Around the League

Quinn Epperly


Princeton remains completely in the driver's seat with three weeks to go in the season, thanks to a Penn loss.

And boy, do the Tigers make consistently winning anything but boring.

QB Quinn Epperly continued his very clear march to the Bushnell Cup with an amazing performance against Cornell. He completed his first 29 passes and finished 32 of 35 for 325 passing with three TD passes. He also ran for three TD's in the 53-20 win over the Big Red. The Tigers had 38 1st downs!

Getting back to Penn, the Quakers played their worst game in probably a couple of decades in a 27-0 loss at Brown. QB Ryan Becker had three INT's. But the bad play by Penn should not overshadow Bear speedster John Spooney's historic day. The RB had more than 200 yards rushing by halftime, thanks to two 90+ yard TD runs. He finished with 232 yards on the ground.

Is Penn finished? If Billy Ragone comes back, the Quakers still have a good chance to make a run for 2nd place. But I suspect the game this coming Saturday against Princeton will not be a great one for Al Bagnoli and crew no matter who's starting at QB. But don't forget, Penn has deceptively come back from bad games like this before.

In the thriller of the weekend, Harvard did it again: eking out a win over a Dartmouth team that once again came oh so close to victory. The 24-21 Crimson victory keeps Harvard in the hunt and basically eliminates the Big Green. Question: can Buddy Teevens keep his job if his team does any worse than 2-1 over the final three games? I would argue he should keep his position, but what do I know?

IVY POWER RANKINGS

1. Princeton
2. Harvard
3. Penn
4. Dartmouth
5. Brown
6. Yale
7. Cornell
8. Columbia

Wear it with Pride!

The image above will be available for you to wear at the Harvard game this Saturday in button form.

This is thanks to the efforts of concerned alumni, led by Rich Forzani '66, who joins me in calling for a complete house cleaning in the Columbia athletic department.

While this blog allows us to blow off steam, and we know the athletic department employees read it and the comments section religiously, this kind of public display is deeply needed to affect change.

Because this is about a lot more than a button.

Rich will be distributing them from the upper parking lot overlooking the baseball field and near where the Homecoming tent was, by the fence. He's asking for $5 per button to help raise money for ads to be placed in Columbia College Today and the New York Times calling for Dr. Murphy, Coach Mangurian and the entire key department staff to be replaced.

This public showing of displeasure is beyond due and should actually make an impact on those who brush off the Internet.

Please make sure you go and show your support by getting this button at the game and nobody should rest until we get this done.

No Safe Haven

Yale 53 Columbia 12

Why Yale Won

The Eli offense put up almost 600 yards, didn't allow a sack and scored almost at will. The defense wasn't dominant but routinely stiffened once the Lions crossed into Yale territory.

Why Columbia Lost

The CU offense moved a little better than it had in a few weeks, but sustained drives were non-existent until the game was all but over. The defense was extremely soft in the middle of the field, allowing big plays and a handful of uncontested TD's.

Key Turning Points

-After a Brian East pick six made it 10-6 Yale, the Lion defense responded with a three-and-out and the ensuing punt gave Columbia the ball at their own 40. On the 1st down play, a 20-yard gain was lost when an open WR Cameron Dunn dropped the pass from Kelly Hilinski. The Lions ended up going three-and-out, punting and allowing a TD on Yale's ensuing possession.

-The game went from just a loss to another horrific rout early in the 3rd quarter when a bad snap forced replacement punter Tyler Feely to run with the ball for a loss. Yale took over at the Columbia 24, scored a quick TD and the pummeling was on. 

Columbia Positives

-WR Chris Connors finally got a fair amount of playing time, and he responded with several excellent catches. 

-Back up RB's Cameron Molina and Alan Watson both looked good for the most part. It's abundantly clear the Lions have the talent to run the ball much, much more for better results.

-Backup punter Tyler Feely had an excellent game overall. 

Columbia Negatives

-Save for a short period in the 2nd quarter, the Lion defense was extremely soft. For some reason, Yale spent a good part of the afternoon trying to attack the CU defense on the edges instead of just going right up the middle every time. Thanks to that, the score remained below historic levels... barely.

-The offensive players who have the skills to make Columbia competitive, namely QB Trevor McDonagh and WR Chris Connors, were basically kept out of the game until after halftime. Hilinski, Dunn, and many other frosh have talent, but they deserve more time to learn in JV before being thrown into these games, let alone starting. Head Coach Pete Mangurian's decision to keep the JV program on ice for the second straight year may indeed be his biggest crime of malpractice as a coach and a teacher. 

Conclusions

Coach Mangurian is basically using this season as an instructional league; putting in inexperienced freshmen and keeping to scripted plays instead of going with what works. 

