Not only does Columbia’s disastrously bad offensive line
make it impossible for the Lions to win games, it makes it nearly impossible to
truly assess our talent at running back.
A year ago at this time, hopes were high on the RB front as Marcorus Garrett was returning for his
senior season after a stellar junior campaign.
But injuries, personal issues, and poor blocking in front of
him destroyed what could have been a great season. Garrett finished his CU
career with a shrouded whimper.
And as weak as Garrett’s abbreviated 2013 season was, he
still scored the only four Columbia rushing touchdowns all year long.
Yes, we only had FOUR.
That tells you how non-existent the rest of the CU rushing
attack was. Current sophomore Alan
Watson had 172 yards on 42 carries in 2013 to grab the #2 rushing spot on
the stats page while current junior Cameron
Molina was #3 with 120 yards on 37 carries.
The truth is Columbia basically abandoned the run altogether
after Garrett stopped playing in the first half of the Dartmouth game in week six.
The Lions only rushed the ball a paltry 235 times all season long, and the
entire team netter just 516 yards and those measly four TD’s.
In the four full games where Garrett did not play at all, Columbia rushed the ball at TOTAL of 83 times for a TOTAL of 171 yards.
So how good are Watson and Molina? Are either of them the
kind of player who can have even an occasional 100-yard game? I think any
speculation about them based on the very little we’ve seen of them at the
college level is really impossible.
The same is even more true for the rest of the CU RB’s on
the roster. There is some noise being made about incoming freshman Chris Schroer out of Cincinnati. He
does come from a decent high school program, but that’s really all anyone can
say for sure.
One thing is for sure, CU needs to run the ball a lot more
if QB Brett Nottingham is going to
survive with his life this season. The best way to cut down on sacks is never
give the defense the chance to sack your QB in the first place, and gain yards
on the ground with another ball carrier.
The Lions just can’t afford to put a Canadian Football-like product on
the field and try to pass 80% of the time.
With 61 days to go until the season starts, Columbia’s depth chart at RB is an extremely closely guarded secret… in the same way that a high school kid hides a failing test paper from his parents.
44 comments:
It really all depends what will change in their offensive philosophy. More of the same QB scrambling for his life won't do at all. Pete has acknowledged the OL needs major improvement so that is a priority coming into the season. Makes sense Watson will get first crack at taking the lead rusher role. If he can't get things going then the freshmen will get their shot pretty quickly. Molina should be a lot further ahead than he is. Physically, he is a powerful kid but he has not developed into a reliable back.
I wonder when I post these analyses of last season whether any of the Pete supporters can even grasp just how bad this team is.
CU didn't even belong on the field last season. It's hard to believe we will this year either.
It's one thing to wait for a championship team, but now we're in a at least a 2-year waiting mode for a team that even belongs on the field with our Ivy rivals.
How in the world can anyone make the case for not firing this guy last year and not letting him go now? Seriously, the "oh, firing him now will cause a lot of turmoil" argument doesn't work. We're going 0-10 with this guy and we don't even belong on the same field with most of our opponents. What can we possibly lose by admitting our mistake and getting an interim coach just for now?
At the very least, CU fans deserve some kind of email or blog or letter from Pete by now explaining how this season will be better... especially now that we're getting requests to buy season tickets again.
Jake, just to be clear, are you advocating that even at this late date the administration should pull the plug?
Pete addressed the major concerns on his tweetfest. In fact, he retweeted my question on how the O would be different. I don't get the impression he has been dodging the big questions on his video feeds either. A new coaching staff would not do much better at this stage and it would have disrupted recruiting in the Spring. If a staff is going to be fired then it has to be done at the conclusion of a season.
I think he is asking the question "why prolong this failed program for 6 more months when we know it will fail?"
Things are not that dire. There is still a chance to fix the problems. Though I tend to agree, things look on track for another winless season unless an opponent beats themselves.
Agreed. My hopes for a 2 win season are wishful thinking. May it (or better) happen, but I do not see us winning any game with a any sense of surety. What has improved? Nottingham understanding his vulnerability, definitely. But who else will step up in place of Garrett? Who will block? We have a younger and less experienced team than last year.
Perhaps morale will be better. Perhaps as was said here some other team will beat itself. But if we go 0-10 or 1-9, the time will be to bid adieu to the current staff. And I think they all know this. Watch for defections starting now (actually, they already have, but let's see who starts bailing now.)
Yes, if the administration dumped Pete and his staff now the team couldn't possibly do worse than it already will, BUT we will finally get the message from the administration that it wants to win... at least once.
A team with no o-line or d-line and players getting kicked out of school for multiple reasons is not a team at all. This is an unprecedented mess, even by Columbia standards.
Expelled or suspended for a year?
Dear Gloom and Doom,
It's too bad that all of you guys can't pick losers in other college conferences as well as the Ivy.
