Scouting Cornell

Day-to-Day work and updates on the Ivy football season will continue on this blog. But to make sure the emergency situation Columbia football and Columbia athletics are under remains on the forefront, the following extremely common sense demands will be posted on top of every new post on this blog until changes are made:

We must:

 1)    Replace Dianne Murphy as Athletic Director right away

2)      Replace Pete Mangurian as Head Football Coach the moment the season ends

3)      Bring in an outside consulting/expert group to make the replacement hires and evaluate the positions and effectiveness of everyone in the athletic department.

4)      Do NOT allow anyone who has had a leadership position or position of influence in any past hiring process to participate or interfere in any way with the overhaul process.

Please call President Bollinger at 212-854-1754 as soon as possible and asked to be connected to his office. Please respectfully ask that Murphy and Mangurian be let go as soon as possible.

You can also email: officeofthepresident@columbia.edu

Jeff Mathews says goodbye to Schoelkopf Field Saturday

Scouting Cornell

Overview

After a disappointing 2012 campaign, rookie Head Coach David Archer hasn't been able to stop the decline for the Big Red program which, if it weren't for Columbia, would leave Cornell at the very bottom of the league.

Super-talented senior QB Jeff Mathews is still putting up great numbers, but the graduations of his top receivers has hurt and there is still no semblance of a running game. The defense is AWOL.

But with this game being Senior Day and Mathews' final chance to win at home, expect better from this squad all around.

OFFENSE

If anyone thought the best kind of QB for the Ivies was a pure passer, this season should disabuse him of that idea.

The best pure pocket passer in many years is none other than Mathews, but his team is 1-7. The combination runner/passer Quinn Epperly at Princeton is 7-1.

'nuff said.

But what Mathews does, he does so well. He's averaging 310 yards passing per game and has 18 TD passes vs. 11 INT's. The INT number is a bit high, and it's cost the Big Red some games. But you really can't complain about #9. 

Another thing Mathews does well is get rid of the ball. Cornell has allowed 30 sacks this year, but it should be more considering the pass protection isn't that great and they throw the ball so much. That speaks volumes about Mathews and his quick release.

His top target, as expected, has been Grant Gellatly who is closing in on 1,000 yards for the year with 71 catches. RB Luke Hagy is actually a much more productive weapon as a receiver than a runner, with 501 yards as a receiver and 42 grabs. Look out for Lucas Shapiro who averages more than 15 yards per catch.

On the ground, Cornell is averaging a shocking 44 yards per game. There really hasn't been much of an effort to create a running attack, as that effort seems to have been shelved for after Mathews graduates this May. Hagy is the leading rusher with 251 yards on the season.

The offensive line has been a disaster, and it's obviously not adept at opening rushing lanes. 

DEFENSE

The Big Red is giving up a huge 217 yards rushing per game and a hefty 275 yards through the air with just three INT's on the entire season.

Senior LB's Brett Buehler  and Tre Minor are the best weapons on the team and they can makes things happen. Cornell has forced 14 fumbles and recovered 10 of them, mainly thanks to those two guys. 

6-8 senior DL Kevin Marchand, (yes he IS 6 foot 8), is an occasional menace, as is safety Brian Gee, also a senior. 

I actually think this defense is in some ways underrated, but it just has too much of a burden every game with a faster moving offense that doesn't do the ball control thing very well.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Senior PK John Wells is three for seven this year on FG's and hasn't hit anything longer than 38 yards. But freshman punter Chris Fraser has been spectacular with a 44 yard per boot average.

Sophomore Ben Rogers has been the main return man for both kickoffs and punts and he's been very good. But he still hasn't really broken a big one.

Cornell's kick coverage has been a bit shaky, but it too has yet to really give up a big return. 

CONCLUSIONS

Given everything I've just written about this team, Cornell is STILL favored to beat Columbia by 19 1/2 points!