Scouting Monmouth... Sorta

Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan

The opening line is out and Monmouth is favored by 33 points against Columbia Saturday.

Monmouth is trying to say all the right things about Columbia QB Brett Nottingham. 

What it should be doing is trying to find out whether WR Connor Nelligan will be ready for the game this Saturday, or any game this year for that matter.

As usual, and it’s not completely the athletic department’s fault this time, fans are very much in the dark about Nelligan’s status since the preseason intra-squad scrimmage. (Injury status is a dicey issue in college football and if the coaches don't want to talk about it, there's nothing the rest of the administration or athletic dept. can do about it. And that's not the coaches' fault either. Privacy rules can be strict in the NCAA). 

His absence has changed what Head Coach Pete Mangurian considered to be a strength in the preseason to a clear weakness.

Besides Nelligan, we have scant information about former standouts Chris Connors and Isaiah Gross, who have been used sparingly this season. We do know Connors has a permanent leg issue after his injury at Cornell last year, but being able to catch the ball is trumping speed right now with all the dropped passes the Lions are still seeing.

Remember too that as bad as Columbia was at holding on to passes last season, the WR corps was facing a new challenge this year anyway because we have a new WR coach in Ola Adams.

I don’t mean to intentionally pick on the receivers or the passing game, the fact is Columbia is not doing any of the essentials very well.

But I do want to mention that punting and kick/punt coverage have been very good for CU this season… so we’ve got that going for us. 

Wednesday is that day where for years, I've dedicated some time to scouting our opponents in hopes of giving fans a chance to familiarize themselves with them and maybe highlight their strengths and weaknesses relative to Columbia. 

But this season, (and last season of course), this part of the fan-building/fan forum agenda for this blog seems fruitless.

The Lions are coming in to every game like a JV team going up against a varsity, a AA club playing an MLB squad, etc. 

Don't let 28 minutes of Princeton mistakes last week fool you into thinking Columbia has "taken a step" as Mangurian put it. 

We haven't. We look, and are, out of our league week after week. 

Focusing on our opponents or scouting them is ludicrous, unless we find evidence they plan to arrive at the stadium drunk or with members of the marching band starting in place of the actual players.

Is this harsh? Yes, but what else can you call a team that was at least competitive before this regime came in and has now lost 14 straight games by at least two scores each and by an average of 32 points per game? 

It's not about our opponents, scholarship schools or not.

It's about us. 

This is not varsity football. 

And every team playing us does not take us the slightest bit seriously, despite what Monmouth is saying publicly about our QB. 

When we clamored for Mangurian to be fired at the end of last season, we were told we would see improvement this year. 

We haven't seen it.

The scoreboard doesn't lie.

Stop the bleeding. 

It's a Horse Race!

Lost in all our legitmate doom and gloom about our football team is the fact that the Ivy League in general is finally giving the fans what looks like a serious race for the title from four pretty good teams.

Harvard, Princeton, and Dartmouth haven’t all looked as sharp as people expected going into the season, but they’ve each passed critical early tests and still control their own paths.

The wildcard has been Yale, which is firing on all cylinders and is certainly playing the best offensive football in the league right now.

At the other end of the spectrum. Penn has been weaker than usual and Brown is iffy. Cornell and Columbia are playing their expected roles of bottom dwellers.

But it speaks volumes about where the league has been for the last 14 years or so that we’re already in a rare spot with four legitimate contenders for the title still standing even after week 3.  In most years since 2000, the serious race has been only between two teams even at this early stage.

It figures that just as the league is getting into a new and exciting competitive period, Columbia isn’t really even on the register. The Lions don’t really deserve to be playing at this level right now. That’s a sad fact, but it is a fact just the same.

Ivy Power Rankings

1.       Harvard

Yale is making the most noise, but Harvard is cruising so far. Cornell will offer no real threat to the Crimson this coming Saturday, so their undefeated record is safe.

2.       Yale

The Bulldog defense is still a big question, but it’s starting not to matter all that much. The run and the pass for Yale is looking so strong that only Harvard looks like it can snuff it.

