... 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