The consensus line on Columbia Football last year was that the team was expected to improve, but would likely be hampered by the loss of all three of its starting linebackers from 2016.
Perhaps you might recall that I was not one of those naysayers.
As it turned out the Lion linebackers of 2017 were far from a weakness; they were probably the best linebacking unit in the Ivies. And the best part about it was there wasn't a graduating senior among them.
One travesty is that only one CU linebacker, rising junior Michael Murphy, was given All Ivy honors. At the very least, rising senior Sean White should have been given an honorable mention.
Murphy tore his ACL in the Harvard game but is expected to be back at full strength this fall.
But I'd trade postseason honors for in-season results any day.
Murphy, White, and rising junior Jalen Williams, were dominant throughout the season as the regular starters.
Rising sophomore Justin Woodley was a revelation as an impact freshman and rising senior Cal Falkenhayn had a true step up season backing up Williams at middle linebacker and getting one start.
The fact that all five of these proven strong commodities are coming back for 2018 is really unprecedented for Columbia Football and extremely rare at the Ivy level.
But there's more.
Rising sophomore Carson Powell also made some noise as a freshman, especially in the season finale win over Brown. Not far behind him was fellow rising sophomore Cameren Carter.
But there's still more.
No fewer than three of my top 10 incoming freshmen happen to be linebackers: Cam Dillon, Marquis Hubbard, and Justin Smythe-Macaulay.
None of this should be surprising to longtime Ivy football watchers. During his 23 amazing years at Penn, Head Coach Al Bagnoli cranked out super linebackers season after season.
Considering the fact that linebackers really are the most important part of any defense, it's hard not to be very bullish about Columbia's chances this season based on so much returning talent at this crucial position.
4 comments:
Hello Jake. I’m disappointed that there aren’t any comments on here. I wanted you to know that your posts and insight are much appreciated. This follower is very excited for the coming season, and looking forward to the games in Morningside. I think the Lions are going to surprise again. Keep up the good work...here and on your day job.
DB
Lion Fan
Five hours ago (it's Sunday night, 10:30 pm in Boulder, CO, 29 July 2018), Coach Fabish tweeted that an Eastern PA Tight End just committed to Columbia.
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