Some Quick Updates

 

Mitch Moyer

Getting Defensive

Junior DL Mitch Moyer has beefed up to 275 the healthy way and looks like he will go a long way towards answering one of the team's biggest questions going into this season, which is: "can the D-line keep Columbia competitive? For those keeping track, Columbia hasn't had a starting DT that kind of size since Lord Hyeamang tipped the scales at 285 lbs. in 2017. 

Crystal Balls

For my new readers, you should know that for many years I've been doing predictions for every Ivy football game and every game our non-Ivy opponents play. I give both my predictions for the games straight up and against the spread. 

For the record, last year I went 45-17 straight up, but a mediocre 33-27-2 against the spread.

Top 10 Coda

During this long offseason, I had been compiling my list of the Top 10 Columbia Football games of the 2010-2020 decade. I won't have time to write up full reviews of the remaining four games on my Top 10, but I will list them below with links to how I covered those games at the time. 

4.  2018 Columbia 42 Brown 20

3. 2017 Columbia 22 Dartmouth 17

2. 2017 Columbia 28 Princeton 24

1. 2017 Columbia 34 Penn 31 (OT)

It should come as no surprise that the top 3 games of the decade all occurred during the 2017 season, where the Lions finished 8-2 and put together so many exciting wins. 

Here's the full list of my Top 10:

10. 2010 Columbia 20 Cornell 17

9. 2011 Columbia 35 Brown 28 (2 OT)

8. 2015 Columbia 17 Yale 7

7. 2016 Columbia 31 Brown 13

6. 2019 Columbia 17 Harvard 10 (OT)

5. 2018 Columbia 24 Cornell 21 

4.  2018 Columbia 42 Brown 20

3. 2017 Columbia 22 Dartmouth 17

2. 2017 Columbia 28 Princeton 24

1. 2017 Columbia 34 Penn 31 (OT)

Camp Confidential

Joe Green

I'm certainly nowhere near as prolific as Bruce Wood, who covers every Dartmouth practice for his excellent Big Green Alert Premium site, (which all Ivy fans should sign up for; it's worth it), but I do hope to get some decent info out of training camp this year for all the hungry CU fans who have been waiting 641 days so far to see our team in action, (the wait will be 665 days between actual games when all is said and done, by the way)

So let's get to some of what I consider to be the most interesting information out of camp so far in my opinion:

Green Machine

Transfer QB Joe Green is looking very good in camp, with arm strength and accuracy that could be better than Anders Hill '18. He is not mobile, but he is quickly becoming the favorite of least the other players to win the starting QB job. It's obviously very early in this process, but I suspect Green is making a real push for the top spot and this is not just propaganda. 

Whatever happens, a healthy program is one where the coaches truly don't play favorites and are willing to change their plans when new evidence comes to light. Thus, if Green is clearly more of a productive QB than Ty Lenhart or anyone else, I think we'd all like to believe the players will be joined by the coaches in a decision to make him the starter. 

But of course, it's still really early. 

Woodley is back... really back

When I reviewed the linebacker unit earlier this summer, I expressed happy surprise that Justin Woodley was returning to the roster at all. But it turns out he's more than just on the roster; Woodley is back and in very good physical condition. The Lions now may have the best LB unit, which many believe is the most important unit in college football, in the Ivies. Woodley, Scott Valentas, and Cam Dillon are a formidable starting three, but there's also John Harris and a few other talented guys in the mix. 

With questions about how the relatively inexperienced D-line will do this season, one has to wonder if Head Coach Al Bagnoli will employ the kind of formations he often used at Penn when he was linebacker-rich and DT/DE-poor. During the late 2000's and early 2010's I distinctly remember Bagnoli using a 2-5-4 alignment on defense (at least in the two-deeps) to augment his defensive line with linebackers who were strong enough to at least tax opposing offensive linemen. Let's see if that happens again this year. 

That said, there is also optimism surrounding DL Paul Akere, who has beefed up and looks strong so far in camp. If he and super senior Cameron Carter can hold down the fort up front, the Lion linebackers should help create a pass rush that doesn't sacrifice pass coverage and run defense. 

