Lafayette 24 Columbia 3
Why Lafayette Won
The Leopards defense dominated the line of scrimmage all day, harassing Columbia QB Caden Bell at will. Meanwhile on offense, Lafayette's star RB ran for 145 yards with two TD's on 20 carries.
Why Columbia Lost
The Lions played just like you'd expect a team with four new starting o-linemen to play when it comes to pass protection. The defense had its moments, but was beaten on key plays in each half.
Key Turning Points
-With the Lions ahead 3-0, the Leopards faced a 4th and 3 at the Columbia 36 on the first play of the 2nd quarter. Lafayette got the 1st down with a seven yard pass to Curtis and then used four running plays and one more pass to gain the remaining 29 yards for the go-ahead TD.
-With the score still 7-3 and about 7:30 left in the half, Columbia elected to go for it on a 4th ans 8 at the Lafayette 34. The Lions ended up turning the ball over on downs when Bell was harassed into intentionally grounding the ball. Six Leopards plays later, it was 14-3.
-With about six minutes left in the 3rd quarter and the score still 14-3, Lafayette faced a 3rd and 10 at their own 20. The Leopards converted the 1st down with a Denobile pass to WR Chris Carisia for 30 yards. Five plays later, it was 21-3 and the game was essentially over.
Columbia Positives
-The Lion special teams was decent, with fresham Hugo Merry hitting his first and only FG attempt of 42 yards and a few decent kick returns.
-RB Joey Giorgi fought through the aggressive Lafayette defensive line for 73 yards on 18 carries.
Columbia Negatives
-The offensive line couldn't protect Bell and he didn't respond well to the onslaught. The word will now be out to blitz vs. Columbia early and often.
-The team that gave up the fewest rushing yards in the Ivies last year was torched for 243 yards on the ground against the Leopards.
-The defense allowed Lafayette to go 9-17 on 3rd downs and 3-3 on 4th downs.
Columbia MVP
-It almost seems silly to award an MVP award after such a rough outing, but I give it to Joey Giorgi for his tough running all day.
47 comments:
We got beaten in the trenches on both sides of the ball. We showed nothing. One of the worst performances since the Mangurian era. Bell was not good, no matter how you slice it. And our inability to get off the field on third downs was tough to watch.
I wrongly assumed that with a new coach we might have some major changes. Maybe modify or even junk the Hurry Up and Wait offense. Not to be.I know that it's too early to call for new leadership. However go to the Lafayette site and read the biography of the head coach. That's the PWT (Proven Winner Type) that we need...
Didn't Bagnoli have a similar background coming from Union to U Penn?
Let’s give Mark a chance. PS on th OL, where was Pruska? He started 10 games last year at LG?
PS, Lafayette has a very good team which just gave Duke a good game and has had several more weeks of game and practice situations behind it. Let’s see how we look in a few weeks.
You thought Fabish, a late appointee as interim coach, would make lots of changes? Why?
As your own man wouldn't you want to run things differently? Look at what's going on around the country? Incorporate ideas from other programs, in other words, strike out on your own! Maybe a spread offense that matches your wide outs, the teams strength. This looks like a continuation of the steady as she goes theory. Great to be 6-4 or 5-5 at Columbia but how about a new direction..
I agree! Most football coaches are very conservative and play the same way all the time. Don't be afraid to utilize your talent differently.
I'd be curious what Bell showed over Green in camp as JG is a far better thrower with much more pocket presence and overall QB acumen. Guessing his shoulder isn't all the way back yet.
The good news is getting tested early vs a real PL opponent vs the cupcakes scheduled in years past. Would think the interim HC has a short leash if things go sideways vs the Hoyas concerning next year.
Let's hope they sort it out this week and start playing a better brand of ball.
My guess is with a new and inexperienced OL the coaches thought that Bell would be more mobile and would be able to adapt on the fly. I am skeptical. I just think a healthy Green is a better passer. That was shown by some bad Bell passes.
When you keep getting blitzed and you can't stop it, you MUST adjust. One sure fire way is to spread the field! Also Draws, either QB or rb. I never thought I would say it but bubble screens or regular screens too.. Terrible OC performance.Watch the film and learn.
He is TOO SOFT
Bell struggled to see over the line, 3rd qtr Green should have went in. Also coming out from halftime it is clear the drive and hunger is not there in some of the players. It is the culture that is the issue. Also, why were some of the players frustrated and trying to motivate and not the coaches? Princeton may put up 60 in 2 weeks, it will be bad.
exactly!! and that never happened once
well what about defense allowing a 5'8 rb to get 145 yards? and Special Teams dropping 2 balls? It was BAD all the way around. Painful to watch.
it definitely is all the way back to 100%. Not sure why zero adjustments were made, even in 3rd quarter, not even a blitz, not adjustments anywhere. I am disappointed
THIS! it is 2023 and being complaisant will have Princeton scoring 50+ in 2 weeks. Put some of those younger WRs in and Green and let him pass the ball!
So where was Pruska?
heard he was hurt
this is why they need to do better recruiting. O-Line coach is "soft".
no, most IVY coaches are conservative, specifically Columbia, specifically Fabish
Agreed. What do think needs to occur?
you*
hurt
I could not have said it better! Bell struggles seeing over the line at times even if they were blocking for him though. Did we really think Fabish was going to allow a new oc change the offense though, let's be honest...
in a few weeks? You mean when Ivy match ups start like Princeton when we are on ESPN for the world to see? I surely hope not
These coaches are auditioning for their jobs. So let’s hope they get it right. It isn’t easy succeeding a legend.
