Crash Landing

Georgetown 20 Columbia 17

Why Georgetown Won

The Hoyas forced four turnovers and the GU O-line and D-line outplayed Columbia through most of the game. The Hoyas also remained resilient after falling behind 14-0 in the 2nd quarter. 

Why Columbia Lost

The Lions didn't pressure the QB, didn't have a consistent run blocking or pass protection game, and the four turnovers were lethal. Also, while backup QB Cole Freeman played generally well, it was clear that Columbia missed starter Chase Goodwin. 

Key Turning Points

-With CU up 14-0 and about 8:30 left in the 1st half Georgetown executed an eight play, 76-yard drive that ended with a TD on a 4th and 3 from the Lion four. 

-On Columbia's ensuing drive, the Lions were grooving with a 1st down on the Hoya 32 when RB Malcom Terry fumbled the ball away for Columbia's second turnover. 

-The Lions got the ball to start the 2nd half, still leading 14-7. Once again, Columbia was in the middle of a promising drive when Freeman made a poor choice on a short pass from the GU 21 that was intercepted.

-With the Lions up 17-13 and just under five minutes left in the game, the Hoyas began a 73-yard game-winning drive that required just one 3rd down conversion.

Columbia Positives

-The Lion wide receivers played well and remained a viable weapon throughout the game.

-Hugo Metty, William Hughes, and the Lion coverage teams played well. 

Columbia Negatives

-The Lions got no pressure on Hoya QB Danny Lauter.

-Columbia's run and pass blocking was weaker against GU than it was against a bigger and healthier Lafayette team.

-Georgetown joined Lafayette in consistently picking on CB Carter McFadden on pass after pass. McFadden is a great athlete, but his height is the issue and Columbia needs to figure out a way to give him more help in the secondary. 

Columbia MVP

-WR Edan Stagg finally broke into the scoring stats and made some other key catches in the game. His TD grab was notable for his great ability to avoid several tacklers on the way to the end zone.

Heading to the Hill

Columbia Lions (1-0) vs. Georgetown Hoyas (2-2)

Lou Little Cup Game

September 28, 2024

Kickoff Time: 12:30pm 

Cooper Field

Washington, D.C.

Game Time Weather Forecast: 80 degrees and sunny

The Line: Columbia is a 7 1/2 point favorite 

TV/Radio: The game will be on ESPN+

Columbia Game Notes

Georgetown Game Notes

Leading Story Lines

-Columbia is riding high after a major upset of Lafayette last week, meaning the program will be under the scrutiny of raised expectations for the first time under new Head Coach Jon Poppe. 

-Georgetown has lost three straight games by multiple scores in this Lou Little Cup series that used to be a back-and-forth engagement. Either the Hoyas are due to get some revenge, or these programs have started to more permanently go in opposite directions. 

3 Columbia Players to Watch

-We don't know if QB Chase Goodwin #15 or QB Cole Freeman #4 is getting the start, but if they are both healthy both of them will certainly get playing time.

-RB Joey Giorgi #25, will likely get a chance to test the Hoya run defense early and often. 

-LB AJ George #41, is slated to start in favor of starter CJ Brown (slight injury), and backup Jack Smiechowski (suspended for the 1st half because of a targeting penalty last week). Georgetown may look to test him. 

3 Georgetown Players to Watch

-Georgetown QB Danny Lauter #15 was the keystone of the Hoya turnaround last season, but either due to better scouting or the weak protection he's getting from his O-line, Lauter's effectiveness has started to wane. This is his first game ever vs. the Lions.

-LB David Ealey #2 will be tasked with pressuring either Goodwin or Freeman all day. 

-WR Cam Pygatt #14 will be used to test the Columbia secondary after it gave up some longer pass plays to Lafayette late in the game. 

Week 2 Picks

 

I had a solid start to the year, going 6-2 straight up and 6-2 against the spread in week one

Yale -22 1/2 at Cornell

The Bulldogs will be in revenge mode for last years stunning loss to the Big Red in New Haven. The Cornell defense looks especially spotty.

Harvard -7 1/2 at Brown

I didn't see enough from the Bears vs. Georgetown last week to make me think this may finally be the year they knock off the Crimson. 

Dartmouth -19 1/2 at Merrimack

The Big Green look strong and ready.

Penn -11 1/2 vs. Colgate 

Quakers are looking very strong on defense and their offensive weapons will get more of a chance to shine Saturday as well. 

