Tenney Stadium
Not only is the dawn of game week a relief because it means the long wait for the new season of Ivy League Football is almost over, but it's also great to be able to transition from overviews of an entire season, league, etc. and focus on the ONE game ahead.
BUT if you're craving one more look at what to expect for the whole league, do sign up for Bruce Wood's pay site Green Alert Premium and check out his full season predictions that he posted at the start of the weekend. I won't spoil it, but I think many of you will like what he has to say about our Lions.
UPDATE: The athletic department has begun posting overviews of each unit on the team, starting with the Special Teams. (One note: something funny when you try to download the video that accompanies the writeup on a desktop or laptop. It does load okay from the Twitter feed, etc.)
On to Marist
Columbia is 5-0 all-time against the Red Foxes and has mostly dominated Marist in each game. The one true nail biter was in 2012, when a blocked extra point sealed a 10-9 CU win for the Lions in then-Head Coach Pete Mangurian's debut. After that game, Mangurian went 2-27 over his final 29 games for the Light Blue.
Last year's matchup was proof that sometimes you DO have a plan after someone punches you in the mouth. The Red Foxes did that by taking a quick 14-0 win over Columbia, before the Lions recovered en route to a 37-14 rout.
Marist opened this season at home with a 43-12 drubbing at the hands of Georgetown in a game where the Red Foxes seemed overmatched, especially on the lines of scrimmage. They say the biggest improvement for teams comes between game one and game two, and Marist is definitely hoping that's true.
I'll have more as the week progresses on the individual matchups, and we'll learn more about who's actually playing for both sides when the two-deeps are released hopefully by Wednesday evening.
But here are just a few esthetic points:
The game will be just the second between these two teams played at Marist's small but pretty Tenney Stadium. But as of this writing, it is STILL not possible to purchase advance tickets to this game! So, it's looking more and more like we'll have to plan on getting to the stadium early and buying tickets at the box office like the old days.
It's a night game with a 6pm kickoff, which does afford fans the chance to visit some of the amazing attractions not far from the Marist campus, They include FDR's home of Hyde Park and the delectable Culinary Institute of America , where it may already be too late to make a reservation for lunch on game day, but it's worth trying.
The road fan side of Tenney Stadium is simply a lawn with a stone fence to dangle your feet over, which can be fun but won't be if it's raining or the ground is wet. They do have wonderful seats in the grandstand area of the stadium reserved for the road team fans, and I definitely enjoyed sitting there during Columbia's big win over the Red Foxes in 2017.
Weekend Highlights
After mauling Marist in week one, Georgetown came back to earth somewhat in a 21-19 loss at home to Lehigh. I say "somewhat" because the Hoyas were just 1 point favorites and they still got a great game out of senior QB Pierce Holley, who went 35 for 45 for 277 yards, 2 TDs, and no INTs.
What future GU opponents (including Columbia in just 12 days), will likely be looking at most closely will be Holley and his favorite target WR Joshua Thomas who had 13 grabs for 124 yards and a TD. The Hoyas lost when an almost-last minute two-point conversion failed.
More optimistically, Georgetown's opponents will be looking at the 5.3 yards per carry the Hoyas gave up on defense a week after holding Marist to 2.7 yards per carry vs. Marist.
11 comments:
The Columbia Athletics Website has just posted a short note from Special Teams Coach Paul Rice indicating that the Lions have a number of players competing to be the team's punter, punt returner and kick-off special. Seniors Cameron Burt and Andrew Donovan as well as sophomore Matt Werd are named as the top candidates to be the punter. And, two of the team's most exciting players, Ernest Robertson and Bryson Canty, could be the punt and kickoff returners. There are probably several others battling for the top special teams spots, although senior Alex Felkins is obviously the #1 place kicker. Incidentally, in my opinion, it would not be surprising if Felkins gets drafted.
Today, 12 September, U.S. News ranked Columbia 18th (last in the Ivy League).
Columbia deserved it.
Provost Boyce's "explanation" was, at best, blurrry. She now needs to name names and have those named fired.
It will take years (decades?) to recover from this travesty (tragedy?).
I pity all alumni, faculty, students, and administrators who are innocent of this unconscionable misdeed.
TOD HOWARD HAWKS
Tod is correct; in any public company the board would fire the CEO and the responsible subordinates. Bollinger has stayed too long: 21 years in a job which should last between 8 and 10 years. The buck stops with him. He should offer his immediate resignation. And where is the board of trustees? Are they a hand picked bunch of stooges for the president? What about their fiduciary duty?
It seems the Marist game is on ESPN3
The real scandal here is that these magazine rankings have become so important to colleges and grad schools for so many years that most of them spend time and money not only providing the data, but also fudging them. The randkings craze has done serious damage to the intellectual exercise in America, along with the standardized test regime. My hope is that Columbia and all the key schools get back to teaching a little more and do a lot less competing for magazine approval.
Jake, I agree, but Bollinger has stayed too long and was obviously asleep at the throttle here. This is a real black eye.
How about Austin Grier as our back up QB? Change the pace completely? I like what I have seen of him. Coach Bagnoli has used two QBs frequently in the past. Not saying that Green isn't the best we have,but am answering who is the back up!
Pardon my ignorance but I don't know anything about the above-discussed controversy
Can someone please explain? (been there since the Buffer)...Alan Ruskin
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A CU math professor announced he had analyzed data and found a series of "errors" or fudged numbers in CU's response to US News annual surveys. As I understand it, much had to do with things like student/faculty ratios in undergraduate classes, and the like. It made a fuss, and made the papers, like the NYT. The university belatedly admitted there were in fact errors. I don't think they were alone among major universities in this regard. I also don't think, ala Jake, that we should be worried about this, or more importantly, that the university should participate in a flawed, subjective, constantly criteria changing survey. CU has world-class undergraduate faculty, the student/faculty ratios, certainly in the liberal arts, are outstanding and continue to be testament to the overall quality of the undergraduate education. People will undoubtedly be held accountable. Whether it rises to the level of "firing" Bollinger (who may have been in office too long anyway, a separate debate) is to me doubtful. Stop taking part in the charade and get on with the business of being a world leader in education.
Amen
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