In the Clutch (part 2)

Hollingsworth Powers In

The stunning 19-0 win over Dartmouth was obviously the most impressive win of the season for the Lions, but the fact that the Big Green was never really in the game makes it a little harder to pinpoint the one clutch play of the contest. Luckily, there was a statement moment when QB Gabriel Hollingsworth plowed through a would-be tackle by Dartmouth LB Jalen Mackie and twisted himself into the end zone for a TD. The score gave Columbia a 10-0 lead and the Big Green never recovered. 

Young Wears Many Hats

A week after the big win in Hanover, the Lions lost control of the game at Yale Bowl despite a game filled with clutch moments from RB Ryan Young. Two weeks later, Young was responsible for the biggest clutch play in Columbia's comeback win over Brown. With the Lions trailing 14-6 in the 3rd quarter, Young did his job playing the role as a potential backup WR on a 3rd and long play that required QB Joe Green to roll out right. Not only did Young smartly get back in bounds after he was pushed out by a Bear defender, but he made the catch of Green's pass and rumbled down the sideline for a 60-yard TD. 

It should be noted that WR Mike Roussos' clutch punt return, and clutch diving TD catch earlier in the game were also very close to being the most important plays of the game for CU. And the Hollingsworth-to-Roussos-to-Brandon Radice-back-to-Hollingsworth double flea flicker pass for a two-point conversion after Young's TD was also a super clutch play. But remember that for Young's TD to happen he had to 1) make his initial block before crossing the line of scrimmage, 2) run his route properly, even though he knew he was probably the third or fourth target option, 3) make sure to get right back in bounds properly after being pushed out, and 4) make the catch and keep from stumbling out of bounds before reaching the end zone. 

Dante's Final Inferno

There were a lot of highlight reel plays in Columbia's season finale 34-26 win over Cornell. But the most clutch play was the 42 yard, hesitation-then-sprint TD run up the middle by RB Dante Miller to give the Lions their first lead of the game early in the 2nd half. One of the things that made it so special was the fact that it was up the middle when just about all of Miller's other big TD runs this season were to the outside and along the sidelines. 

A close second was Will Allen's interception and long return later in the game that set up Columbia's final TD. And of course both Bryson Canty and Wills Meyer snagged nice one-handed TD grabs. 

In the Clutch (part 1)

While I've noted that the 2021 CU Football season was filled with highlight reel plays from both the offense and the defense, I'd like to focus on the clutch plays, (not all of them spectacular in style), that defined each of Columbia's seven wins. 

Here's a look at the most clutch plays from the first four victories:

Green's first big conversion

Columbia's biggest blowout win of the year came in week 1, but only after the Lions spotted Marist a 14-0 lead on a big punt return and a long TD bomb. Many may point to QB Gabriel Hollingsworth's nice 15-yard TD run to finally get the Lions on the board as the key clutch play of that game for CU. But I thought QB Joe Green's 18-yard pass to WR Wills Meyer on the 4th and 5 the play just before Hollingsworth's score was the real turning point in the game. It was a very pinpoint pass to a covered Meyer, and he also made a nice grab of a bullet from Green. 

Ben Swipes a Big One

The key clutch play in Columbia's 35-24 win over Georgetown the following week is probably more of a consensus choice among Lions fans. That would be Ben Mathiasmeier's crucial interception and 68-yard return of GU QB Pierce Holley's pass in the 3rd quarter. Columbia was clinging to a 21-17 lead at the time and the Hoyas were on a promising drive with a 1st down at the Lion 30 on the play. It wasn't just a lucky pick for Mathiasmeier either. He read the QB very well and put himself in great position to make the interception. Four plays later, CU scored a TD to make it 28-17. Mathiasmeier would grab another interception to end the game. 

Cam in the Clutch

Cam Dillon's record-setting five-sack performance vs. Central Connecticut in Columbia's 22-20 week four win was filled with clutch plays. In fact, it's hard to choose just one of his sacks as the most clutch play of the game:

His first sack came on CCSU's opening drive of the game on a 4th and 7 at the Lion 27. 