You would all be ultra wealthy.
I agree with Pat, you doomsayers are the real losers, not Pete. Get behind the team or get lost. And Jake, you're really over the top now, get a grip for chrissakes.
I'm getting behind the team. It's nice that Pat and Alawicious are willing to condemn these players to another season of losing, but we're not. This is a rescue operation. If you really care about the team, you'll get behind it. Your loyalty to an extreme failure like Pete over the players is noted and won't be forgotten.
I can't blame Pete for player behavior. The string of incidents has been disturbing but that seems more the nature of kids that age. Even highly respected coaches have to deal with that in their programs.
Still, as discussed here and elsewhere, Pete and his chosen staff are clearly the wrong fit for what the program needs going forward. If the administration does not include alumni in their search committee (or at least the right alumni) then they are at risk for repeating these same hiring errors with the next guy. That is what is most maddening.
Four months from today, Nov. 22, Pete will be fired.
Why not save everyone the time and do this now?
Show the players and our opponents that we're FINALLY serious about winning?
I saw "Varsity Blues" last night on cable for the first time in like 15 years.
I love the part where the players mutiny against the abusive coach and kick him off the field... and that was a coach who had been a WINNER.
That would be great to see here at CU this fall. The players have a right to better things, they should get together and lock Mangurian in a locker on opening day.
It would be more confusion and questions if they fired him now. It would put more doubt in the minds of the players. They would see the school leadership as unstable. Many would transfer. Who would be tasked as interim head coach? It would be an obvious throwaway season instead of at least giving the players a fighting chance.
Even if they axed him in the Spring, same result. The guy was in the middle of recruiting season.
Jake,
How dare you say that I support Pete and not the players?
As you know, I have a grandson on the team. I have never professed loyalty to anyone other than him and his teammates.
Your threat of reprisal only shows your true colors. This blog is fast becoming
your downfall as a credible reporter of the facts of Columbia Football.
Thus I will not be reading or commenting here again.
Pat, what you don't seem to want to acknowledge or accept is that we know this team better than others because we have lived with it and through it for 30 + years...
In my view the losers are the ones who sing cumbaya and make excuse after excuse while the team struggless, the coach hides, and the admin looks the other way.
And in the meantime according to Voyforum, Princeton, Harvard and Penn are already getting commits from kids in the HS class of 2015
If you really care about your grandson, tell him to contact Dean Valenti immediately and have him demand new leadership in the coaching staff.
What am I missing with Valenti? He is dean of the undergrad college with a chemistry background according to his bio. Why is he involved?
He's responsible for the undergrads in the College. He can help.
Um, Pat the "will not be forgotten" comment was not a threat of "reprisal."
Pat, I can certainly appreciate that you have a Grandson on the team and that you want what is best for him.
I also realize you don't know any of us personally and it might seem as if we are being unfair and unreasonable but this is not the case.
We are reasonable people who really care about the program, several of us played here, too. But the facts are that the admin has not cared about football or basketball for 3/4 of a century, our record over that time is all you need to know to serve as proof.
The coach has done a terrible job garnering support among the alums and former players and when the team really started tanking he began dodging and pointing fingers rather than assuming any responsibility.
There is nothing we want more than for him to make miraculoua turnaround but the sad reality is we've seen this script play out again and again, it never has a happy ending, and we are tired of it.
USC fired Lane Kiffin after game 5 based on 3-2 record. Arguably, we'll be 0-5 after the Penn game. Why not inspire the players at Homecomming against Dartmouth with a new direction?
After 10 days in Hawaii and giving the blog a rest, I come back to the same old crappy rhetoric from the same negative people. Pat, I'm sure your grandson will do us all proud this season. It's amazing the amount of energy expended to be so negative.
Danny
Do you have any clue how long many of us have endured this crap? Any rational human being would feel the same way.
All I've seen is a lousy product of epic porportions and a coach who has taken the bunker approach and deflected the criticism rather than taking it like a leader.
I asked you before and I will ask you again.
What has Pete done to earn our support other than still holding the title of head coach of our team? That's just not enough for me after the past two years. Blows my mind you cannot accept that and ignore it.
I feel like I'm arguing with Medieval morons shouting at a surgeon that he's hurting the patient.
We need surgery here to save the patient. It's as simple as that.
What is different today from last November 22nd? that is, if Pete was going to be fired, shouldn't it have been done then? And isn't there a legitimate question as to who would come here without more of a commitment to a winning program? for starters, why isn't there a campus training facility so that lefting etc can be done on campus? Why can't we find a practice facility for mid week practices? What about raising the funds to build a floating facility on 116th and the Hudson River as an athletic complex/practice field, while keeping Baker Field for game days?
Oldlion touches on macro issues which are critical.
