Princeton University Football Team Opens Ivy League Slate at Columbia Saturday

For the first time since 2007, the Princeton University football team enters the season as the defending Ivy League champion, and with the returning Offensive Player of the Year, the Tigers have a shot at their first back-to-back titles in 50 years.

Princeton visits Columbia this weekend in one of three Ivy League conference games this weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Robert Kraft Field at Wien Stadium.

The Tigers are off to a 1-1 start this year, scoring their first win in their initial home game of the season last weekend. Princeton downed Davidson College, 56-17.

Senior quarterback Quinn Epperly scored four rushing touchdowns in the win, and sophomore Rohan Hylton was named the Ivy League’s Defensive Player of the Week for his 11-tackle performance.

Columbia (0-2) is still searching for its first win, following lopsided losses to Fordham (49-7) and at Albany (42-7).

Princeton defeated Columbia, 53-7, last season, and began its turnaround with a 33-6 win over Columbia in 2012. The Tigers are 14-6 since that game, and was 1-19 prior to that clash, according to goprincetontigers.com. Princeton leads the all-time series, 67-15-1, beginning with the Tigers’ 6-0 win on Nov. 14, 1874.

In other Ivy League action, Yale visits Cornell, 12:30 p.m. and Penn plays at Darmouth, 1:30 p.m. It is the first game of the conference seasons for all four teams.

Harvard defeated Brown, 22-14, to get conference play started last weekend.