Princeton University freshman running back Chuck Dibilio has ideal collegiate debutFRO

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Princeton University football coach Bob Surace was very interested in Chuck Dibilio.

The Tigers' second-year head coach went through the normal recruiting process with the 2011 Nazareth Area High School graduate last fall and winter.

Surace met Dibilio, his family and Blue Eagles coach Rob Melosky while watching games and film of the running back.

But that wasn't enough. Surace decided to watch Dibilio play basketball.

On Jan. 28, the Blue Eagles hosted Liberty in a vital Lehigh Valley Conference battle. Led by Dibilio's 21 points, Nazareth beat the Hurricanes and Villanova-bound guard Darrun Hilliard, 62-53.

"You know he's a quality football player, but the hard thing when recruiting is evaluating all of the intangibles, so I went to watch him play basketball," Surace said. "He was such a competitive guy; he's got that competitive factor and trait you need in order to play early in your career. Other guys are happy being freshmen and biding time, but not him.

"He didn't back down once the entire game. He left it all on the court. You leave there saying this is one competitive guy and one guy we need to help transform us as a program."

That competitive edge not only helped Dibilio, who scored 1,375 points on the court, get recruited by the Ivy League institution, but it propelled the 2010 Express-Times Football Player of the Year onto the football field for Princeton's season opener last Saturday.

Dibilio couldn't have asked for a more ideal college debut.

He ran for a team-high 86 yards on 14 carries and added a 26-yard touchdown reception as the Tigers fell 34-22 to nationally ranked Lehigh at Princeton Stadium.

The performance earned Dibilio Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors.

Yet with all the excitement surrounding his first game in a black and orange uniform, he wasn't satisfied.

"It is disappointing, you always want the 'W,'" Dibilio said with his competitiveness coming to the surface. "It feels that much better if you win. I'm excited and I'm glad I performed well, but I'm also disappointed. I'm more disappointed that we lost."

Princeton (0-1) hung tough with the No. 16 Mountain Hawks (2-1), trailing 27-9 with 11:11 left in the game, but the Tigers refused to pack it in. A kickoff was returned for a touchdown and the ensuing onside kick was recovered.

The Tigers moved the ball well and seemed poised to score. On first-and-15 from the Lehigh 16, Dibilio was flagged for holding. On the next play, senior quarterback Tommy Wornham dumped the ball to the freshman over the middle as Dibilio, looking to make amends for his prior mistake, proceeded to weave in and out of pursuing tacklers for a 26-yard TD.

"In football the running skill is the easiest; it's all the other things like route running, blocking, pass protection and blitz pickups that need development," Surace said. "He's further along than I thought he'd be, but he's not perfect there yet. I think he'll get there soon."

This score meant so much to someone who was in the end zone on more than one occasion each Friday night during his career at Nazareth.

"My goal all camp was just to get in the game and that's what I was hoping for all summer," said Dibilio, who scored 57 touchdowns for the Blue Eagles. "I couldn't have been happier. On the play I was just trying to get in the end zone and once it happened I couldn't believe it.

"To score in my first game I was ecstatic."

Dibilio, aka "Cheese," said getting accustomed to the up-tempo Princeton offense is taking some getting used to.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound running back admitted playing in Melosky's no-huddle spread offense at Nazareth was a good stepping stone.

"Coach Melosky runs a complex offense, but this is every play you're constantly thinking, looking at the defense and reading what they're doing and trying to realize what your responsibility is for that play," Dibilio said. "It's going to take a long time for me to master. I'm not there yet.

"The no-huddle definitely helps. It's like the exact same feeling standing there waiting for the play. He (Melosky) ran it pretty close to how it is here, but now it's a step higher. He prepared me well for this."

Dibilio's performance not only garnered attention from the Ivy League, Surace and the freshman's friends on Facebook, but Lehigh coach Andy Coen also noticed.

Coen, a former offensive coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania, expects big things from Dibilio.

"He looks really good, just what I saw on tape in high school," Coen said. "It's why everybody recruited him. I think he'll have a real good career. He's a tough kid."

Surace, who plans to use Dibilio in a rotation of running backs that is necessary due to the team's uptempo offense, made sure to keep the freshman's ego in check after the breakout performance.

"All the freshmen and sophomores had a BBQ where the AD (Gary Walters) addressed them," Surace said. "I jokingly put my hat on him (Dibilio) and said, 'It still fits. Your head hasn't gotten too big.'"

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/09/princeton_university_freshman.html