Busy Weekend Update

New Commit

First off, 5-10 160-pound DB Miron Magee from Lake Highlands HS in Dallas has committed to Columbia. He had offers from Coastal Carolina, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi Valley State, and Arkansas State. 

Magee will be the third Lake Highlands grad to come to Columbia Football, but the first since Owen Hill '95. 

So the list of known commits grows to six:

1) Rodrigo Diaz-Martorella DE/TE 6"4 255 lbs. Miami Palmetto HS Miami, FL 

2) Liam Donagher DB 6"2 200 lbs. Grafton Memorial HS/Choate (PG Year) Grafton, MA

3) Miron Magee DB 5"10 160 lbs. Lake Highlands HS Dallas, TX

4) Emanuel Nazy OL 6"4 280 lbs. Hackensack HS/Don Bosco Prep Hackensack, NJ

5) Casey O'Sullivan TE/DE 6"3 245 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

6) Caleb Solomon DB 6"1 180 lbs. Miramar HS Miramar, FL

Saturday Scrimmage

As much as we're all starved for some solid information about the 2023 Lions, (especially with a still not-updated roster), I don't want to put too much emphasis or time into a report on yesterday's scrimmage vs. D-III Montclair State. So, I will keep it to a series of bullet points:

-Let's not bury the lead, freshman WR Titus Evans was the MVP of the scrimmage for Columbia. He made a great and difficult catch on a long bomb, a tough grab in traffic for a TD, and a great run after the catch in traffic for another TD. 

-The other lead is that QB's Caden Bell and Joe Green did not play. Neither did WR's Bryson Canty and Marcus Libman, RB Joey Giorgi, and some other key starters. None of them seemed injured; they were just being kept out of the action. 

-On top of the non-updated numbers on the roster, they used special new red jerseys for the kickers just for the scrimmage. Thus, it was hard to tell who was kicking at any given time. But the kicker wearing #5 yesterday was clearly superior on punts, and he made a 39-yard FG with some room to spare. 

-All the QB's not named "Bell" or "Green" got into the scrimmage. Presumed #3 QB A.J. Simpkins looked much more mobile than he did last year. He and all the other QB's had what I would call mixed performances.

-The offensive line seemed to play well, but there's really no way to tell definitively right now. 

-Sophomore WR Edan Stagg was one of the busiest players throughout the scrimmage, getting a big number of targets and fielding punts and kickoffs. He made some nice grabs and was the more reliable of the two players fielding kicks. 

-A fun moment occurred during the special teams period when sophomore DL Owen Thomas grabbed a blocked FG out of the air and lumbered all the way down the field for the TD. 

-I'm guessing the DL wearing #42 was sophomore Joshua Powell, and when he was playing Left End and junior Justin Townsend was at Right End, the pass rush they put on all sides was formidable. Of course, they each only played for a series or two. 

-Junior DL John Martin is still one of the biggest guys on the field, but he has clearly lost more weight and looks a lot faster and more spry as a DT.  

-It looked like freshman OL Jalen Campbell was getting a lot of time playing with the first line O-line. But again, who the heck knows with a roster with all kinds of player number inaccuracies still on it.

-Some other players who caught my eye simply by being on the field included sophomore DB Cobe Crews, who really dwarfs all the other DBs out there, transfer junior WR Marcus Lenz, who made one the more exciting catches and runs on the day, and some nice scrambles and passes from junior QB Austin Grier. 

-I know we complain about how late the season starts for Ivy teams. But even though it was a mildly warm and pleasantly breezy day in Manhattan yesterday, inside Wien Stadium the sun was baking down on everyone and it was simply too darn hot. Here's to starting the real season in mid-September!

-A good number of Montclair State fans and family attended the scrimmage and cheered for their guys like it was the Super Bowl. It was only mildly annoying, but the ones I spoke to during and after the game were very nice. 

Felkins to the Rescue

So, it turned out Columbia transfer PK Alex Felkins did NOT get the start for Penn State last night vs. West Virginia in Happy Valley. But the reality seems to have been even better for him by the end of the night. 

After the actual starter missed two field goal attempts, Felkins was put into the game and he made a short FG and his two PAT attempts nicely. I'd guess he's earned the starting job now.