Columbia 22 CCSU 20
Why Columbia Won
The Lion defense stayed in control for most of the game, with a furious pass rush that netted a team record eight sacks. The offense was inconsistent, but did just enough to hold the lead and eke out a win,
Why CCSU Lost
The Blue Devils spent most of the game unable to stop the CU pass rush, and the CCSU defense broke down just when the team needed key stops.
Key Turning Points
-With Columbia leading 10-0 early in the 2nd quarter, CCSU began a possession on its own nine. From there, the Blue Devils went on a 15-play drive that included three 3rd down conversions and ended with a 15-yard TD pass from Romelo Williams to Jadd Dolegala. CCSU made it a tight game from then on.
-On Columbia's ensuing possession, a brilliant grab by WR Ernest Robertson of a 44-yard bomb from QB Joe Green set the Lions up at the CCSU 26. But Columbia could only get to the 20 before having to try a 38-yard FG from PK Alex Felkins, which had plenty of distance and height but went wide right.
-Still leading 10-7, the Lions had another chance to add to their lead when Columbia forced a punt on CCSU's ensuing possession and took over at their own 45 with 2:46 left in the half. But after getting as far as the Blue Devil 43, Green threw his first interception of the season and CCSU got it back at its 25.
-Now it was CCSU's turn to blow an opportunity. After the Lions forced the Blue Devils to punt from their own 18, the ball rolled around at the CU 45 where it grazed off of an unsuspecting Ryan Rhoden who was tangled up blocking a CCSU player. The Blue Devils recovered at the Lion 38, but failed to get closer than the Columbia 32 before Williams was sacked for an eight yard loss.
-Early in the 2nd half, Columbia's LB Cam Dillon recorded one of his team record 5.5 sacks with a takedown of Williams in the end zone to give CU a 12-7 lead. But on the ensuing possession, the Lions could only get as far as the CCSU 37 before a sack and a dropped pass forced Columbia to punt away a chance to put the game away.
-Still leading 12-7 and with 3:16 left in the 3rd quarter, Columbia took over at its 20 after a CCSU punt. Nine running plays and one pass later, the Lions had a 1st and 10 at the Blue Devil 17. But Columbia could get only five more yards and had to settle for a 30-yard Felkins FG and a 15-7 lead.
-CCSU answered with a 13-play drive for 84 yards and a TD on 4th and 6 from the 16. But S Ben Mathiasmeier then made a great tackle to just deny Blue Devil WR Tyshaun James a 2-point conversion, and the Lions clung to a 15-13 lead.
-After the CCSU TD, Columbia took over at its own 25 with 6:55 to go in the game. RB Dante Miller took over from there, rushing for eight, two, and then 65 yards for a TD down the left sideline to give the Lions a 22-13 lead.
Columbia Positives
-The Lion pass rush, a major question mark before the season started and one that was far from answered well in the first two games of the season, added to the positive momentum from the Princeton game and exploded all over CCSU for the majority of the game. Dillon's performance was historic, but DL Paul Akere also stood out on the day. The return of senior DL Cameron Carter also helped, even though he did not register a sack on the day.
-The Columbia rushing attack, after being stifled vs. Princeton, came back much stronger thanks to Miller's big day. Fellow RB Ryan Young was not as effective, but he did have two key runs during CU's long FG drive that stretched from the 3rd to the 4th quarter.
-Columbia's defense held CCSU to just 52 net yards rushing.
-As Head Coach Al Bagnoli made clear in the post game news conference, Columbia allowed the game to get way too close and failed to put it away too many times. But longtime CU fans are all aware of multiple Lion teams in the recent past that would have lost a game like this, and that includes the Lions under Bagnoli during his first two years at Columbia.
Columbia Negatives
-Lion failures to convert red zone visits into TD's are starting to really hurt.
-Even with WR Mike Roussos back in the lineup, it's clear that Columbia hasn't yet established a real deep ball threat. Green has the arm to do some damage, but his receivers are often not open enough or are literally dropping the ball too often.
-Late in the game senior LB Justin Woodley went down with an injury and later emerged with a sling over his oft-dislocated shoulder. Columbia will need him back to remain competitive for the top spots in the Ivy League this season.
Columbia MVP
-With a well-deserved silver medal to Dante Miller and his 18-carry, 136-yard rushing performance and 65-yard TD, the MVP is clearly Cam Dillon for being a one-man wrecking crew in the CCSU backfield. We knew the Lion linebacking crew was deep and talented coming into this season, but it has more than met lofty expectations.
20 comments:
I am concerned that our WRs cannot seem to get separation and are dropping too many catchable balls; I counted three clear drops, at least one of which would have been an easy TD. Another easy TD was lost when our very promising wildcat QB overthrew a wide open receiver (our sophomore RB) by 20 yards. Those gaffes made it a far closer game than necessary. And Roussos just doesn’t seem the same to me, especially at the WR position.
But for two extraordinary plays--Ben Mathiasmeier's incredible stop of CCS's two-point attempt after touchdown and Dante Miller's 65-yard run--Columbia would have likely lost this game. What has happened to Felkins? Why the dropped passes? Gitters from a two-year layoff? Will Woodley be able to return? Cam Dillion can't do it all. Columbia has recruited great talent over the past two years. I know they're young, but Dante's first 80+ scamper down the same sideline came when he was only a freshman....
TOD HOWARD HAWKS
Good comments from Tod as usual. Possible explanations: looking past CCSU to the Penn game; a bit of a letdown after being in a position to beat Princeton but suffering from poor officiating and a late defensive breakdown; the possible impact of Lenhart leaving the team; underestimating some of the talent on the CCSU roster; and a long bus ride on game day.
