Scouting Georgetown

Well before this season started, Columbia fans circled the home opener against Georgetown as the most winnable game of 2015. Now that the Lions have one game under their belts and Georgetown has three, that hasn't changed... but there are some changes to the way the Hoyas look now compared to preseason expectations.

Offense

The Hoyas like to pass the ball and senior QB Kyle Nolan can be a great weapon at 6-6 and 235 pounds. But he's inconsistent, (if he weren't he'd be playing at a huge program with his size), and the reasons he passes so much most of the time is because Georgetown's running game isn't strong enough inside.

That said, primary RB Jo'el Kimpela is a talented senior with a good number of 100-yard games on his record against teams like Brown and Fordham last year.

The biggest potential challenge for Columbia's still-developing pass defense will probably be junior WR Justin Hill, who had 108 receiving yards against Dartmouth last week.

The good news is the GU O-line is suspect. The Hoyas will not have a chance to win the game Saturday if it doesn't improve its blocking up front. Having to pass 40+ times per game with a weak O-line is a bad combination.

Defense

The 1-2 Hoyas seem to induce a lot of mistakes from opposing offenses, but perhaps that's just a product of early season jitters. Right now, Georgetown is doing a better job against the pass than the run. That's because of some very good linebackers and safeties who work well together. They made Dartmouth QB Dalyn Williams look a little lost last week at times, but still didn't get him to make a huge mistake.

One of the best players overall for the D has been junior LB Leo Loughery, who's making a lot of tackles and also breaking up passes. Senior LB Matt Satchell is the other part of that strong 1-2 punch at linebacker that Columbia needs to be ready to counter.

Special Teams

Kicker Henry Darmstadter has been perfect on all his kicks this season. Punter Harry McCollum has been booming his kicks, but often out-kicking his coverage. Kickoff specialist Ben Priddy doesn't have endzone distance and could provide some opportunities for the explosive Alan Watson. GU's punt and kick returners are somewhat dangerous at times, but haven't exploded for a big one yet.

Prized Prospects UPDATED

John Fischer


6-3, 290-pound O-lineman John Fischer from Springfield, Illinois' Sacred Heart-Griffin HS has committed to the Lions.

Based on my database of Lion football feeder schools, Fischer will be the first Sacred Heart-Griffin player to come to Columbia Football.

Fischer had numerous offers from other schools, including an invitation to walk on at Stanford.

That brings our list of confirmed incoming freshmen for 2016 at 13, but we know there are at least two more out there we have not been able to confirm.

UPDATE: We now know the name of one of our other previously unknown new commits. It's 6-3, 230-pound TE/DE Ben Hill from Christian Brothers HS in Memphis, TN.

Hill will be the first Christian Brothers, (Memphis), grad to come to Columbia football.

Here's the list of our 14 known commits for 2016:

1) Parker Coogan OL/DT 6-2 270 lbs. Kingwood HS Houston, TX

2) Matt Dame QB 6-2 185 lbs. Suncoast HS Riviera Beach, FL

3) Danny De Lorenzi LB 6-3 230 lbs. Bergen Catholic HS, Oradell, NJ 

4) John Fischer OL 6-3 290 lbs. Sacred Heart-Griffin HS Springfield, IL

5) Alex Gibson RB 5-10 195 lbs. Central Bucks High School East Doylestown, PA

6) LinDon Harris DE 6-2 215 lbs. Sidwell Friends Washington, DC

7) Ben Hill TE/DE 6-3 230 lbs. Christian Brothers HS Memphis, TN

8) Hogan Irwin RB 5-10 180 lbs. Central Cathedral HS San Diego, CA

9) Michael Murphy LB 5-11 194 lbs. Plant HS Tampa, FL

10) Lamine Nouck-A-Nwal DE/OL  6-4 250 lbs. Central Bucks High School East Doylestown, PA

11) Hunter Petlansky QB 6-2 225 lbs. Modesto Central Catholic HS Modesto, CA 

12) Alex Robin DT 6-0 260 lbs. Vestavia Hills HS Vestavia Hills, AL 

13) Tanner Thomas RB 5-10 183 lbs. Farragut HS Knoxville, TN 

14) Jonathon Webster DB  6-0 180 lbs. Eastside Catholic HS Sammamish, WA

Closing the Book on Fordham

This is the time not only to make our final conclusions about the Fordham game, but also say goodbye to the series between the two teams for the foreseeable future. But there are just a few more important points to be made:

-Two deeps are notoriously unreliable but it turns out our two deep was as accurate as I’ve ever seen for Columbia. More importantly, this two-deep is well… deep. We’re seeing a lot of depth and multiple looks not just on the defensive line but also at QB, RB, WR, etc. Even the best Columbia teams of the last 50 years have never had depth as a strong suit, this could be the change we’ve waited so long for on that front.

-Speaking of that depth, Columbia seems to have the makings of a good 1-2 punch at RB with Alan Watson and Cameron Molina. The key is winning, not stats, and I see no signs of either of these upper classmen getting a diva-like attitude about their positions. The QB job splitting between Skyler Mornhinweg and Anders Hill also provides lots of good results from keeping opposing defenses on their toes to cutting down the chances for injuries. The many different WR’s and TE’s who got into the game was also nice to see since none of that shuffling was due to injury or ineffective play. John Hunton’s two big catches and Scooter Hollis’ emergence as a true go-to guy for both QB’s really stood out.

