PRINCETON — Blaine McAllister waited a long time for his first career start. He made sure to make a memory. The senior’s first completed pass went for a 37-yard touchdown to Luke Colella and Princeton bounced back from a loss in its season opener to beat Howard, 30-13, in the home curtain raiser on Saturday afternoon. “My nerves are Monday through Friday,” McAllister said. “On Saturday, you got to let it rip and whatever happens, happens,” McAllister only found out he was starting on Friday after Blaine Hipa picked up an injury in the opener at Lehigh. Coach Bob Surace said Hipa was cleared to play on Thursday, but since he hadn’t taken any of the practice reps the decision was made to go with McAllister. “I’ve been prepping for it all week in practice and I had taken some first-team reps,” said McAllister, a Milton, Ga., native, who had appeared in just two games prior to Saturday’s start . “I had a little bit of an idea. I just stayed confident no matter the situation. It was great to have my teammates rally around me.” He finished just 5-of-19 through the air for 80 yards — it was a windy and rainy afternoon — but he got the Tigers (1-1) off to a great start when he dropped a 37-yard dime right in Colella’s hands on the opening drive. “That was my first completion ever for Princeton football,” McAllister exclaimed. “I was pretty excited to have that electric sort of play to really set the tone for the rest of the game.” He did exactly what was asked of him. He managed the game and didn’t turn the football over, which meant using his leg maybe more than even he anticipated. He added 76 yards rushing and a touchdown on 15 carries. “I think if you asked anyone at the start of the day today, I don’t think they would have said that I would have been a good runner,” said McAllister with a chuckle, acknowledging that he was running for his life at times. “It worked out well today. We will see what happens in the future. Hopefully, I can keep using my legs a little bit.” The defense also responded after a tough opener in which it gave up 35 points by keeping Howard (2-3) off the scoreboard until the 3:21 mark of the third quarter. The Bison threatened to cut a 23-0 deficit to a one score game after a touchdown with 8:34 left in the fourth quarter, but defensive back Tahj Owens undercut a flat route and intercepted the two-point try. “It was something I expected,” Owens said. “Usually there are pick routes around the goal-line area, so it was something I kind of hoped for and thought of beforehand. It worked out. It was a great job by our corner pressing so I didn’t really have a pick on me and was able to come free.” Surace said he thought the defense did a much better job of tackling. The Tigers held Howard to 226 yards of total offense, had two sacks and Mason Armstead picked off a pass. “That’s a pretty good offense,” Surace said. “Even against Rutgers, that first half against them was close. It was 14-7 with a pick-six and then Rutgers got a long run and field goal at the end of the half and they are on the cusp of top 25. I know how good (Rutgers) is and they were almost even for a half before they wore them down.” After Owens stopped the two-point try, Princeton went on a seven-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Dareion Murphy sprinting 22 yards for a game-sealing touchdown. The Tigers also went 3-for-3 on field goals — a problem area last season — as Sam Massick kicked a 27 yarder and Jeffrey Sexton converted from 41 and 44 yards. It all added up to start the quarterback will never forget. “Seriously,” McAllister said, “yeah!”