Why Columbia Won
The Lion defense and special teams played a dominant game and the offense was solid enough to cash in.
Why Brown Lost
The Bears gained a decent amount of yards in the air and didn't play badly on defense, but they never really threatened at any time to take the lead. Brown finished with just 61 rushing yards and had three kicks blocked.
Key Turning Points
-With 8:46 left in the 1st quarter, a bad exchange on a handoff lef to Columbia fumble that Brown recovered at the CU 46. But the Lion defense stepped it up and forced a three-and-out and the best chance the Bears had to gain real momentum died right there.
-After Brown punted following that three-and-out, Columbia took over at its own 13 with 7:47 in the quarter. The Lions then began a 13-play drive that ended with a Josh Bean push over the goal line for a one-yard TD and a 7-0 Columbia lead.
-Still leading 7-0 but struggling to gain consistency on offense, Columbia got a major boost with 4:04 left in the hald from the special teams when Tyler Holmes blocked Ryan Kopec's punt and Justin Woodley easily recovered it in the end zone for a TD.
-With 52 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, Brown threatened to make things interesting by scoring a TD on a 75-yard drive to put the score at 17-6. But the Lions answered again with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that featured a 22-yard run by QB Anders Hill on a 4th and one from the Brown 43. The score came on a six-yard TD pass from Hill to WR Josh Wainwright that gave the Lions a 24-6 lead and also gave Wainwright the single-season record for receiving yards in CU history.
Columbia Positives
-Every key aspect of the special teams was strong. Connor Heeb blocked a FG, Wilson blocked that punt and recovered it for a TD, and Alex Holme blocked an extra point. Parker Thome averaged 44 yards per punt with five of his seven landing inside the Brown 20. Four out five Columbia kickoffs were touchbacks.
-The Lion defense had eight tackles for a loss and didn't allow any big home run ball-type plays.
-With the Columbia offensive line suffering from injuries, the long passing game wasn't able to play the kind of role it did earlier in the season. As a result, the Lions developed a decent screen passing game that resulted in a couple of big gainers throughout the game.
Columbia Negatives
-The Lion offense was not able to finish enough drives with scores.
-Hill was sacked six times.
Columbia MVP
With 13 catches for 127 yards and a TD, Josh Wainwright helped bail out the Lions offense on a number of occasions Saturday. It's fitting he broke a 35-year old Columbia record in a game where he made the ultimate difference.
6 comments:
We need to look at the end of the Harvard game to appreciate how close the Lions came to sharing this year's Ivy championship with Yale.
Even after the shocking 12-minute span that saw Harvard score 21 unanswered points, Columbia received a Harvard punt at the 50 yard line, with 3:24 in the 4th quarter, trailing by only seven, 14-21.
After four completions for 26 yards, a run for no gain, then two incompletes, Columbia faced a 4th & 10 at the 24. Incredibly, Hill ran for 11 yards and picked up the 1st down, and the Lions were in business at the 13, with 57 seconds left in regulation. A pass interference on Harvard then gave Columbia 1st &10 at the Harvard 8. But, our dream died there, as the next four plays were a 2-yard sack, a clock-stopping spike, then two incomplete passes, giving Harvard the ball with 24 seconds to run out.
A Columbia touchdown, then a win in overtime, all seemed within reach in those final moments, indeed seemed to offer one of those unforgettable sports sequences that would prove that this was a team of destiny, and would have made this wonderful season truly historic.
I know I was looking forward to the 2017 season last summer, but now I really can't wait for 2018. Until then, thanks to all the members of this team, thanks to Coach Al and his staff, and thanks to Jake for hosting this blog.
I would note that Cam Roane made a few beautiful plays. Best pass defense skills in the IL. He looks like he can play on Sundays.
Under your Columbia Positives side of the ledger I would include the running of Chris Schrorer who was playing behind an injured
O-Line. He made a significant number of yards after contact and seemed to fall forward on most plays. One wonders why he didn’t start every game this year ? It was comical Old Lion to watch Brown avoid Roane’s side of the field on practically every play they could . The Brown QB even audibled out a few times !
Great season!! At 6-0 some of us may have gotten a little ahead of ourselves (at least I did). Then after losing two games, I had a nightmare about us losing the last four. But the Lions ended with two good victories. We do have some key players to replace. But there's a lot of talent among the remaining players. Oddly, I am more concerned about Roane and Hyeamang than the QB and running backs. But, I am confident the coaches will figure it out. Last year, we were concerned about replacing 3 terrific linebackers; we did that and more. I am eagerly looking forward to next year, just hope that all the injured Lions have speedy and full recoveries.
Saturday's final game of the season appealed to my neo-Dualist soul. On the one handm yes, by gosh and golly, we won.
On the other, however, it seemed somewhat anti-climactuc. I'd have gone home happy with "just" a 7-3 record and game play itself often struck me as somewhat listless. There certainly wasn;t the crowd size or energy I'd seen at the Harvard game. And both the Princeton games were more fun to watch,
I especially expected :more: at game's end. Some rallying point to carry us into next season. Maybe even Bagnoli, Fabish and other coaches on their player' shoulders. It'd also have been nice, maybe, to have had Peter Pilling handing out glasses of at least prosecco, but perhaps too MLB's playoff system has spoiled me.
Anyway, it was still, above all, very, very "real,: And a hell of a long time coming. I ony wish Billy Campbell could have seen it and that Diane Murphy ad Ray Tellier did in fact witness it.
Lastly, keep whoever became the game announcer over the course of the home season. He's much better than his predecessors were. Clear, direct and informative withiut ever getting gusty.
Correction on Key Turning Points
It was Not Justin Woodley ,but Senior TYLER HOLMES That blocked the Brown punt ,and Then Justin Woodley recovered it and made the touchdown.
Judy Ocasio Holmes
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