His second sack ended a CCSU drive in the 2nd quarter when the Columbia lead was just 10-7. 

His third sack came on CCSU's very next play from scrimmage after a Joe Green interception seemed to have shifted the momentum completely to the Blue Devils.

After another Lion turnover on the ensuing punt, Dillon and fellow LB John Harris combined on a clutch sack to end a CCSU drive that had gone as far as the Columbia 32. 

His fourth sack came on CCSU's next possession, now in the 3rd quarter, and it was for a safety that provided the ultimate two-point margin in the game. 

His fifth and final sack came later in the 3rd quarter and snuffed out a CCSU drive. 

I guess if I had to pick just one, I'd say the safety sack was the most clutch play in that game for the Lions. But Cam was the difference, period. 

Dante's Answer

Columbia seemed to be dominating the Homecoming contest vs. Penn in the early going. And when Paul Akere nailed Penn QB John Quinnelly for a brutal sack midway through the 2nd quarter, it looked like CU was about to make the Quakers go away. But Mike Roussous muffed the ensuing punt, and Penn then took advantage with a 30-yard TD drive to stunningly take a 7-3 lead. 

Columbia needed an answer. And the Lions got one from RB Dante Miller on the very next play from scrimmage in the form of an electrifying 75-yard TD run along the east sideline for a 10-7 lead. It wasn't just the most clutch play of that game, but it may have been the most clutch play of the season for CU. 

BREAKING: Green Named Rookie of the Year

Columbia QB Joe Green has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, the first Lion to earn that title since Alex Gross in 2007.

The rest of the 2021 All Ivy honorees are listed here.

Final Report Card

Al Bagnoli

Overview

First, last, and always we have to remember how rare and precious winning seasons are for Columbia. I have been following the team for 34 seasons and this was only the fifth winning year I've experienced. It was only the sixth of the last 50 seasons. It was also only the fourth Ivy conference winning season over those 50 seasons. 

The team showed some incredible resilience in a lot of games. Five of the seven wins were come-from-behind efforts, and three saw the Lions overcome deficits of two scores. Adjustments on both sides of the ball were evident in every game; the best part of the overall coaching job this year. 

The team's emotional strength was very evident in the final two weeks of the season; making sure Columbia finished strong and didn't pack things in like they appeared to do in bad losses to Brown and Cornell to finish out 2019. 

There was an embarrassment of riches of highlight reel entries, even from the games CU lost. Columbia games were entertaining to the last. 

There is no doubt this season will provide an overall boost to the Lion recruiting efforts this off season and beyond. The cliche "this is a program on the rise" is actually not a cliche in Columbia's case. 

Head Coach Al Bagnoli and Athletic Director Peter Piling, (who pulled off an amazing Hail Mary to get Bagnoli here), deserve the credit for this. 

Bagnoli's W-L record at Columbia is now 29-31. The last CU head coach to coach 60 games was Norries Wilson, who went 17-43. 

Bagnoli now has three winning seasons at CU. The last Columbia head coach to have at least three winning seasons was Lou Little, who coached his last game 65 years ago. 

If the Lions win an Ivy title under Bagnoli, or even if they win it with the players he recruits, there needs to be a statue built in his honor at the Baker Athletic Complex.

The 5th year seniors who were a part of this team from 2017 through 2021 went 24-16 in their careers. That's the best record for a graduating class since 1948; 73 years ago. 

The recruited talent is better and is being developed better than in the past. 

There is still some work to do to get the Lions into championship caliber. But it is not an impossible dream anymore. 

Best Surprises and Improvements

When asked by other Ivy football insiders about Columbia's chances this season, my quick answer this summer was: "If you believe football games are won in the trenches, then the Lions are probably going 5-5 at best." That assessment was based on the fact that Columbia had a little more than the usual number of questions about the offensive line and an enormous amount of doubts about the defensive line coming into this season. 

