Columbia 41 Marist 17
Why Columbia Won
The Lions played a perfect first half, scoring on every possession and forcing two Marist turnovers en route to a 38-0 lead at the break. QB Anders Hill was lethal, throwing for 350 yards, three TD's, and running for two more. Meanwhile, the defense forced Red Fox QB Mike White to throw his first 10 passes incomplete.
Why Marist Lost
The Red Foxes had no answer for the Columbia passing game and could not get their offense going into well into the 3rd quarter.
Key Turning Points
-The Lions set the tone early in their first drive when Columbia elected to go fot it on a 4th and 1 from their own 46. Hill took the ball himself for the 1st down run and the offense never looked back. Eight plays later, it was 7-0 after Hill's first TD throw of the game.
-On Marist's ensuing possession, White was stripped of the ball by freshman DL Ashton Cooper and the fumble was recovered by freshman LB Justin Woodley at the Red Fox 42. Columbia then took the ball and converted a tough 3rd and 12 and a 4th a 3 en route to a Hill two yard TD run on 4th an 2 for a 14-0 lead that emotionally broke Marist for the rest of the day.
Columbia Positives
-The Lion passing game didn't seem like it could be much better, but it was on Saturday as Hill spread the ball around to nine different receivers. Freshman WR Emerson Kabus had a breakout game with 4 catches for 114 yards, including a 65 yard catch and run down the sideline and a fine grab of a pass darting away from his body in the end zone for a 19 yard TD.
-Kabus wasn't the only relatively new face to get into the action. WR Kyle Castner made two incredible catches in heavy coverage en route to four total receptions on the day. RB Lynnard Rose got into his first game of the year and flashed some speed. Defensive players like Wilson and DL Alex Robin got extended playing time and looked good.
-After a bit of a shaky start this season, K Oren Milstein made both of his FG attempts, both from a longish 39 yards out. He was also 5-5 on PAT kicks, putting his career perfect record on extra points at 28-for-28.
Columbia Negatives
-A couple of Lions, including Woodley and DB Cameron Roane seem to have sustained injuries, but it's not clear if they are serious at all. Roane may have just slightly turned an ankle.
-It seemed like every snap from center was too high, often hurting Hill's rhythm especially on running plays. C Tyler Schonewolf needs to get that under control.
Columbia MVP
In my full season preview for Columbia, I emphasized over and over just how important the play of Anders Hill would be for this team. After four games, his improvement over last year has been the most obvious constant. Against Marist, he was near perfect and the key reason for the blowout win.
9 comments:
Good analysis Jake. I would also emphasize that the pass protection was excellent, and that Hill’s throws were extremely accurate, both from the pocket and on the move. The run blocking seemed so-so to me. I also think that we are going to have to tighten up a little more on defending the go pattern. If I were scouting for Penn I would take note that a few of Marist’s Long passes down the sideline were near completions. In the second half, when we took our foot off the gas we lost contain on the Marist QB a few times and allowed him to get loose. Next weekend we will need Roane to blanket Watson. I thought that McKeighan stepped again, especially in the second half. I also think we will need to dial up the pass rush against Penn.
Agree w/Old Lion.
Also, three ankle injuries on our DBs in Q3. By that time we had 41 points. Why were starters still in?
Penn has lost 2 straight. Next week they will be out for validation, and we can destroy their entire season if we take them. We have some payback coming too, after last year. This will be a very interesting game.
This should't go to our heads, but it's a satisfying comment.
VS FCS power rankings has us @ #8 in the country, just a hundreth point beind
#7 Dartmouth. When did any of you ever think you'd see that?
Reminds me of December 1967, when BB won the Holiday Festival and we were suddenly #10 in the country.
However, when looking at Sports Ratings.com, we find Yale well ahead of all other Ivies, with Dartmouth and Harvard well behind. We are slightly behind the Crimson in 4th Ivy place.
In other words, nobody has a clue. Let's just worry about Penn.
Great comments above . This game was won in the trenches - our lines were faster and stronger. Nice to have the luxury of substiting down the depth chart on the second half, will pay dividends next season . Can we beat Penn ?
I go back to Marty Domres and this is the most potent Columbia team I've seen since.
I hope they crush the Quakers, who can't seem to stop anyone on defense.
Strong negative feelings about Penn are well deserved. Remember Priore's bush league stunt last year of throwing for a score when he was up by two TDs with almost no time left. And Penn always has the worst fans in the league, in both football and basketball.
I worry about Penn, and then I keep thinking about our passing game, and I visualize a slaughter. But then I think about our own defense. I think we'll be OK.
Dartmouth won its third game on a last-second TD, this after trailing Yale by 21-0 at the half. They beat Penn, HC earlier.
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