... and One more

6-2 185 pound WR Jack Young from Pittsburgh's Mount Lebanon HS has committed to Columbia.

Young will be the fourth Mt. Lebanon grad to come to Columbia football, and first since fellow WR Derek Jancisin '10. 

Young had offers from Air Force, Army, Bucknell, Dartmouth, and Navy. He was named to a number of preseason and postseason all star teams.

This brings our unofficial and incomplete, even as of today, list of incoming freshmen to 23:

1) Luke Adams RB/LB 6-2 210 lbs. Notre Dame Prep Pontiac, MI

2) Jalen Allen RB 5-11 185 lbs. Cranbrook-Kingswood HS Bloomfield Hills, MI

3) Will Allen III DB 5-9 164 lbs. American Heritage HS, Plantation, FL

4) Josh Bean QB 6-2 200 lbs. Hinsdale HS Hinsdale, IL

5) Myles Davis WR 5-10 175 lbs. Walter Payton HS Chicago, IL

6) Seth DeVary OL 6-4 275 lbs. Larue County HS Hodgenville, KY

7) Alexander Filacouris RB 6-1 200 lbs. Half Hollow Hills West HS Dix Hills, NY 

8) Graham Flinn DB/WR 6-1 180 lbs. Benedictine College Prep HS Richmond, VA

9) Tyson Hugee DB 6-0 170 lbs. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Philadelphia, PA

10) Emerson Kabus WR 5-10 170 lbs. St. Augustine HS St. Augustine, FL

11) Josh Kaminsky DL 6-4 280 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

12) Cameron Lipton-Martinez TE/DE 6-5 225 lbs. Montclair HS Montclair, NJ

13) Ben Mathiasmeier DB 5-10 190 lbs. Cinco Ranch HS Katy, Texas

14) Jake McCurry WR/DB 6-0 180 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH

15) Marquavious Moore RB 5-11 202 lbs. Harding Academy Memphis, TN

16) Carson Powell DB 6-0 190 lbs. Cardinal Newman HS Palm Beach, FL

17) Bailey Rotsky DB/WR Mayfield Heights HS Mayfield Heights, OH

18) Jonathan Rowe OL 6-3 283 lbs. Audrey Kell HS Charlotte, NC

19) Drew Schmid P 6-0 205 lbs. La Jolla Country Day La Jolla, CA  

20) Hank White OL 6-6 250 lbs. Buford HS Buford, GA

21) Ashton Cooper Wilson DE/LB 6-3 230 lbs. Merritt Island HS Merritt Island, FL

22) Peter Wise OL 6-5 290 lbs. Brunswick School Greenwich, CT

23) Jack Young WR 6-2 185 lbs. Mt. Lebanon HS Pittsburgh, PA

Southern Lions

We now know the names of yet another two new Lions we can add to the list of incoming 2017 freshmen.

Will Allen III

The first is 5-9 164 pound DB Will Allen III, from Florida football powerhouse American Heritage HS. That's the same school where Columbia's rising sophomore kicking sensation Oren Milstein played.  Allen's father played DB for Syracuse and then went on to a long NFL career with the N.Y. Giants and New England Patriots.

Marquavious Moore

Second is 5-11 202 pound RB Marquavious Moore from Harding Academy in Memphis. Moore will be the first Harding Academy grad to come to Columbia football. He had offers from Florida State, Penn. Holy Cross, Davidson, plus at least one other Ivy school who's name I cannot confirm. Moore was pegged as a leading scholar-athlete at the beginning of the season in this local news report.

Both of these guys look like they're very good additions to the class.

Coby Tippett

Tippett Watch

Speaking of very good...

One player some Lions fans have asked me a lot about is WR/DB Coby Tippett, son of NFL Hall of Famer Andre Tippett. I had some reports that there has been a concerted effort to bring the major Boston-area football star to Columbia. Tippett completed a stellar career on the field at Xaverian Brothers in Boston, and is doing a post-grad year at Connecticut's Cheshire Academy where he finished the season leading Cheshire to a NEPSAC title.

It does not seem that he has made a commitment to any college as of yet. I will keep everyone posted about what could be a real gem of the 2017 class if it all comes together.


This brings our unofficial and incomplete, even as of today, list of incoming freshmen to 22:

1) Luke Adams RB/LB 6-2 210 lbs. Notre Dame Prep Pontiac, MI

2) Jalen Allen RB 5-11 185 lbs. Cranbrook-Kingswood HS Bloomfield Hills, MI

3) Will Allen III DB 5-9 164 lbs. American Heritage HS, Plantation, FL

4) Josh Bean QB 6-2 200 lbs. Hinsdale HS Hinsdale, IL

5) Myles Davis WR 5-10 175 lbs. Walter Payton HS Chicago, IL

6) Seth DeVary OL 6-4 275 lbs. Larue County HS Hodgenville, KY

7) Alexander Filacouris RB 6-1 200 lbs. Half Hollow Hills West HS Dix Hills, NY 

8) Graham Flinn DB/WR 6-1 180 lbs. Benedictine College Prep HS Richmond, VA

9) Tyson Hugee DB 6-0 170 lbs. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Philadelphia, PA

10) Emerson Kabus WR 5-10 170 lbs. St. Augustine HS St. Augustine, FL

11) Josh Kaminsky DL 6-4 280 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

12) Cameron Lipton-Martinez TE/DE 6-5 225 lbs. Montclair HS Montclair, NJ

13) Ben Mathiasmeier DB 5-10 190 lbs. Cinco Ranch HS Katy, Texas

14) Jake McCurry WR/DB 6-0 180 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH

15) Marquavious Moore RB 5-11 202 lbs. Harding Academy Memphis, TN

16) Carson Powell DB 6-0 190 lbs. Cardinal Newman HS Palm Beach, FL

17) Bailey Rotsky DB/WR Mayfield Heights HS Mayfield Heights, OH

18) Jonathan Rowe OL 6-3 283 lbs. Audrey Kell HS Charlotte, NC

19) Drew Schmid P 6-0 205 lbs. La Jolla Country Day La Jolla, CA  

20) Hank White OL 6-6 250 lbs. Buford HS Buford, GA

21) Ashton Cooper Wilson DE/LB 6-3 230 lbs. Merritt Island HS Merritt Island, FL

22) Peter Wise OL 6-5 290 lbs. Brunswick School Greenwich, CT

Two New Lions

Myles Davis



Thanks to the eagle eyed work of Ungvar from the VOY fan board, we know of two new Lions joining the incoming 2017 freshman class.

