Bulls and Bears

Quick Opponent Update

Week four opponent Lehigh has opened its training camp with a battle for QB starting spot underway.

The Mountain Hawks begin their regular season two weeks before Columbia with a home game against Central Connecticut State.

Great Debate

Bruce Wood at Big Green Alert does a great feature on his site called the “Optimist/Pessimist.”

I like it because it’s a fun way to embody the multiple voices coming at fan bloggers like us from all directions.

Obviously, if I weren’t a strong optimist I wouldn’t be writing about Columbia football every day, but I try to be realistic while always pulling for the best outcome for the Lions.

So while I would NEVER think of stealing Bruce’s great idea, I want to do a one-time variation of it with a quick set of comments on the best and worst way to look at each unit on the team going into camp.

To borrow the best financial terminology, let’s call it “Bulls and Bears”

Quarterbacks

Bulls: “Hey, we’ve got a pair and a spare! Brett Nottingham isn’t just some good QB from any old D-I program, he’s a former top 10 national QB prospect personally recruited by Jim Harbaugh! And he wasn’t playing for just any FBS team. He played for a team that was a TOP 10 BCS team! And that frosh Kelly Hilinski towers over the competition, and he was seriously recruited by the premiere BCS programs with offers from Arkansas and Harvard too. Plus, our returning soph Trevor McDonagh has a lot of experience under his belt for an Ivy QB just going into his second season. It’s an embarrassment of riches!”

Bears: “If Nottingham is so good why couldn’t he win the starting job at Stanford over Josh Nunes, who didn’t turn out so great anyway? Hilinski is tall, I’ll give you that, but he’s never played a down of college football. McDonagh was okay in limited duty, but starting is a whole different ball game. It’s too risky to consider this position anything other than a question mark for Columbia.”

Running Backs

Bulls: “Marcorus Garrett is the best Lion rusher since Jonathan Reese ‘02, and he got even bigger and stronger in the off season. He’s got to be favored to hit and surpass the 1,000 yard mark this season. Backup Cameron Molina looked good last year and freshman Allan Watson seems like the real deal.”

Bears: “What happens when Garrett gets hurt or tired? Did you really see enough of Molina last season to feel confident he’s a solid weapon? And even when Garrett was playing super ball, it didn’t always make enough of a difference, (see the Fordham and Penn games). Watson is just another freshman question mark.”

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Bulls: “This is the best embarrassment of riches Columbia has had at ANY position, maybe ever! Connor Nelligan is a gamer, Chris Connors goes all out, Isaiah Gross was stunning in limited duty last year, and  Jake Wanamaker and Louis DiNovo are pretty darn good too. Hamilton Garner is the best receiving TE in the league. Plus, we have another giant incoming frosh with 6-6 Connor Spears. Whoever gets to be the new Columbia starting QB will have plenty of great options.”

Bears: “Yeah, Nelligan and Garner are solid, but they caught a combined total of ONE TD between them all last season! Connors had three scores, which is okay for a freshman but not okay if that’s your top-scoring WR. Gross didn’t play enough last year for us to really know what he can do. Wannamaker didn’t dazzle us last year even though he was a heralded transfer. Sure, you’ve got lots of talent here, but where are the darn TD’s?”

Offensive Line

Bulls: “Phew! The trial by fire last year is over and now we can only get better! Lots of hard-earned experience is under our guys’ belts and hey, if they were so bad, how did we almost get a 1,000 rusher last season?”

Bears: “Garrett had a good year, but look at our overall rushing numbers: terrible. The pass protection piled up more sacks than laundry day at San Quentin. So last year we relied on a bunch of freshmen, now we’re relying on a bunch of sophomores at a position where you usually want only seniors. And these guys are all still WAY too light! Tell Mangurian to save his anti-fat speeches for after these guys graduate. Trust me, the rest of the league’s coaches are STILL laughing at our O-line and this cockamamie strategy.”

Defensive Line

Bulls: “Seyi Adebayo is back! He looked like he was on the way to a big year before he was injured last season. Niko Padilla had a great freshman year and the coaches say he’s even better now. Wells Childress is looking great for his senior year and the underrated Nick Melka is back from injury too! And how about that Brooklyn kid Toba Akinyele and how he turned it on at the end of last year? Plus, I LOVE what I’m seeing from the big incoming freshman William Carson at DT.”

Bears: “Adebayo’s last full year was in 2011, and he was good but not dominant… and that’s what we need with a guy like Josh Martin graduating. Padilla is very good, but he needs some serious help at DT and we’ve been hearing about Childress’ improvement for three years now. I also noticed you didn’t mention Chad Washington, who will be a big loss this year unless a miracle occurs and he avoids some kind of academic suspension for the incident back in May. If the best thing you can say about the D-line is that some guy who wasn’t even All Ivy Honorable Mention two years ago is coming back, then you’re in trouble.”

Linebackers

Bulls: “Zach Olinger was one of the top three linebackers in the Ivies last year and he’ll make the new starters around him better. Brian East made a lot of plays last year as a backup and he looks ready. Vinny Pugliese and Ray Pesanello are juniors who have been impressive since day one and this is their chance to shine!”

Bears: “Olinger is very good, but was only 2^nd Team All Ivy… let’s not throw around “top three” stuff so fast. Meanwhile, you’ve lost one of the best pass rushing linebackers in Ryan Murphy and an extremely important team leader in Mike Waller to graduation.  If you’re not worried about the linebacking corps this year, then you’re not just an optimist, you’re delusional!”

Secondary

Bulls: “Travis Reim was the 2012 Columbia Rookie of the Year for a reason, and he’s going to be better. Marquel Carter is super-underrated at safety. And Malcom Thaxton is a solid corner. “

Bears: “This looks like a bare cupboard for the most part. We’ve got no standout talent at two of the four positions, and that’s with the starters… we haven’t even looked at the depth issue yet! And it’s telling that two of the Mangurian recruits at this position from 2012 have quit the team. This is a danger zone, people.”

Special Teams

Bulls: “Paul Delaney is the best punter in the league! Luke Eddy is in the top three for placekickers and has the longest range. Reim and Alec Fisher are dynamite returners and the kick coverage was pretty good all last season. This is definitely a strength on this team.”

Bears: “We’ll give you that this is not a weakness, but it’s not necessarily a strength compared to all the other Ivy teams. And there’s nothing to really fear here if you’re an opposing team. Are Reim and Fisher ever going to get a return for a score? Really?”