Enough is Enough

For the last several years, I've really tried to keep my whining and complaining about anti-Columbia biases in Ivy League sports to a minimum. 

I get it, the Lions had losing season after losing season, and crying about a lack of respect from the rest of the league and the journalists covering it seems pathetic.

But four winning seasons in the last five years haven't brought much new respect.  

And yesterday's news that Scott Valentas wasn't even named a finalist for the Bushnell Cup/Defensive Player of the Year really grinds my gears. 

I have nothing bad to say about the two players who were chosen ahead of Valentas, but through no fault of their own they were simply not as crucial to their team defenses as #8 was for the Lions. 

And so the incredible indignity continues for Columbia. Not ONE Lion has even been named a finalist for the Offensive or Defensive POY since they began naming finalists in 2010. That's an 0-48 mark right now. 

You'd think that at least one player from Columbia's four winning teams over the last five seasons would at least be a finalist. Maybe QB Anders Hill? No. How about super WR Josh Wainwright? Uh uh. The list goes on and on. 

This is no longer a "Columbia still hasn't won a championship, so it needs to take its lumps" conversation. That pain belongs to fans like me. 

But for the players who have excelled in this program lately under completely tougher conditions than their Ivy peers, this is too much. Columbia players deserve better, if not the fans. 

Historic Context

We’ll find out later today if Scott Valentas becomes a finalist for the Bushnell Cup/Defensive Player of the Year award. 

Columbia Football hasn’t had a Bushnell winner since 1983 & no Lion has even been named a finalist since the league began naming finalists in 2010.
To be clear: since 2010, there have been 22 Bushnell Cup winners and 44 finalists. Not ONE of them has been a Columbia Lion. Every other Ivy school has had a winner, let alone a finalist.

Valentas can make significant history for the program today.

... and he really deserves it.

Q

Monday Bullet Points

Reminder that tomorrow afternoon we learn whether senior LB Scott Valentas has been named a finalist for the defensive Bushnell Cup Player of the Year award. If he's named a finalist and then becomes the winner, he will be only the second Lion to win a Bushnell Cup and the first since John Witkowski 39 years ago.

Princeton RB Ryan Butler has entered the transfer portal after a promising freshman season. (Against the Lions in October, he was a decent 10 carried for 41 yards rushing with a TD). Of course, Butler could still end up back at Old Nassau next fall depending on what kind of interest he gets in the portal. 

Head Coach Al Bagnoli's W-L record at Columbia is now 35-35, which means if the Lions extend their current six-game winning streak vs. non-conference opponents he'd get over .500 for the first time in his CU tenure. 

-The question is: who will that first opponent be in 2023? Some online sites have the Lions starting at Lafayette on 9/16/23, but with a road game also scheduled for Wagner four weeks later that would mean Columbia has just one home OOC game in the game against Georgetown. With only three home games against Ivy opponents slated for next year, I find it hard to believe the Lions will have only four home games in 2023. So... I'd expect one of the following outcomes: 1) A change of venue for the Lafayette game from Easton, PA to NYC, 2) changing the Wagner game to another opponent or 3) a switch in the Ivy schedule to make up for the 2020 canceled season and Columbia gets a home game against one of the schools currently slated for a road contest, (Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, or Cornell). 

-I'll write more about this later, but Columbia's three-game winning streak to end the season, the first such Lions feat in 51 years, was (as we know) led by QB Caden Bell. His stats during those three games were: 

ATTEMPTS: 80

COMPLETIONS: 45

PCT: .562

YARDS: 637 

YARDS PER ATTEMPT: 7.9

TD: 6

INT: 4

All Ivy Takeaways: Valentas in Good Position for POY

Columbia had 11 players grab All Ivy honors Tuesday, with three of them making the All Ivy 1st Team:

FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY^
OFFENSE                        
Mason Williams, Harvard (Sr., OL – Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
Trevor Radosevich, Penn (Sr., OL – Englishtown, N.J.)
*Henry Byrd, Princeton (Sr., OL – Nashville, Tenn.)
*Nick Gargiulo, Yale (Sr., OL – Yorktown Heights, N.Y.)
*Kiran Amegadjie, Yale (Jr., OL – Hinsdale, Ill.)
Nolan Grooms, Yale (Jr., QB – Lake Wylie, S.C.)
*Aidan Borguet, Harvard (Sr., RB – Franklinville, N.J.)
Trey Flowers, Penn (Sr., RB – Miami, Fla.)
Joshua Pitsenberger, Yale (Fr., RB – Bethesda, Md.)
Bryson Canty, Columbia (So., WR – Pfafftown, N.C.)
*Andrei Iosivas, Princeton (Sr., WR – Honolulu, Hawaii)
Dylan Classi, Princeton (Sr., WR – Englewood Cliffs, N.J.)
Tyler Neville, Harvard (Jr., TE – Williamsburg, Va.)
 
DEFENSE
*Truman Jones, Harvard (Sr., DL – Atlanta, Ga.)
Thor Griffith, Harvard (Jr., DL – Portsmouth, N.H.)
Jake Heimlicher, Penn (Sr., DL – Aurora, Colo.)
Matthew Jester, Princeton (Sr., DL – Spring, Texas)
*Scott Valentas, Columbia (Sr., LB – Wichita, Kan.)
Jack McGowan, Harvard (Sr., LB – Canton, Mass.)
Garrett Morris, Penn (Sr., LB – Auburn, Ala.)
*Liam Johnson, Princeton (Jr., LB – Moorestown, N.J.)
Kendren Smith, Penn (Sr., DB – Charlotte, N.C.)
Michael Ruttlen Jr., Princeton (Sr., DB – Mount Juliet, Tenn.)
*Wande Owens, Yale (Jr., DB – Cooksville, Md.)
CJ Wall, Princeton (Sr., DB – Plano, Texas)
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
Alex Felkins, Columbia (Sr., K – Tulsa, Okla.)
Jack Bosman, Yale (Jr., K – San Diego, Calif.)
Ben Krimm, Penn (Sr., P – Columbus, Ohio)
Julien Stokes, Penn (So., RS – Newbury Park, Calif.)
 
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY ^
OFFENSE
Donovan Allen, Brown (Sr., OL – Douglasville, Ga.)
Will Hamilton, Columbia (Sr., OL – Suwanee, Ga.)
Joe Kelly, Cornell (Sr., OL – Leawood, Kan.)
Jake Rizy, Harvard (Jr., OL – Westport, Conn.)
Ben Hoitink, Penn (Sr., OL – Hartford, Wis.)
Jalen Travis, Princeton (Jr., OL – Minneapolis, Minn.)
Blake Stenstrom, Princeton (Jr., QB – Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
Allen Smith, Brown (Sr., RB – Westerville, Ohio)
Joey Giorgi, Columbia (Jr., RB – Grafton, Wis.)
Wes Rockett, Brown (Sr., WR – Marblehead, Mass.)
Thomas Glover, Cornell (Sr., WR – Pasadena, Calif.)
Kym Wimberly, Harvard (Sr., WR – Slidell, La.)
Rory Starkey, Penn (Sr., WR – Atlanta, Ga.)
Carson Bobo, Princeton (Sr., TE – Birmingham, Ala.)
Jackson Hawes, Yale (Jr., TE – Salt Lake City, Utah)
 
DEFENSE
Justin Townsend, Columbia (So., DL – Randolph, N.J.)
Shane Cokes, Dartmouth (Sr., DL – Dayton, Ohio)
Reid Nickerson, Yale (Sr., DL – Friendswood, Texas)
Clay Patterson, Yale (Jr., DL – Frisco, Texas)
Jake Stebbins, Cornell (Sr., LB – Cranberry Township, Pa.)
Joe Heffernan, Dartmouth (5th, LB – Brookfield, Wis.)
Ozzie Nicholas, Princeton (Jr., LB – Encinitas, Calif.)
Hamilton Moore, Yale (Jr., LB – Raleigh, N.C.)
Josh Ofilli, Brown (Sr., DB – Katy, Texas)
Paul Lewis III, Cornell (Sr., DB – Middle River, Md.)
Quinten Arello, Dartmouth (Sr., DB – Kansas City, Mo.)
Jaden Key, Penn (Sr., DB – Neptune, N.J.)
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
Jackson Kennedy, Cornell (Jr., K – Aldie, Va.)
William Hughes, Columbia (Jr., P – Fairfax, Va.)
Davon Kiser, Cornell (Fr., RS – Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.)
 