First is 5-10, 175 pound speedy WR Myles Davis from Walter Payton HS in Chicago. Davis was named to the Chicago Sun-Times All Public League 1st Team earlier this fall.

Davis is also a standout member of the Davis track team.

Payton will be the first Payton grad to come to Columbia football.

Jalen Allen


Second is 5-11, 185 pound RB Jalen Allen from Cranbrook-Kingswood HS outside of Detroit.

Allen came back from an ACL tear in 2015 to put up some strong stats this season.

Allen will also be the first Cranbrook-Kingsbrook grad to come to CU football.

This brings our unofficial and incomplete, even as of today, list of incoming freshmen to 20:

1) Luke Adams RB/LB 6-2 210 lbs. Notre Dame Prep Pontiac, MI

2) Jalen Allen RB 5-11 185 lbs. Cranbrook-Kingswood HS Bloomfield Hills, MI

3) Josh Bean QB 6-2 200 lbs. Hinsdale HS Hinsdale, IL

4) Myles Davis WR 5-10 175 lbs. Walter Payton HS Chicago, IL

5) Seth DeVary OL 6-4 275 lbs. Larue County HS Hodgenville, KY

6) Alexander Filacouris RB 6-1 200 lbs. Half Hollow Hills West HS Dix Hills, NY 

7) Graham Flinn DB/WR 6-1 180 lbs. Benedictine College Prep HS Richmond, VA

8) Tyson Hugee DB 6-0 170 lbs. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Philadelphia, PA

9) Emerson Kabus WR 5-10 170 lbs. St. Augustine HS St. Augustine, FL

10) Josh Kaminsky DL 6-4 280 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

11) Cameron Lipton-Martinez TE/DE 6-5 225 lbs. Montclair HS Montclair, NJ

12) Ben Mathiasmeier DB 5-10 190 lbs. Cinco Ranch HS Katy, Texas

13) Jake McCurry WR/DB 6-0 180 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH

14) Carson Powell DB 6-0 190 lbs. Cardinal Newman HS Palm Beach, FL

15) Bailey Rotsky DB/WR Mayfield Heights HS Mayfield Heights, OH

16) Jonathan Rowe OL 6-3 283 lbs. Audrey Kell HS Charlotte, NC

17) Drew Schmid P 6-0 205 lbs. La Jolla Country Day La Jolla, CA  

18) Hank White OL 6-6 250 lbs. Buford HS Buford, GA

19) Ashton Cooper Wilson DE/LB 6-3 230 lbs. Merritt Island HS Merritt Island, FL

20) Peter Wise OL 6-5 290 lbs. Brunswick School Greenwich, CT

Stats Don't Lie, Part 1

This is the first of a series of posts analyzing the key data from the 2016 season. 

Anders Hill


Changing Midstream


A dramatic thing happened literally in the middle of the season for the Columbia offense: It got better.

The numbers don't lie, so let's look at them:

After the first five games of 2016, the Lions had a total of 1,377 yards of total offense, 600 rushing yards, and 777 passing yards.

In the next five games, the total yards figure increased by 37.5% to 1,898. Rushing yards rose 12.3% to 674. And, most dramatically, passing yards jumped 57.5% to 1,224.

That brought the season totals to 3,275 total yards, 1,274 rushing yards, and 2,001 passing yards.

Compared to 2015, total yards increased by 10.3%, rushing yards fell by 9.1%, and passing yards soared by 27.8%.

The rushing yards figure probably was mostly due to the fact that replacing Cameron Molina after he finished 2015 with near-200 yard back-to-back games.

But generally, this was an offense that really improved so much down the stretch of the season that it cannot be ignored. And that was mostly the result of a change in the passing game. The shorter passing style was simply not good for QB Anders Hill. And looking for longer passing plays to the middle of the field also helped WR Ronald Smith emerge along with fellow freshman WR Josh Wainwright get some needed footing. This was encouraging on many levels, not least of which the fact that it was proof the Columbia coaching staff and Offensive Coordinator Mark Fabish could adapt.

With Hill, Wainwright, and Smith returning for 2017, this is all a very good sign for the immediate future.

Read This NOW

Graduating Senior and 1st Team All Ivy Linebacker Gianmarco Rea wrote this amazing piece for the Columbia Spectator last week, and every Lion fan should read and re-read it.

A lot Columbia football players have spoken well or written good pieces in the past about their experiences with the program, but Rea's effort really stands alone.

His name will surely be included in the huge monument to all the great players who contributed to this program in the lean years that Columbia should build the day after it finally wins the Ivy football title.

Down on the Farm

The Columbia Football season still isn't over if you consider the fact that several incoming freshmen are still playing in their high school playoffs.

One of them is DB Ben Mathiasmeier from Cinco Ranch HS in Katy, Texas. In Cinco's 34-17 win in the Texas Division II quarterfinals Saturday, Mathiasmeier had 13 tackles, two of them for a loss, and a pass break up.

Cinco Ranch are the underdogs in the state semifinal this weekend against Cibolo Steele HS. But the winner gets to go to the state championship at AT&T Stadium.

Incoming QB Josh Bean didn't advance deep into the playoffs with his Hinsdale Central HS (Illinois) team, but he had a transformative senior season that earned him All State honors.  

MORE UPDATES TO COME

What Remains

A full report card on the 2016 Columbia Football season is coming soon, but the inevitable looking ahead to 2017 has already begun for many of us. And before we do that, we have to consider a few news items I'm hearing from sources:


1) The Athletic Department gets VERY touchy about reporting who is coming back for a 5th year until the news is completely official. But I can report that at least two players, one a very key starter and the other an emerging important contributor on the team, are both in the process of applying for 5th year status.

2) A player who left the program this year and could truly help the team this coming year is slated to return.

3) And of course, a large chunk of the incoming freshman class is yet to be unveiled.



