Tickets for Sale! Let's DO this!

With 52 days to go before the long-awaited return of Ivy League Football, a major question has been answered for fans as Columbia Football season tickets went on sale today.

I say "question" because COVID fears are rising again lately and I was beginning to worry that Ivy presidents might jump at the chance to cancel the season, or at least ban fan attendance. 

Thankfully, it looks like neither will happen. However, to keep ticket lines less crowded and make it easier to comply with COVID precautions there is a major push for fans to buy digital season tickets this year. I think it's a good move.

Look, my readers know I make a pitch for people to buy tickets and go to the games every year. But this year it's really important. We need to be together in public again, cheering on these really hard-working kids, coaches, trainers, and other staff. They have been through hell, and so have the fans in a way. It's time to celebrate just being back on the field again. 

Patriot Games

Palmer Nix

There was a time when all three of Columbia's out of conference games were against Patriot League opponents. Lehigh, Lafayette, and Bucknell were staples of the CU schedule for a long time. 

But would any of you care to guess how long it's been since the Lions played any of those above teams?

If you guessed it was Lehigh at Wien Stadium in 2013, you're right. 

In recent years, the only Patriot League staple on the Columbia schedule has been Georgetown. That's the case again this year as the Lions and Hoyas will face off in New York in week 2. 

Speaking of that, the Patriot League announced the results of its preseason media poll today and named it's preseason all-league team. 

Georgetown not only came in sixth out of seven teams in the poll, it only had one member of the all-league team in kick returner Palmer Nix.

Of course, predicting things this season after the COVID shutdown seems foolish. So all we can say is that it at least LOOKS like Columbia is not playing a powerhouse Georgetown team this year. 

Top Ten Games of the Decade #5: Magic Mike

Columbia 24 Cornell 21

November 17, 2018

Coming off the groundbreaking 8-2 2017 season, 2018 was something of a disappointment even though it did end in a winning season for the Lions, (and the team's first back-to-back winning season since 1961-62). 

But to scratch out that 6-4 finish, Columbia put together a number of exciting wins, including three out of four to finish the season. 

None was more exciting than this contest against Cornell, which combined amazing individual play with plenty of twists and turns to the final seconds. 

The Lions looked like they were going to dominate the game when they jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks mostly to a 91 yard punt return for a TD by freshman Mike Roussos. Columbia was driving for another score when a penalty killed the drive and the Big Red snuck back into the game. 

The most drama of the game seemed like it would come midway in the 4th quarter with Cornell now up 14-10. That was when the Lions marched 75 yards on a nailbiter of a drive led by another freshman, QB Ty Lenhart. The most dramatic play of that drive was a prayer of a pass on 3rd and 14 from the Columbia 21 that WR Kaleb Pitts somehow came down with. There were two more 3rd and long passes that Lenhart completed later in the drive as well. (One has to believe that the extreme confidence the Lion coaches continue to show in Lenhart was probably born on that drive). 

After Kyle Castner finished his college career by scoring the two-yard TD to give the Lions a 17-14 lead with 6:46 to go, no longtime Columbia fan believed the game was over. But when Cornell's initial attempts to get back into Lion territory failed, perhaps some of the Light Blue faithful were willing to breathe a sigh of relief.

They shouldn't have.

Because with 2:50 left and the Big Red backed up at their own 22, the Columbia secondary finally faltered and allowed a wide open WR Owen Peters to make a 48 yard grab. Cornell took a 21-17 lead with just 58 seconds to go a few plays later. 

Then one of the greatest plays in Columbia history ensued. Despite going for a the "safe" squib kickoff, Roussos scooped the ball up and wound his way through tacklers in the middle of the field for a stunning and spectacular 87-yard TD. 

But it still wasn't over.

Because of a celebration penalty called on Roussos, Columbia had to kick off from its own 15 and Cornell took over at its own 45 with 45 seconds left. But this time, the Lion secondary held and the game was over. 

I wrote immediately after the game that the contest was the most miraculous Columbia win I had ever seen. 

It still is. 

Loyola Sends Another...

Loyola High School in Los Angeles is sending Columbia Football another commit for next year in 6-5, 250 pound DL Shawn Lin. 

Lin has great size and was probably on the cusp of getting more offers when the CU coaches swooped in and netted him before that happened. Lin has a lot of upside potential. 