Princeton -14 vs. Howard

I expect the Tigers to clean up their act after some sloppy play vs. Lehigh last week. 

Florida Atlantic -33 1/2 vs. Wagner

This game will get ugly early. 

Ivy Power Rankings

 

Jackson Proctor

1) Dartmouth

Hear me out on why they're #1 despite Yale's victory over a more impressive opponent: The Big Green usually start out a little slow... at least in the fundamentals department. This team with a lot of very experienced talent looks 100% ready now. 

2) Yale 

The Bulldogs went into Worcester and were the better team in their win over Holy Cross. The offense was especially impressive with a new QB starter and no Josh Pitsenberger.

3) Columbia

Very sharp Lion win over a ranked opponent. 

4) Penn

The Quakers almost pulled off an upset over Delaware. The defense was particularly impressive. 

5) Harvard

The Crimson could have won their game against Stetson by 70-0, but took their feet off the gas. But Stetson is Stetson. 

6) Brown

The Bears struck early and cruised to a win at Georgetown. Hard to gauge where they are just yet. 

7) Princeton

The Tigers lost convincingly, but shot themselves in the foot plenty too. Be ready for a rebound soon.  

8) Cornell

Getting blown out by Colgate bodes ill for the Big Red ahead of a rematch against a Yale team that wants to avenge last year's loss. 

Closing the Book on Lafayette, Opening it on Georgetown

Ben Corniello

Just some final points I haven't made yet about the win over Lafayette:

-I failed to mention that the Leopards were without their outstanding top WR, Elijah Steward, who I singled out last week for his amazing number of receptions and yardage already. 

-As one commenter on an earlier post noted, the offensive line did have an outstanding game. That's especially true considering how large the Lafayette D-line was. The Leopards standout D-lineman Jaylon Joseph did have one tackle and he broke up the Chase Goodwin pass that was intercepted. But otherwise, he was contained. 

-All the deserved accolades for Bryson Canty crowded out some of the kudos deserved by the other receivers. Junior Jordan Kelly had some key receptions and strong runs after the catch. Edan Stagg showed his speed as both a receiver and had the longest kickoff return of the day. Finally junior Ethan Hebb, who made the switch to WR in camp from DB, grabbed a TD pass from Cole Freeman with a Lafayette defender all over him in the end zone. 

-It was good to see a healthy senior DL Ben Corniello back on the field and he then recorded a sack. 

-PK Hugo Merry was perfect on his one FG attempt of 43 yards, and 4-4 on PATs. He may have been barred from trying a 46-yard FG in the 2nd quarter not so much because of the distance but because there was a real twisting breeze coming from the north end zone. During the half, I noticed his practice kicks to that direction were drifting left, and when Lafayette kicker Jack Simonetta attempted a kick from exactly 46 yards in the exact same direction, you guessed it, it went way wide left. 

-The Lions only punted twice and covered kicks well.  

Danny Lauter

Georgetown Overview

Once again, the Hoyas have been putting in an inconsistent performance this season. But as it is with all inconsistent teams, the Lions will have to be careful because Georgetown has some real weapons. 

Chief among them is QB Danny Lauter who has all the tools to be a dominant player at this level. His problem is, you guessed it, inconsistency. Lauter has had strong individual halves of games a number of times, and even pitched some near perfect games once or twice. But he's rarely put it all together for too long. 

In his defense, the GU O-line has been depleted this year by graduation and injuries. A big reason why he's underwater on TDs vs. INTs (4 TD passes, 6 INTs) is because of spotty protection. It looks good on the stat sheet that Georgetown has only allowed five sacks so far this season, but the truth is some of those six INTs thrown by Lauter should have been sacks he ate instead. 

It should also be noted that Lauter did NOT start or play at all in last year's game against Columbia that the Lions won 30-0. 

A bit more consistent is RB Naieem Kearney who is grinding out a lot of yards per carry, but is barely getting 12 carries per game. The Lions stuffed him for just 28 yards on the ground last year in the game in NYC.

WR Jimmy Kibble is leading the team in receptions and yardage this year, and also back at the position is Cam Pygatt who had six catches and 56 yards vs. CU last year.

The defense has been mediocre; giving up a lot of yards on the ground and getting nailed by some big passing plays as well. 