But here are the top three issues to ponder during the 41 remaining weeks of the football offseason:


1) Can QB Anders Hill play like he did against Cornell and Brown for an entire season, or at least most of one?


Hill was not perfect in the last two games of the season, but he was much improved. And it's better that he wasn't perfect, because expecting him to maintain a 300+-yard/no INT type level would not be realistic in any case. But the QB who got into good sync with rising sophomore WR's Josh Wainwright and Ronald Smith, and still ran effectively was the kind of guy who could indeed lead the Lions to a 6-4 or 7-3 season in 2017. If Hill can be that guy and hone that experience during the offseason, then Columbia has probably it's biggest question answered in a good way for next year.


2) Are the backup linebackers ready to step up?

The biggest question last year, or so we thought, was whether the Lions could recover from the loss of all the graduated talent on the defensive line. For the most part, Columbia did fine in that area. Now with the graduation losses of Gianmarco Rea, Keith Brady, and Christian Conway, the linebacker corps seems like it will suffer some real growing pains next year. But there's still a lot of optimism that rising sophomores Jalen Williams, Michael Murphy, Matt Tofano, and Levi McQuinn, (who plays a sort of hybrid safety/LB position), and don't forget rising junior Cal Falkenhayn, could be even better given some time to improve. This is a talented crew and Head Coach Al Bagnoli has a long history of coaching up linebackers to an elite level in the Ivies. But this unit is definitely under scrutiny now.


3) Will the Offense keep up the momentum?

Much of this third question is basically an addendum to question #1, but the improvement in the Columbia offense starting with the second half of the Yale game was obvious. It appears the coaching staff adjusted to working with Hill's strengths, which is throwing a deeper ball and using the middle of the field. The running attack also got a lot better. The punchless Lion offense of weeks one through six, was replaced by a higher scoring machine from that point on. With that offense, Columbia probably would have won their first two games against St. Francis and Georgetown at least. This is the kind of offense the Lions need to have ready for next season.

All Ivy

Oren Milstein


The 2016 All Ivy awards are out and the Lions have two 1st Team awardees, six players on the 2nd Team, and oddly no one on the Honorable Mention list.

Freshman PK Oren Milstein earned the rare unanimous recognition on the 1st Team, setting himself up for a chance to be the first ever four-time 1st Team All Ivy player in Columbia history.

I'm betting fellow 1st Teamer senior LB Gianmarco Rea was close to a unanimous choice, but since he didn't get there he's not likely to be named one of the two finalists for the Defensive Player of the Year award. But what a year he had!

Seeing seniors like RB Alan Watson, DB Brock Kenyon, P Cameron Nizialek, and LT Kendall Pace get some recognition on the 2nd Team was nice to see, but it's also great that two returning players, DB Cameron Roan and DL Lord Hyeamang made it too.

It disappointing that more of the stellar players like LB's Keith Brady and Christian Conway, and WR's Josh Wainwright and Ronald Smith were overlooked. But sometimes that can be worth more in motivation for next year.

Bottom line is that Columbia improved this season and showcased a lot of very young talent for the future. Not all of it was recognized, but this program is looking for more wins and not necessarily more All Ivy recognition.

The Best for Last

Columbia 31 Brown 13


Why Columbia Won

The Lions clearly outplayed the Bears on offense and defense for four quarters. Columbia's running attack was potent, it's long passing attack was lethal, and the defense rarely gave much ground. This wasn't just the Lions' best game of this year, it was Columbia's best game in six years.

Why Brown Lost

The Brown offense set the tone by failing to get a TD on its first possession even though it started at the Columbia two yard line. Then, the Bears were positively inept on 3rd down all day. The defense couldn't stop the Lion passing game, especially in crucial situations. Even Brown's much-heralded place kicker missed two of his three FG attempts on the day.


Key Turning Points

-After a blocked punt on Columbia's first possession gave Brown the ball at the CU two, the Bears went backwards on two plays that lost yardage and a 15-yard personal foul penalty. Brown had to settle for a long field goal and the Lions had dodged a major bullet.

-With Columbia leading 14-6 with 6:03 left in the half, Brown got another golden opportunity when Lion QB Anders Hill made his one mistake of the game and threw an interception to a sliding Will Twyman at the CU 31. But on the very next play, Bear QB Thomas Linta threw a pick to emergency Columbia Cornerback starter Denzel Hill. 

-With the score now 21-13 in favor of the Lions and 11:50 left in the game, Brown had a chance to tie the game as it took over at their own 20. But the Columbia defense forced a three-and-out and on the Lions ensuing drive Columbia chewed up 4:20 of the clock and got an Oren Milstein FG to basically put the game out of the Bears' reach.


Columbia Positives

-The Lions were fantastic on 3rd down on both sides of the ball. They converted eight of 17 3rd downs on offense while holding Brown to just two of 15 conversions.

-The long passing game clicked so well that the Lions averaged an astounding 10.1 yards per attempt. Subtract the two incomplete passes thrown by Skyler Mornhinweg, and Hill was 11.1 yards per attempt. Josh Wainwright had five catches for 150 yards and two TD's.

-Senior RB Alan Watson closed out his career with a career day, rushing for 158 yards and scoring a 69-yard TD on Columbia's last offensive play of 2016. Watson finished the year third in the Ivies in total rushing yards.

-Playing for the injured senior Jared Katz, the senior CB Hill had a brilliant game with that key INT and helping to keep Brown to just 126 yards passing on the day.

-Milstein was perfect again, hitting a key 4th quarter FG despite having to kick it twice after a false start penalty negated his first successful attempt.

-The defense played an entire game without a major lapse. This enabled the Lions to finish an impressive third in the Ivies in total defense and first in pass defense.

-The stellar Columbia senior linebacking crew finished their great season on a high note. Gianmarco Rea led the team with 10 tackles, Chris Conway came in second with eight, and Keith Brady was third with seven. The trio combined for five tackles for a loss. Rea finished the year as the Ivy League's leading tackler with 108, a stunning 12 more than his nearest challenger.


Columbia MVP

Alan Watson had his best game of the year. Josh Wainwright had his best game of the year. It was another great game for all the Columbia linebackers.

