The Marist Challenge

The view from the visitors bench at Tenney Stadium


Before the season started, it sure looked like Marist was the weakest opponent Columbia would face all season.

It's not that the Red Foxes have proved to be a surprise powerhouse, but after their road wins over Georgetown and Davidson and a decent showing in all but one game it's clear Marist is not without some punch.

The defense's play has been inconsistent, but the biggest weapon the Red Foxes were expected to sport all season has come through in red shirt junior QB Mike White. White does the best with what he has, and stands tough in an often collapsing pocket.

This season he's boosted his completion percentage to a decent 56%, up from 48% last season. But his TD-to-INT ratio has deteriorated, most likely because of a continued lack of any potent running game to use as another option. Marist is averaging just 3.1 yards per carry.

The defense is posting better numbers overall than last year, but inconsistency is the key here. Perhaps the most telling Red Fox game this year for Columbia to study is the 44-37 loss Marist suffered to Jacksonville on September 23rd. This was a game against a conference opponent on the Red Fox home field. And in that game, Marist never led and gave up five yards per rushing attempt.

On offense, White passed for 315 yards and four TD's, but he was also picked off four times and only completed 50% of his passes. The Red Foxes only netted 42 yards rushing and 2.1 yards per carry.

Marist has a huge offensive line with an average weight of 301 pounds, but for some reason they're just not getting a push for their running backs.

The intangibles are a little more daunting for the Lions. This is Marist's Homecoming game, and things could get intense in that 5,000-seat bandbox stadium of theirs. By the way, by my count there are fewer than 400 reserved seats left to buy as of Wednesday at noon. Otherwise, you might be subjected to sitting on wet grass behind the CU bench.