Lin and fellow Loyola footballer Patrick Sodl will be the 8th and 9th players from that high school to come to Columbia Football. Before Sodl's commitment, the last Loyola player to come to Morningside Heights was WR Taylor Joseph '10, who was an impact player for the Lions in his day. 

Remember, my LionFeeders database contains the names of every documented HS where Columbia Football players have graduated from before playing for CU. It's an important resource, but also a really fun backdoor way to track the progression of high school education in this country and how college admissions in general have changed. 

So our 2022 incoming freshman list has grown 50% to 3:

1. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

2. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

3. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

Sophomore Links

Gabriel Hollingsworth

Count me in as one of the early members of the club of pundits who consider this coming Ivy football season to be the biggest wildcard in league history. With just about every team sporting rosters with well over 50% newcomers, it seems like a fool's errand to try to predict the final standings with other than a very broad guess.

But I do feel confident in making one sort of prediction based on simple history: A key deciding factor this season for all eight Ivy teams will be how well each program has used this added year off to train and condition the now-sophomore players who still haven't played a game for their new schools. 

That's because what every coach tells you about incoming freshmen football classes in the Ivies is that the biggest job is getting them physically big and strong enough, and getting them ready for the transition to college life. 

The college life part is still going to be tricky, with most Ivy schools shunning on-campus living last year, (with Cornell being a notable, successful exception). But the weight room work, playbook study, and general culture-learning part of the job was something all the Ivy coaching staffs surely strove to get done with last year's freshmen. 

Does that mean we could see a bevvy of breakout stars among the sophomore class across the league? I think we could, and that could also be the case at a number of positions where freshmen don't usually break through so soon. Because after all... these guys aren't really freshmen. 

For Columbia, there are a number of sophomores who could make a major impact if in fact they've been able to use this extra transition year to get more physically and mentally ready. 

At QB, there are actually four of these sophomores and at least three of them come with high expectations. Gabriel Hollingsworth can pass and run and may even line up at other skill positions at times. Joe Green is a transfer from San Diego State with good size and arm strength. Kris Jenner also has great size and passing ability. And then there's the curious case of CU Baseball team convert E.J. Kreutzman, who at 5-11 and serious speed may play some kind of role in the CU offense as a wildcat QB. 

At RB, Joey Giorgi seems like the cream of the sophomore crop, but that's a position with a lot of depth and some exciting talent in the freshman class. 

At WR, Marcus Libman could end being the top newcomer of the entire year. Nico Valencia comes in much more under the radar than the lauded Libman, but he could be a real diamond in the rough. 

Both of the sophomore TE's look really promising in Dominic Busby and James Miller. They were both heavily recruited and are both from New Jersey, which may also have made their transition year a bit easier. Columbia desperately needs an impact player at TE this and every year.

At OL, Noah Layton had the most impressive highlight reel and Braedon Bellmer had the most impressive array of offers. If either one of them is good enough to start even one game this year, that would be very good news. 

On the DL, the most intriguing sophomore is the very large-sized David Bartholomew at 6-6 and with hands that look like they can crush a QB's head. If the CU coaches can't teach him to be effective at least at batting down passes, they should try another line of work. Savon Rawlins is from Brooklyn by way of the Lawrenceville School and he looks very athletic. How great would it be to have a Brooklyn kid starring in CU Football again? Getting back to size, Ben Corniello seemed too undersized when he committed last year, but he could be the prime example of my theory about using this extra time to beef up. The D-line is absolutely the position group where Columbia needs the most help right now, so if these guys are ready to play they will play. 

Columbia's talented LB corps will be tough to break into for playing time, but all three of the sophomores at this position look very good. First, you have to believe Anthony Roussos will make a strong go of getting on the field. CJ Brown has such blistering speed it would be a shame not to use him at least as a gunner on special teams. And some Lion-watchers continue to gush to me about Scott Rosati. 

In the secondary, breaking into the two-deep will be difficult as well. Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin's son Mason Tomlin has now been switched back on the roster from WR to DB, but the best sophomore may be Mahari Miller from Springfield, MA. 

Only an injury would push junior K Alex Felkins and 5th year senior P Drew Schmid off the field, so the only place I can see sophomores making a big impact on the special teams is at the punt or kick returner slots. There's enough speed in the sophomore class to make that a possibility. 

But this is a large crop of newcomers who the Lion coaches have had the time to prepare well beyond the usual allotted period for guys who have never seen the field in any college games. Let's see what they make of it.