Fordham Rams at Columbia Lions
Location: Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium
Kickoff Time: 12:30pm
Gametime Weather Forecast: 74 degrees, partly cloudy.
The Spread: Fordham is now favored by 31 points.
TV/RADIO
The game will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network and will feature superior commentary from Jerry Recco and Sal Licata.
The Columbia student station broadcast is on WKCR at 89.9 on your FM dial.
Fordham commentators can be heard on WFUV and WFUV.org
Lead Stories/Questions
-All signs point to a slaughter at the hands of the Rams. So, any competitive result for Columbia would be a big surprise. The Lions come in riding an 11-game losing streak.
-Can the Lions survive this game just without any major injuries? Two of Columbia's best players were lost for the season in the Fordham game last year, and they didn't even make it out of the 3rd quarter.
-One of those injured players was prized Stanford transfer QB Brett Nottingham. Will he prove the waiting was worth it?
-Will Head Coach Pete Mangurian be booed, jeered, or worse from the Columbia side? Will any decent number of CU fans or students even show up?
-Will Fordham freshman RB Chase Edmonds rush for 200+ yards yet again? Or will QB Michael Nebrich erase doubts about his health and have a monster game through the air and on the ground?
Players to Watch (*New feature!)
COLUMBIA: QB Brett Nottingham, LT Kendall Pace, LG Bewley Wales and whoever else plays the left side of the CU O-line. DT Niko Padilla, S Travis Reim, WR Connor Nelligan
FORDHAM: RB Chase Edmonds, (407 yards rushing and 6 TD's in 3 games) , QB Michael Nebrich, (battling injury, but still effective against everyone not named "Villanova," WR Tebucky Jones, CB Ian Williams, (1 INT, 3 pass breakups, forced fumble). And now the men who will be looking to take Nottingham's head off: DE Marlon Crook, (emerging sophomore already with 4 sacks on the season), DT DeAndre Slate, (19 tackles)
Players to Watch (*New feature!)
COLUMBIA: QB Brett Nottingham, LT Kendall Pace, LG Bewley Wales and whoever else plays the left side of the CU O-line. DT Niko Padilla, S Travis Reim, WR Connor Nelligan
FORDHAM: RB Chase Edmonds, (407 yards rushing and 6 TD's in 3 games) , QB Michael Nebrich, (battling injury, but still effective against everyone not named "Villanova," WR Tebucky Jones, CB Ian Williams, (1 INT, 3 pass breakups, forced fumble). And now the men who will be looking to take Nottingham's head off: DE Marlon Crook, (emerging sophomore already with 4 sacks on the season), DT DeAndre Slate, (19 tackles)
Columbia 3 Keys to the Game
1) Stayin' Alive
Columbia's entire season was ruined in the opener at Fordham last year because of injuries. The coaches must protect the key players better this time or suffer the same fate. Winning this game is not that important. Keeping the team healthy enough to beat more beatable opponents is.
2) Run the Ball
Columbia may not have an established rushing star, but Fordham's only real weakness seems to be run defense.
3) Get to Nebrich Early and Stay on Him
Fordham world is still very nervous about Nebrich's health. Knocking him down early will make the whole team and coaches nervous and more likely to react poorly.
The Series (*New Feature!)
This year I will have an added feature nodding to the history of Columbia football by talking about three key games in the series against every team.
Worst Game
Last year's 52-7 loss at Jack Coffey Field was not just the worst loss Columbia has suffered to Fordham, it was one of the worst losses in CU history. In addition to the rout, CU lost QB Brett Nottingham to injury for the rest of the season. They also lost DE Seyi Adebayo for the year, and he is now filling out his NCAA eligibility at Boston College where he had a key sack in the big upset win over USC last week!
Most infuriating was the Columbia was playing decently in the 1st half, but the coaches abandoned the run despite a demonstrated lack of pass protection. Nottingham's injury wasn't a surprise, it was just a surprise that it took as late as the 3rd quarter for it to happen.
Best Game
Columbia's thrilling 40-28 win over the Rams in the 2009 opener was one of the best Columbia wins against any team in the last 20 years. There was a lot of talent on the field that day, including three future NFL players.
The only downside was that DT Owen Fraser was injured by a dirty chop block in that game and he never was the same.
Typical Game
Most of the games in this series have been close games won by Fordham. The last two CU-Fordham games at Wien Stadium ended with Columbia's promising potential game-tying or winning drives failing in the final seconds.
The 2012 game that ended with a gut-wrenching over the line of scrimmage pass call negating a thrilling TD pass from Sean Brackett to Marcorus Garrett was par for the course.
Two years earlier, the Fordham-Columbia game ended at Wien with a snap that surprised Brackett inside the Fordham 5 yard line. The Rams grabbed the fumble and it was over.
These games have always been close, last year's matchup was the outlier... for now.
9 comments:
Sorry to say, this game has no TV coverage that I can determine. There is audio. The audio stream is picked up on the KCR site direct.
yes there is video on Ivy League Digital Network. I guarantee it.
Just look at the Columbia game notes. There is a video stream as usual for home games not on national TV. I promise.
This athletic department makes it so difficult to be a fan. Just horrible in all respects.
And the Ivy league network does not pick up their phone either. I will be watching Brown vs Georgetown saturday morning!
Al: you know I would never pull my punches on the A. Dept. or the Ivy League, BUT I promise you the game is on video. I just logged in and the screen came up and everything. Just have to wait for the game to start.
My guess is video screen will just play the audio. I base this on how that site structures their content. So if they had an audio only player then that would show up but they do not have one. They use the same code to display audio and video. It's not uncommon for a youtube channel for example to do the same thing.
Also, I checked the Fordham info and they would surely advertise their game on TV (which would mean a stream would follow). They just have audio as well.
VERY confusing but after technical difficulty through the first half the video feed is up on the ivy league network. As expected, I could have done without watching this one anyway. Much better games on this morning.
650 yards to 150 ish.....wow the improvement is awe inspiring...on the positive side we still have nowhere to go but up.
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