Columbia 34 Pennsylvania 31 (OT)
Why Columbia Won
The Lions shook off an extremely poor start and they finally got their potent passing game going while their defense began creating turnovers. WR Josh Wainwright had his finest game of the season, hauling in 10 catches for 193 yards and two TD's including the game winner in overtime. QB Anders Hill was able to shake off an early hard luck interception and five sacks to get hot just in time. And the defense forced four turnovers in the course of just 18 minutes of game clock time from the middle of the 3rd quarter to the middle of the 4th.
Why Penn Lost
The Quaker offense and defense flamed out simultaneously, and at just the worst time. And while the offense finally came back to life late in the game, the defense never recovered its ability to cover the Columbia long passing attack.
Key Turning Points
-With just over 11 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Penn followed a pick-six of backup QB Ryan Suitt, (who was in for just that one play after Hill lost his helmet the play before), with a pop up on-side kick recovery at the CU 27. But after getting one 1st down to the Lion 15, safety Landon Baty forced a Justin Watson fumble that LB Michael Murphy recovered at the Columbia 15. From that point on, the Lion bleeding stopped.
-Still trailing 21-7 with 14:40 left in the 4th quarter, LB Justin Woodley picked off a Penn pass and the Lions took over at the Penn 39. On the next play, CU executed a double flea-flicker play that eventually ended in a Hill pass to Wainwright that netted 20 yards. All of a sudden, the Lion offense had come back to life. Six plays later, the score was 21-14 after goal line QB Josh Bean took it in on 4th and goal for his second TD of the game.
-Penn went three-and-out on their ensuing possession and Columbia took over at the Lion 41. On the only play of the drive, Hill found Wainwright with more than a step on the coverage and streaking down the west side of the field for a 59 yard TD pass and a tie game.
-On Penn's ensuing possession, Woodley grabbed his second interception of the game and set the Lions up with the ball at the Quaker 19. Six plays later, TE Rory Schlageter somehow kept Hill's seven yard TD pass from hitting the turf, and Columbia had its first lead of the game at 28-21 and 4:11 left in regulation.
-Penn's offense woke up after that, scoring on a 80-yard drive to tie the game and then netted a 41-yard FG in OT to retake the lead at 31-28. But after two lackluster running plays that gained a total of just one yard, Hill found Wainwright open just inside the middle of the end zone for the winning 24-yard score and 218th Street turned into Electric Avenue.
Columbia Positives
-Resilience isn't a stat in the box score, but the Lions have about as much of it as a team can have. Columbia absorbed a flurry of Penn's punches and never gave up.
-Wainwright's heroics mostly came with his fellow sensational sophomore WR Ronald Smith on the sidelines after he took a pop early in the game from a couple of Penn defenders. But he continued to get open even when it became evident he was going to be the lone deep threat.
-Despite the terrible start, the Lions out-gained Penn in total yards, had more 1st downs, won the time of possession battle, and held the Quakers to a 35% 3rd down conversion rate.
-Columbia committed only three penalties on the day.
Columbia Negatives
-The Lion pass protection was totally inconsistent, breaking down for long stretches of the game. Meanwhile, the Lion pass rush was mostly non-existent.
-The Columbia running attack is also still too spotty to give Hill the relief from the pass rush that he needs.
Columbia MVP
WR Josh Wainwright's career day wasn't just about getting open. He made key adjustments on at least two major catches in the game, including the game-winner. He stepped it up even when the Quakers must have known he was the most likely option late in the game.
While Wainwright was the clear MVP, LB Michael Murphy had a monster game with 12 tackles and 4.5 tackles for a loss for a huge total of 24 yards lost. His read and tackle of Watson on a Penn screen pass in OT went for a seven yard loss and effectively blew up the Quaker chances for a TD in the extra frame.
Woodley was also a force, playing on mostly 3rd downs only. In addition to his two interceptions, he had a key tackle for no gain and a QB hurry.
What's Next
The 5-0 Lions head to Dartmouth to take on the 5-0 Big Green next week. Not only are both teams undefeated, but Dartmouth is also an uncannily resilient team with dramatic comeback wins four weeks in a row.