3.       Dartmouth

The Big Green win over Penn, however weakened the Quakers are this year, was still a huge psychological deal for this team. Now we have a legitimate super game of the week with the Elis hosting Dartmouth this coming Saturday. We could get 90 total points scored in that game easily.  The winner will have a good track to the championship.

4.       Princeton

The Tigers are flat out underperforming so far, but they have a long way to go before they face a crucial Ivy test. After this coming week’s game at Colgate, Princeton hosts a weaker Brown team. It won’t be until the 25^th, when Harvard comes to Tiger Town that we’ll really know what this team is all about.

5.       Brown

The Bears should have thrashed URI Saturday, but escaped with only a seven point win. But Brown is still showing more signs of life than the teams below them on this list.

6.       Penn

The Quakers look lost defensively and only somewhat stronger on offense. Now here’s the really bad news: Penn has to go to Fordham to play the Rams this Saturday.

7.       Cornell

Against Yale, the Big Red should have at least put up some decent rushing numbers. They didn’t. Harvard will pile on the pain this Saturday.

8.       Columbia

This year’s Lions, and last year’s Lions, are a good example of why the last place finishers in English Premier League soccer get kicked out of the league. There is no semblance of a competitive program here despite a deceptively close 1^st half vs. Princeton. Monmouth will embarrass Columbia again this coming week. 

Let's break this down for anyone who still doesn't see just how bad this is:

Columbia has now lost 14 straight. This is now the longest losing streak since the then-record-setting streak of 44-straight losses from 1983-88.

The average game score in this current 14 game losing streak is 39-7.

The average game score in the 44 game losing streak was 33-10.

The most Columbia has scored in any game during this 14 game streak is 14 points.

Columbia scored 20 or more points in the 44 game streak seven times.

The 44 game streak spanned parts of six seasons under three head coaches. Bob Naso was fired after loss #11. Jim Garrett was fired after loss #21. Larry McElreavy lost his first 23 games before he broke the streak with the 16-13 win over Princeton on Oct. 8, 1988.

McElreavy is now back in coaching. He's the head coach at Newport High School in New Hampshire and the team has a 3-1 record so far this season.

This 14 game streak all belongs to Pete Mangurian.

It's funny. After a great Columbia win over Princeton in 2009, representatives from the athletic department asked me to try not to refer anymore to the 44-game losing streak in the live broadcasts of the games.

If only they made the same effort.

Now it's impossible not to refer to the old streak, because we're in the midst of a new one with a team that looks worse.

If you don't want to look bad, then don't do bad things.

Called Out

Anthony Gaffney had two INT's and should have had a third


Princeton 38 Columbia 6


Why Princeton Won

The Tigers defense played 60 minutes of good football to augment 30 minutes of good play by the offense. Despite a myriad of Princeton turnovers and stalls in the 1st half, the Tiger D allowed just two CU field goals. That gave Princeton's offense enough time to get it going in the 2nd half behind a superior running attack on a relatively off day for QB Quinn Epperly.


Why Columbia Lost

In addition to an offense that couldn't score a TD, the defense was stymied first by a series of terrible officiating calls and then by a Tiger running attack that finally woke up in the 2nd half.


Key Turning Points

-A maddening drive by PU at the end of the 1st half turned the game around as clearly as possible. Starting from their own two yard line with less than three minutes to go, the Tigers avoided disaster when a fumble by Epperly was somehow not recovered by three Lions, and then a terrible call by the refs ruled Epperly had scored a TD as time expired. That turned a 6-3 Columbia lead into a 10-6 Princeton advantage at the break.

-On the opening possession of the 2nd half, DiAndre Atwater burst through the line untouched for a 51-yard TD and Columbia never really challenged again.


Columbia Positives

-RB Cameron Molina put up some big numbers, this time when the game was not already over. He was a demon as a receiver out of the backfield with nine catches for 100 yards. Some of his runs after the catch were pretty.