But the D also has an impressive 15 sacks through just four games. The leading sack master for the Hoyas is David Ealey with 3 1/2, and he was one of the leading tacklers in the game vs. the Lions last year. 

Perhaps more important than individual stats is the fact that this series is in the midst of an unusual three-game winning streak as CU has won each game by multiple scores since 2021. Prior to that, the Lou Little Cup series had been more of a see-saw affair with nail biter games being the norm. Whether this means we're due for an upset or at least a much closer game, we don't know. 

Another elephant in the room is that Georgetown's two wins were over light opponents Davidson and Marist, and its two losses were against tougher competition in Sacred Heart and Brown. The biggest difference between the Hoyas performance in its last two games is its offense only put up 14 points per game in those losses while it averaged 38.5 points per game in its opening two wins. 

Canty, Patterson Snag Awards

 

The Lions got the Lions share of the key Ivy League weekly awards announced earlier today.

Senior WR Bryson Canty took offensive player of the week honors, and freshman DL Keller Patterson was name rookie of the week. 

We all know about Canty's acrobatics Saturday, but Patterson made an immediate impact in his first college game with a sack. He also shored up the right side of the Columbia D-line after junior starter Owen Thomas went down with an injury. 

Patterson was one of the players Head Coach Jon Poppe identified just before the season as a key newcomer who had impressed in training camp.  

In other news, Columbia opens up as a 12-point favorite at Georgetown this week after the Hoyas fell to Brown at home 26-14 on Saturday. 

(The final line in the Lafayette game was the Leopards at -8) 

Opening STATEMENT

 

Columbia 31 Lafayette 20 

Why Columbia Won

The Lions offense started in high gear and never really let up as it grounded out 447 total yards. Even after starting QB Chase Goodwin went out with what ended up being a minor injury early in the 2nd half, the Lions kept rolling. Meanwhile, the defense was resilient with key stops in multiple pressure situations. 

Why Lafayette Lost 

The Leopards couldn't stop Goodwin and backup QB Cole Freeman from picking them apart. while their offense was inconsistent and never took full advantage of some key second chances. The Lafayette defense forced just two punts and gave up more than 200 yards on the ground. 

Key Turning Points

-With Columbia leading 10-6 and 12:39 left in the 1st half, Goodwin fumbled the ball away to the Leopards at the Lafayette 49. But just three plays later, Columbia CB Carter McFadden made an acrobatic, one-handed interception of QB Dean DeNobile's pass to kill the threat. Then the ensuing Lion drive was an eight-play 80-yard march ending in a Columbia TD.

-With 4:24 left in the 3rd quarter and a tenuous 17-12 lead, the Lions took over after a poor Lafayette punt at their own 40. On the first play of the possession, CU RB Malcom Terry burst through the right side of the Leopard defense for a 53-yard run to the seven. On the next play. Freeman and WR Ethan Hebb hooked up on an astounding throw and catch for a Lion TD.

-On the ensuing drive, Lafayette turned the ball over on downs at its own 49. On the fifth play of the resulting Columbia possession, Freeman threw a 38-yard TD pass that WR Bryson Canty bobbled, but then brought in brilliantly for the score.

Columbia Positives

-The Lions offense was relentless, varied, and executed a more aggressive style brilliantly. Goodwin was the star, despite his early exit with super accuracy, good improvisational throwing, and clutch running. 

-Against one of the most talented offenses it will face all season, and certainly one of the biggest offensive lines, Columbia keep Lafayette RB Jamar Curtis from ripping them apart and somehow kept DeNobile from even trying to test throws in the middle of the field until late in the game. 

-When was the last time Columbia had two QB's throw for multiple TD's EACH in the same game? The answer really has to be NEVER. 

-The Lions had numerous opportunities to panic and lose the lead. But both the defense and the offense was up to the challenge each time.

Columbia Negatives

-Lafayette's huge defensive line was held mostly in check, but insufficient protection on Goodwin's right side led to both of his turnovers. 

Columbia MVP

-Despite only playing two and a half quarters, Chase Goodwin set the tone in his first collegiate start. He looks like a generational talent for Columbia at this point. 

 

Cat Fight in the City

 

Lafayette Leopard (2-1) vs. Columbia Lion (0-0)

September 21, 2024

Kickoff Time: 12 noon (NOTE EARLIER TIME)

Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium

New York, NY 

Game Time Weather Forecast: 75 degrees and partly sunny

The Line: Columbia is a 7 1/2 point underdog 

TV/Radio: The game will be shown live on the SNY regional sports cable channel and also on ESPN+

Columbia Game Notes

Lafayette Game Notes 

Leading Story Lines

-This is the debut for Columbia's young new Head Coach Jon Poppe and his mostly very young staff. 'nuff said.

