Top 10 Games of the Decade #8: Lions get 1st Ivy win of Bagnoli Era

 

Oct. 31, 2015

Columbia 17 Yale 7

Head Coach Al Bagnoli took over a Columbia program in 2015 that had lost 21 straight games. They would stretch that to 24 before coasting over Wagner in week 4 in surprisingly easy fashion. 

But it just didn't feel like the Lions had turned a corner until they beat an Ivy team, and that finally happened at the Yale Bowl on a beautiful Halloween Day in week 7. 

Besides the significance of getting the Ivy losing streak monkey off their backs, the game was important for a number of other reasons.

First, it marked a changing of the guard from the talented, but oft-injured Skyler Mornhinweg at QB to then-sophomore Anders Hill. Mornhinweg had played decently in the 1st half, including ripping off a gutsy 29-yard run to set up the Lions only offensive TD of the game. But it was during this contest that Bagnoli and company seemed to first realize that Hill was possibly the answer to the team's scoring issues.

Hill took over in the 2nd half and led the two drives that would eventually end up netting the 10 points that were the difference in the final score. Hill and Mornhinweg 

Of course, the game mostly belonged to the Lion defense, who dominated the game and stuffed the Elis on the ground and through the air. Yale finished the day with negative-14 yards rushing and six sacks allowed. 

But perhaps the most definitive aspect of the game was the special teams and how they turned into the team's best unit during the course of that day alone. After giving up a punt return early the contest for Yale's only score, the Lions special teams made the difference first with a tricky 40 yard FG by Cameron Nizialek in the 3rd quarter and then with a fake FG turned into a scoring TD run by Nizialek a few minutes later. 

Pretty much since that day, Columbia's special teams have been difference makers in game after game.

The defensive star of the game was Chris Conway, a player who had his Yale commitment yanked away from him when Tony Reno took over. Conway had two sacks in the game on a day which must have felt extremely good for him. 

LionFeeder Database UPDATED

 As many of you know, I keep a database of every documented Columbia player and where he attended high school. This is to aid our recruiting efforts and to help with analytics. 

My LionFeeders database is now updated to include the incoming freshman class. The database is listed alphabetically by SCHOOL not by players' names. 

Top Games of the Decade #9

The scene after the refs finally made the call
 

Lions go to Double OT to avoid the 0-10 

November 19, 2011

Columbia 35 Brown 28 (2 OT)

By the time the final weekend of the 2011 season had rolled around, most Lions fans were entirely disgusted with the program. The 0-9 team had underachieved all season and suffered losses in stunningly new and painful ways, the worst of which was a total coaching breakdown in the Homecoming loss to Penn five weeks earlier. 

Luckily, the Columbia players still felt some motivation. It was obvious that avoiding a winless season was the prime factor, but the team that had been completely recruited by 6th year Head Coach Norries Wilson must have had an inkling that his job was seriously in jeopardy. (Indeed, he would be fired the next day). Most of the players always like Wilson very much, if not some of his assistant coaches. This is a common scenario in CU history. 

But this didn't translate into the Lions coming out of the gate strong. In a 1st half marked by sloppy play and turnovers from both teams, Brown went into the locker room ahead 21-7 and an 0-10 debacle of a year seemed to be cast in stone. 

The fumbles and missed opportunities continued through the 3rd quarter and it was still 21-7 when what everyone thought would be the final frame began. 

But the Lions finally took advantage of strip sack by Ryan Murphy on the first possession of the 4th quarter and scored on a Sean Brackett run for a TD on a 43-yard drive to make it 21-14. Then a Brown three-and-out marked by another Murphy sack led to a punt and a Lion possession on the Bear 40. That led to another CU TD care of a Brackett run and the game was tied. 

Both teams had a chance to win it in regulation, but a 41-yard Brown FG attempt was short and a 41-yard FG attempt by Columbia's Luke Eddy was blocked. 

In the first OT, Brown scored quickly but that was when Brackett really took over. He ran for a 1st down on a 4th and 1 at the 16, and then threw the game-tying TD pass to Hamiliton Garner on the next play. 

On the next possession to start the second OT, Brackett just did it all himself. All three CU plays were Brackett runs, the final one being a 16-yard dash for a TD.

But the real drama came on Brown's ensuing position. It took the Bears just two plays to get their initial first down of the second OT at the Lion 15. But three plays later, they faced a 4th and 4 at the 11. A third OT seemed inevitable after Brown completed a pass on that play to set up a 1st and goal at the 3. But the CU defense stiffened. An incomplete pass was followed by two runs that netted just two yards and the Bears had to go for it on 4th and 1. 

Then things got really weird. 

Brown's Mark Katchmer took a handoff, scampered to his right and was tackled... but where would the ball be spotted? 

The refs held off on a decision for what seemed like a half hour. 

But finally they ruled Katchmer down short of the goal line and the game was over. 