-The CU D came out strong and gave the offense every chance to grab a commanding 1st half lead. Junior Toba Akinleye had another strong game with 10 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

-Safety Travis Reim made probably the hardest hit by a CU player in a decade. He forced a fumble that led to a CU FG.


Columbia Negatives

-Columbia failed to score a TD for the first time this season, and QB Brett Nottingham forced too many passes. Other than the good screen passing attack, the CU offense still didn't have much to show for itself.

-Football games are 60 minutes not 30. The defensive line did well for 28 minutes, but not so well for the remaining 32. Princeton finished with 268 net yards rushing to CU's 27.

Columbia MVP

-Molina gets the nod for the second week in a row. He fought hard, took some rough hits, and just kept coming.

Game Day Open Thread

This is the post to send your comments on the game, before, during and after.

Hold That Tiger

Epperly is slippery even when it doesn't rain

Princeton Tigers at Columbia Lions

Location: Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium

Kickoff Time: 12:30pm

Gametime Weather Forecast: 67 degrees, thunderstorms, chance of rain 80%

The Spread: Princeton is favored by 28 1/2 points.

Columbia Game Notes

Princeton Game Notes

TV/RADIO

The game will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network and will feature superior commentary from Jerry Recco and Sal Licata.

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

Lead Stories/Questions

-Will Princeton continue to shake off the bad mojo from the week 1 loss at San Diego and prove they deserve that preseason pick to win the Ivies? 

-Can Columbia pick up its play and give the Tigers a fight after two blowout losses to start their season?

-Will the expected heavy rain play to anyone's advantage? 

Players to Watch 

COLUMBIA: QB Brett Nottingham has yet to put up impressive numbers in his two starts this season. Will this be the week against a seemingly beatable Princeton secondary? RB Cameron Molina had a decent outing at Albany last week, but he needs to give CU a chance against the stingy Tiger run D. Safeties Travis Reim, Kevin McCarthy. Brock Kenyon will be under extreme pressure to contain Princeton QB Quinn Epperly all day. 

PRINCETON: Epperly will be even more dangerous as a runner with a wet track. RB DiAndre Atwater's style of running also suits him in the rain. DB Anthony Gaffney will be a factor against the run and pass. 

Columbia 3 Keys to the Game

1) Get the Short Passing Going

Molina is a cutting RB, so the rainy weather might completely neutralize him as a runner. But as a receiver out of the backfield, he could make a nice dent. This would also be a nice game to start using the TE position to catch passes. 

2) Linebackers and Safeties have to Step up

Epperly and Atwater might be able to win this game on their own. Columbia's LB's need to play closer to the line of scrimmage and do something to stop the deluge. The safeties need to stop Epperly from turning the corner as a runner and picking apart the middle of the field as a passer.

3) Don't Let the Game Get too out of Hand

Princeton may be destined to win this game, but they don't need to win this one by 40 or 50. Another loss like that, and the Lions will be hard-pressed to recover and put up much of a fight the rest of the season. 

The Series 

This year I will have an added feature nodding to the history of Columbia football by talking about three key games in the series against every team.

Worst Game

For Columbia, there have been more gut-crunching losses to the Tigers than probably any other Ivy team. The worst in recent memory was the 27-26 OT loss in 2004. A facemask penalty during a sack on the Princeton QB helped keep a game-tying drive alive with about a minute left in the 4th quarter, and a missed extra point in OT sealed the Lions fate. 

Best Game 

Columbia's best team of the last 15 years was the 2009 squad, and it announced that it had arrived with a 38-0 blowout of the Tigers at Princeton Stadium. QB M.A. Olawale and WR Austin Knowlin had highlight reel games in that one. 

Typical Game

Four of the last five CU-Princeton games have been blowouts, but over the last 25 years this game has usually been close. And usually, Princeton pulls it out thanks to a late Columbia mistake. That was very evidence in the 2008 game at Wien Stadium, when CU appeared to be on a winning drive only for WR Mike Stephens to fumble the ball deep inside Tiger territory. Princeton held on to win, 27-24.