50 DAYS UNTIL THE SPRING GAME!!!


The football gods usually tell us that you have to have a good balance between the run and the pass.

Last season, the Lions ran the ball 340 times and passed it an almost identical 353 times.
How'd that work out for us?

For whatever reason, in recent years the most successful Ivy teams and the most relatively successful Columbia teams have been decidedly unbalanced when it comes to offensive play calling.

In 2011, Ivy champ Harvard relied on the run with 428 rushing attempts compared to just 306 passes. That's almost a 60-40 split.

But that's nothing compared to Penn's run-heavy attack during the Quakers  championship season in 2010.

That year, Penn ran the ball 731 times and passed just 210! That's almost an 80-20 split!

2008 co-champ Brown passed the ball about 100 times more than it ran.

The list goes on.

Perhaps the most unbalanced Columbia offense in the modern era was the 1982 team that passed the ball 457 times compared to just 290 rushing attempts.

Of course that was the year QB John Witkowski '84 tore up the Ivy record book with his passing. He finished with 3,050 passing yards and 29 TD passes.

WR Don Lewis '84 had what still is the single season receiving yards record with 1,000 on the nose.
WR Bill Reggio '84 was not far behind with 987 yards.

Of course that '82 team was 1-9, so I'm not saying it's the role model for success. But it was a successful offense and damn exciting too.

The fact is that in the Ivy League, even coaches of powerhouse programs like Penn and Harvard don't stand on ceremony. They seize on what works and do that as much as possible.

There's no shame in any team, especially one riding a 15 year streak without a winning record like Columbia, spending less time working on a balanced attack and just exploiting what works.

The Lions face serious questions at RB and WR this fall. The good news is that QB Sean Brackett should be a lot healthier by September and he already has a very good groove going with TE Hamilton Garner.

That combination works and Brackett running about 10 times a game works too.

Columbia will need more than that, but there have been successful Ivy offenses in recent years that relied on a lot of catches by a tight end and a running QB.

The breakout Lion 1994 team did not have great WR's, but it did have a fantastic TE in Brian Bassett '95 . Bassett handled the receptions from passing QB Jamie Schwalbe '95. Running QB Mike Cavanaugh '96 did the damage with his legs, and the '94 Columbia team recorded the first winning record for the program in 23 years.

Again, I have to come back to Head Coach Pete Mangurian's "less is more" philosophy and predict that he'll look to find one combination or weapons that works and stick with that rather than try to spread it all around the field.

The Beren Academy Stars



God or Game?

A very interesting story is developing in Houston, where an Orthodox Jewish high school basketball team will probably have to forfeit its state semifinal playoff game because it's scheduled on the Sabbath.

What's most interesting here is how respectful everyone seems to be despite the fact that the story has all the elements of getting ugly.

The bottom line is the rules are not so easy to change here and the players from the Jewish school in question seem to be prepared to accept that.

Maybe there will be a miracle, but like Ivy League athletes it seems like these kids and their parents have their priorities straight.


Call for Job Help!

The athletic department is doing its usual not-so-good job helping the football players find summer jobs in NYC.

The players desperately want to work out together this summer as they get used to a new system.

If any readers know of any summer work or internship opportunities for our guys, please email me at roarlions2012@gmail.com and we'll get the ball rolling.