Columbia 45 Cornell 22
Why Columbia Won
Columbia's offense was dominant, averaging more than six yards per play, 13 yards per pass, and punting only once. The defense contained Cornell at the most crucial moments, and the special teams played mistake-free football.
Why Cornell Lost
The Big Red defense had no answers for the Lion running or passing attacks and while Cornell won the time of possession battle, they could not turn enough of their long drives into points.
Key Turning Points
-With 5:51 left in the 1st quarter and Columbia leading 7-0, Lion RB Joey Giorgi apparently fumbled the ball away at the Cornell 11 yard line on a questionable call. The Big Red responded with three first downs and got the ball into Lion territory, but then couldn't get a fourth 1st down when DT's Mitch Moyer and Patrick Passalacqua combined to stop Cornell QB Jameson Wang for no gain on a 4th and 1 at the CU 38.
-Columbia then responded with a almost six-minute, 13-play drive that included just one pass and ended with RB Ty'Son Edwards scoring from the one to make it 14-0 and dashing Cornell's early hopes.
-After the Big Red scored a TD to make it 14-7 at the half, the Lions got the ball first to start the 3rd quarter, facing the same steady wind it saw in the 2nd quarter. Columbia responded with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that again only included one pass. It ended with a two-yard TD run by RB Ryan Young and the Lions were back in full control of the game.
Columbia Positives
-As the point total would indicate, this was the best game of the season by far for the Lion offense. The offensive line dominated at just about every turn, producing scoring drives even when facing a stiff wind. Three of Columbia's five non-special teams TD's were on drives into the wind.
-QB Caden Bell played close to a perfect game.
-The defense did not have a perfect game, but played almost perfectly when the score was still somewhat close. 15 of Cornell's 22 points came after the Lions already had a 35-7 2nd half lead.
-It was a perfect day for the Columbia special teams; covering kicks expertly, seeing PK Alex Felkins go 5-5 on PATs (to break a school record for total PATs in a career), and 1-1 on FGs, and getting that rare onside kick return for a TD from Marcus Libman. (Incidentally, I've only seen an onside kick returned for a TD once before and it was the same part of the field with a similar bounce at Wien Stadium but that time it was by Al Bagnoli's Penn team at homecoming on 2005 against the Lions)
Columbia MVP
This was such an amazing team effort, but the offensive line was just totally in control all day. I have to give the MVP award to the OL as a unit.
7 comments:
Luke Painton just tweeted that he’s entering graduate transfer portal
Can someone get Mark Fabish to enter too?
I am an alum. Played football all 4 years, class of ‘90. I have remained in touch with the program and very active in the CFPC, which is the Columbia Football Players Club. I also follow the team very closely, watch almost every game and attend 2 to 3 games per year. Here’s a little perspective for those on this forum that have spewed vitriol toward Coach Bagnoli and his choice of assistant coaches this year:
1956-2015 Columbia had 5 winning seasons. We have now had 4 winning seasons in the last 5. We all want to win an Ivy championship and that should always be the goal. The first step toward that end is building a consistently competitive program that nobody looks forward to playing against. That proved to be an impossible task to a long line of coaches in the 50+ years before Bagnoli, but he accomplished that almost immediately. We need to stay the course and, whether it is under Coach Bagnoli, or one of his assistants after Bagnoli retires, championships will come. He has proven there’s not a better person for the job, so Coach Bagnoli should be allowed to remain the HC here until he decides he’s tired of doing it!
Hear, hear! Salient perspective for all the arm chairs.
Thank you, FB alumn!
70 now... Why not coach until 80 and the run for office! CMAWN it's time for a restart
then run for office
Yes.
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