But the most important position on the field is quarterback. And QB Anders Hill had the best game of his career. He threw the deep ball well. He threw the short ball better. He ran well. He took four sacks, but Brown's blitz-on-every-play defense was the reason. Hill's performance showed just how good this Lions team could be with good QB play. He was the Columbia MVP in this season finale.

Last Dance, Last Chance

Columbia Lions (2-7) at Brown Bears (4-5)

November 19, 2016 

Brown Stadium

Kickoff Time: 12:30PM

Gametime Weather Forecast: 58 degrees and sunny

The Spread: Brown is favored by 3.5 points

TV/Radio: The game is available live on the Ivy League Digital Network. Superior audio the game with Jerry Recco and Sal Licata is available on the Columbia Online Radio Network.

Columbia Game Notes

Brown Game Notes


Leading Storylines

1) This is Columbia's last chance to get that elusive third win for 2016 and make the strongest argument that it has indeed improved over last year's 2-8 mark. Brown is looking to surprise a lot of naysayers and claim a winning record in the Ivies.

2) Brown seems to be getting better every week with junior QB TJ Linta at the helm. Look for the Bears to use this game as a launching point to contending for a title in 2017.

3) Columbia's offense has suddenly come to life over the last few weeks, greatly due to the emergence of freshman WR Ronald Smith as a 100-yard per game threat. A rare warm season-ending game in Providence could be his chance to make a case for Ivy Rookie of the Year.

Week 10 Picks

*Sorry for the reduced posting lately. The election and its aftermath has had me busy at work, especially since I was the only mainstream media columnist to predict a Trump victory.

I went 2-1 straight up last week and 3-0 against the spread to bring my season totals to 26-12 straight up and 24-14 ATS.

Penn -10 1/2 at Cornell

The Quakers aren't going to lose focus now, even though I think the Big Red have enough offense to make it closer. In the end, Penn will cover.


Harvard -12 1/2 vs. Yale

Yale doesn't have much left in the tank, not even for The Game.


Dartmouth +14 1/2 at Princeton

I think the Big Green has enough fight left in them to make this closer. But the Tigers will still win.

Shootout Victims

Cornell 42 Columbia 40


Why Cornell Won

The Big Red offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage on pass plays and produced 259 yards rushing to boot. A Columbia team that netted five sacks against Harvard the week before produced no sacks this against Cornell. The Big Red defense forced three turnovers to seal the deal.


Why Columbia Lost

The Lions defense played its worst game since the loss to Princeton, never getting pressure on Cornell QB Dalton Banks and suffering inexplicable breakdowns on some of the most crucial short yardage running situations in the game. A number of dubious calls, including one that negated a Columbia TD, did not help. The Lions finished with 11 penalties for a galling 156 yards.


Key Turning Points 

-With Columbia leading 14-7 and about four minutes left in the 1st quarter, the Lions were driving to another score when Alan Watson crossed the goal line with the ball which sprung out of his hands when he hit the ground in the end zone. The ground cannot cause a fumble, and the play should have been called a TD, but the refs gave the ball to Cornell. Three plays later, Cornell tied it up at 14-14.


-Leading Columbia by 28-27 just before the end of the 3rd quarter, the Big Red began a drive at their own 15. They promptly converted three 3rd downs and one 4th down on a 15 play drive that ended with a TD. The Lions were playing against Cornell, the Big Red, and the clock after that.


Columbia Positives

-The Lion offense finally broke out and played an impressive game for most of the contest's 60 minutes. Alan Watson ran for over 100 yards. Freshman WR Ronald Smith had 11 catches for 195 yards. Both QB's collectively completed better than 60% of their passes.

-PK Oren Millstein continued to show his worth with a 44 yard FG to end the 1st half and a 37-yarder later in the game.

-Every single point in the game for Columbia was scored by a freshman, boding well for the future.


Columbia Negatives

-Columbia's corners were both abused with regularity after playing well all season. Something went haywire at the worst time.

-The no sacks at all and no real pressure were a bad surprise.


Columbia MVP

-WR Ronald Smith had a monster game where he showed a signature move of moving back inside after the catch to get more yards. He had an incredible day. He has since been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Week 9 Picks

I had a pretty good week eight, going 3-0 straight up and 2-1 against the spread. That puts me at 24-11 straight up and 21-14 ATS for the year.




Penn +2 1/2 vs. Harvard

The Quakers were not exposed by Princeton last week as much as the Tigers showed how good a team they really are. Penn will bounce back and beat the Crimson.


Princeton -17 1/2 at Yale

The Elis are plum terrible. Princeton is plum perfect.


Brown +10 1/2 at Dartmouth

The Big Green don't do blowouts, not against anyone. Dartmouth will win, but not by much.

Quarterly Failings

Harvard 28 Columbia 21


Why Harvard Won

The Crimson defense played well enough to make up for a sluggish offense and spotty special teams play, and forced enough Columbia turnovers to win. The Harvard D allowed just 259 total yards and 13 1st downs.


Why Columbia Lost

The Lions blew a 14-7 halftime lead with another disastrous turnover filled quarter. And even when not turning the ball over, the CU offense still could not operate consistently.


Key Turning Points


-Leading 14-7 at the half, the Lions fumbled the 2nd half opening kickoff away. That set the tone for a disastrous Columbia 3rd quarter. Harvard did not score off of that turnover, but when the Lions fumbled the ball away on their next possession it did lead to a Crimson TD.


-With Harvard leading 28-21 and 3:39 left in the game, the Lions had a great chance to tie it up when they started a possession at their own 46. But three Columbia pass plays netted negative one yard and the Lions had to punt it away.


Columbia Positives

-The Lion defense played stellar football. Against the top team in the Ivies, Columbia held the opposing offense to just 2.7 yards per carry. The Lions also got five sacks, and four other tackles for a loss.

-Columbia executed a brilliant punt block and recovery for a TD thanks to two promising freshmen. Michael Murphy got the block and Hunter Lunsford scooped it up for the TD.

