Columbia 34 Cornell 26
Why Columbia Won
The Lions shook off yet another slow start to complete their fifth come-from-behind win of the season, and third victory after being down by two scores. Columbia swiped five Big Red passes and gave the offense time to make a series of big plays to take control of the game.
Why Cornell Lost
The Big Red couldn't maintain its fast start, especially after the Lions defense adjusted and began to contain QB Jameson Wang's running game. All three Cornell QB's were picked off at least once as the Big Red offense could not modify its attack.
Key Turning Points
-With 13:37 left in the 2nd quarter and Cornell ahead 13-0, the Lions started a drive on their own 13 with a designed running play by QB Gabriel Hollingsworth that went for 37 yards and another 15 yards were tacked on for a late hit. The first of a flurry of Big Red pass interference penalties came on the next play, setting Columbia up with a 1st down at the Cornell 20. The drive fizzled after that, but PK Alex Felkins did hit a 41-yard FG into the wind to get some points out of the possession and get the Lions back into the game. (In all, Cornell was flagged four times for pass interference and once for defensive holding on a Lion receiver).
-On the Big Red's ensuing possession, QB Richie Kenney was intercepted on the first play on a nice play by LB Cameron Brown to set the Lions up at the Cornell 25. Once again, the drive fizzled, but Felkins hit a 25-yard FG to get Columbia within 13-6.
-With the score still 13-6 and just three minutes left in the half, the Lions took over on the Cornell 46 after a nice 21-yard punt return by Mike Roussos. A Cornell holding penalty on 2nd and 10 from the 46 gave Columbia a 1st down, and three plays later QB Joe Green found WR Wills Meyer down the sideline for a 29-yard TD pass and one-handed catch despite good coverage by the Big Red.
-With the score still tied 13-13 to start the 3rd quarter, Columbia began to march into Cornell territory and were aided by another pass interference penalty along the way. On the first play after that penalty, RB Dante Miller hesitated momentarily to cross up the defense and then burst through the middle for a 42-yard TD run that gave the Lions the lead they would never give up.
-Columbia's defense came up big on Cornell's next three possessions to preserve the lead. The first was a three-and-out, and the next two were excellent red zone drills where the Big Red had to settle for FG's to get them no closer than 20-19 on the scoreboard. The first red zone stop came after Cornell LB Lance Blass, (no, not Lance Bass), picked off Green to set up the Big Red at the Columbia 23 with 10:03 left in the 3rd. The Lions responded on the first two plays after the interception with a three-yard tackle for loss on Wang by LB Scott Valentas, and then a 12 yard sack of Wang by LB Cameron Dillon and DL Paul Akere. With the score now 20-16, the second Lion red zone stop came with just over three minutes left in the 3rd and Cornell driving with a 1st down at the Columbia 17. From there, Valentas and DL Thomas Thibault stopped the Big Red's RB Devon Brewer for no gain. Then the D forced Kenney into two incomplete passes, the second coming on a QB hurry by S Mason Tomlin. Cornell settled for that second FG after that, and the Lions were able to get their offense moving again thereafter.
Columbia Positives
-The Lions offense put together another bevvy of highlight reel plays, including another one-handed TD grab by WR Bryson Canty to go along with the one by Meyer and the 42-yard big TD run by Miller.
-The defense's adjustments from the 2nd quarter onward, especially the red zone performance, were impressive.
-Felkins made two crucial FG's against the wind, and was perfect on all his kicks to finish an inconsistent season on a very strong note and the all-time single season Columbia FG record with 16.
-The special teams overall had a mistake-free game.
-The offensive line put an exclamation point on a terrific year of pass protection, giving up no sacks. Columbia finished the year second best in rushing yards and second best in sacks allowed.
Columbia Negatives
-The number of penalties against the Lions in the game, (Cornell was heavily flagged too), made it seem like it was the first game of the season as opposed to the last. The Lions committed a team record 17 infractions.
-The slow starts and sudden surges make games exciting to watch, but the Lions allowed their opponents to set the tone in all but one of the 10 games this season. It's remarkable that despite that, Columbia still finished 7-3.
-The Lions have a very good passing QB and a lot of good receivers. Yet, they had another game where that QB failed to throw for even 100 yards. It feels like too many passing yards are being left on the table.
-Those missing passing yards included a sure TD pass that was just dropped by WR Marcus Libman, who was otherwise very sure-handed all year.
Columbia MVP
-This was truly a full team effort, but the one unit that was the most consistent all day was the Columbia offensive line. In addition to giving up no sacks, the Lion running game gained 169 yards on 34 carries, (4.9 yards per rush), if you exclude the two kneel downs at the end of the game. Naming the starters on the OL, we had Zach Minch, Stew Newblatt, Tyler Worrell, Will Hamilton, and Matt Klenk. Some of them will indeed be back next year, including co-captain Newblatt.
