NEW YORK -- Columbia held Princeton's offense to 20 yards under its season average but produced just 134 yards of total offense of its own in a 19-6 loss to the Tigers. The game, which marked the Lions' 2006 Ivy League opener, was played in front of 8,845 fans at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium on Columbia's Homecoming.

Columbia's defense, which spent a remarkable 40 minutes on the field, allowed just 321 yards and forced another four turnovers, bringing the team's total to 12 for the season. The Lions had just 16 takeaways in all of 2005.

One of those turnovers set up Columbia's only score of the afternoon. Late in the first half, Princeton quarterback Jeff Terrell threw under pressure into awaiting Lion sophomore defensive end Phillip Mitchell, who snagged his first career interception at the Princeton 19-yard line. Mitchell handed the ball to fellow first-year Justin Masorti, who sprinted into the end zone, but the ball, which was taken directly from Mitchell's hands, was ruled a forward lateral.

However, on the ensuing play, junior quarterback Craig Hormann found first-year receiver Austin Knowlin wide open for a 13-yard touchdown, to make the score 14-6.

Princeton had opened the scoring at 10:29 of the second quarter when Billy Mitchell carried one yard for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal on a series that started at the Columbia three-yard line.

On the Tigers' next drive, Princeton drove from the 50-yard line, highlighted by a 26-yard completion from Terrell to Brendan Circle and a four-yard touchdown run by R.C. Lagomarsino, who had 98 yards rushing, to make the score 14-0. It would be the Tigers' final TD, with just over five minutes left in the first half.

Offensively, the Lions did not generate enough holes for sophomore running back Jordan Davis or allow enough time for Hormann. The result was five first downs in the entire game. The Lions set a school record for fewest rushing attempts in a game with 13, breaking the previous low of 14 set vs. Rutgers in 1954. Davis carried 11 times for 22 yards. Hormann connected on 13 of 31 passes for 111 yards. Knowlin accounted for more than half of those receiving yards, with 61 on six catches. Davis had 34 yards.

Columbia did not convert one of 11 third-down situations and was 0-for-3 on fourth down conversions.

“That's the game right there: third-down conversions,” head coach Norries Wilson said. “There are going to be times when one side of the ball needs to carry the other side for two-thirds of the game. The other side needs to put its foot down then.”

On defense, sophomore linebacker Drew Quinn had a career day with 14 tackles and Darren Schmidt had 11, including a near-sack (gain of inches) of former University School teammate Terrell. In the third quarter, Schmidt was flagged for roughing the passer on a fourth-and-13 on a pass dropped by Brian Brigham that would have given Columbia the ball at the Lions' 33. The Tigers went on to boot a 23-yard field goal for a 17-6 advantage with just over three minutes remaining in the third.

The final points of the day were the result of safety as the Tigers sacked Hormann late in the fourth to outscore Columbia 5-0 in the latter half. The Lions' 19 points yielded was the fewest to a non-Dartmouth Ivy League opponent since a 14-3 loss at Penn in October of 2004.

“I have got to credit Columbia's defensive coordinator [Lou Ferrari] and Coach Wilson for the good defensive plan,” said Princeton head coach Roger Hughes. “It kept us off-balance.”

Tad Crawford added 10 tackles and a pass breakup, and first-year linebacker Andy Shalbrack had his first career interception in the first quarter. The Lions recorded eight tackles for a loss, including three by Schmidt and a sack by senior co-captain Adam Brekke.

At halftime, Columbia Athletics honored the 1961 Ivy League champion football team and the 1996 team that finished 8-2 on the 45th and 10th anniversaries of those teams.

Additionally, Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger was on hand to introduce a video for the Columbia Campaign, the $4 billion fundraising campaign the University announced Friday, Sept. 29.

The Lions play their fourth of four consecutive home games vs. Iona on Saturday, October 7 at 12:30 p.m.