-Lafayette is one of the best teams in the FCS, with a varied offense and a tough defense. This quite simply seems like the toughest opponent Columbia will face all season. 

-In the face of several months of very well-deserved bad publicity for Columbia and the Ivy League in general, getting back to football could provide a respite from all the campus ugliness. 

3 Lions to Watch

-Sophomore QB Chase Goodwin #15 gets his first collegiate start and will work to justify his winning the spot over Northwestern transfer Cole Freeman #4. 

-Senior DL Justin Townsend #36 begins his final season of what's already been an excellent career for the Lions. The question now is if he will take his game to another level and get the eye of NFL scouts. 

-Senior WR Bryson Canty #2 returns at full strength after a disappointing injury-riddled 2023 season. Canty was a 1st Team All Ivy WR as a sophomore in 2022. 

3 Leopards to Watch

-Junior RB Jamar Curtis #5 is one of the best backs in the the FCS and he tore the Lions up at Lafayette last year. How he matches up against Columbia's experienced front seven may decide the game.

-Junior QB Dean DeNobile #16 is one of the best QB's in the FCS. He and his favorite target WR Elijah Steward #1 will be a major concern all day. 

-Sophomore DL Jaylon Joseph #93 was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year for 2023 and will likely be the man most sorely testing new CU QB Chase Goodwin's debut nerves. 

Week 1 Picks

 

I had an okay season last year, going 42-27 straight up (.608) and 37-31-1 against the spread (.544) 

Lehigh +9 1/2 vs. Princeton

I think Princeton will be much better this year, but covering a 9 1/2 point spread on the road in week one seems like a stretch. Princeton to win, but Lehigh will cover. 

Stetson +37 1/2 at Harvard

The Crimson will come very close to covering this spread, but come up a bit short. 

Brown -3 1/2 at Georgetown

The Hoyas have started to play as inconsistently as they always do. 

Holy Cross -5 1/2 vs. Yale

I like the Crusaders to cover as Yale breaks in a new QB.

Penn +11 1/2 at Delaware

I like the Quakers to cover, but fall short of a win here.

Fordham +17 1/2 at Dartmouth

I like the Big Green to win, but Fordham will bounce back from a slow start and make the game close

Colgate -2 1/2 vs. Cornell

Under Dave Archer, the Big Red used to play their best football in weeks 1 and 2. Under Mike Swanstrom, who knows? 

Robert Morris -1 1/2 at Wagner 

The Seahawks don't seem much changed from the last year. 

No Spots on these Leopards

 

Dean DeNobile

Home opener opponent Lafayette came into this season ranked prominently in everyone' FCS top 20 lists.

And the Leopards have not disappointed. As of now, they are ranked as high as #14. 

Lafayette started the year with a tough 30-13 loss at FBS Buffalo; a game that still misleadingly skews some of the Leopards' overall stats to the downside. 

Then Lafayette outlasted Monmouth in New Jersey before dismantling Marist, 56-14 at home last Saturday.

The Leopards big star is still RB Jamar Curtis, who has 187 rushing yards and 4.0 yards per carry average despite being totally shut down in that first misleading game at Buffalo. 

QB Dean DeNobile may be an even bigger star. He's thrown four TD passes so far this year and hasn't thrown an interception since he was picked twice at Buffalo. In the week two 40-35 shootout win at Monmouth, DeNobile went 31-45 for 394 yards and two TD passes.  

Junior WR Elijah Steward amazingly already has 374 yards receiving, with one TD reception. 

On defense, the Leopards don't have a singular standout star so far this year, but this unit is still considered to be the best in the Patriot League. One player to watch out for is sophomore DL Jaylon Joseph, who has three tackles for a loss including two vs. Buffalo. 

So, yeah... Lafayette could very well be the toughest opponent Columbia faces all year. It's a pretty tall order for a season opener and Jon Poppe's CU head coaching career debut. 

But no one said this would be easy. 

It's Finally Game Week

With a week to go before the 2024 season finally kicks off, it's time to begin regular coverage of the season for the Lions.