-Speaking of freshmen, Murphy and Lunsford were far from the only first-years to make an impact. Freshman DE Daniel DeLorenzi had two sacks, freshman DT Arman Samouk had one. Freshman DT Alex Robin, (a player many of us believe has a great future for CU),  got significant playing time and two tackles. WR Ronald Smith brilliantly handled a TD pass from while he was covered closely in the end zone. Fellow freshman WR Josh Wainwright fumbled that opening 2nd half kickoff, but he also looked good on Columbia's final scoring drive and caught a TD pass of his own.

-The total mental collapse that could have ensued did not materialize after Columbia's disastrous flurry of turnovers in the 3rd quarter.


Columbia Negatives

-The Lions fumble problems and general difficulty with protecting the football is at a crisis level. Without the fumbles, Columbia wins this game.

-The Lions seem to be totally unwilling or unable to sustain a steady running attack. This game was never a blowout, but Columbia threw the ball 46 times to just 28 rushing attempts. Oh and since sacks are counted as rushing attempts in college, the Lions really only tried to run it 26 times the entire game... not including improvised QB scrambles. You can't win at any level of football when you can't run the ball effectively and/or don't have the confidence in your team to do so.


Columbia MVP

-This is starting to sound like a broken record, but how can you not give the MVP nod to LB Gianmarco Rea after his 15 tackle, two sack performance? Brock Kenyon comes in second place after his seven key tackles and the interception that should have bailed out Columbia permanently early in the 3rd quarter.

Week 8 Picks

I went a nice 3-0 straight up last week, but only 1-2 against the spread. That brings me to 21-11 on the year straight up and 19-13 ATS.


Princeton -3 vs. Penn

We've had some great games among the top teams in the Ivies this year, but I've got a feeling this one could be the best. The Tigers really bounced back nicely looked week after losing to Harvard the week before. I think they're just more on the rise than a Penn team that hasn't been as sorely tested as Princeton has.


Brown +2 1/2 vs. Yale

This game looks like a complete toss up, so I'm picking the home team to win and taking the bonus points.


Dartmouth -6 1/2 at Cornell

The Big Green need this game badly to keep their program momentum going. They'll win and cover.

The Columbia Cubs?

Our future


Admit it.

If you're a Columbia football fan, you watched the Cubs run to the World Series title and hope it will provide inspiration for our long-suffering Lions to do the same someday soon.

If you're like me, you've been mentally comparing the Cubs brilliant GM Theo Epstein to Head Coach Al Bagnoli. You've noticed that the Cubs did poorly in the won-loss column in each of Epstein's three first years at the helm, while his old team the Boston Red Sox won another World Series in 2013... just like the Lions are struggling now as Penn wins more championships.

And so on, and so forth.

Columbia fans knew when we brought Bagnoli in that it would take time. He and new Athletic Director Peter Pilling essentially said the same thing as Epstein did when he came to Chicago: "be patient." And five years seems like nothing for most Columbia fans to wait.

Of course, Ivy League football is a much different animal than Major League Baseball. We don't have trades, free agents, or the steady stream of monstrous cash the Cubs could rely on despite their miserable history.

But Bagnoli is a proven winner and Pilling is a serious guy who knows results on the field matter the most. Bagnoli may be much older than Epstein, but he sure doesn't look like he's slowing down.

So take a very vivid picture of the Cubs and their fans today. Hopefully, Columbia and its fans will be celebrating the same way in a couple of years.

Scouting Harvard

Justice Shelton-Mosley


Harvard has been following a familiar script in recent years: Win the first eight games of the season by big margins, and then play a tough one against Penn that can go either way.

This year, the Crimson have gone on a slightly different course. Harvard is 6-1 and has played a number of close contests along the way. They're coming off two extremely close contests in an OT win at Princeton and a 23-21 squeaker at Dartmouth.

Surely, a nice and easy win at home over Columbia is in order before next weekend's big game against Penn at Franklin Field. Right?

Possibly, but the fact is Harvard's offensive and defensive stats paint the picture of a Crimson squad that's still very good but simply not as dominant as we've become accustomed to.

For example, QB Joe Viviano is a great passer and runner. But he's only averaging 226 yards passing per game. Usually, you see an average of 250 yards or better for a Harvard QB.

RB Semar Smith is averaging about 68 yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry. Those are very good stats, but you expect a Crimson rusher to post better numbers.

And Harvard's superstar wide receiving corps, led by potential NFL prospect Justice Shelton-Mosley, has also been very good... but not great.

The offensive line hasn't been as dominant either, allowing 18 sacks in seven games.

The story is the same with the defense. This is a very good group, just not "Harvard great." The Crimson are allowing more than 100 yards per game rushing and more than 230 yards per game passing.

But when you look at the individual defensive stats, things look a bit more "Harvard-like." You do have the beast DE pass rusher in sophomore D.J. Bailey, who has six sacks. You have the ball hawking DB in Tanner Lee who has three picks. You have a trio of top linebackers all with 40 or more tackles per game in Luke Hutton, Anthony Camargo, and Jordan Hill.

So why else is Harvard still 6-1 and 4-0 in the Ivies?

I actually think Head Coach Tim Murphy has taken a page from Al Bagnoli's old Penn playbook and has crafted a team that focuses on just winning games as opposed to really dominating opponents. This Crimson team has grit and the only big question for them is whether they'll bring the same grit to the field in a classic "trap game" the week before a contest that should decided the Ivy title.

Fumbled Away

Yale 31 Columbia 23


Why Yale Won

The Elis forced five turnovers, including two in the 2nd quarter that both led to Yale TD's. Freshman QB Kurt Rawlings came into the game in relief and helped the Elis maintain their lead throughout.


Why Columbia Lost

In addition to the turnovers, the Lion offense took way too long to get into a groove. Columbia finished with just 92 yards rushing and allowed four sacks.


Key Turning Points

-On the second play of the 2nd quarter, Lion RB Alan Watson fumbled the ball at the Yale 36 and Eli freshman DE John Herubin returned it for a TD.


-Less than two minutes after that TD, Columbia punt returned Lynnard Rose dropped a punt that Yale recovered at the Columbia 15. Two plays later is was 14-0.


Columbia Positives


-The Lions defense performed extremely well despite the final score. Yale was held to just 99 rushing yards overall and start runner Alan Lamar had just 66 yards on 28 carries.