As it turned out, both lines outperformed. The Lions may not get a big number of All Ivy honorees from either line, but the numbers tell the story. Columbia's OL gave up the second fewest sacks in the league and came in second in the league in rushing with the league's overall top rushing yardage gainer (Dante Miller). Goal line offense was very strong all year and despite working with a brand new QB they never saw in person until this summer, that new QB was never consistently harassed by opposing defenses. The defense ended up pressuring opposing QB's extremely well and performing well enough on run defense to force those opponents to pass regularly if they wanted to beat the Lions. Paul Akere was the best new starter on the D-line, but there were other standouts in the large rotation of players up front. It's true that the D-line play was very augmented by Columbia's premiere linebacking crew, but the linemen still held their own and had to be effective to give those linebackers the chance to pass rush effectively. 

Of course, the play of Joe Green at QB was just as important as the upgrade in line play. Green was a huge question mark for all the reasons many have noted, including not playing in any games since 2018 in high school, not working out with the team until training camp, and coming off an injury. But also we must remember that the coaches were pretty committed to Ty Lenhart coming into this season, and Green clearly changed their minds. Since Green's best quality this season was ball protection, (he threw just three INTs all season long and just one per every 88 passes and no lost fumbles), and ball security was Lenhart's biggest problem, the difference was striking. Green's arm seems very good, and his rollout ability is excellent. One can only hope more time with the coaches will result in Columbia milking his talent for more excellent results going forward. As it is, the seven wins he already has under his belt as a starter put him on track to finish as one of the most successful Lion QB's of all time. 

Dante Miller rose from being just an occasional threat to a leading RB with game breaking abilities in every game. His long TD runs made key differences in the wins over CCSU, Penn, and Cornell. And it's been ages since a Lion RB led the league in total rushing yards. Fellow RB Ryan Young also had an upgrade of a season, even if he was sometimes overshadowed by Miller's highlight reel heroics. Young's best game was against Yale in a losing effort, but he was stellar in the wins over Marist, Georgetown, and Brown. 

It took awhile, but Columbia's wide receiving corps finished the season looking just about as dangerous as it did during the all-to-brief period when both Josh Wainwright and Ronald Smith were healthy and on the field together. Sophomore Wils Meyer missed a number of games, but seemed like he was Green's favorite target when he was healthy. Marcus Libman did yeoman's work as the possession receiver in almost every game. And Bryson Canty emerged as a star at the very end of the season. All of this came to be while the expected leader of the WR crew, Mike Roussos, missed the first two games and never got heavily targeted in the passing game as we all expected. He did make two key TD catches, with one each in the wins against Dartmouth and Brown, but if he chooses to return next season he will be part of a much more stacked group of receivers than Columbia could be assured of having last year at this time. With E.J. Perry graduating at Brown and Derek Kyler graduating at Dartmouth, it's really not a stretch to consider Green and his wide receivers the best returning talent in that category in the Ivies.

Columbia's linebackers were supposed to be a super unit, and they were. But they did better than expected despite losing Scott Valentas for more than three games and Justin Woodley for more than two. Cam Dillon emerged as a fierce pass rusher and CJ Brown had a truly excellent debut, showcasing his amazing speed. The often forgotten senior John Harris was a little less forgotten this season, as he had multiple stellar games and made the losses of Valentas and Woodley a lot less painful at times. Valentas and Brown are back for 2022, but the rest are graduating.

The Lion secondary had an inconsistent year, but also some great games. They were at their best against Dartmouth and very good at Princeton as well. 5th year seniors Ben Mathiasmeier and Will Allen finished their college careers with very good seasons. Mathiasmeier is a potential team MVP and will go down as one of the best team captains in CU history. Allen also filled in well for Roussos as the team's kick returner in the first two games, and finally got a kick return for a TD in the Georgetown game after coming so close so many times in the past. Jordan Colbert was a revelation in his final season, especially as a hard hitter in addition to his pass defense and pick off abilities. Seth Parker was banged up too often, but looked good in limited duty. He, Brian Bell-Anderson, and Mason Tomlin are the key returnees on a unit that needs to find replacements and consistency in 2022.

