The football staff continues to do a great job posting videos and interviews on Twitter and on the official athletic department website.
But I thought the most interesting interview posted after the win over St. Francis Saturday came from Head Coach Al Bagnoli.
It wasn't so much WHAT he said, but HOW he said it.
Those of us who have been following Bagnoli's entire Ivy League head coaching career since it began in 1992 have often taken note of his cautious nature in interviews. Even when he was running his best Penn teams, he never sounded too happy about their chances. At Columbia, his interviews have all been about the slow progression of the team with a similar corresponding tone of reservation.
But this interview was decidedly different. Bagnoli seems happy... like not just laughing at the irony of something... but really happy... or at least relieved.
So, to borrow a Passover saying in the days before Rosh Hashanah: Why was this night different from all other nights?
It's a fair question, because despite the comfortable 31-14 margin of victory over St. Francis we all know it was far from a perfect game for the Lions.
Here are some of the possibilities for this uncharacteristically satisfied-sounding Bagnoli:
1) No serious injuries from the game. Compared to last year's season opener, that's a huge improvement.
2) Columbia truly has dual QB weapons. Sure, Josh Bean was rusty but he has the talent to recover. Meanwhile, Ty Lenhart looked faster and bigger. There's a lot CU can do to opponents with a two-headed monster like this, and it appears to be something Bagnoli has tried to create at Columbia since he got here, with really no success.
3) The RBs looked awesome. Some blown blocks kept the total rushing yards a bit in check. But the way Ryan Young, Dante Miller, and Broderick Taylor ran the ball would make anyone smile. Taylor looks like he's doling out punishment when he hits the line with speed and power. Miller is going to break one soon enough. Young looks bigger without sacrificing enough speed to make big gainers.
4) The defense put on a hit fest. Even the long pass for a TD that Columbia gave up wasn't really the result of bad coverage. It was just a 6-8 WR reaching out about Will Allen and everything working out right to make that play happen. Meanwhile, Allen and the rest of the D hit hard and really took control of the game after the 1st quarter.
5) Special teams is superior in every way. Every time Columbia sets itself to kick, punt, or return the ball, the Lions seem to make big plays. If the Lions can get 50-yard FG range from Alex Felkins every week, it's going to force opposing teams to take some risks they usually won't when the Lions get around their 30. Felkins also hit the end zone on every one of his kickoffs... from the 35. Note that for the remainder of the season, he'll be kicking off from the 40.
Columbia Snags 2/4 of Ivy Honors
The Lions took two out of the four Ivy Football weekly honors, as sophomore WR/KR Mike Roussos was named Special Teams Player of the Week, and the freshman K Alex Felkins was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
Actually, he's going to be a Lion
Another New Lion
6-3 230 pound DE Reid Englert from Ridgefield HS in Ridgefield, CT has committed to Columbia.
He had another Ivy offer from Cornell.
Englert will be the first Ridgefield (CT) grad to come to Columbia Football.
That brings our list of commits for 2020 to 15:
1. Braeden Bellmer OL 6-4 260 lbs. Puyallup HS Puyallup, WA
2. Stephen Brooks TE/DL 6-4 225 lbs. Dexter Southfield School Brookline, MA
3. Dominic Busby TE 6-4 220 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ
4. Jackson Coker WR 5-11 170 lbs. Westlake HS Austin, TX
5. Ben Corniello DE/OL 6-2 250 lbs. Hand HS Madison, CT
6. Reid Englert DE 6-3 230 lbs. Ridgefield HS Ridgefield, NJ
7. Gabriel Hollingsworth QB 6-3 207 lbs. Reagan HS Pfafftown, NC
8. William Hughes K/P 5-10 150 lbs. Chantilly HS Chantilly, VA
9. Kristopher Jenner QB 6-5 225 lbs. The McDonogh School Owings Mills, MD
10. Clarence Krebs OL 6-5 275 lbs. Servite HS Anaheim, CA
11. Carter McFadden FS/WR 5-10 165 lbs. Montgomery HS Skillman, NJ
12. Patrick Passalacqua OL 6-2 265 lbs. Old Tappan HS Old Tappan, NJ
13. Scott Rosati DB/K 6-3 205 lbs. Grosse Point South HS Grosse Point Farms, MI
14. Anthony Roussos LB 6-0 210 lbs. River Ridge HS New Port Richey, FL
15. Cooper Thomas LB 6-2 215 lbs. St. Thomas HS Houston, TX
2 comments:
We're halfway home (15 commits) and it's still September.
Of course we can count on The New York Times, our supposed home town paper, for ignoring us in today’s story on Ivy football. In fact, the writer featured Cornell’s less than impressive win over Marist. As I have been saying for years, we get no respect whatsoever from them; the only bias of the Times which is more pronounced than their anti-Columbia bias is their obsession with Israel.
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