Wagner Seahawks at Columbia Lions
October 10, 2015
Location: Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium
Game Time Weather Forecast: 61 degrees and sunny
The Spread: UPDATE: Columbia is now favored by two points
TV/Radio: Jerry Recco and Sal Licata provide superior play-by-play and commentary on the Ivy League Digital Network
The Columbia Spectator will again be running a live blog during the game: http://columbiaspectator.com/sports/2015/10/09/live-coverage-will-columbia-break-its-24-game-losing-streak-against-winless-wagner
Columbia Game Notes
Wagner Game Notes
Leading Story Lines
1) Somebody's gotta win!
Columbia may be riding a 24-game losing streak, but Wagner is 0-4 so far this year and itching for a win perhaps just as much. Not only will the winner of this game get their first team win of the year, but the new head coaches of each team are both looking for their first victories with their new teams.
2) Who turned ON the Lights?
It's Columbia's first home night game since 2004 and there's a lot of wondering going on about whether night games really will bring out more fans.
3) Familiar Faces
Wagner assistants Tony Brinson, (a frequent, honorable, non-anonymous commenter on this blog), and Alvin Smith are former Lion assistants coming back to Wien Stadium for the first time with another team.
5 Columbia Players to Watch
-Senior DT Niko Padilla #93. For the second straight game, Padilla plays a crucial role. In this contest he'll often be lining up across from a new freshman center starting in place of a talented but injured starter. Padilla needs to rattle the frosh and disrupt plays.
-Junior QB Skyler Mornhinweg #8 tried to do too much in the game against Princeton last week and ended up having his worst outing of 2015. Mornhinweg needs to get back to what he did in the first two games of the season and not press. He should get some help from the return of fellow QB Anders Hill who missed the Princeton game with a calf injury.
-Junior LB Keith Brady #52 has a big role to play in the job of shutting down opposing Wagner QB Alex Thomson of rolling out and killing the Lions with the run. All three of Columbia's opposing QB's so far this season have been able to get big plays from their scrambling and mobile QB's.
-Sophomore CB Cameron Roane #23 has already done a good job this season and he'll need to keep it up both against the pass and helping out to contain a mobile QB. Roane is playing like a rising star just a play or two from really busting out.
-Junior PK Cameron Nizialek #6. We know he has the leg strength, but the Lions desperately need an accurate FG and PAT kicker right now.
5 Wagner Players to Watch
-Sophomore QB Alex Thomson #19. He hasn't put all his passing and running skills together so far, but when he does... watch out. He needs to have a great night for Wagner to win.
-Freshman C Kevin Foulds. Welcome to the big time, kid! Foulds takes on the crucial center position and will be facing an All Ivy DT in Padilla all night who also happens to have 34 pounds on him.
-Junior WR Andre Yevchinez #14. Short and speedy, this guy could be lethal if the Lions go back to blowing coverages.
-Senior LB Najee Harris #20 is likely to get the job of trying to shut down Columbia's Cameron Molina.
-Senior DT Mike Mentor #92 is Wagner's sack and pass rush specialist.
Streak Watch
Columbia has now lost 24 games in a row and hasn't won since beating Cornell on 11/14/2012. That was 1,060 days ago.
4 comments:
I remember how awesome the Opening Night Fordham game was in 2000. I think it was the first night game in a long time. The energy was awesome and we crushed them. Let's go guys!
Jake, I appreciate the honorable comment thank you. I try to keep it clean and am an old school guy tell it like it is.
Tonight the nightmare ends.
Tonight Columbia football continues its slow ascent toward relevancy.
Tonight is a huge step forward for the program.
Its going to be perfect night for football, under the lights.
Will you be there ?
I'm here already.
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