Disappointments

Columbia basically played to the level of the competition week after week, letting the opponents set the tone in every game except the win over Dartmouth. The Lions don't need to make each of their games look the same, but they need to act like they're doing more than following the other coaches' script. 

The secondary's inconsistent play was probably heavily the result of injury, but it was shocking to see a unit that played so well one week and then falter the next. 

It took too long for Columbia to get a real WR threat for Green to hook up with consistently. It's great to spread the ball around, but all QB's need to have that target they trust in a tough situation. I'm not sure Green had that this year. It didn't help that big TE Luke Painton often had trouble with drops. More consistent grabs from him could have made a difference this season. 

The play calling on offense was clearly more imaginative this year, but not enough. The horizontal pass plays and fruitless runs up the middle were still too plentiful in 2021. 

It didn't seem like Gabriel Hollingsworth was used as effectively as possible during much of the season. If the Lions want him to develop into some reasonable version of Princeton's former dual threat John Lovett, they need to get more plays together where his runs are less obvious and his passes look crisper. His one long run against Cornell in the final game was an example of how that could work, as it came after a decent fake to Young. But his insertion into games, often after Green had just gotten into a groove on a drive, often seemed to take away from Columbia's offensive threat as much as it added to it. Hollingsworth can be a real difference maker that hopefully will emerge next season after more practice time. 

The kicking game was inconsistent. Alex Felkins clearly still has the leg strength, but his accuracy waned at key moments. This particularly cost Columbia in the Princeton game. He finished very strong in the Cornell win, but I know the Columbia coaches thought Felkins would make the difference in a positive way in 1-2 games each year. 

This wasn't Columbia's fault, but the officiating this season was the worst I've seen in those 34 years of following the Ivies. Surely, the Harvard fans will back me up on that. It wasn't just the bad calls or lack of them, but there were multiple occasions where the refs really seemed to be stumped about what the rules were in some crucial situations. The safety of the players was becoming a concern at different points of several games where the officials really lost control of the games. 

Final Thoughts

I'll have my choices for individual team awards in the coming days, but the bottom line is this was the kind of season Columbia can really build off of in its quest to finally win an Ivy championship. They come off of this season looking stronger than the Lions did even after the 8-2 2017 season, because that 2018 team was facing the graduation of QB Anders Hill. This crew brings back its starting QB, receivers, a good chunk of its O-line, and some good talent on all three lines of the defense. No one should be saying Columbia should be favored to win the Ivy title in 2022 at this point, but this is a team most should expect to contend for the crown. 

In the coming weeks, I'll be looking at the prospects for next season. That will start with a focus on the top 10 new faces on the team for this season

The Schoelkopf Swipe

Columbia 34 Cornell 26

Why Columbia Won

The Lions shook off yet another slow start to complete their fifth come-from-behind win of the season, and third victory after being down by two scores. Columbia swiped five Big Red passes and gave the offense time to make a series of big plays to take control of the game.

Why Cornell Lost

The Big Red couldn't maintain its fast start, especially after the Lions defense adjusted and began to contain QB Jameson Wang's running game. All three Cornell QB's were picked off at least once as the Big Red offense could not modify its attack. 

Key Turning Points

-With 13:37 left in the 2nd quarter and Cornell ahead 13-0, the Lions started a drive on their own 13 with a designed running play by QB Gabriel Hollingsworth that went for 37 yards and another 15 yards were tacked on for a late hit. The first of a flurry of Big Red pass interference penalties came on the next play, setting Columbia up with a 1st down at the Cornell 20. The drive fizzled after that, but PK Alex Felkins did hit a 41-yard FG into the wind to get some points out of the possession and get the Lions back into the game. (In all, Cornell was flagged four times for pass interference and once for defensive holding on a Lion receiver).