Three Quick Hits

-Senior RB Ryan Young, whom the team calls "Saquan Jr.," is bigger, stronger, and even tougher to tackle.

-Sophomore DB Seth Parker is looking impressive, even among all the returning talented DB's in the Lion secondary.

-WR Marcus Libman is also impressive and on track to be the other starting WR with senior Mike Roussos. 

Tuned Out

The Ivy League Football Media Day has become more and more meaningless and uninteresting for a league that really needs to increase interest and encourage those who already are interested to stick around or boost their engagement. 

I don't if it's the individual coaches, athletic departments, or the league offices who are responsible for coming up with a product every year that barely qualifies as anything at all. 

Yes, it's to be expected that we're going to hear platitudes from the coaches. Yes, it's good to at least see and hear some of the players speaking clearly and respectfully. No, we don't expect to hear anyone give too much away about their game plans and all the starting lineups. 

But if you're a football fan, you really don't get anything out of these events. They never were an information extravaganza, but there used to be more actual content. I remember during my years broadcasting Columbia games and going to the media days and there would be discussions about the actual players competing for starting spots. There was talk about specific team strengths and weaknesses, etc. Now it just seems like the point of media day is to give everyone a chance to make a slightly low key pep talk. 

After a COVID-canceled 2020 season, I think we all need more than the usual update on who's who for each Ivy team. This was not the year to go back to what has been the media day's uninteresting business as usual over the last 6-7 years. 

But when I was a TV producer for 26 years, I had a rule that no one in our team meetings could just trash an idea or a segment that didn't work. They were required to come up with another idea.

So here's how I would have used Ivy Media Day to excite the fans, maybe create new ones, and reward everyone for waiting the 665 days it will be between games

1) A pre-produced video with music detailing the history of Ivy League Football. Get Erik Greenberg Anjou to make a 5-10 minute short version of his 2007 film.  

2) Have all-time great players from each of the eight schools introduce themselves, give a quick summary of their playing day accolades, and then have them virtually introduce their school's current head coach but first introduce a..,

3) ...  2-3 minute video highlight of each school's previous season to run before

4) Okay, we get that the coaches aren't going to reveal their starting lineups or list strengths and weaknesses. But each coach should tell us what was the best and worst about LAST season (I mean 2019) and generally what they're looking at now in those areas coming into this season. (Last season, we were terrible in the red zone. This year, we're making it a priority and we've got some new players and plays to make it happen). 

5) The players each school trots out should give us more biographical information. The media needs to humanize these kids, and the robotic, "everyone is excited and close on this team" comments make them look like robots and not people. They should tell the story of their paths to their school, what they're studying, what's surprised them about college life, etc. 

There are high school and summer camp A/V clubs that could do a good job producing the rundown I just listed above, And remember that the whole thing could be separated into eight parts and promoted by each school's own athletic department websites. 

PREDICTION TIME COMING

 I guess I have less than two weeks before I'll come out with my 2021 Ivy League Football predictions. A quick look at my 2019 predictions gives me some needed confidence. I correctly predicted Dartmouth would win the championship, only missed a little by not picking Yale to tie them (I picked them 3rd), and really only messed up by picking Columbia 2nd.

Not too bad. 

Two New Lions

Two more high school seniors have committed to the Lions, including yet another legacy.

That legacy is Jack Smiechowski, a 6-1 195 pound LB from Saint Joseph HS in Montvale, NJ.  He did not appear to have any other Division I offers.

Smiechowski is the grandson of the great Lion RB Tom O'Connor '63, who passed away last year. 

Smiechowski will be the sixth Saint Joseph grad to come to Columbia, the first since current rising senior Fara'Ad McCombs. 

The next commit is the second in as many days from the Williston Northampton school in Massachusetts. 

6-2 190 pound Ethan Hebb is coming to Williston Northampton via Cardinal Gibbons HS in Raleigh, North Carolina. He will be the sixth player from Williston Northampton and the first from Cardinal Gibbons to come to Columbia Football. 

