Princeton QB keeps Football on its toes

Something didn't seem right for much of Saturday's homecoming game against Princeton at Franklin Field.

Princeton might be Penn's chief athletic rival, but the Tigers were just 1-5 entering the game, having only beaten the perennial doormats of the Ivy League, Columbia.

Still, the Tigers played extremely well, and though their offense could only muster 10 points, Princeton quarterback David Splithoff turned a few heads.

The sophomore from Glenview, Ill., orchestrated an offensive scheme that seemed to catch the Quakers completely off guard. Splithoff ran options, traps, play actions and various other forms of trickery to utter perfection.

At halftime, Princeton led Penn, 10-7, but the Quakers were fortunate to even be that close.

The team that came into yesterday's matchup surrendering a meager 27 rushing yards per game had already allowed 94 to the Tigers after two quarters of play.

Princeton freshman Jon Veach gained 53 yards on 11 carries in the opening half, which was sufficiently impressive against the dominant Penn defense.

But Splithoff also had some hefty numbers on the halftime stat sheets: 46 yards and a touchdown, on just nine carries.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound signal caller finished the game having completed 19-of-34 passes for 217 yards, while rushing 20 times for 81 yards.

"I thought we moved the ball pretty well," Splithoff said. "I felt we had a great game plan coming in and we surprised them with the no-huddle."

Penn coach Al Bagnoli, meanwhile, was not really shocked by what Princeton's quarterback was able to accomplish with his arm and legs.

"He's a very athletic kid," Bagnoli said. "I'm not surprised at all. I saw him on film, and he does a tremendous job."

The Penn coaching staff was not taken aback by Splithoff's talents on the field, as they had prepared for the threat he presented.

Yet, the option-heavy Princeton system was very difficult to reproduce in the Quakers' mid-week practices.

"You can't simulate it in practice because you don't have a guy who can run it like [Splithoff]," Bagnoli said.

Penn's front seven spent much of the day pursuing the elusive quarterback. Splithoff consistently avoided sacks and turned broken plays into sizeable gains by either running the ball himself or locating a receiver while on the run.

"He's by far the most athletic player we've seen all year," Penn defensive tackle John Galan said. "He's a great player."

Once Penn went ahead, however, Princeton's offense began to falter.

The Tigers' offense is one that thrives on being unpredictable and cannot function at a high level if everyone in the stadium knows that the quarterback is just going to drop back and pass.

The Penn defense, in those crucial moments during the second half, then showed why it has been so effective throughout the season, as it either sacked, hurried or disrupted Splithoff in most of his final passing attempts.

"We stepped it up when we needed to and came away with a 'W,'" Penn linebacker Travis Belden said.

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