-The 4th quarter marked the emergence of a new potential weapon for the Lions: WR Ronald Smith. The fact that he was making so many difficult catches when so many of his teammates had trouble holding on to the ball was notable. He finished with six catches for 114 yards and two TD's.


Columbia Negatives

-The turnovers were galling, especially the dropped punt.

-The Lion offense still looked unready to play, especially after it committed two substitution penalties on the same drive.

Columbia MVP

-It seemed like the Lion defense was making tackles for a loss every other play. Once again, that effort was led by senior LB Ginamarco Rea. He was the MVP of this game with Smith coming in as a close second for his receiving heroics.

Seeking a New Kind of Streak

Al Bagnoli is 18-6 lifetime vs. Yale


Yale Elis vs. Columbia Lions

October 28, 2016

Kickoff Time: 7:00pm

Location: Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium

Game Time Weather Forecast: 45 degrees, clear, possible moderate wind gusts

The Spread: The game is "pick 'em"

TV/Radio: The game is nationally televised on NBC Sports Network . Superior audio can be heard on the Ivy League Digital Network with Jerry Recco and Sal Licata on the call.

Columbia Game Notes

Yale Game Notes


Leading Story Lines

1) Talk about role reversal! Yale comes into this game in a tailspin at 1-5 and with most Eli fans calling for Head Coach Tony Reno's head. The negative vibe swirling around Yale seems like it could snowball for the rest of the season, or the Elis could be fired up to fight back.

2) On the flip side, Columbia seems to be on the rise even after an ugly win over Dartmouth last week. Tonight's game will give the Lions the chance to win two in a row for the first time since they had a three game winning streak in 2010.

3) Columbia's defense has been stellar while its offense simply has trouble scoring touchdowns. Yale's defense might be the weakest the Lions will face all year. If Columbia can't finish drives tonight, it may not happen this year at all.


Players to Watch

-Columbia's offense may rely heavily on freshman WR Josh Wainwright #13 and his ability to shred the generally porous Yale secondary.

-Yale's freshman RB Alan Lamar #5 almost single-handedly defeated Dartmouth three weeks ago for the Elis sole win of 2016. He's been battling some injury issues since, but could be ready to play at full tilt tonight.

-Columbia safety Landon Baty #23 has had been the top target for opposing defenses all season long. Baty has made them pay with excellent pass defense, run defense, and open field tackling. Tonight, I expect Yale to go after him anyway. Look for Baty to be in on a lot of plays where Eli QB Tre Moore tries to take off and run.

-Yale senior safety Foye Oluokun #23 is kind of like the last man standing on what was once a good defense. He'll need to step things up to do something about the massive chunk of passing yardage the Elis give up each game.

-And it goes without saying that Columbia LB Christian Conway #7 and H-back Jackson Conway #4 must be watched closely in this game. The Conway twins had their slots on the Yale football team rescinded by Eli Head Coach Tony Reno in 2012 and they had to change their commitments from Yale to Duke. After transferring to Columbia last year the Conway twins, especially Christian, slaughtered Yale's ball carriers all day in the 17-7 Lion win. 


If, Then

-If Columbia's offense sputters again, then Yale will feel more confident in spreading its offensive attack around. The Lions can't rely on just being able to shut down the Eli run attack alone.

-If Yale falls behind by more than one score early, then look for the fight to go out of this team the rest of the way. With a coach under fire and a number of key players who have left the team recently, Bulldog fortitude is at a low ebb.

-If Columbia establishes its passing attack early, then look for the Lions to shift to the run down the stretch. The Columbia offensive line has been wearing down opponents in the running lanes lately.

Joseph Leeman


UPDATE: We have a new Lion!

-I missed this earlier this season, but Columbia Football is honored to have a returning veteran now on its roster.

His name is Joseph Leeman, a 2010 graduate of New Jersey's Pompton Lakes HS, (which is not far from Wien Stadium on the other side of the George Washington Bridge).

Leeman was a Marine who once won the prestigious "Marine of the Quarter" award.

Let's welcome Joseph and all the potential athletes who can help Columbia via our excellent Yellow Ribbon program.

Week 7 Picks

I went a humbling 1-2 straight up and 1-2 against the spread last week to bring my season records to 18-11 straight up and also 18-11 ATS.



Princeton -8 1/2 at Cornell

The Big Red will not win this game, and the clock is close to striking midnight on this team. But Cornell often plays Princeton very well at home and I think it will be somewhat close. In the end, Princeton will cover as it must realize its Ivy championship dreams are far from dashed at this point.


Penn -19 vs. Brown

Without a storm to cover for its problems, Brown will be exposed much as Yale was by Penn last week.


Harvard -4 1/2 at Dartmouth

The small spread for this game is tough to beat because I do think this game will be close. But the Crimson should win by a TD.

The Core Four

Jared Katz

When the day finally comes where Al Bagnoli brings the Columbia football program to the top of the Ivies, there will be a lot of talk and reminiscing about his first few teams and how much they struggled. Only the die hard fans will remember the names of the players who were the best and most effective competitors during this lean, but improving era.

A group I think about a lot right now are the 18 or so seniors who came to Columbia as part of Pete Mangurian's first recruiting class. To say they went through some hard times is an understatement. Their first two years were marked by an 0-20 record and brutal controversies about Mangurian's tenure throughout. Then when Bagnoli was brought in, they had to deal with the chance that they may lose any hard-earned seniority on the depth charts.

But look at the roster and you'll see that a clear majority of those 18 players are either starting or playing key roles on the team today. They're on offense, defense, and special teams. But there's no denying that their presence is most felt on Columbia's excellent defense. And I want to put a spotlight on four of those seniors on defense that I call "The Core Four."

Two of them are DB's: Jared Katz and Brock Kenyon. The other two are LB's: Gianmarco Rea and Keith Brady. 

Anyone watching Columbia football this year knows how it seems like one of these guys is in on the stop on every single play. Rea is leading the Ivies in tackles. Katz is getting looks from NFL scouts. Kenyon and Brady are simply incredible sometimes.

Brock Kenyon in 2014


Speaking of incredible, check out this piece from last week in the Columbia Spectator about the day in the challenging life of Keith Brady. Considering how little it took for me to lose focus as a student when I was at Columbia, I don't see how the Engineering students on the football team or any team do it.

