More on the Yale Win, New Commits

A couple more thoughts on the Yale win:

-While I gave Christian Conway the MVP award for the game, his fellow junior LB Keith Brady was brilliant all day and he has been all season. Remember, this is a guy who lost his starting job to sophomore Hagen Patterson but came up big when Patterson went down in the opener at Fordham. Patterson is battling back from injury and even got a start again, but Brady has been playing out of his mind. He was not only the leading tackler at Yale, but a couple of his tackles were crucial.

Overall, you could really argue that the linebackers have gone from possibly the most questionable unit on this team coming into the season and turned into the most promising group overall. We have some big questions to face in the offseason with so many of the key defensive linemen graduating. But suddenly the Lions defensive future looks brighter with a deep batch of linebackers that will not only be very good, but the most experienced group of starters in the Ivies next year.

The three starters for most of the season, Brady, Conway, and Gianmarco Rea, are all juniors. Quasi-starter Patterson is a soph as is frequent contributor Ian Tyler. And freshman Cal Falkenhayn has seen the field.

Head Coach Al Bagnoli churned out a steady stream of great linebackers in his years at Penn and he seems to be starting on the right foot here. Kudos to him and Linebackers Coach Justin Stovall for what they're doing right now.

-Columbia's offense seems to really hinge on how much the Lions establish the QB running threat. Neither Skyler Mornhinweg nor Anders Hill actually need to run for a ton of yards, but a 1st down run or two presents to opposing defenses enough of a fear and need for an adjustment that it pays off for the entire game. While the CU defense did the heavy lifting, I knew this game was winnable once Mornhinweg broke off that gutsy 29 yard run to set up the first Columbia TD. Hill had some good runs too. Until the Lions bring in a 1,000 yard rusher or a real deep wide receiving threat, the only way they can really loosen up defenses is to run the QB well. For the Lions to have a really good chance to win any of their remaining three games, this threat needs to be established early.

-In the Penn game, the Quakers absolutely destroyed the Lion defense with screen passes to the sidelines that went for big gains time after time. I notice Yale tried to do the same thing 3-4 times and each time the Columbia defense was ready. It was really good to see a former weakness addressed and solved for one game at least. UPDATE: A savvy fan analyzed the Harvard-Dartmouth game film and found that the Crimson opted for at least nine screen passes. I have to think Harvard will further test the Lions on this kind of play and Columbia will not to continue its recent success against it. For some reason, Dartmouth did not try to emulate those Penn screens against CU.

-What's my FAVORITE stat for this team right now? The Columbia defense is allowing opposing teams just a 27% 3rd conversion rate. Last year it was 47%!

-Yale Head Coach Tony Reno is in big trouble. But he may save his future by publicizing the fact that he has at least one possible once-in-a-decade player coming in at running back. That would be Andrew Grinde from Montana. But this is going to be a tough off season for Reno unless the Elis pull off a crazy miracle vs. Harvard.


The New Names, unabridged

Will Ontiveros


-I'm not sure if Will Ontiveros is being slated as a WR or a DB. I do know that the 6-2, 175 pound senior would be the first Assumption HS in Davenport, Iowa grad to come to Columbia football according to my all-time Lion commitments database.

I also know Ontiveros is a speedster. He won the state 400 meter championship earlier this year. I have to think we will use him as either a WR or at least a DB who also returns kicks.

You can see Ontiveros' highlight reel here.

Baskin makes the grab

-I'm quite sure Kyle Baskin is being slotted for the offensive side of the ball even though the 6-4, 210-pounder plays WR and DB for Quakertown HS. He's also the first Quakertown grad to join the Columbia football program.

You can see Baskin's highlight reel here.

Ben McKeighan

-Ben McKeighan is yet another player listed as a WR and a DB. He was teammates and classmates with current CU walk on WR Matt Munsil at Scottsdale Prep. But unlike Munsil, McKeighan took a PG year at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut.

McKeighan is 6-0 and 187 pounds and will be the fifth Cheshire grad to come to Columbia football, but only the first since Glenn Erickson '74. 

He and Munsil are the only Scottsdale Prep grads to come here so far.

You can see McKeighan's highlight reel here.

So here is our list of 20 committed recruits so far:

1) Kyle Baskin WR/DB 6-4 210 lbs. Quakertown HS Quakertown, PA

2) Parker Coogan OL/DT 6-2 270 lbs. Kingwood HS Houston, TX

3) Matt Dame QB 6-2 185 lbs. Suncoast HS Riviera Beach, FL

4) Chris Everett WR 6-2 200 lbs. Whitney Young HS Chicago, IL

5) Danny De Lorenzi LB 6-3 230 lbs. Bergen Catholic HS, Oradell, NJ 

6) John Fischer OL 6-3 290 lbs. Sacred Heart-Griffin HS Springfield, IL

7) Alex Gibson RB 5-10 195 lbs. Central Bucks High School East Doylestown, PA

8) LinDon Harris DE 6-2 215 lbs. Sidwell Friends Washington, DC

9) Ben Hill TE/DE 6-3 230 lbs. Christian Brothers HS Memphis, TN

10) Hogan Irwin RB 5-10 180 lbs. Central Cathedral HS San Diego, CA

11) Ben McKeighan WR/DB 6-0 187 lbs. Scottsdale Prep/Cheshire Academy (PG year) Scottsdale, AZ

12) Max Mullaney LB 6-2 225 lbs. Colts Neck HS Colts Neck, NJ

13) Michael Murphy LB 5-11 194 lbs. Plant HS Tampa, FL

14) Lamine Nouck-A-Nwal DE/OL  6-4 250 lbs. Central Bucks High School East Doylestown, PA

15) Will Ontiveros WR/DB 6-2 175 lbs. Assumption HS Davenport, IA

16) Hunter Petlansky QB 6-2 225 lbs. Modesto Central Catholic HS Modesto, CA 

17) Alex Robin DT 6-0 260 lbs. Vestavia Hills HS Vestavia Hills, AL 

18) Arman Samouk DT 6-2 270 lbs. Copley HS Copley, OH

19) Tanner Thomas RB 5-10 183 lbs. Farragut HS Knoxville, TN 

20) Jonathon Webster DB  6-0 180 lbs. Eastside Catholic HS Sammamish, WA


***While I'm on the topic of high schools, I neglected to mention the walk-on Kicker Fernando Pasqual-Marquez went to the same HS as one of the best Columbia DB's of the last 20 years. That would be Adam Mehr '11. The high school in question is Clover Hill HS in the Richmond, VA area.