11 comments:
It's good to wake up after a big win. A couple more positives--we didn't incur any stupid penalties (Penn did and one killed them)
and we contained Penn's good rushers pretty well. And, going into the season, the linebackers were a question mark. It seems to
me that the current crew is shaping up to be among our best ever.
It must have been fun to be at the game. I'm reduced to watching by satellite down here in FL and there weren't many shots of the
fans. But from what the players said after the game, the stands were full and the crowd noisy. The place must have been rocking as much as it has for a CU game in a long time.
Nothing wrong with Columbia fans that a good team won't fix. They just need something to cheer for.
Over 13000 attendance; most in 14 years. And the stands were rocking all game.
About time.
The first thing I noted when I arrived at 11:45 was how few folks seemed to be around. Would they really father bw down at the Homecoming tent pYING FOR THEIR beverages thn having free beer?
By1:15, howeverm you coulldn't easily et to the beer tavble. And I d0 so like my Homecoming crowds well-oiled.
I alsobwondered why Colimbia hadn't trained its staffers to make clear that even its cheap, "general admission" seats come with actual locations. For too much of an otherwise great day, I listened to some saying "Hey, you're in our seats" and replies of "It's general admission, so we can sit anywhere we like.: Not exactly accurate, people, an the squabblibg continued T LEAST until halftine. Even if it was nice to see such a large game crowd. (And if such a crush could would result in the annoying cowbell clangers moing far awat from me, so much the better..
Lastly here, I felt that Al bagnoli and his staff in the end clearly outcoached Penn. Especiall y in OT. Poor Penn kicker Jack Soslow made probably the best and longest kick of his life, a near-50 yard beauty. But on Columbia's own possession, Baon 3rd and 8, when Penn was likely assuming Bagnoli would eventually trout out Oren Milstein to try to match Penn's 3 point lead and thus extend overtime or lose outright to Penn, the :=Lions instead opted for all the marbles with probably our est reciver, Josh Wainwright. I honestly don;t think Penn expected such ballsiness.
I also wondered for a oment or two if the probably few thousand who roared onto te field at game's end merely wanted to congratukate the team for such an outstanding effort or to try and tear down the goalposts. If the latter, gien that he posts are steel, then those who rushed are knotheads and they all deserve no better than a C- in Art Humanities.
But most importantly, of course, it was a nagbificent, inspiring win, via which Bagnoli and his staff all earned at least this year's and next season's salaries, Plus occasion for at least a week's worth of subsequent roaring.
I am becoming a very proud Colombian!
It was so great to see the Columbia students at homecoming. They were having fun and deservingly proud of their football team.
Building Columbia pride will pay off handsomely. Alums will want to support a school that has spirit.
Szath
You need more thumb typing practice! :-)
FYI, the goalposts were steel when they both came down after the Princeton Homecoming win that ended the Streak. I was there.
I flew from HK to see this game and was rewarded with the most exciting game I have ever seen the Lions play. Their resilience is already described by many, and I want to add some gutsy 4th and goal calls that worked with our guy Bean. This is a team that can now out skill the other side. We can say stop us even when you know what is coming.
From the stands, you had to be impressed with the closing speed of Murphy as he seemed in on nearly all of the pivotal stops
I have many video clips of the after game celebration for those who were not there
Murphy’s dad played football for Penn.
Chen, can we see those clips?
Richard S, that was a new change this year. In the past, the cheap seats had actual seat numbers on them. But it was getting silly, as most CU games were drawing under 5,000 and there was no point scattering people across the grandstand (the home side alone seats 12,000 after all) when they could cluster and cheer by sitting closer together. So they just gave up on it.
This year, the General Admission seats have no seat numbers at all, no sections either other than telling you which sections not to sit in (i.e. the chairs).
Good win Lions, we Princeton alums like to see a stake driven through the Quakers every now and then (even though our football rivals, contrary to popular opinion, are Harvard and Yale). Good luck vs Dartmouth.
Happy to share clips if someone can explain how to import them into this blog....otherwise, send me your emails and I will attach them back to you...cheers
Curtis
Curtis.chen.cc@gmail.com
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