19 comments:
We had a ball control, keep the other offense off the field philosophy and the RBs and OL to execute it. And while Green did not throw for a lot of yards, he threw for just enough to keep the other team from putting 8 in the box. Next year’s passing offense will be excellent. Canty and Green are the real deal.
In my opinion, Joe Green was tremendous this year, and certainly the "Ivy League Rookie of the Year." Green has tremendous upside and will be even better next year given the chemistry he has developed with Marcus Libman, Wills Meyer, Bryden Canty et al. And that's before you factor in the other talented wide receivers that are already enrolled at Columbia or will be coming in for certain come next fall.
Stan Waldbaum
Let’s not go overboard. 9 of 23 for 83 yards passing and 1 int vs a bad Cornell team is not lighting it up.
The conference wins were defensive wins. The offense is going to have to score more points next year. Hollingsworth threw for 5000 yards and rushed for over 2600 yards at 4AA public high school. He also had 51 passing TDs and 27 rushing TDs. He runs a 4.25 and was a 3-star recruit. And he was completely under-utlized all season. Just sayin...
I thought Joe was great this year, but that he played his worst game vs. Cornell. Less accurate than usual. Also true that he suffered multiple drops, including of a long TD. We committed a holding penalty on a long gainer to 29. And, Cornell chose to commit PI rather than give up long balls. Give up 15 yards rather than 30. All of those things hurt his numbers, but he also threw a few wild pitches.
Our three best receivers all come back and our passing game should be better as they work with the QB for a year.
4.25 forty? Now that is funny!
Joe is excellent-only three interceptions and he ran a ball control offense. He throws a nice deep ball and can throw a fade into the end zone. In the dome he needs to work on his swing pass; he just could not complete a little swing pass behind the line of scrimmage either to a RB or a receiver. That strikes me as something that can and should be fixed. In addition he did not throw many slant patterns, which should be in our playbook for next season.
It's actually a 4.56. You can check @willbradleysp on Instagram.
Moving on from the passing game to the running game, my question for Jake is whether Ryan Young, a/k/a "Thunder" and Dante Miller, a/k/a "Lightning" will be returning to Columbia Football next year as post-grads---OBVIOUSLY, ALL COLUMBIA FOOTBALL FANS ARE HOPING THAT THE ANSWER IS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE.
Stan Waldbaum
I am with Stan on his insightful comment!I too am a big Green fan! ....Hard to say anything negative about Miller BUT he is best when running north, instead of juking, waiting....Our old Lions teams featured backs who danced in the backfield and took many losses... Jonathan Reese stopped that nonsense... With two back sets it would be very hard to prepare for us... 2 back sets Mark!NOT ALL THE TIME...
I have a problem with posters who use "Anonymous." If you have an opinion, but are afraid to own it by using either your real name or your standard pseudonym, then you don't have an opinion at all. Any poster using Anonymous can come off snarky, but, in truth, that poster wears coward's clothes.
TOD HOWARD HAWKS
Ok Tod ( with one D). And why do you have that snarky pic from Esquire from 1963 in your bio?
When you say he was completely under-utilized, you are implying the coaching staff did not use him properly. I trust Al Bagnoli knows what he is doing. He obviously made the right decision to start Green over Lenhart.
Mr. Donelli,
Thanks for signing your statement with your name.
TOD HOWARD HAWKS
The teams which tied for the championship owe the Lions and refs.
there's not a 4.25 player in the Ivy League....
I am not an expert on the subject, so the "Unknown" poster may be correct, but my understanding is that, generally speaking, you can convert a sprinter's 60 meter indoor time into his 40 yard time by multiplying the 60 meter time by the factor of .6096 to identify the time it would take to run 40 yards at the average rate of speed in the 60 meter dash. Columbia's running back, Dante Miller, ran the 60 meter dash in 6.91 at the Ivy League Track and Field Heps on 2/29/20. That converts to 4.212 which does put him under 4.25 seconds. There were others with faster times than his in the Heps, but Dante appears to have been the only football player amongst them.
Stan Waldbaum
Ryan Young has no eligibility for next year, as he was already a 5th year senior. Dante Miller has the option of returning, but I'm putting the chances of that at 25% at best. As good as both of them were, there is enough talent at the RB position coming back to make the number of returning O-linemen the more pressing issue. And on that score, I think the returnee factor will be much better.
There was an article about Miller last month that suggested he intends to graduate and play a season of FBS. I hope we're able to return a number of fifth years, but I doubt Miller will be among them.
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