Deep Thoughts about Depth

The W.C. Matthews Trophy belongs to CU!

I’m still on a high after attending Columbia’s two game sweep of Dartmouth to win the Ivy League Baseball Championship series. It was such a great day for Columbia and the fans in every way. Winning the Ivy baseball title in 2008 was great, but we had to watch that series on the internet as the games were in Hanover, NH. This time, there was a standing room only crowd getting into every pitch all afternoon long with perfect weather to boot.

The baseball team showed all the qualities we’d like to see the football team acquire, especially coming through in the clutch.

It’s a great thing that Head Coach Pete Mangurian regularly uses Facebook and Twitter to praise the baseball team, as it shows he recognizes what it takes to succeed in Columbia sports.

I hope Columbia gets a chance to play somewhere relatively close to New York in the NCAA regionals. We won’t find out until the end of this month.

Spring Game

A better, more detailed analysis of the spring game/scrimmage/demonstration is surely coming from Mangurian’s own keyboard probably by tonight, so I will keep my impressions short and hopefully a little different from what you’re likely to see elsewhere.

I mostly liked what I saw Saturday night.

I liked the new format for the “spring game,” as it helps focus on individual units of the team.

I liked the emphasis on getting the younger players more playing time and saving the sure starters from possible injury. (That’s a tradition Mangurian started last year and it’s a sound practice. Look up "Chad Musgrove" if you don't know what I'm talking about).

I liked the way Augie Braddock, (I wrote "Augie Williams" before because I miss that dude), and Cameron Molina played, giving me hope that we have the deepest running talent Columbia has seen in about 10 years.

I liked the way Trevor McDonagh is clearly good enough to start in the Ivies. I think he may get a lot of snaps early in the season when Columbia is playing its non-conference schedule and Brett Nottingham gets more used to the system. I still think Nottingham is our starter, but McDonagh is making that decision a little tougher to make. And that’s what every football team needs to happen at every position.

My dream of seeing a NYC-HS recruit turn into a Lion star got a shot in the arm thanks to the play of rising sophomore Toba Akinleye Saturday night

I also agree with Mangurian’s assessment of the tight end play. It was improved and has suddenly become an area where Columbia seems to have good depth.

I like the way the secondary is starting to look. It’s still #3 on my list of units I’m worried about, (#1 is the O-line, #2 are the linebackers), but with Malcom Thaxton’s improved play, it’s less of a concern.

Speaking of the linebackers and O-line, there was nothing there to make me worry more… but I’m still about as concerned as I can be. Without marked improvement from the offensive line, Columbia won’t accomplish much this fall. And if the linebacker play deteriorates, the challenge to improve on last year’s 3-7 record will be steep.

Again, for a more detailed and reliable analysis of the performances on the field let’s wait for the official release from Mangurian today or tonight.  

Here’s my overview on where we are as we head into the loooong wait before training camp begins in late August:

Mangurian and the players can only focus on improving themselves. The trouble is, much of what will determine Columbia’s fate in 2013 is the schedule of opponents. Unless the Lions make significant improvements to every unit of the team, even matching last year’s 3-7 record will be difficult. That’s no fault of the players or Mangurian, it’s just the nature of the game.

There are reasons to be optimistic, mostly on offense. I can’t remember the last time Columbia had this much real talent in the passing and running games. That kind of balance can make up for a lot of problems in other parts of a team, within reason.

The other reason to be optimistic is at least the defensive line seems to be shaping up quite well despite the graduation loss of Josh Martin. There’s a deep level of talent at DE and DT, and that should help reduce any major problems at linebacker.

But it keeps coming back to depth, doesn't it?

I remember before the 2007 spring game, and how good I was feeling about the Lions after their strong 2006 finish. Then, someone from the athletic department who I've known for a long time reminded me that depth was still a problem for the team. And sure enough, 2-3 injuries during the fall of that year doomed Columbia to a 1-9 season.

Now we have a team that has actual talented depth at QB, RB, WR, TE, and on the DL. The secondary may not be too far behind. I wish the O-line looked better now even though I know it will be better by the time the season starts. That needs to happen.

For the next 137 days until the season kicks off, we’ll be a bit in the dark about what this team is capable of.  That’s the nature of the beast. So let me apologize in advance for the kinds of “grasping at straws” posts you might see here in the summer months.