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
OFFENSE
Hunter Folsom, Brown (Sr., OL – Ocala, Fla.)
Stew Newblatt, Columbia (Sr., OL – Clarkston, Mich.)
Micah Sahakian, Cornell (Jr., OL – Mount Prospect, Ill.)
Nicholas Schwitzgebel, Dartmouth (Jr., OL – Cleveland, Ohio)
Austin Gentle, Harvard (So., OL – Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Scott Elliott, Harvard (Sr., OL – Holliston, Mass.)
Connor Scaglione, Princeton (Sr., OL – Closter, N.J.)
Jonathan Mendoza, Yale (Jr., OL – Westhampton Beach, N.Y.)
Cubby Schuller, Yale (Sr., OL – Bedminster, N.J.)
Jameson Wang, Cornell (So., QB – El Segundo, Calif.)
Aidan Sayin, Penn (So., QB – Carlsbad, Calif.)
Ryan Butler, Princeton (Fr., RB – Plainfield, N.J.)
Tre Peterson, Yale (Jr., RB – Columbus, Ga.)
JJ Jenkins, Columbia (Sr., WR – San Clemente, Calif.)
Mason Tipton, Yale (Jr., WR – Akron, Ohio)
Ryan Lindley, Yale (Jr., WR – Austin, Texas)
Matt Robbert, Cornell (Jr., TE – Centereach, N.Y.)
Jace Henry, Dartmouth (Jr., TE – Fairbanks, Alaska)
 
DEFENSE
Max Lundeen, Cornell (5th, DL – East Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Nate Leskovec, Harvard (Sr., DL – Solon, Ohio)
Joey Slackman, Penn (Jr., DL – Commack, N.Y.)
Micah Morris, Penn (Sr., DL – Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Uche Ndukwe, Princeton (Sr., DL – Dedham, Mass.)
Alvin Gulley, Yale (So., DL – Belleville, Ill.)
Adam Raine, Yale (Sr., DL – Basingstoke, England)
Connor Henderson, Cornell (Jr., LB – Matthews, N.C.)
Jake Brown, Harvard (Sr., LB – Fredon, N.J.)
Jonathan Melvin, Penn (Sr., LB – Hampton, Va.)
Jack Fairman, Penn (Jr., LB – Bloomfield Hills, Mich.)
Joseph Vaughn, Yale (Sr., LB – San Jose, Calif.)
Isaiah Reed, Brown (So., DB – Tampa, Fla.)
Cooper DeVeau, Brown (Sr., DB – Foxboro, Mass.)
Fara’ad McCombs, Columbia (Sr., DB – Passaic, N.J.)
Seth Parker, Columbia (Jr., DB – Hoover, Ala.)
Demetrius Harris, Cornell (5th, DB – Muskegon, Mich.)
Alex Washington, Harvard (Sr., DB – Hoover, Ala.)
Khalil Dawsey, Harvard (Sr., DB – Detroit, Mich.)
Shiloh Means, Penn (Jr., DB – Indianapolis, Ind.)
Kyle Ellis, Yale (Sr., DB – Cumming, Ga.)
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
Will Powers, Princeton (Sr., P – Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
Sebastien Tasko, Harvard (So., P – Ridgewood, N.J.)
AJ Barber, Princeton (So., RS – Old Greenwich, Conn.)
Jack Bill, Harvard (Sr., RS – Huntington, N.Y.)

I don't have too many quibbles with this list. But I would have put DL Justin Townsend on the 1st team and included WR Marcus Libman on the Honorable Mention list, especially after his last two games. Both will be back next season to prove my point. 

One thing that was good news is that LB Scott Valentas was a unanimous choice for 1st Team All Ivy, putting him in a good position to win the Bushnell Cup for Defensive Player of the year. 

