Looking to Monmouth

Come on... papa needs a win against the Hawks!

Leading Off: A Big One

So on a scale of 1-10, how much do you think the Lions need a win in their home opener this Saturday?

After the devastation of the rout at Fordham and the horrifying bad luck injuries that went along with it, only a win can soothe the hurting CU nation at this point.

I get the argument that winning the following week at Princeton is even more important, but Columbia needs a win and needs it now.

Two Deeps

The latest round of two deeps should be released tomorrow.

As I expected last week, the week one two deeps were only about 80% accurate. Freshman Justin Aimonetti was the starting center and Ryan Thomas the backup, not the other way aroung.  Alan Watson was the backup RB, not Cameron Molina. WR Chris Connors was listed as one of the backups, but he was nowhere to be found on the sidelines.

Again, just always take the two deeps with a grain of salt.

Protection is Job 1

I’ll never understand how Columbia could snag a golden boy QB transfer from Stanford and then have the coaching staff send him out there with a pass-happy game plan and not enough decent protection against a bigger team like Fordham.

But let’s move on and see if the staff learns from its mistakes.

Not only does the Lion OL need to do a better job protection new starter Trevor McDonagh, but the game plan needs to get better and smarter to put our thinning QB corps less in harm’s way. The good news is that Monmouth’s defense isn’t nearly as big or aggressive as Fordham’s. The Hawks did get three sacks last week at Holy Cross, but Monmouth played with a big lead for much of that game and could afford to blitz more.

I thought every time Marcorus Garrett touched the ball Saturday it felt electric. He ran extremely well, and with very good instincts. The few times he stayed in the backfield to help protect Nottingham his pass blocking was clearly much improved. Garrett is a star and a team captain. As much as the team should rally around McDonagh, this is Garrett’s turn to really play a leadership role. I wonder if he, or any other player, is even allowed to approach the coaches and ask for more of a role. Let’s hope so.

This should also be an important game for TE Hamilton Garner, who was shut down for the most part against Fordham. He could play a big role in helping McDonagh feel more comfortable as the game begins.

But it all comes back to the O-line in the end. I’m actually for giving them a bit of a pass for Fordham considering how much bigger, stronger, and blitz-happy the Rams were. But while Monmouth is a very good opponent, the Hawks defense is much closer to the Lions level. The front five needs to step up.

Hempel/Williams Share Player of the Week Honors

Harvard QB Connor Hempel and Dartmouth QB Dalyn Williams both had big games Saturday, but I’m not sure how they won the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week award over Yale’s Tyler Varga who carried the ball 39 times for well over 200 yards in the Elis win over Colgate. Throw in the fact that both Dartmouth and Harvard were heavy favorites and Yale was an underdog, and I think you have an even stronger argument for Varga.