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Columbia 21 Brown 12 

Why Columbia Won

The Lions ran the ball with authority and had a potent if inconsistent passing attack to complement it. Freshman QB Caleb Sanchez had a strong first start, with three TD passes and no interceptions. Meanwhile the CU defense was stellar, never giving Brown easy paths to score.

Why Brown Lost

Brown's usually potent offense sputtered all day, and the defense was lucky to only give up 21 points considering Columbia's overall production. Several failed 4th down conversion attempts in their own territory were no help to the Bears either.

Key Turning Points

-With the game surprisingly scoreless and just 2:00 left in the 1st half, Columbia began a drive at its own 27. On the third play of the drive, Sanchez hit WR Bryson Canty for a 55-yard TD that featured two Canty stiff arms of Bear defenders and 7-0 lead.

-With the score 7-3 Lions and about six minutes left in the 3rd, the Lions went for a fake punt on 4th and eight from their own 34. DE Joshua Powell took the long snap and stormed 28 yards to the Brown 38. Two plays later, Sanchez hit WR Jordan Kelly with a 12-yard TD pass that Kelly did well to corral and give CU a 14-3 lead. 

-Brown started the 4th quarter in the middle of a drive that began at the Bear 20 and got as far as the Columbia 45 when Brown decided to go for it on 4th and 1. But LB Charlie Newton stopped Bear RB Matt Childs for a two-yard loss and the Lions took over at their 47. Three plays later Sanchez found Canty again, this time for a 52-yard TD and 21-3 CU advantage. 

Columbia Positives

-The Lion defense was excellent, giving the offense time to finally figure it out and start scoring. Columbia came into the game against a high-scoring Brown team giving up an Ivy League low 17-points per game and still managed to lower that average by the day's end. 

-Sanchez showed a lot of poise and never seemed to panic or make the worst errors.

-Canty had a dominant game, falling just shy of 200 receiving yards and jiving well with a third CU QB this season. 

-WR Ethan Hebb's slide down to forego a TD in order to make sure the Lions just ran out the clock was a classy and smart play. It reminded me of the MANY times on this blog and its predecessor that all of us openly whined about Columbia's opponents running up the score, (especially Yale). It's nice to not be in that position anymore and even nicer that no one can whine that way about us given the same opportunity, 

Columbia Negatives

-The Lions are still having some red zone TD-scoring problems, which cost them a number of opportunities to put this game away much earlier. 

-Columbia's return game was a bit of an adventure with a CU player who didn't get out of the way of a bouncing punt that led to a Brown score, and an almost disastrously bad kickoff return late in the game.

Columbia MVP

-Bryson Canty showed his mastery several times in the game and made the difference when it counted. 

HISTORY ALERT

-For only the second time in 63 years, Columbia goes into the final weekend of the season with a chance to get a share of the Ivy title, (a share was already clinched in 1961 going into the last game vs.Rutgers, but the Lions had a chance to win the title outright had Harvard lost to Yale that day. The Crimson won, 27-0). If the Lions beat Cornell this coming Saturday, and Yale defeats Harvard in The Game, the Lions will be co-champions for the first time since 1961.

-Columbia has already clinched its fifth winning season in the last seven seasons. Before this run, the Lions only had three winning seasons in the previous 46 years. 

-Jon Poppe has become the first Columbia Head Coach to post a winning season in his first year in the job since Lou Little did it in 1930... 94 years ago.

-Columbia has won the last four games at Brown Stadium, and thus haven't lost to the Bears in Providence in 10 years.