Northrop leads Tigers with boot

Kickers are second-class citizens in the football world. Taken for granted and left alone on the sidelines, these true "foot"-ballers only gather attention during the brief moments when they step on the turf with the game on the line. The way he has been playing for the past two seasons, though, it appears that Princeton's Taylor Northrop has thrived under this pressure. The junior owns the longest field goal in school history -- a 52-yarder against Harvard a year ago -- and has knocked 21-of-29 kicks through the uprights for the Tigers. The Jupiter, Fla., native's penchant for kicking the long ball is no new feat, however. Northrop kicked a 55-yard field goal in high school, and won the Lou Groza Award as the top placekicker in Florida as a senior. But Northrop remains modest about his abilities. "When I go out onto the field, I never think of how long the kick is," Northrop said. "Regardless of how long it is, the distance never factors in -- I just focus on technique and on hitting it straight." For the most part, this approach has worked for Princeton's all-purpose kicker, who sees a rare triple-duty handling punts and kickoffs as well. His 37.9 yard-per-punt average is third in the Ivies, and Northrop has converted 16-of-17 extra points. But that one missed extra point came with 11 seconds left in last Saturday's 25-24 Tigers loss at Cornell, when the junior slipped on the slick field and sent it wide. "Obviously he was pretty down," Princeton coach Roger Hughes said. "But he's been very, very good kicking field goals and extra points. I was just shocked that his plant foot slipped out from under like it did." That loss effectively ended any hope of an Ivy title for the upstart Orange and Black. "That was one of the more tragic things if you're a kicker on the last play," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "You approach the ball and it's like something out of Charlie Brown, where the ball isn't there and you go flying." Regardless of that one play, Northrop has been invaluable to the squad from Old Nassau. In a season that has seen Princeton run through four quarterbacks, Northrop may just be the most consistent member of his team. Unlike the Quakers -- who utilize Roman Galas, Ryan Lazzeri and Jason Feinberg for kickoffs, punts and field goals, respectively -- the Tigers feature the all-Northrop show, all the time. For Feinberg, at least, that isn't a bad thing. "I personally like it better to handle all kicking duties, because the more I'm on the field, the better it is mentally for me," Feinberg said. "At the same time it can be a negative -- if you have a bad punt and have to go out and make a big field goal, you've got to get the punt out of your mind." That is the challenge for Northrop as he approaches this week's game. Will he dwell on the last-second mistake against Cornell? Or will the junior -- who hit a 47-yard field goal last year versus Penn -- shrug it off and dominate the kicking game? Judging by his past success, it will probably be the latter. "I was recruited to do everything, so doing all the kicking is not that big of a deal," Northrop said. * At first glance, Penn defensive back Kunle Williams must be salivating in anticipation of this Saturday's matchup. A year ago on Franklin Field, Williams was a defensive wizard, picking off two Tigers passes and returning both for touchdowns in a 41-13 Quakers victory. The second pick came with just 34 seconds remaining and saw the junior go the length of the field for an NCAA-record-tying 100-yard interception return. Yet Williams feels his past performance might not translate to an advantage or repeat showing. "It's a new year; they're a good team; and we need to come out and play like we know how to," Williams said. "We've let up a bit this year, but we're leaving that behind us and we're going to focus on each game one at a time." This fall, the Quakers only have five interceptions as a team, and they have been lit up for 697 yards in the air the last two weeks by Brown and Yale. Nonetheless, Williams is expecting a strong showing against Princeton. "They like to run the option, but the quarterbacks that they do have left are not really option players," Williams said. "But we're not counting that out of the game. We're basically preparing for everything, because you don't know what to expect -- especially in this crazy league." * Joe Phillips was named the Ivy League's Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance last Saturday that saw the freshman rack up 85 yards in punt returns, including a career-best 32-yard return in the final frame. And, yes, he plays for the Quakers. One of the more unheralded members of the 2000 Penn football team, the six-foot wideout took over punt return duties in the third week of the season and hasn't looked back since. "We started off seeing what he could do, and the next thing you know he grabs it and he's off and running with it," Bagnoli said. Phillips, a low man on the depth chart at receiver, is currently ninth in I-AA by averaging 15.8 yards per punt return. His skills have helped to set up the Quakers offense in good field position with regularity, and bring an added dimension to the Penn attack. Bagnoli, though, was quick to credit former returner and current blocker Fred Plaza for Phillips' success. "Freddy was very unselfish," Bagnoli said. "And he's one of the reasons why we've been able to return it, because he's dominated the kid outside."

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