WE seemed unprepared ....no adjustments at half time ...same play calling as the past ..what would would you expect from this coach ...if Green is not injured ...he should have played second half for sure..AS someone wrote...looking to the sidelines for a play or a change..
Same as always ...
We have fabulous talent ...and a big offensive line...
Jake what is the status of Green?
maybe we do not have "fabulous" talent...
We have some very good skill players on offense; I have always thought that Green had more upside then Bell even though Bell salvaged last season. Hie teammates love Bell, and voted him as captain. But this is not a popularity contest. Green has a big arm and is accurate. Our problem is a young OL which was really pushed around, and Painton is new to the position. I’d like to see Pruska get back in there to steady the left side of the OL. The defense was decent, not great. the Lafayette WRs were getting too much separation, the DL was pushed around too many times, a few of our playmakers had quiet games, we missed some tackles by not wrapping up, and we didn’t have a spy on the little RB and allowed their second string QB to escape too many times. As far as playmakers on offense, Canty had 10 target and caught 3 balls—largely because Bell was not throwing a good ball, especially on the out routes.
definitely have some talent in that locker room. Do they utilize it all, no. It is Columbia, lot of politics and favoritism. We all know this.
I agree. Columbia seems to be based on popularity and not who is best for the position at that moment. The Locker room is deep with talent, let's use the best young man for the job,
we are trying to WIN not votes pr friends
The Columbia Athletic Department is not very good at sharing tial information with the Columbia Fan Base, as for example why the Columbia Men's Basketball Team is still being coached by the same person despite his horrific record as Columbia"s Head Coach during the last seven years. Thus, we Columbia fans can only guess why the coaching staff did not act logically yesterday and replace Caden Bell in the third or fourth quarter with Joe Green when such action was clearly called for under the circumstances. If Green were available, then it was a mistake not to use him when things got rough for Bell. If Green were unavailable, then why didn't the coaching staff use the opportunity to put someone else on the field. In the absence of a postgame press conference because it was an away game, someone in the Athletic Department should have instructed the person who wrote the post-game report to explain what happened. Failure to disclose important inofrmation, i.e.stonewalling, unfairly makesthe write look bad and is very insulting to the fan base. Let's not allow the Athletic Department to screw-up the Football Program as it has done to Men's Basketball.
Columbia traveled 5 QB’s for the Lafayette game. Clearly Bell was not having a good game and should have been pulled at halftime. The question we all want answered is why didn’t Green start the second half. Is his shoulder hurt? My sense is Bell gets the start against Gtown and if he doesn’t produced, he’s benched for the season.
Teams generally play with the personality of their coach. What I saw yesterday is consistent with that theme…
SOFT!
Not a great performance yesterday. Worse performance here in the comments. Most of which are e laughable
What about the younger QBs? Green was not good last year when he was healthy. Time to move past both the old guys.
Green was never healthy last year. He had a bad shoulder going into the season.
fact of the matter the team is rusty and it showed against a team that was on game 3 and has had a chance to work on their initial mistakes already . that’s to be expected.
the players and coaches in their new positions need time to work out the kinks. i suspect this week will be very productive.
Coach Fabian’s quoting Coach Bagnoli in the post game news conference was quite reminiscent of the Dan Quayle/Lloyd Bentsen debate. Very tacky!
What about the play of Baby Gronk??
1967 was the last season Buff Donelli coached.
Since then, 55 seasons, there have been ten head coaches, not counting the current interim. (54 seasons of ball.)
Frank Navarro for 6; Bill Campbell for 6; Bob Naso for 5; Jim Garrett for 1; Larry McElreavy for 3; Ray Tellier for 14;
Bob Shoop for 3; Norries Wilson for 6; Pete Mangurian for 3; Coach Bagnoli for 9 counting the gameless Covid season.
Compare that to the successful Ivy programs. The Princetons, the Yales, the Harvards, the Dartmouths, even the Penns.
They have continuity. They have coaches who have been there for double digit tenures. No one of those Lion’s coaches left for a better job.
Bad hires, with the exception of one, and bad luck for that one.
This choice, for which there was no other option, is not the answer. Not many coaches can do what Prime Time is doing with the Buffalos. We need to hope and pray that Coach Interim is the real deal, and 24-3 is a “one off”. Otherwise, it is going to be a “Long, long, winter” for 2024 and likely years more after that.
I’m afraid 5 wins may be a stretch with this coaching staff
These comments demonstrate the destructive impact of anonymous posts. There is good faith analysis-which is fair game for anonymous comments—and character assassination, which is unfair and inappropriate.
uh, what's your name sir?
I think you missed my point. Anonymity is fine for good faith honest dialogue and even criticism. But when it gets into the realm of assaulting the character of several of the coaches, then I believe that it is inappropriate and should not find a place on this blog.
I've not watched Saturday's game yet, though based on the comments folks have shared, I can't say I'm excited about the prospect. Still, I want to see for myself and will then weigh in with my observations. And I'm still planning to go the Princeton game. Am I a true glutton for punishment?
Decide after this week, to see what adjustments were made by coaches
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