There were three other unanimous choices on the 1st Team defense, so this is not a slam dunk by any means. But Valentas' chances are good, considering his strong stats a across the board. We'll find out if he's a finalist for the award on Nov. 29th, and we'll take it from there. 

Columbia has not had a Bushnell Cup winner since QB John Witkowski '84 won it in 1983 when the Bushnell was awarded to just one player as the overall Ivy MVP. The award was changed to give an offensive and defensive players recognition about 10 years ago. 

After that award drama plays out, the sole focus will be on which senior Lions will commit to coming back next year as opposed to graduating or testing out the transfer portal. Among the All Ivy awardees for Columbia, the potential returnees include everyone but Stew Newblatt and Fara'ad McCombs. However, Valentas is most likely going to graduate, and Felkins has already put his name in the transfer portal (though Felkins can always change his mind about that, as Ryan Young did last year). 

The list of key seniors Columbia would love to have back begins with OL Will Hamilton, who could help diminish a serious graduation hit the O-line is set to take.

WR JJ Jenkins, would help to keep the CU passing game lethal with multiple deep threats to work with. 

Of course, though he didn't make All Ivy QB Caden Bell is a key hoped-for returnee for 2023. My sources tell me he is now planning on doing just that. 

As far as Head Coach Al Bagnoli is concerned, it continues to look like he will return for another year.

Two New Additions I Missed

In the last few weeks of the season, I missed noting a couple of commitments:

First we have 6-5, 305-pound OL Ahmari Owens from Springfield Central HS in Massachusetts has committed to Columbia. 

Owens had several other offers, including ones from Army, UMass, UNH, and Fordham. He will be the second Springfield Central grad to come to Columbia, behind Mahari Miller '24. 

Jalen Campbell

Next we have 6-4, 295-pound DL/OL Jalen Campbell from Jackson-Reed HS in Washington, D.C. Campbell had a few other offers and briefly committed to Georgetown before switching to CU.  

Campbell will be the first Jackson-Reed* grad to come to Columbia Football, but the school used to be known a Woodrow Wilson HS, and Jaime Kane '90 was a graduate of that school. 

So our unofficial commit list is up to 19 names:

1) Qwincy Amos DB 5"11 170 lbs. Warren HS San Antonio, TX

2) Terell Battle WR/DB 6"3 190 lbs. Mountain View HS, Lawrenceville, GA

3) Jalen Campbell DL/OL 6"4 295 lbs. Jackson-Reed HS Washington, DC

4) Jaylen Carter WR/DB 6"0 180 lbs. Taft School Watertown, CT

5) Christian Carti WR 6"1 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

6) Braden Dougherty TE/DE 6"5 230 lbs. Dublin Coffman HS Dublin, OH

7) AJ George LB/RB 6"2 190 lbs. Ottawa Hills HS Toledo, OH 

8) Chase Goodwin QB 6"2 200 lbs. Memorial HS Houston, TX

9) Quinn Herlihy DL/LB 6"3 238 lbs. Cheshire Academy/Shrewsbury HS Worchester, MA

10) Jaden Hinton OL/DL 6"3 300 lbs. Ames HS South Easton, MA

11) Baily Kornegay-Douhadji DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Sharpsburg, GA

12) Keelan Kornegay DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Shapsburg, GA

13) Braeden Marceau-Olayinka DL/OL 6"3 262 lbs. Melrose HS Melrose, MA 

14) Malachi Mercer LB 6"1 225 lbs. Bergen Catholic Oradell, NJ

15) Mikey Nabbout DE/TE 6"3 245 lbs. St. John's Prep Danvers, MA 

16) Chase Newton WR/DB 6"3 195 lbs. Walter Payton Prep Chicago, IL

17) Ahmari Owens 6"5 305 lbs. Springfield Central HS Springfield, MA

18) Levi Robins DB 5"11 175 lbs. Saguaro HS Scottsdale, AZ

19) Nik Winzer OL/DL 6"6 285 lbs. Matawan Regional HS Matawan, NJ

Final Pick Record

In what was my last chance to finish with a winning record against the spread, I eked it out! In the final week of the season, I went 5-1 straight up and 4-2 against the spread last week. 