So our 2022 incoming freshman list has grown to 8:

1. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

2. Ethan Hebb DB 6"2 190 lbs. Cardinal Gibbons/Williston Northampton School Raleigh, NC

3. James Lill OL/DL 6"5 287 lbs. Schroeder Webster HS/Avon Old Farms Webster, NY

4. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

5. Jayden Marshall DB 6"0 190 lbs. Lee County HS/WIlliston-Northampton School Sanford, NC

6. Jack Smiechowski LB 6"1 195 lbs. St. Joseph HS Montvale, NJ

7. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

8. Edan Stagg WR 6"1 175 lbs. University Lab School Baton Rouge, LA  

Sanford Corner

6-0 190 pound DB Jayden Marshall, who is about to begin a PG year at the Williston Northampton School in Massachusetts, is joining the Lions. Marshall graduated from Lee County HS in Sanford, NC earlier this year. 

I haven't been able to find much info on other schools who may have offered Marshall, but he does come out of a competitive HS conference and was named to the 1st team of that conference. 

Marshall will be the first Lee County HS grad to come to Columbia Football, and the fifth Williston Northampton School grad. Current Lion brothers Thomas and Xavier Thibault are also W-N grads.

So our 2022 incoming freshman list has grown to 6:

1. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

2. James Lill OL/DL 6"5 287 lbs. Schroeder Webster HS/Avon Old Farms Webster, NY

3. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

4. Jayden Marshall DB 6"0 190 lbs. Lee County HS/WIlliston-Northampton School Sanford, NC

5. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

6. Edan Stagg WR 6"1 175 lbs. University Lab School Baton Rouge, LA 

Bayou Lion CORRECTED

6-1, 175-pound WR Edan Stagg has committed to Columbia. 

Stagg also had an offer from Cornell and shows great hands in his highlight video. 

Stagg will be the *first University Lab School (LSU) graduate to come to Columbia Football. 

Stagg transferred to the Lab School from nearby Southside HS, which has never sent a grad to CU Football.

So our 2022 incoming freshman list has grown to 5:

1. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

2. James Lill OL/DL 6"5 287 lbs. Schroeder Webster HS/Avon Old Farms Webster, NY

3. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

4. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

5. Edan Stagg WR 6"1 175 lbs. University Lab School Baton Rouge, LA

*= an earlier version of this post mistakenly reported that Stagg was coming from the Southern University Lab School. The University Lab School he attends is affiliated with LSU and is another institution altogether.

Preseason Poll Released

There were no surprises in the just-released Ivy League Football media poll. Grasping at straws after 610 days off since the last Ivy team actually played a game, the reporters and p.r. professionals went with this predicted order of finish:

1. Princeton

2. Yale

3. Dartmouth 

4. Harvard

5. Penn

6. Brown

7. Columbia

8. Cornell

I think the logic behind these picks is that Princeton is returning a very good defense and the best overall defensive player in the league in LB Jeremiah Tyler. 

The rest of the predictions seem more like a crapshoot than usual... which is saying something. 

But I have to again caution everyone getting their noses out of shape about this poll that it's really nothing to scream about.

Frankly, I'm just grateful we're still on track to have a season as of now. 

By the time the 2021 season kicks off, 650 days will have passed since our last game. 

Legacy Chain

James Lill

The number of legacy players on the Columbia Football team is growing. 

Yesterday, we learned that 6-5 287 pound OL/DL James Lill, son of Jim Lill '96, has committed to the Lions.

James will come to Columbia after a PG year at the Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut after graduating earlier this year from Schroeder Webster HS in Webster, NY.

The younger Lill is from the greater Rochester area just like his dad and his uncle Jake, Jim's twin brother. But the elder Lills did not attend Schroeder or do PG years. Both of the brothers played on defense for the Lions during some of the best years of the program in the mid-1990s. They particularly stood out in the 1995 Homecoming Win over Yale that the Athletic Department included in a special look back on historic games dominated by the Lion defense. 

James had an offer from UNH and some D-III schools. He will be the first Schroeder grad to come to Columbia Football, but the fourth from Avon Old Farms. 