-On the Big Red's ensuing possession, QB Richie Kenney was intercepted on the first play on a nice play by LB Cameron Brown to set the Lions up at the Cornell 25. Once again, the drive fizzled, but Felkins hit a 25-yard FG to get Columbia within 13-6. 

-With the score still 13-6 and just three minutes left in the half, the Lions took over on the Cornell 46 after a nice 21-yard punt return by Mike Roussos. A Cornell holding penalty on 2nd and 10 from the 46 gave Columbia a 1st down, and three plays later QB Joe Green found WR Wills Meyer down the sideline for a 29-yard TD pass and one-handed catch despite good coverage by the Big Red. 

-With the score still tied 13-13 to start the 3rd quarter, Columbia began to march into Cornell territory and were aided by another pass interference penalty along the way. On the first play after that penalty, RB Dante Miller hesitated momentarily to cross up the defense and then burst through the middle for a 42-yard TD run that gave the Lions the lead they would never give up. 

-Columbia's defense came up big on Cornell's next three possessions to preserve the lead. The first was a three-and-out, and the next two were excellent red zone drills where the Big Red had to settle for FG's to get them no closer than 20-19 on the scoreboard. The first red zone stop came after Cornell LB Lance Blass, (no, not Lance Bass), picked off Green to set up the Big Red at the Columbia 23 with 10:03 left in the 3rd. The Lions responded on the first two plays after the interception with a three-yard tackle for loss on Wang by LB Scott Valentas, and then a 12 yard sack of Wang by LB Cameron Dillon and DL Paul Akere. With the score now 20-16, the second Lion red zone stop came with just over three minutes left in the 3rd and Cornell driving with a 1st down at the Columbia 17. From there, Valentas and DL Thomas Thibault stopped the Big Red's RB Devon Brewer for no gain. Then the D forced Kenney into two incomplete passes, the second coming on a QB hurry by S Mason Tomlin. Cornell settled for that second FG after that, and the Lions were able to get their offense moving again thereafter. 

Columbia Positives

-The Lions offense put together another bevvy of highlight reel plays, including another one-handed TD grab by WR Bryson Canty to go along with the one by Meyer and the 42-yard big TD run by Miller. 

-The defense's adjustments from the 2nd quarter onward, especially the red zone performance, were impressive. 

-Felkins made two crucial FG's against the wind, and was perfect on all his kicks to finish an inconsistent season on a very strong note and the all-time single season Columbia FG record with 16. 

-The special teams overall had a mistake-free game. 

-The offensive line put an exclamation point on a terrific year of pass protection, giving up no sacks. Columbia finished the year second best in rushing yards and second best in sacks allowed.

Columbia Negatives

-The number of penalties against the Lions in the game, (Cornell was heavily flagged too), made it seem like it was the first game of the season as opposed to the last. The Lions committed a team record 17 infractions.

-The slow starts and sudden surges make games exciting to watch, but the Lions allowed their opponents to set the tone in all but one of the 10 games this season. It's remarkable that despite that, Columbia still finished 7-3. 

-The Lions have a very good passing QB and a lot of good receivers. Yet, they had another game where that QB failed to throw for even 100 yards. It feels like too many passing yards are being left on the table. 

-Those missing passing yards included a sure TD pass that was just dropped by WR Marcus Libman, who was otherwise very sure-handed all year. 

Columbia MVP 

-This was truly a full team effort, but the one unit that was the most consistent all day was the Columbia offensive line. In addition to giving up no sacks, the Lion running game gained 169 yards on 34 carries, (4.9 yards per rush), if you exclude the two kneel downs at the end of the game. Naming the starters on the OL, we had Zach Minch, Stew Newblatt, Tyler Worrell, Will Hamilton, and Matt Klenk. Some of them will indeed be back next year, including co-captain Newblatt.