton. The field goal was the 33rd of his career, moving him past Chris Lutz into second place all-time at Princeton, three behind Alex Sierk.
Brown took a 21-16 lead to start the fourth on a 16-yard Malan run, but Atkinson returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards to set Princeton up at the Brown 40. Atkinson and Splithoff then went all 40 on the ground on five plays, the touchdown an eight-yard Atkinson run that put the Tigers back up. Splithoff then found Mike Chiusano for the two-point conversion to make it 24-21 Princeton with 12:11 left.
Brown, though, came right back, with a seven-play, 64-yard march that ended with a 15-yard Malan TD run. The key play then came on Princeton's next possession, when Splithoff was hit trying to pitch and Brown's Joe Spicer recovered the fumble at the Tiger 20. Brown then handed the ball to Rackley, who handed it back to Rowley who then found Gessner for a touchdown to make it 35-24.
Princeton played without injured Chisom Opara (neck) and Chris Roser-Jones (hamstring), both of whom could be back next week.