Re PM, the reality is that regardless of individual feelings, firing him pre-season will only cause chaos within the team and IMHO will not accomplish anything. Besides, we all know it just ain't gonna happen.
What are realistic outcomes? 1, the team has another terrible season and he is replaced upon completion. 2, Ditto, except midway thru. 3) the team somehow exceeds expectations and he stays.
Truthfully, I hope it's #3. I don't believe it will be, but all I want for the kids and the alums is to field a respectable squad and feel good about it. Who the coach may be is irrelevant.
Finally, the main issue most of us here have, for those of you who are frustrated by certain recurring statements, is that CU football and the issues surrounding it have the persona of deja vu, of a never-ending Groundhog Day movie. And we believe we are seeing just another in a series of train wrecks. May we be wrong this time.
Doubtful they would let the coaching staff go during the season. It would come at the end of the season unless the powers that be declare the program is still on the right track. They could give them one more season to pull it together with one more recruiting class.
The big question is if this coaching staff is terminated as they should be, would the administration recognize a change in approach to how to solve the problem.
strong post Big Dawg,
Do some of you think we will be better off with Coach Campbell moving on? I don't at all. I am afraid we will take even more steps backward with him being absent from the table.
Sad but that is how I feel about our admin. If anything, he did all he could with that crew...
The critics here are not going to "get lost" despite the Pollyannas with their heads in the sand. We're behind the team every year and always will be because we are the Lions' most passionate, loyal fans. We deal with reality and we don't like it, regardless of the apathetic fans whose attitude every year is "gee, maybe next year."
How long can you go on like that? Till you're dead? How jolly!
Instead of facing reality, you switch the discussion to Jake's choice of words in describing the past 70 mostly
miserable years.
I don't think it's useful or even possible to replace the coaching staff weeks before the season starts. But a
concerned and competent Admin and AD would be actively planning ahead right now about how to replace the staff immediately after the season if that's what is indicated by the upcoming results.
A more reasonable (and fair-minded) approach would be to wait until about half the season has been played before considering replacements. However, I think despite the hard-headed negativity of many of you, we'll all be pleasantly surprised. Let's at least wait and see.
Wait for what??? We've all seen this movie before.
Alawicius, I said there should be preparation now for action IF warranted by the season's experience. That meant if it is not warranted, there would be no action. We all want the team to succeed. No one is hoping for failure so we can change coaches.
But this cycle is so frequent and familiar that if the Admin isn't serious and prepared, it will make the same mistakes it has before: a so-called national search, failure to identify superior why they candidates, inadequate evaluation by the NHDC, etc. That's why they should be prepared to finally get it right, not start cold when the season ends.
I hope we have a great season. But we still need to be prepared.
"No one is hoping for failure so we can change coaches."....Really? You can start with Jake on that one.
Jake states facts. You may not like the delivery, but he states facts. Last year was the worst in Ivy League football history. Harvard, for example, in the past two years has scored 110 points, to our ZERO! I repeat, 110-0! Pete had everyone believing that the cupboard is bare when he arrived. However, the truth is that he inherited several All-Ivy players (and now one in the Pros). He had 17 year old Freshmen playing against 22 year old men who were twice their size. He dissolved the JV development program for reasons unbeknownst to everyone??? That one still escapes me! The AD went behind everyone's back and hired this guy. The NHDC is a joke and they won't let alums speak to them. I mean look at their track record... Garrett, McElreavy, Tellier, Shoop, Wilson and now this clown. The NHDC's philosophy is that if you don't contribute money to the program, you shouldn't have a say. Bravo for alienating even more alums. The funny thing is, Diane is the Puppeteer and all those guys do is haggle over the Nathan's, Ball Park, or Hebrew National Hot Dog Sponsorship.
The question is.... Based on how Pete has performed, would YOU keep him has the head of your company? I think not!
I would really appreciate it if Danny White and alawicius would explain to us what this coach and admin has done to earn our confidence at this point. I keep asking but I never get an answer.
Excellent point WOF!
Jake would be as happy as I if we had a winning season.
Sad to think we have to yearn for just one 6-4 season as if that were the be-all and end-ll of life on this planet. But then what would happen to the NHDC and it's supporters on this blog? And face it, long-suffering fans, once we climb Mount Everest by going 6-4, that's it, roll up the carpet, it's all over. Back to another century of losing, too much trouble to repeat that, not Ivy-like or Columbia-like for sure.
I have an idea to cut through all the palaver. Let's ask POTUS, two-year alum with his CC records sealed and guarded by the Navy SEALS, to write one of his executive orders magically defying reality by declaring that Columbia has had an undefeated season beginning in 2014 and event year henceforth.
GOD: that should be"every" year henceforth.
HALLELUJAH!
I'm still waiting for Danny and alwaicius to explain to us what PM and the CU admin has done to earn our support and confidence..
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