Just look at the Columbia stats so far this year. The three leading tacklers are Rea, Kenyon, and Brady in that order. Katz's numbers are impressive considering most teams don't bother to throw in his direction anyway. But he's still found a way to get 15 tackles including 1.5 tackles for a loss.

Gianmarco Rea

In a year marked by the encouraging play of so many freshmen, and the emergence of a quite of few juniors by the way, you might think it would be easy to overlook the contributions of these four-year Lion seniors. But it isn't easy because the Core Four have been playing so well. And looking at the remaining four games on the schedule, there are at least three teams on the docket that have big vulnerabilities to the weapons the Core Four bring to the table.

Their best days may be yet to come.

Texas Tech Target Flips for Columbia

5-10 190-pound DB Ben Mathiasmeier from Cinco Ranch HS in Katy, Texas has committed to the Lions.

Mathiasmeier will be the first Cinco Ranch grad to come to Columbia.

Mathiasmeier was pretty high on the Texas Tech radar after attending the Red Raider camp this summer. The Tech coaches even see him as a possible threat at slot receiver.

This brings our unofficial and incomplete, even as of today, list of incoming freshmen to 18:

1) Luke Adams RB/LB 6-2 210 lbs. Notre Dame Prep Pontiac, MI

2) Josh Bean QB 6-2 200 lbs. Hinsdale HS Hinsdale, IL

3) Seth DeVary OL 6-4 275 lbs. Larue County HS Hodgenville, KY

4) Alexander Filacouris RB 6-1 200 lbs. Half Hollow Hills West HS Dix Hills, NY 

5) Graham Flinn DB/WR 6-1 180 lbs. Benedictine College Prep HS Richmond, VA

6) Tyson Hugee DB 6-0 170 lbs. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Philadelphia, PA

7) Emerson Kabus WR 5-10 170 lbs. St. Augustine HS St. Augustine, FL

8) Josh Kaminsky DL 6-4 280 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

9) Cameron Lipton-Martinez TE/DE 6-5 225 lbs. Montclair HS Montclair, NJ

10) Ben Mathiasmeier DB 5-10 190 lbs. Cinco Ranch HS Katy, Texas

11) Jake McCurry WR/DB 6-0 180 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH

12) Carson Powell DB 6-0 190 lbs. Cardinal Newman HS Palm Beach, FL

13) Bailey Rotsky DB/WR Mayfield Heights HS Mayfield Heights, OH

14) Jonathan Rowe OL 6-3 283 lbs. Audrey Kell HS Charlotte, NC

15) Drew Schmid P 6-0 205 lbs. La Jolla Country Day La Jolla, CA  

16) Hank White OL 6-6 250 lbs. Buford HS Buford, GA

17) Ashton Cooper Wilson DE/LB 6-3 230 lbs. Merritt Island HS Merritt Island, FL

18) Peter Wise OL 6-5 290 lbs. Brunswick School Greenwich, CT

Scouting Yale

Has anyone seen Bo Hines?


The Elis can run the ball.

Everything else? Not so much,

The end.

Okay, that's not the end. But you could really summarize things like that and be mostly right about this Eli team this year.

This is a team designed to run the ball well as evidenced by the fact that almost everyone who gets the rock gets good yards. RB's Alan Lamar, Dale Harris, Deshawn Salter, and Candler Rich can all do damage, with the freshman Lamar looking like the best weapon.  But QB Tre Moore, is also a good runner... when he isn't getting sacked, which is a lot. Even with all those sacks, Yale is averaging a hefty 176 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry. In their one win this year against Dartmouth, the Elis surprised the Big Green by playing Lamar for the first time and he burned them for 180 yards on the ground. Yale may be out of surprises by now.

But the passing is a mess. Moore's completion percentage is below 50 and he's netting under five yards per attempt. Star receiver Christopher Williams-Lopez is out of the lineup and does not appear in the two-deep for Friday night's game either. The much ballyhooed Clemson transfer Bo Hines is also AWOL. Yale's opponents are averaging almost 200 more yards in the air per game. Myles Gaines is the most effective healthy receiver for the Elis now, and he only has a total of 153 yards receiving with one catch accounting for more than a quarter of that yardage total.

On defense, the rushing D actually hasn't been that bad. The Elis allow under four yards per carry, (just barely at 3.9 per rush), and eight rushing TD's allowed after six games is not terrible. But the passing stats are indeed terrible. Opponents are averaging more than nine yards per attempt, are completing 66% of their passes, and have a 23-3 TD pass to INT ratio.

Evidence of the problem comes from the fact that junior DB Hayden Carlson is leading the team in tackles... by a lot. Sophomore DE Kyle Mullen is having a strong year, but he admittedly is getting plenty of passing attempts and sack opportunities because opponents love to throw the ball so much against Yale. The great Victor Egu, the guy who dropped his commitment to Cal Berkeley to come to New Haven, does not even have one tackle for a loss yet this season.

The secondary tackles a lot because of all those completions. But they don't pick off many passes. Of the 220 passes thrown at Yale this season, (36 per game), only three have been intercepted. Carlson has two of them, Senior Foyesade Oluokun has been a pass breakup machine with six already this year. But his efforts are simply not enough.

On special teams, sophomore PK Alex Galland has been pretty good with four of six FG kicking and a long of 38 yards. Galland and Bryan Holmes have been sharing the punting duties with solid, but not spectacular results. The best special teams weapons the Elis have is punt returner Jason Alessi who has a an 82-yard return for a TD and good seven yard per return average on all his chances other than that TD. Lamar is a good kickoff returner when he gets a chance.

And of course, all of this doesn't tell you anything about what you need to know about the internal strife in the Yale program that led to so many preseason defections, most notable DT Copache Tyler. It doesn't take a Columbia fan to know a program in trouble, but it helps. And this Yale program is in trouble. If the Elis don't win on Friday night, what's left of the people still supporting Head Coach Tony Reno will be fewer and further between.

