Just two years ago, Princeton was the team to beat in the Ivy League. But while four starters from that 2006 Ivy League Championship team are still around to guide the Tigers' 2008 campaign, Princeton will need stronger defensive play to regain elite status in the Ancient Eight.
Last season, the Tigers limped to a 4-6 record, giving up a staggering average of 26.5 points per game. This year, Penn's New Jersey rivals have been picked to finish fifth in the preseason Ivy League media poll.
Princeton's defense will be anchored by an experienced line; the starting unit consists entirely of seniors, including two-time All-Ivy defensive end Pete Buchignani.
On the other end of the ball, the Tigers will turn to senior Brian Anderson, who has made only one career start at quarterback. Anderson opened last year's season-ending 17-14 win over Dartmouth by completing his first 11 passes and refused to exit even after breaking his thumb.
Junior Jordan Culbreath will take the reins for the first time as starting tailback, though he is no stranger to the spotlight. In a 34-31 win over Cornell last season, Culbreath ran for 145 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a 58-yard scamper that made SportsCenter's "Top Plays."
The Princeton receiving corps boasts two more seniors in Will Thanheiser and Adam Berry, but neither of them has caught more than 30 passes in a season.
All told, the Tigers are returning 14 starters from a 2007 team that struggled to find a groove and string together wins. In an ugly contest at Franklin Field, the game's only scoring play came on a 26-yard touchdown run by Joe Sandberg, as the Quakers prevailed, 7-0.
Still, coach Roger Hughes - the fifth winningest coach in program history - has never endured two consecutive losing seasons at Princeton since the first two years of his tenure in 2000 and 2001.
The Tigers open their season on Saturday in Charleston, S.C., against The Citadel.
* This article was edited at 6:57 a.m. on Thursday, September 18. We had incorrectly stated that Roger Hughes is the winningest coach in the program history.