My season totals were 48-18 SU (.727) and 33-32-1 AGS (.507). 

As We Wait...

While we wait for the All Ivy announcements and the finalists for the Bushnell Cup awards, (I suspect they will come out tomorrow), I wanted to add a few points about the win over Cornell:

-If you have ESPN+ you can see the game archived here 

-Columbia won the last three games to end a season for the first time since 1971. 

-Alex Felkins finished the season a perfect 28-28 on PATs. 

-The remarkable parity in the Columbia-Cornell series now stretches back 34 years, with 17 wins for Columbia and 17 wins for Cornell. 

-The game was the second straight year the teams have have a "color rush," that is when both teams wear their home colors. This is only possible when those home uniforms contrast sharply, as they do with Columbia's blue and Cornell's deep red. Cornell also unveiled a new script "Cornell" logo on their helmets. 

Finishing Strong

Columbia 45 Cornell 22

Why Columbia Won

Columbia's offense was dominant, averaging more than six yards per play, 13 yards per pass, and punting only once. The defense contained Cornell at the most crucial moments, and the special teams played mistake-free football.

Why Cornell Lost

The Big Red defense had no answers for the Lion running or passing attacks and while Cornell won the time of possession battle, they could not turn enough of their long drives into points.

Key Turning Points

-With 5:51 left in the 1st quarter and Columbia leading 7-0, Lion RB Joey Giorgi apparently fumbled the ball away at the Cornell 11 yard line on a questionable call. The Big Red responded with three first downs and got the ball into Lion territory, but then couldn't get a fourth 1st down when DT's Mitch Moyer and Patrick Passalacqua combined to stop Cornell QB Jameson Wang for no gain on a 4th and 1 at the CU 38.

-Columbia then responded with a almost six-minute, 13-play drive that included just one pass and ended with RB Ty'Son Edwards scoring from the one to make it 14-0 and dashing Cornell's early hopes. 

-After the Big Red scored a TD to make it 14-7 at the half, the Lions got the ball first to start the 3rd quarter, facing the same steady wind it saw in the 2nd quarter. Columbia responded with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that again only included one pass. It ended with a two-yard TD run by RB Ryan Young and the Lions were back in full control of the game. 

Columbia Positives

-As the point total would indicate, this was the best game of the season by far for the Lion offense. The offensive line dominated at just about every turn, producing scoring drives even when facing a stiff wind. Three of Columbia's five non-special teams TD's were on drives into the wind.

-QB Caden Bell played close to a perfect game. 

-The defense did not have a perfect game, but played almost perfectly when the score was still somewhat close. 15 of Cornell's 22 points came after the Lions already had a 35-7 2nd half lead.

-It was a perfect day for the Columbia special teams; covering kicks expertly, seeing PK Alex Felkins go 5-5 on PATs (to break a school record for total PATs in a career), and 1-1 on FGs, and getting that rare onside kick return for a TD from Marcus Libman. (Incidentally,  I've only seen an onside kick returned for a TD once before and it was the same part of the field with a similar bounce at Wien Stadium but that time it was by Al Bagnoli's Penn team at homecoming on 2005 against the Lions)

Columbia MVP

This was such an amazing team effort, but the offensive line was just totally in control all day. I have to give the MVP award to the OL as a unit. 

The Respectability Bowl

Two-time defending Ivy Defensive Player of the Week Scott Valentas looks to earn two pieces of hardware 

Cornell Big Red (5-4) vs. Columbia Lions (5-4)

The Empire State Bowl

November 19, 2022

Kickoff Time: 1pm ET

Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium 

Game Time Weather Forecast: 38 degrees and sunny, winds 5-11 MPH

The Line: Columbia is favored by 6 1/2 points, the under/over is 43 1/2

TV/RADIO: The game is available on ESPN+, featuring Lance Medow and Landon Baty '18

Columbia Game Notes 

Cornell Game Notes 

Leading Story Lines

1) Both teams are fighting to secure an overall winning record, with Cornell looking for its first winning record in 17 years. This remains the most evenly matched Ivy rivalry of the last generation-plus. The last 32 games between these two teams have resulted in 16 wins for Columbia and 16 wins for Cornell. 