Will We See our Heroes? (UPDATED)

**NOTE POSSIBLE NEW TIME**

For those of you who could not make it to the Homecoming win over Dartmouth and then were burned by the loss of the game feed on One World Sports, there's a chance a clean feed of the game will be broadcast on One World for 7pm Tuesday. It's definitely worth setting your DVR's just in case.

This is Familiar

Carm Cozza

I'll scout Yale as a team tomorrow, but looking at the program as a whole right now I have to say I'm getting deja vu listening to the angry voices coming out of New Haven. 

The Eli fans are furious, to put it mildly. Yalies have seen some tough years over the decades, but I can't remember a time when a coach who was brought in to turn around a struggling Yale team seems to have made it worse. 

For context, remember that Yale sort of hit bottom during the mid-1990's. Those were legendary Head Coach Carm Cozza's final years with the program and no one was going to push him out the door. Cozza went 17-33 over his final five years and even lost his last three straight contests against the Lions by a combined score of 64-26. When Jack Siedlecki replaced Cozza in 1997, the Elis began a respectable march back to competitiveness even though they never matched the kind of sustained excellence they did in Carm's heyday. After five years, Siedlecki was 26-23 and had an Ivy title under his belt. 

When Siedlecki finally ran out his welcome after the 2008, the controversial hiring of Tom Williams put Yale in a new spotlight. Williams will forever be remembered for a crazy fake punt call on a very long 4th and long play in his first game against Harvard in 2009. But he did get the Elis to a solid 7-3 record in his second year. Despite never beating the hated Crimson in his three years, Williams was let go because of some resume honesty issues more than anything else. 

Enter Reno, who was poached from Harvard where he was supposedly the Crimson's recruiting guru. It sure seemed like Reno was good at bringing in players by hook or by crook. Transfer Tyler Varga was the biggest treasure, but current senior LB Victor Egu made headlines when he ditched a Cal Berkeley commitment to come to New Haven. 

Yet here we are in the middle of year five and Reno is 21-25 and the team seems decidedly worse than it was when he took over in 2012. And like I said, the fans are angry and sounding a lot like Columbia fans did two years ago. They want Reno gone yesterday. 

I'm not sure exactly what went wrong for the Elis, but I do wonder about whether Yale now faces distinct recruiting disadvantages. New Haven isn't really a big city nor a rural area. And it's definitely not as exciting as New York, Boston, or Philadelphia. If you want a big city for college, Columbia, Harvard, and Penn are all better choices. If you want rural settings, Dartmouth and Cornell are better. And if you want a happy medium/suburban small town feel, Princeton is the best. I don't see where Yale fits in on that level. And it's usually true that when an Ivy team is struggling, recruiting is the biggest reason why. 

Some people laughed at me this summer when I suggested Reno would be fired at the end of this season. They're not laughing now. Yale's older football alumni are used to much better than this and they're not going to be shamed into silence. 

Short Week

With Columbia set to take on Yale at home this Friday night at 7pm, there's less time for fans to prepare, but the team will get in the requisite number of practices and prep. The fact that the game will be on national TV on the NBC Sports Network will add to the sense of urgency.

Meanwhile, the aftermath of the Lions win over Dartmouth on Homecoming has a lot of people making some new conclusions about the Columbia program now and moving forward. I'll try to consolidate and/or refute many of them in the following points:


-Generally, the CU defense is very good. And Defensive Coordinator Paul Ferraro deserves credit for a lot of this. I also give credit to linebackers coach Justin Stovall since that unit has been the most dominant. But Dartmouth's coaching staff was also very complimentary of the Lion defensive line, saying that it's much better than people thought it would be after all the key graduations last spring. That speaks well of the way D-line coach Darin Edwards prepared this crew in the spring and the first part of the summer and also is a credit to emergency D-line coach replacement Jim Schaefer who joined the staff when Edwards' health problems came up. But getting back to Ferraro, how much of his positives have been accentuated by the fact that he came back for year two of the Bagnoli era? A lot of CU coordinators have lasted less than two years in the recent past. And that makes me wonder if the Columbia offense would be doing better this year if last year's Offensive Coordinator Mike Faragalli were still around and the transition to the new offense was not still such an issue. Sometimes, continuity can be a big deal.

-Yes, the Lion defense is good. But it still is subject to some momentary lapses that can be lethal. Twice now in the last three games, the defense has allowed opposing teams to complete improbably long 4th down conversions that would have ended the game right there had they been defended better. Against Penn, the defense allowed two sloppy plays along the sidelines for TD's. This defense is very good, but it can be the kind of defense that wins games on its own -- like the 1996 Lions defense -- if it eliminates these rare weak moments.

-Let's get to the root of it: Columbia has now matched its 2015 win total with four games to play. Three of those games look entirely winnable, with two of them at home. It really felt like Columbia left at least three and maybe four wins on the table last year while CU's two wins were games where the Lions mostly dominated. Improving to 3-7 this season would mean not just one more win overall, but one more Ivy win. And it would likely also mean the Lions are keeping their composure more in tight games. They've already taken two absolute nail biters in the wins over Wagner and Dartmouth and dropped two of the same kind of games against St. Francis and Georgetown. That's the kind of even results normal teams can expect. So perhaps while Columbia is not yet a contender, the Lions have taken the truly giant step of becoming "normal."

-Saturday's win was proof of the old saying that if you play solid defense and don't turn the ball over you can win any game. Without turnovers, Columbia surely would have beaten Georgetown and probably would have beaten St. Francis. How would 4-2 feel like now as opposed to just 2-4? How many more wins will the Lions get going forward if they protect the ball?

-RB Alan Watson left the game late with what looked like an ankle or leg twist, but I saw him dancing on the sidelines just fine after the game. I expect him to play with no problems Friday night. But even more encouraging was the fact that the run blocking overall was much better Saturday. This would follow a pattern set last year, when the Columbia offensive line started to get much better at run blocking as the season wore on. If the Lions can outrun a run-based team like Yale, it will be a good night against the Elis.

-After Penn dismantled Yale this past weekend at the Yale Bowl, it's a little easier to feel good about how close Columbia played the Quakers at Franklin Field in week five. The Elis were never even remotely in the game while the Lions played Penn close for three quarters and held them to just seven points off of a turnover inside their 15 yard line in the first half.