It hurts that Columbia not only lost on Saturday, but were thoroughly defeated by a team the Lions were favored to beat.
It hurts that Columbia didn't score a TD for the first time in 54 games.
It hurts that the team generally looked very unprepared for the regular season opener.
Longtime Lion fans have felt like this before, and we hate it every time no matter how often it happens.
When things look particularly hopeless, and the athletic department and the rest of the university administration doesn't seem to get it or care, I don't think there should be many limits to fan anger and expression.
But I really don't think that's where we are right now after just one game.
No one can accuse me of being too easy on this program. My decision to let mostly fair attacks on previous regimes to go forward earned me incredible scorn from athletic department to the point of being totally blackballed. Granted, not many people are still in the department from those days (except for one who still gives me a good dose of the stink eye every time I see him) but it's understood that I'm probably never going to be allowed to participate with the department in any official way ever again.
With all that said, I will be moderating the comments section lightly, but fairly. Go ahead with any venting you want to do about play calling, other clear coaching choices, colors of uniforms, etc. But it's just too early and unfair to go around calling coaches "liars," etc.
And as always, try to put your name on comments good and bad. As the only person who paid any price for the criticisms of the previous regimes here, it's a request I have the right to make.
19 comments:
It’s the 1st of 9 games. Teams grow and get their legs improve by the 2nd game. I know , we always expect our team to be better. Here’s to a better result for next Saturday
I know I'm harping on the same theme but the OL looked totally unprepared for any wrinkle that Lafayette threw at us. No blocking causes no sustained drives causes gassed defenses causes deficits causes predictable second and third 'n longs causes crappy plays, especially when the plays are the same ineffective ones that continue to be called no matter what ! To make matters worse Bell had a bad game throwing the football, even when he was blessed with some semblance of a pocket ! I think Greene might have done a bit better but not with that protection. The Georgetown game will be an important test of adjustments and revamped play calling because we always get Princeton early in the season, and they will be ready to steal our lunch money on national TV.
You've definitely earned it Jake, that and more!
As to this game and what one could see, albeit streaming...Lackluster and cautious. No spark, no imagination, except on one play that took way too long behind an O line that could not hold for the required seconds...
When the feed did show receivers downfield as the vertical pass was attempted, there did not seem to be the separation expected of the pre-season hype...
The D backs appeared to be playing off the man, rather than tight coverage.
And yet, despite the turnovers on downs or punts, there were few if any glaring turnovers, often a feature of Lions teams. Maybe bred of the above-mentioned caution? Maybe real discipline they can build on; cause for hope if the O gets going and keep hanging onto the ball.
For me, a big takeaway from this game was to again recognize the genius of Al Bagnoli. For all I know this team ran the same plays and the same defenses as Bagnoli's teams, but beyond the x's and o's a great coach has his team expecting to win and playing that way. But this was a typical old fashioned Columbia game in every respect. More to come? What do you think?
We came up against a good team with two games under its belt, including one against a very good Duke team. So they had their opening day kinks ironed out and were ready to go. As far as the insinuation that Al would have had this group play harder, I’m not sure that this is right. Our kids played hard; we just didn’t play well.
As much as I love Al, let’s not forget that last year we played two very bad games, against Penn and Yale.
I haven't been enamored of Bagnoli since he left Penn. Admittedly he reinvigorated the program by scheduling 3 cupcakes and winning 2 or 3 Ivy games. He should be thanked. However his offense was no fun to watch. Very predictable and easy to prepare for. Now Fabish runs the same one. 5-5 looks unlikely. Hope that I have to eat my words.
Jake you are first class! Keep up the good work 💪!
Players do not “play for” coaches. They play for themselves and their teammates. At this level of athletics, the reward for the time one puts in, (which is more than anyone who ia not a player, cannot truly appreciate) is winning. That is the sole joy that one receives from devoting 40 hours, or even more, every week in season, and not much less out of season.
To make the grind bearable, you have to like your coaches, particularly your position coach, and your teammates.
What helps you “like” your coach is if you respect them, and feel they are competent.
It was easy to respect Coach Bagnoli. He was a proven winner. As such, he instilled confidence in his players.
As a player, you knew the other team’s coach took him, and you, by extension, seriously. You felt as long as he was your coach, you had a chance to win the game.
Can the Interim Coach illicit the same respect from the players? It is too early to tell. 24-3, obviously makes one wonder. At the same time, he does not have too much more time to prove himself to his players. The only satisfaction players get, comes from winning, even if it is against a “cupcake”.
People are not happy because we are disappointed. We feel, unlike in prior years, there is real talent on this club. 24-3 in a game you were favored to win, was neither expected, nor explainable.Saying, it was our first game and their third is making lame excuses. We came off how many weeks of practice essentially for one game? I like others, feel terrible for the players, who make such a huge commitment. Forget about personality, but if the Interim Coach, or any coach, does not give his players a legitimate chance to win, they should be fired, (yes, Basketball too). The school owes that to the players.
Win the games you are supposed to win, and be competitive in the others. One game into the season, we did neither.
Doesn’t almost all of this come down to line play? Sure we have a lot of good skill players, but we have a new left tackle who is a converted TE and 4 other new starters on the OL. The DL held up better, except for our failure to get off the field on 3rd and long.But when the OL could not pass protect, our WRs were neutralized. Granted the OC might have made some adjustments, including more RPOs for example, but some of Bell’s passes were also off the mark. Of course we were disappointed, but give Lafayette some credit here. They just managed to play a decent game against a good Duke team, on the road, and were battle seasoned. Also, Coach Fabish made a good point about the turning points at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter. So let’s give this staff a chance to succeed instead of pulling the rip cord. One final note about posting with a nom de plume or anonymously. So long as the comments are in good faith I see nothing wrong with doing so.
I was in Easton for the game on a beautiful early Fall day. Unfortunately, it reminded me of another early season game where Columbia came in with high hopes and got manhandled. The great 1996 team, which only lost a close one at home to Princeton and a share of the Ivy title in a monsoon in Hanover (both of which I attended), came into the next season with good reason for optimism that the program under Coach Tellier had finally found its footing. Unfortunately, Harvard was loaded for bear, and put up some embarrassing numbers. In the Sunday Times Sports section--remember when the Times had one and it regularly sent a reporter to cover Ivy League games?-- the writer noted presciently that the lopsided contest made clear how hard it was going to be for Columbia to remain competitive with its peer schools. I think the big difference between then and now is the depth of talent the program has attracted, the significant upgrade in its facilities and the commitment from the University to do what it takes to have a successful program. Saturday's game was a big disappointment, but the opponent was quite good, its backup QB played an excellent game and the loss was not as lopsided or as mistake-filled as the Penn and Yale games last year, from which the coaching staff and the players rebounded with remarkable success. Let's hope they can get untracked and have a season they and we can be proud of. They certainly have the talent to do it.
AND Lafayette took a knee at the end of it would have been 31-3! Yikes
How about third and forever from Lafayette's own 1 or 2? They rip off a 30+ run. Huh?
Excellent observations from Toph.
Baby Gronk is the key to the line play. I expect the line play will continue to improve
Will Prussia be back?
Meant Pruska—spell check got me again.
Who is Baby Gronk?
Painton
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