So our 2022 incoming freshman list has grown 4:

1. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

2. James Lill OL/DL 6"5 287 lbs. Schroeder Webster HS/Avon Old Farms Webster, NY

3. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

4. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

Tough Draw

J'Von Brown is an NFL draft prospect

While Columbia's other two out of conference opponents, Marist and Georgetown, did not fare very well in their conference media day polls or preseason all-star teams, the third OOC opponent for the Lions is looking a lot stronger.

Week 4 opponent Central Connecticut State (CCSU) came in second in the NEC preseason poll. Senior WR Tyshaun James and senior OL J'Von Brown were named to the preseason all-conference offensive team, and senior LB Tre Jones made the defensive team. 

CCSU defeated the Lions 24-14 in a tighter game than the final score would indicate in 2019 on the way to winning the NEC crown. Columbia defeated CCSU in 2018 by a 41-24 score, but that game led to season-ending injuries for WR Josh Wainwright and a concussion that seems to have hurt QB Josh Bean's chances of ever reaching his full potential at CU. 

The CU-CCSU game is in Connecticut this year. 

QB Questions

Ty Lenhart

It's been more than 610 days since the 2019 season ended, but my sources tell me the Columbia coaches are still "all in" on returning senior QB Ty Lenhart. 

Lenhart comes into the season with a 4-5 record as a starter. As a starter, these are his overall stats (again, just as a *starter)

Passing Attempts: 267

Completions: 161

Completion %: .602

Yards: 1,609

YPA: 6.02

YPC: 9.99

TD: 9

INT: 7

Rushing Attempts: 68

Yards: 165

YPC: 2.4

TD: 2 

The W-L and passing stats would have been pretty impressive from a returning QB by Columbia standards in the pre-Al Bagnoli era, but some of them are a little worrisome at this point. Also, Lenhart is currently riding a two-game losing streak after poor performances overall against Brown and Cornell. 

I like Lenhart's arm strength and his speed. He's also shown a willingness to sacrifice his body on several running plays during his career, and that's a key ingredient for assuming team leadership.  

But I worry about Lenhart's ball security. Opponents now know to attack the ball in Lenhart's arms whenever he runs and that often produces fumbles. His fumbles alone seem to have cost Columbia the game against Brown in 2019. While his interception rate seems to have fallen over his last five starts, he still forces passes at times. 

His nine starts make him one of the most experienced QB's returning this year in the Ivies, and experience should be more valuable this year than ever. But the coaches were at that "all in" stage with Lenhart even before the COVID lockdown and eventual loss of the 2020 season. So there's something they see in Lenhart beyond just experience. 

As I've written before, Columbia has a number of seemingly talented QB's currently on the roster, including transfer Joe Green and the multi-faceted weapon Gabriel Hollingsworth. If Lenhart keeps the starting job going into this season, he'll probably have to prove that confidence from the coaches is worth it. 

Replacing a Legend

Douglas Straley

Columbia announced today that Douglas Straley from Manhattan College will be replacing the retired Jim Gossett as Head Athletic Trainer. 

One of my greatest regrets of the tougher and shorter available blogging schedule I've faced for the last 3 years or so was the fact that I didn't really have time to pay tribute to Gossett when he announced his retirement. But the department did post a nice story about him in April. 

There were few people like him. Jim dedicated his entire working career to Columbia sports and especially the football program. He knew so much about the last 40 years of CU football, it could fill volumes. He also kept in close touch with a lot of former players and remained their friend. 

Straley will have big shoes to fill, and hopefully the fact that he's familiar with the are close to the Baker Athletics Complex will help him adjust quickly.

More OOC Preseason Predictions

Aaron Acosta

Last week, the Patriot League announced its preseason all-conference team and revealed the results of the press poll predicting the final standings for the coming year. 

Now, another one of three non-Ivy conferences Columbia will tangle with has followed suit. 

Week one opponent Marist was picked to come in tied for 9th in the 11-member Pioneer League. 

The Red Foxes did get two players named to the preseason all-league team, both of them on defense in DL Aaron Acosta. (who is a redshirt junior), and graduate student DB Kyle Fleitman.

The other out of conference opponent for Columbia is CCSU, who will host the Lions in week 4 in Connecticut. CCSU's NEC conference will have its media day tomorrow.