For the seniors playing in their final game, the win was a big relief coming in the most dramatic fashion. But the resolve on both sides of the ball that the Lions showed in the OT periods were also a reminder of how much more the team could have done that year. After all, Brown came into that game at 7-2 and 4-2 in the Ivies. The Bears were hardly a soft touch opponent. 

In any event, Coach Wilson was able to end his tenure at CU on a brief happy note and the seniors were spared the indignity that the Columbia senior classes of 2014 and 2015 would have to endure just two and three years later. 

Top Games of the Decade #10

Sean Brackett

As we prepare for the resumption of Columbia and Ivy League Football, there are a number of jobs I left undone during the COVID-19 lockdown that I will try to make up for now.

I want to start with something I should have begun working on the moment the 2019 season ended: a Top 10 ranking of the best Columbia games of the decade of the 2010's.

As you will see, most of the choices will be pretty obvious but I do want to share the key criteria I've used to compile my list.

The enduring importance of the game is the most important factor, followed by the quality/excitement of the game, and finally any outstanding individual effort. 

Let's start with Game #10 which checks the two latter boxes, especially the one on individual effort: 

Brackett Carries a Comeback

Columbia 20 Cornell 17 (Nov. 13, 2010, 1st Official Empire State Bowl)

QB Sean Brackett led other Lion wins in his career where his overall stats were better and the final score was more impressive. But this game was really his finest hour as a Lion because of how he personally seemed to will the win to fruition despite playing with a significant foot injury. 

Sometimes, it takes a few years to realize how meaningful a win like this game was. But not this time. As I wrote just a day after the contest, Brackett's individual effort and the nature of CU's comeback was immediately obvious to everyone.

Columbia came into the game a big favorite, with a 19-point edge on the betting sites that I had not ever seen for the Lions. But Cornell took control of the game early and Columbia looked like it had no chance to win well into the 3rd quarter. At the start of the final quarter, it was 17-3 Big Red. 

Brackett not only brought the Lions back into this game, but he did it mostly as a runner despite the foot injury. He also capped off the win with a TD-scoring leap over the goal line that seemed like the only right way for the game to end, (although there was added excitement just following the score after Cornell fumbled away the ensuing kickoff and truly icing the victory for the Light Blue). 

He finished with 151 yards rushing and a rushing TD. Passing, he went 19 for 41 for 204 yards and a passing TD. Those aren't bad stats at all, but you can't put a guy's heart in the stats. 

It's hard to believe Brackett was only a sophomore that season, and probably even harder for anyone who saw that game to believe that the promise Brackett showed up to that point didn't turn into more wins after that game. Most of that was due to factors Brackett had no control over, but this was a day when it seemed like he could control a lot of things on his own.

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention two other Lions who made that win happen. One was the great LB Alex Gross, who finished with 14 tackles and three pass breakups. DE Ryan Murphy had two sacks and harrassed Cornell's QB Jeff Mathews all day. Kicker Luke Eddy had a perfect FG & PAT day, and punter Greg Guttas punted the Lions out of trouble several times.

Oh, and the weather was perfect too!   

But time after time, it was Brackett taking off on runs to keep drives alive that won that game for Columbia. It's the kind of determination that should help him as he embarks on his new job as head coach for Waltham HS in Massachusetts this fall, even as he continues playing in the Arena Football League.

Special Special Special

Drew Schmid

It's nice to round out the last three unit forecasts with three good assessments in a row. 

And I can do that because the final group I'm looking at in this series is the Special Teams and this is a stellar group all around.

Some of the best news Columbia got this offseason came care of Punter Drew Schmid, who decided to return in 2021 for a 5th year. Schmid is more than a punter with great stats, he's also a big emotional booster for the team and has been since the day he committed. 

Kicker Alex Felkins freshman campaign in 2019 lived up to the considerable hype surrounding his abilities. He had a 51-yard FG at Princeton and a 50-yarder at St. Francis in his first collegiate game ever. I also thought his clutch FG to send the Harvard game into OT was a big deal for a freshman to pull off. Now officially a junior, the big question is will Felkins break the Ivy League longest field goal record of 54 yards currently held by a number of players, but last achieved by Yale's Tom Mante in 2009?

The return game for Columbia has been electric in recent seasons thanks to standouts like Mike Roussos and Will Allen. Both are back this season, but it's possible they won't be returning kicks and punts as much in hopes of protecting their key roles as starting WR (Roussos) and starting CB (Allen). If I had to guess though, Roussos will be deemed just too good to not use as the primary returner while Allen may be used sparingly if necessary. 

Kick coverage has been a strength for the Lions for some time, especially in the Bagnoli era. Linebackers and Special Teams coach Justin Stovall can make an argument for being Bagnoli's best assistant coach during his entire Columbia tenure. This year, he is overseeing an abundance of talent all around. 

Special Teams have played key roles in several wins for the Lions since Bagnoli took over this program, and fans can expect that to continue in 2021.