How to Build an Ivy Winner, Step 1

Dalyn Williams takes off 

Columbia’s recent fall from somewhat competitive in 2009 and 2010 to crashing down to historic poor play is not really an issue of bad players or even bad in-game coaching decisions.

The issue is how the team is being badly structured to compete in today’s Ivy League.

By my analysis, there are three major changes that have occurred in the league since 2000 that make this a much different place to play than it was. Successful coaches like Phil Estes at Brown and Bob Surace at Princeton have adjusted to these changes to compete with the traditional Harvard and Penn powerhouses. Dartmouth is finally getting it. The jury is still out on Yale’s Tony Reno. Columbia and Cornell are failing miserably.

Today, I’ll focus one the #1 key change and look at how the successful teams have adjusted.

#1: Face it, you’re not going to get a great RB or O-line, so you need a running/gunning QB

I’ve documented the demise of the 1,000 yard rusher in the Ivies for years, and it’s still as hard as ever for Ivy schools to produce a 25-30 carry a game, 1,000-yard+ running back. The fact that we had two 1,000-yard rushers in the league last year made 2013 almost like a boom year in a dying market. But even Penn and Harvard didn’t get a 1,000 yard rusher or a single back who came close to averaging even 15 carries per game. League leading rusher Jonathan Spooney had just 150 total carries himself.

But as I’ve said many times this running back drought has been true for some time, the new development in the league is the drop-off in offensive line play as a whole… and that decline coupled with the running back issues has changed the way the game is being played.

I’m not sure whether to blame the whole “blind side” movement or whatever, but the major college programs are loading up on any and all potential O-line talent with a vengeance. That leaves fewer scraps for the Ivies. Consider that Jeff Adams, Columbia’s best offensive lineman of the last 20 years, has made a few NFL practice squads but his level of play at the combines and camps he attended after graduating in 2012 was widely derided by the scouts. It’s to Jeff’s credit that he put in the work to keep his shot at the NFL alive, but it says something that a 3-time 1^st Team All Ivy player was so far behind the pack.

Harvard’s amazing recruiting advantage has indemnified the Crimson from this reality for the most part, but all the other schools – even Penn – have to face it. And all the other schools, except for Cornell and Columbia have responded with a focus on more mobile QB’s who can help make up for spotty pass protection and run blocking all at once.

Penn’s recently graduated Billy Ragone was a good example of all of this. Frankly, he wasn’t the greatest runner or passer. But put together, he was a good enough threat to run or pass effectively enough of the time to make the Penn offense go. Without a stellar RB or WR during his tenure, (Penn did have a great season from RB Lyle Marsh in 2009, but Ragone was out most of that year), the Quaker still won championships.

Princeton’s current QB, Quinn Epperly, is a better passer than Ragone and a decent runner. He’s the biggest reason the Tigers tied for the title last year.

Dartmouth’s Dalyn Williams had the luxury of having a 1,000 yard rusher behind him, but his combined running and passing ability was the biggest reason why the Big Green really emerged as serious contenders last season and got better week after week. Dartmouth’s win over Princeton in week 10 should serve as a message to the rest of the league for 2014.

Brown’s long-time response to the O-line reality has been a little different. Instead of going for mobile QB’s, the Bears have opened up their passing attack even more to include a lot more short passing. But Spooney’s super season last year helped Brown avoid the worst of what could have been a tougher year. As it is, the Bears still did not have a winning Ivy record.

Cornell has been avoiding making this crucial adjustment for an understandable reason. The Big Red had a super pocket passer in the traditional sense with Jeff Mathews and it didn’t make sense to pull him from the lineup for any reason. But now that Mathews is gone, Head Coach David Archer is going to have to show whether he’s figured out the playing field.

That leaves us with Columbia’s Head Coach Pete Mangurian, who is steadfastly insisting on putting together a pocket passing offensive attack. I’m not sure if he doesn’t recognize the O-line realities at Columbia and everywhere else, or if he just refuses to accept them. But so far, the results are a 3-17 overall record, an unnecessarily restrained Sean Brackett in 2012, and the worst performance of any Ivy football team in history in 2013.

I’m not saying that players like Epperly, Williams, and Ragone grow on trees because they don’t. But refusing to even go after players like this is disturbing. It’s one thing to buck the trends for winning in the Ivies when you still are competitive like Brown. But it’s something else entirely when you’re so far behind the pack.