PRINCETON, N.J. – The Columbia football team held one of the top offenses in FCS to just 10 points and 183 yards of total offense, but fell to Princeton, 10-5, Friday night.
Cameron Molina nearly outgained the Tigers (3-0) on his own with 141 yards of total offense. The senior tri-captain netted 106 on the ground and 34 yards receiving.
A 47-yard run on the edge by DiAndre Atwater set up a five-yard shovel pass touchdown to Trevor Osborne with 7:04 remaining in the first quarter to open the scoring.
Later in the period, the Tigers took advantage of Columbia punting into the wind and took over in plus-territory. The Lions' defense knocked down a pass on third down to limit the damage to a 45-yard field goal from Nolan Bieck to make it 10-0.
With time winding down in the first half, the Lions marched 41 yards on eight plays to set up a 30-yard field goal, making it a one-possession game with 33 seconds remaining.
Columbia's defensive front continued to dominate after the break, applying pressure in the backfield. However, the offense could not break through to cut into the margin.
Max Keefe came up with a huge play with 8:55 remaining in the third quarter. With Princeton pinned inside the 10, he blocked a punt into the end zone to force a saftety to push Columbia within 10-5. First-year Jacob Young nearly jumped on the live ball in the end zone, but was called out of bounds to give the Lions two pointts. The safety was the first for Columbia since Oct. 27, 2012 against Yale.
Despite holding the top third down conversion team in the FCS to just 27 percent (4-of-15), the Tigers moved the chains on fourth and one with just over a minute left in the game after Joe Rhattigan barged up the middle for a gain of 10.
With the Lions out of timeouts, Princeton took a knee to seal the victory.
Gianmarco Rea posted nine tackles to lead Columbia. Keefe had a monster game on special teams with the block and a big hit on a punt return in the first half.
Columbia returns to Robert K. Kraft Field for another primetime game against Wagner on Saturday, October 10. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. on the Ivy League Digital Network.
