Statistics Indicate Princeton Better All-Around Squad

Saturday's football struggle in Palmer Stadium will pit a defensive squad that is one of the Ivy League's stinglest with rushing yardage against one of the League's most powerful rushing attacks.

Princeton's line has yielded an average of 88 yards per game on the ground, while the Crimson has picked up an average of 254 yards by rushing in each contest. The Tigers have given up less than 125 yards per contest in the air.

In total offense, Princeton's highly effective passing game puts the Tigers well ahead of the Crimson 380 yards. Led by Bob Unger and Bill Tryon, the Tigers have completed 64 of 111 aerials--for a 58 percent effectiveness--compared with the Crimson's 34 completions in 95 attempts--or a 36 percent effectiveness.

The Tigers have gained almost twice as much yardage through the air (856) as the Crimson (444). Combined with a net gain of 1492 yards rushing, the Tigers have picked up 2348 yards offensively. The Crimson's 1524-yard ground gain gives it a total offensive net gain of 1968 yards.

The Tigers also boast a slight edge in first downs, outranking the Crimson by 108 to 94 in that department. In the punting category, quarterback Dick Emory's average (for only two punts, however), gives the Tigers the advantage over the Crimson, 38.5 to 37.4.

Princeton, one of the nation's highest scoring squads, has tallied 196 ponts on 29 touchdowns and 22 extra points, while the Crimson has 158 points on 23 touchdowns and 20 conversions. Individually, two Crimson backs--John Culver and Dick Clasby--have outscored the leading Tiger point-getters.

Both squads have displayed a tendency to fumble often--Princeton 19 times, and the Crimson 25. But the Tigers have recovered only four of their bobbles against the Crimson's 12 recoveries.