Information out of the Athletic Department has been sparse during training camp. But that was really made up for with an email new Head Coach Jon Poppe sent out today providing the most solid and specific preseason positional information I've ever seen from a Columbia head coach in my 38 years of following this team week-by-week. 

Poppe has asked to keep the details of the email private, so I will just give a brief overview based on what I've already reported, etc. 

The key info we knew already, including the fact that the QB starter will indeed be sophomore Chase Goodwin and the backup will be junior transfer Cole Freeman.

We also already knew 5th year senior Joey Giorgi and senior Malcom Terry will be the starting running backs. But Poppe did mention another RB who has impressed in camp at RB. 

Poppe was especially complimentary of the tight end corps, but did not mention a specific starter. He was also very glowing when describing the core group of two seniors and three juniors who will start on the offensive line. 

Poppe didn't have any surprise names to offer as far as D-line starters, but he did mention a late-blooming footballer that I flagged as a hidden gem in January 2022 has been the biggest star of the preseason. 

The veteran secondary, (three returning starters), includes a battle for that last open starting spot. A good looking freshman is one of the two finalists. 

Sorry for the caginess here, but we will try to reward Poppe's rare candor about the roster with some secrecy for now. 

Scrimmage Saturday

An intersquad scrimmage on Kraft Field will be held tomorrow (SATURDAY) at 11:30am.

It is open to all. 

I'm not posting today to bash Craig Haley, (I did that once before and turned out to be just about 100% wrong), but his Ivy League preseason preview  did have some key omissions and a bad error in the Columbia summary.

Presumably, Haley meant to spotlight returning 5th year senior LB Anthony Roussos when he inexplicably wrote "Mark Chapman." (In actuality, junior OL Mark Chapman was an All-Ivy honorable mention last season and returns at center this season).

There's also no mention of the major talents coming back in the wide receiving corps, but when they pick you to come in last you're not going to get much notice. 

For the record, I don't see the Lions coming in last this season for a number of reasons. But I generally agree with Haley's call that Harvard seems like the strongest team going into the season. 

The Opponents

There's not much "news" I can report from preseason training camp, so I'll do the smart thing and look at how Columbia's out of conference opponents have done so far in their *regular season games. 

Pete Lembo

Week one opponent Lafayette lost at Buffalo 30-13 last week in a game that was notable as Pete Lembo's debut as the Buffalo Bulls head coach.

But while the Leopards were clear underdogs going into the game and the loss was not a surprise, the total bottling up of Lafayette star RB Jamar Curtis was surprising. Curtis was held to just 12 yards on 14 carries, with a long run of eight yards. As good as the rest of thewo  Leopard team is, especially on defense, this team will not win games unless Curtis does damage. 

The Leopards will be on the road again tomorrow to play Monmouth. Next week, they'll host Marist before taking on the Lions at Wien Stadium on the 21st. 

Naieem Kearny

Week two foe Georgetown fared much better at home in a 46-24 win over Davidson. It was a close 19-17 Hoya lead late in the 1st half before Georgetown rattled off 27 straight points. 

The Hoyas did it with the run. They racked up 263 rushing yards and a whopping 9.3 yards per carry average. This is even though Georgetown ran the ball by committee. Naieem Kearney was technically the top runner with 87 yards, but he only had five carried. 

Meanwhile, the Hoyas passed the ball just 17 times for 106 yards.

Of all of Columbia's out of conference opponents, Georgetown has become the hardest one to figure out from week to week. For example, just a week after losing to the Lions 30-0 last year, the Hoyas shocked everyone by defeating Fordham a week later in the Bronx. Every year, GU puts up a shocking win or two like that. 

The Lions have defeated Georgetown three games in a row, but before this current streak the two teams always seemed to play nail-biter games that went down to the wire and neither team would win more than twice in a row.  

Tomorrow the Hoyas take on Marist (and Marist is NOT on the CU schedule this season) in the Red Foxes' home opener. 

Hameline Field, Staten Island

Week four opponent Wagner trounced D-III Lynchburg 46-7. There's not much to take away from this game, as you might expect. But we'll learn more when the Seahawks travel to Lehigh tomorrow. 

Wagner hasn't had a winning season since 2016, but the Seahawks are on the mend overall. After not winning a game in 2021 and 2022, Wagner went 4-7 last year. 

Columbia travels to Staten Island on October 12th for the first time since eking out a 15-13 win over the Seahawks in 2016.