Legacy Chain

James Lill

The number of legacy players on the Columbia Football team is growing. 

Yesterday, we learned that 6-5 287 pound OL/DL James Lill, son of Jim Lill '96, has committed to the Lions.

James will come to Columbia after a PG year at the Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut after graduating earlier this year from Schroeder Webster HS in Webster, NY.

The younger Lill is from the greater Rochester area just like his dad and his uncle Jake, Jim's twin brother. But the elder Lills did not attend Schroeder or do PG years. Both of the brothers played on defense for the Lions during some of the best years of the program in the mid-1990s. They particularly stood out in the 1995 Homecoming Win over Yale that the Athletic Department included in a special look back on historic games dominated by the Lion defense. 

James had an offer from UNH and some D-III schools. He will be the first Schroeder grad to come to Columbia Football, but the fourth from Avon Old Farms. 

So our 2022 incoming freshman list has grown 4:

1. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

2. James Lill OL/DL 6"5 287 lbs. Schroeder Webster HS/Avon Old Farms Webster, NY

3. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

4. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

Tough Draw

J'Von Brown is an NFL draft prospect

While Columbia's other two out of conference opponents, Marist and Georgetown, did not fare very well in their conference media day polls or preseason all-star teams, the third OOC opponent for the Lions is looking a lot stronger.

Week 4 opponent Central Connecticut State (CCSU) came in second in the NEC preseason poll. Senior WR Tyshaun James and senior OL J'Von Brown were named to the preseason all-conference offensive team, and senior LB Tre Jones made the defensive team. 

CCSU defeated the Lions 24-14 in a tighter game than the final score would indicate in 2019 on the way to winning the NEC crown. Columbia defeated CCSU in 2018 by a 41-24 score, but that game led to season-ending injuries for WR Josh Wainwright and a concussion that seems to have hurt QB Josh Bean's chances of ever reaching his full potential at CU. 

The CU-CCSU game is in Connecticut this year. 

QB Questions

Ty Lenhart

It's been more than 610 days since the 2019 season ended, but my sources tell me the Columbia coaches are still "all in" on returning senior QB Ty Lenhart. 

Lenhart comes into the season with a 4-5 record as a starter. As a starter, these are his overall stats (again, just as a *starter)

Passing Attempts: 267

Completions: 161

Completion %: .602

Yards: 1,609

YPA: 6.02

YPC: 9.99

TD: 9

INT: 7

Rushing Attempts: 68

Yards: 165

YPC: 2.4

TD: 2 

The W-L and passing stats would have been pretty impressive from a returning QB by Columbia standards in the pre-Al Bagnoli era, but some of them are a little worrisome at this point. Also, Lenhart is currently riding a two-game losing streak after poor performances overall against Brown and Cornell. 

I like Lenhart's arm strength and his speed. He's also shown a willingness to sacrifice his body on several running plays during his career, and that's a key ingredient for assuming team leadership.  

But I worry about Lenhart's ball security. Opponents now know to attack the ball in Lenhart's arms whenever he runs and that often produces fumbles. His fumbles alone seem to have cost Columbia the game against Brown in 2019. While his interception rate seems to have fallen over his last five starts, he still forces passes at times. 

His nine starts make him one of the most experienced QB's returning this year in the Ivies, and experience should be more valuable this year than ever. But the coaches were at that "all in" stage with Lenhart even before the COVID lockdown and eventual loss of the 2020 season. So there's something they see in Lenhart beyond just experience. 

As I've written before, Columbia has a number of seemingly talented QB's currently on the roster, including transfer Joe Green and the multi-faceted weapon Gabriel Hollingsworth. If Lenhart keeps the starting job going into this season, he'll probably have to prove that confidence from the coaches is worth it. 

Replacing a Legend

Douglas Straley

Columbia announced today that Douglas Straley from Manhattan College will be replacing the retired Jim Gossett as Head Athletic Trainer. 

One of my greatest regrets of the tougher and shorter available blogging schedule I've faced for the last 3 years or so was the fact that I didn't really have time to pay tribute to Gossett when he announced his retirement. But the department did post a nice story about him in April. 

There were few people like him. Jim dedicated his entire working career to Columbia sports and especially the football program. He knew so much about the last 40 years of CU football, it could fill volumes. He also kept in close touch with a lot of former players and remained their friend. 

Straley will have big shoes to fill, and hopefully the fact that he's familiar with the are close to the Baker Athletics Complex will help him adjust quickly.

More OOC Preseason Predictions

Aaron Acosta

Last week, the Patriot League announced its preseason all-conference team and revealed the results of the press poll predicting the final standings for the coming year. 

Now, another one of three non-Ivy conferences Columbia will tangle with has followed suit. 

Week one opponent Marist was picked to come in tied for 9th in the 11-member Pioneer League. 

The Red Foxes did get two players named to the preseason all-league team, both of them on defense in DL Aaron Acosta. (who is a redshirt junior), and graduate student DB Kyle Fleitman.

The other out of conference opponent for Columbia is CCSU, who will host the Lions in week 4 in Connecticut. CCSU's NEC conference will have its media day tomorrow.