I still think the offense scheming is not creative. The insistence of running between the tackles on almost every first down is hard to explain. With legitimate speed in the backfield, why not exploit it with quick pitches, jet sweeps, even a reverse? It was the Defense’s athleticism that saved the day.
It isn’t the offensive play calling but the execution. Al Bagnoli has confidence in Mark Fabish and the rest of the offensive staff for a reason. Had Hollingsworth hit the wire open man and had our WRs not dropped three balls we would have had two more TDS. And had Felkins hit his FGs from make-able distances we would have had another 6 points. Look; I am not excoriating our kids for making mistakes. Those things happen, and all the coaches can do is minimize those mistakes. But if the staff thinks that a 230 pound RB who is low to the ground should run inside, then I am in no position to second guess them.
Good analysis from Jake. A few comments on the offense.
In my view, Young’s “ineffectiveness” has little to do with him. It’d due to running the same predictable play up the middle ad infinitum with very little line support. Those few short tough key runs he made were largely the result of his own efforts. Fabish still refuses to make any adjustments that I can see. A 5’9” 230 pounder needs quick hitters between the tackles not slow developing, pick your hole plays that Fabish favors.
Green should get a lot of credit for his performance. Too often he had to rush his throws as a result of mediocre pass blocking. The O line while not giving up sacks just didn’t seem to hold their blocks long enough. Greens performance also remains hampered by Fabish’s refusal to attack the middle of the field with short passes. With a 6’ 4” QB, throwing over the middle shouldn’t be a problem. I also don’t understand why Fabish had Green throw so many passes of 15 yds or so when a 5 to 7 yd pass would do. And yes, Fabish couldn’t resist running his horizontal WR screen on a crucial 3rd and 3 in the red zone. (This is the same play which ended Wainwright's season on the same field a few years back) . It failed and killed the drive. Give it up already.
I think (and hope) a lot of our dropped passes this season are due to fact that Green had to unload the ball a bit early because of the pass rush and this has hampered our guys from getting a bit more open and In a better position to make the catch. Shorter routes, quicker drop backs and improved line play should fix this.
The good news is all of this is fixable. But for this to happen it seems the direction will have to come from the top.
Sorry about Lenhart.
From your Blog entry of 10/20/19:
Columbia MVP
-Despite the interceptions, Ty Lenhart showed a great combination of leadership and athletic skill, throwing for a TD and running for two others on a total of 95 rushing yards on the day. Lenhart seems to have made the case to keep the starting job.
Leonlion
Lenhart was a good player. But the coaches must have concluded that Green had the edge because he is a better passer. Maybe the issue is not so much that Green was starting but that Hollingsworth was going to be the wildcat QB in place of Lenhart going forward, but that is just a guess on my part. In any event I think we owe it to Lenhart to wish him well for what he had accomplished for the program.
Agree w/Old Lion. Lenhart was thrown into the fire as a sophomore and did well. Sorry that he left.
Leonlion
I think one thing that is being overlooked is the loss of right tackle David Sawyer on the second drive of the game. The offense was rolling up til that point but stalled out with him out. Then after his come back in the 4th quarter they scored on 2 of the 3 possessions he was in.
With just four games under his belt, sophomore transfer Joe Green has already established himself at Columbia as a very accurate passer with tremendous range. I believe he will continue to improve from game to game. Regarding our wide receivers, I believe we have excellent talent in Libman, Robertson, Meyers, Ertz, Kabus and others, and they also will improve with time. Finally, it seems to me that the Columbia Football Team has at least three or four other very talented young wide receivers on the roster who we have not heard from yet. I am not surprised by that because over the years it has taken nearly all our freshman receivers at least a few games to get acclimated to college football.
Stan Waldbaum
Jake, what happened to my comment?
Strange Days Have Found Us.... Opening the game with a deep pass....Matiasmeyer missing a tackle in the flat.... Dillon with multiple sacks.... Fabish opening up the air attack...Then switching correctly to the running game in half 2....Love the defense and Ferraro's substitutions on the D... Coach Al with the spot on.... we should have scored more points...Comments about Green....spot on too!
Anybody know why Valentas is having such a quiet season, and why he is not in the starting lineup? Also, my take on the WRs, apart from the drops, is that they are not getting separation, which might be helped with more crossing patterns. I would give up on the WR screens, which never go anywhere and are actually dangerous plays.
Not one slant pass the whole game. What happened to QB draws.
RAL '58
The Lions will murder Pennsylvania on Saturday. Mark it down.
Green throws really well but is not a runner. I don't think the QB draw is part of the playbook. I do agree with posters here that the reluctance to throw over the middle is frustrating. We keep throwing crummy WR screens that go nowhere. Painton had a nice TD catch vs. Princeton but we never look for the TE over the middle.
Jesse - hope you're right and potential exists. But we will have to play much better than we did vs CCSU to get the win. Squeaked by a bad team.
Are we to infer that Lenhart left the team because he lost the starting and the goal line roles? There were no other reasons?
With injuries an inevitable part of football, Lenhart still had potential to contribute to the team.
Mixed feelings about this, but must respect his decision
Purely a guess but if you play in four games does that cost you a year of eligibility? I imagine he wanted to play another year and will be a grad transfer somewhere else next fall. Good player who will be missed.
@chen1982 there are thousands of student-athletes who are using the portal to finish out their educational goals.
In Ty's case this family decision will have him two years to obtain a graduate degree somewhere, with his remaining eligibility. Under the circumstances as seen through the first three games, may have been best.
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