In his pregame interview with Jerry Recco, Mangurian paraphrased former CU Head Coach Bob Naso's famous "first this team needs to learn how to lose right before it can win" quote. Mangurian basically said he's not going to make any changes that might help the team win now if that gets in the way of the system he's trying to install.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that it breaks faith with the upperclassmen who have worked so hard and deserve the chance to play, compete and win. And Mangurian will soon learn the second problem: losing week after week by 40+ points kills recruiting in its tracks.

The destruction of this football program, most literally on purpose by a coach who thinks he can create a winning system no one sees any evidence of is beyond unacceptable. 

Mangurian needs to go right away, and Dianne Murphy needs to pay the ultimate price for hiring him. 

Any other solution is cruel to the players, the alumni, the fans, and to the entire ideal of Ivy League athletics. 

What We Do Now (Updated)

UPDATE

Never ones to sit idly by, several leading alums and fans have joined me in the search for a sports consulting group to take over and overhaul the athletic department at Columbia. 

We are assembling a list of GREAT groups with great track records and are preparing to present them to President Bollinger in the coming days. 

We will not simply ask for major changes without making it easier for Bollinger to make them, 

Columbia football, an entity so many people could not believe could fall even further in status and prestige, has done just that in 2013.

The Lions are being blown out by historic margins, the statistics are galling, and now there’s even personal controversy hampering the team as its two best players have been suspended.

For fans like us who support this team emotionally and financially, some of us for many decades, we are at a new all-time low.

So what can we get for all this suffering that can at least turn it into the dues we pay for a real improvement in the future?

The answers are pretty simple and clear.

Columbia football, and Columbia athletics in general need a complete house cleaning.

We can’t just fire another coach and hope for a different result this time.

The changes must be far more far-reaching than that and definitive.

We must:

1)      Replace Dianne Murphy as Athletic Director right away

2)      Replace Pete Mangurian as Head Football Coach the moment the season ends

3)      Bring in an outside consulting/expert group to make the replacement hires and evaluate the positions and effectiveness of everyone in the athletic department.

4)      Do NOT allow anyone who has had a leadership position or position of influence in any past hiring process to participate or interfere in any way with the overhaul process.

It’s that simple. It’s that complicated.

I ask all of you to help get this done.

Bowl Bound

Columbia Lions vs. Yale Bulldogs

Location: Yale Bowl 

Kickoff Time: 12:00pm

Gametime Weather Forecast: 63 degrees, mostly sunny

The Spread: Yale by 29

Columbia Game Notes 

Yale Game Notes 

How to Get to the Game

Directions to Yale Bowl 

TV/RADIO

The game will be broadcast live on the YES Network 

Superior audio commentary from Jerry Recco and Sal Licata will be available on the Ivy Digital Network

The Columbia student station broadcast is on WKCR at 89.9 on your FM dial

Lead Stories

Columbia doom vs. Yale Gloom

While the Lions keep pushing the basement floor lower on how far down this season can go for them, the Elis are in a tailspin of their own. From a fan’s perspective, these teams are probably dead even on the emotion scale right now, but the 29 point spread in Yale’s favor tells you something about how everyone thinks the game will go.

Who’s Playing?

Columbia’s two best players, RB Marcorus Garrett and P Paul Delaney are suspended for this game. Yale’s three key offensive players, RB Tyler Varga, WR Chris Smith, and QB Henry Furman may all be injured and out. This is a game where you really want to buy that program to make sure you know who’s on the field.

Mangurian Death Watch/Yale Panic Mode

A good number of fans will be watching to see if this game will be another historic disaster like last week’s 56-0 loss at Dartmouth. All Columbia needs to do is play this game competitively and a great deal of the heat on Mangurian will subside for at least a week. But another 25+ point rout will turn the vice even tighter.

As for Yale, Tony Reno won’t be fired if the Elis lose this game but he’ll be officially inserted into the job danger zone.

  

Columbia Keys to the Game 

1)   Move the Ball… Somehow

Columbia’s offense has been so inept lately that any ability to move the ball and score more than one TD would potentially throw Yale off completely. Without Marcorus Garrett, RB’s Alan Watson and Cameron Molina should get their chance to show what they can do. And of course, the continuing education of freshman QB Kelly Hilinski will proceed inside the cavernous Bowl.

2)   Stop the Yale Run

Varga may or may not be playing but his backup, Candler Rich,  is very good too. Reno doesn’t like to reinvent the wheel, and if Rich is getting the job done he won’t hesitate to give him the ball 50 times. If the Lions can stop Rich, things could get very interesting.

3)   Stand Tall

It’s been a nightmare season for these players, but they have what it takes to make a stand in New Haven tomorrow. It should make these guys feel very good to put the fear of God into the overconfident Yale fans tomorrow.