Some other points from Saturday's game that are important to note:
1) Columbia ran the ball at least 5 times on "3rd and medium" (which, in my book is anything between 3rd and 7 and 3rd and 3, inclusive), and was successful in getting the 1st down on each of those runs, including one TD.
2) CU was officially 14 for 18 on 3rd down conversions, but it was really 14 for 17 because the last 3rd down play was a kneel down.
3) The crowd at Georgetown's well-located, but tiny Cooper Field was at worst a 50/50 split between CU and Hoya fans, but it felt more like 60-40 in favor of Columbia. There have long been plans to expand Cooper Field into a much larger stadium, but it's hard to believe the team could draw much of a crowd as long as it stays at the FCS level.
4) The last time Columbia scored 40+ points in a game was week 9 at Brown in 2018 with a 42-20 win over the Bears.
Around the League
-The big shocker Saturday was Sacred Heart's comeback to beat Dartmouth in OT. I had noted in the preseason that the Big Green's graduation/transfer losses on defense were more of a challenge than anything else in Hanover. But Dartmouth may be hosting Penn at just the right time next week as the Quaker offense seems mostly listless (see below).
-Harvard's 35-28 win over Brown marked the second straight week that the Bears scored TD's in bunches late in a game that seemed over at the start of the 4th quarter. If Brown's defense can get something going, this team could pull off some wins.
-Cornell predictably disappointed at home against Yale. For the second week in a row. Eli freshman RB Joshua Pitsenberger was the biggest offensive weapon for Yale. (Yes, Columbia offered him last year).
-Penn's offense started slowly last week against Colgate, woke up in the second half, and mostly went back to sleep all day in a close win over Lafayette. The Quaker defense has played better than most expected, but the opposing offenses really aren't formidable.
-Princeton's win over Lehigh followed a similar script as the Tiger win over Stetson in week one: slowish start, and then a strong finish. It's too early to really evaluate much of the Princeton strengths and weaknesses right now.
2 comments:
Jake, you are amazing in your knowledge of Columbia Football. I agree with all your comments.
Based on the results thus far, it appears that the three best teams in the Ivy League are Columbia, Princeton and Yale. Obviously, it is still very early in the Ivy League season, but Saturday's game with Princeton could very well decide who will eventually win the 2022 Ivy League Championship. Go Lions!
Any word on the JV game that was played on Sunday? Wondering if there were any players to watch from that game.
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