-How refreshing was Al Bagnoli's postgame press conference? It had some substance, and it is was also free of the bizarre and often hostile attitudes we’ve seen from some of his predecessors here at CU.

-Finally, let’s not completely close the book on Fordham forever. It’s important to note that playing Fordham was not ruled out, but playing them first every season was. It’s an important difference for a number of reasons that include our preparedness and the chances of getting kids injured and lost for essentially an entire season.

In other News…

-I hope most of you got a chance to see the end of the Miami-Jacksonville game yesterday. The game was won by Jaguar placekicker Jason Myers. Does his name sound familiar? It should, because Myers faced the Lions back in 2012 when his Marist College Red Foxes fell to Columbia by a 10-9 score. What was the difference in the game? Lion DT Wells Childress blocked Myers PAT to preserve the win. You can’t make this stuff up.

-Javier Loya ’91 continues to rise in stature in the business and possibly the political world. Here's the latest account. Here’s the latest account of an event where Loya drew raves. He’s also a part-owner of the Houston Texans, where Jeff Adams ’12, is starting on the offensive line. 

-I just learned that the reason why the Penn-Villanova game was moved up to this coming Thursday night was because of the Papal visit to Philadelphia. So this season, we have one Ivy game moved up two days for the Pope and another Ivy game moved back three hours for Rosh Hashanah.

This is truly an ecumenical league.

Falling Forward

Fordham 44 Columbia 24


Why Fordham Won

The Rams had two weapons Columbia could not contain: RB Chase Edmonds and 6-8 TE Phazahn Odom. QB Kevin Anderson was also extremely effective most of the game. But whenever Columbia challenged, Anderson was able to find Edmonds or Odom for big gainers or scores. Meanwhile, the Fordham defense bent but did not completely break.

Why Columbia Lost

The Lions had stellar moments against the 40-point favorite Rams, but they could not consistently perform well enough to win. As you'd expect in a game where the opponent scores 44 points, Columbia was especially unable to stop Fordham on key 3rd down plays as the Rams converted eight of 13 3rd downs overall.

Key Turning Points

-Columbia intercepted Anderson on a tipped pass on the third play from scrimmage in the game. But the Lions failed to capitalize on the turnover as a 41-yard FG try was wide right.

-After Columbia made it 28-24 going into the 4th quarter, the Rams calmly moved the ball 79 yards on 10 plays and never even faced a 3rd down. The TD drive grabbed the momentum away from the Lions for good.

Columbia Positives

-The Lions came into a packed and hostile Jack Coffey Stadium on Fordham's Homecoming day as 40-point underdogs. They entered the 4th quarter trailing only by 28-24 and with the momentum in their favor.

-The offensive and defensive lines both outplayed the opposition. The O-line did not give up a sack, while Columbia recorded five sacks officially, but it was more like eight or nine in reality. Columbia's two long TD drives were almost all because of stellar O-line play, with even a few pancakes and other blocks that noticeably blew large Ram defenders several yards off the play. The D-line play was so strong that different players made major impacts on a rolling basis.

-QB Skyler Mornhinweg was a revelation. His sweet passing motion and quick release led to a 21-25 day and only one INT that came during virtual garbage time at the end of the game. He also ran for two TD's with noticeable determination.

-Alan Watson's 98-yard kickoff return for a TD was a great combination of blocking and speed. It was also the Lions' first KO return for a TD in 10 years, (the last one was by Prosper Nwockocha '06, and it was coincidentally at Fordham and into the same end zone.)

-The extreme upgrade in coaching was evident throughout the game. Not only were the players stronger, but they also showed discipline by holding blocks and keeping penalties to a minimum. The work that went into the adept shuffling of skill players was evident throughout as the Mornhinweg-Anders Hill rotation at QB was effective and seems like it could be lethal against most other opponents. Columbia's final TD drive of the game was the best example of good game management as the final 5-6 plays were started on quick snaps as the CU coaching staff alertly noticed Fordham did not have the right defense on the field.

Columbia Negatives

-The biggest issue was defending the pass, which the Lions did not seem to be able to do consistently downfield. Not too many Columbia opponents will feature a quick 6-8 TE to defend, but that was the Lions' job Saturday and they could not do it.

-Playing with a new center who had never played the position before being inserted in the role a week ago, there were a few too many bad snaps into the shotgun. But all things considered, it wasn't a terrible first showing and the blocking up the middle was the best Columbia has seen in years.

Columbia MVP

-Because the D-line play featured so many strong performances, I have to give the award to the entire unit. At times in the game, senior Toba Akinleye was dominating. Later, it was senior Hunter Little or sophomore Dominic Perkovic. But everyone on the line contributed to often make a monster-sized Fordham O-line look over-matched. Meanwhile the Columbia O-line almost deserves this award too as it looked dominant at times as well. At any level of football, you'll win a lot of games if you control the line of scrimmage as often as the Lions did against the Rams.

Game Day Open Thread

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