2) Is this legendary Head Coach Al Bagnoli's final game? My sources before the season told me he was likely done after this season, but NOW the consensus is he will re-up for at least one more year. Incidentally, the last time we all thought Al was coaching his last game -- in 2014 at Penn -- his Quakers defeated... Cornell. 

3) It's the final game for a number of extraordinary Lion seniors and "COVID super seniors" who have been at CU since 2018. The pregame ceremony honoring the seniors with their families on the field is one of the best Columbia Football traditions and is worth seeing in person. 

3 Columbia Players to Watch

LB Scott Valentas has much riding on this game. A strong performance should give him the edge to win the defensive POY/Bushnell Cup and become the first Columbia player to do that since QB John Witkowski in 1983. So, Valentas can get his hands on the Empire State Bowl Cup Saturday and then his hands on a Bushnell Cup in a few weeks if he shines in this game. This is also his last game despite the fact he could come back next year because of the 2020 COVID season cancellation. Sources tell me Valentas has secured an excellent job and is not going to lose that opportunity. 

RB Ryan Young is another player appearing in his final game for the Lions after returning for a 5th year. Injuries have cut into his effectiveness this season, but expect him to get more carries at least in the early parts of this Senior Day game. 

LB C.J. Brown may be the player most tasked with stopping Cornell QB Jameson Wang from running too freely throughout the day. Valentas will of course be on that job too, but Brown's skill set and focus on defending the edge seem more of a fit for him vs. Wang. 

3 Cornell Players to Watch

QB Jameson Wang runs as much as he throws and he is the embodiment of a theory I've long had about how just letting your QB take the few yards almost every Ivy defense gives them to run can lead to a respectable offense. Wang is not a Justin Fields-like weapon (though Wang does have one 53-yard run for a TD), he's more of a 5-6 yard per carry guy who can kill you with a thousand small cuts. 

LB Jake Stebbins is Cornell's best defensive player. He could be playing in his final collgiate game.

WR Thomas Glover is Wang's most frequent target. 

Week 10 Picks

 

I went 3-3 straight up and 3-3 against the spread last week. My season totals are now 43-17 SU (.716) and 29-30-1 AGS (.491). So this is my LAST CHANCE in my hopes of finishing above .500 against the oddsmakers. 

Yale -1 1/2 at Harvard

All week, I've been sure I'd pick Harvard to win this game. But today, I'm leaning to Yale to win and cover. 

Penn +10 1/2 at Princeton

Tigers will win, but Penn will make this a game.

Brown +11 1/2 at Dartmouth

This should be a great game, with the Big Green pulling it out late. 

Georgetown +28 1/2 vs. Holy Cross

The Crusaders will win this one and reluctantly take their foot off the gas in the second half to win by 24 or so. 

Bucknell -7 vs. Marist

The Bison are pretty awful, but they should be able to cover vs. the Red Foxes at home. 

Duquesne -20 1/2 vs. Wagner

I like the Dukes to cover here. We gotta keep Wagner on the CU schedule!

Ivy Power Rankings

 

1) Yale

The Elis continue to get better every week. The brilliant game plan used in the Princeton game also proves the Yale coaching staff is tops. 

2) Princeton

The Tigers peaked with their big win against Harvard. But don't be surprised if Princeton still wins the title outright.

3) Harvard

The Crimson easily beat Penn in Philly in a show of what could have been for this team. 

4) Penn

The Quakers are still the most improved team of 2022. But a loss to Princeton in the finale will keep expectations for 2023 lower. 

5) Cornell

The Big Red are the second most improved team of 2022, but a loss to Columbia this Saturday will take a lot of shine off the season.

6) Columbia

The Lions can leapfrog Cornell with a win Saturday and salvage a winning season. 

7) Dartmouth

The Big Green have actually been a consistent contender in every game they've played this season.

8) Brown

The Bears are pretty good at home, but that's about it. Lots more rebuilding to do here.