Early Call

It's not even this light at 6am these days

Yes, the 6am practices are back even as classes resume. 

In a Tweet yesterday, Head Coach Pete Magurian wrote: 

"First early morning practice, first day off cards. Not bad, I've been around worse. We're working, but it's all about wins, nothing else."

True enough!

By the way "off cards" refers to the big cue cards most teams use to get used to plays during training camp. Regular practice sessions get rid of them except for the scout team that is running the opponent plays.

Fordham's game notes for its first road game of the season at Villanova are now available. There are no changes in the starting lineup compared to the season opener last week.

After that glorified clinic against D-II Lockhaven, this game at 'Nova will be a much bigger challenge for the Rams. The Wildcats aren't as strong this year as they were a few years ago, but they're still a top FCS power and will be heavily favored in the game.

Lehigh takes on Central Connecticut State, also on the road. Columbia faced CCSU in 2009 and learned the hard way how good a coach Jeff McInerney is as he made a great adjustment in strategy at the half and engineered a comeback win over the Lions at Wien Stadium. 

For the Mountain Hawks, there seems to be a slight dissatisfaction with the way the team played in the 27-17 win over Monmouth. That's the kind of problem I'd like to have. 

Week one opponent Marist will be under the lights in its home opener against Bucknell at 6pm Saturday. But those game notes have just been published  and I will analyze them tonight.

10, 9, 8...

10 DAYS TO GO!

The 299-day wait for Columbia football is finally just about over. 

You can even buy all single game tickets now on the athletic dept.website. (But I recommend getting season tickets if you can).

You also know we're getting close now that the Columbia Spectator has a new story about Head Coach Pete Mangurian's use of social media.

Did we get that tired?



How Will it Work?

Just some guesses on what Coach Mangurian may be thinking as he goes with a much lighter O-line this fall:

1) As some readers have pointed out, this could be a stamina thing. Columbia takes the most advantage of a lighter lineup with better stamina if it uses a no huddle offense and tires out the heavier opponents faster without giving them a chance to substitute very often. 

2) Short passes can be lethal. They give the lighter and speedier linemen more of a chance to act as blockers down field or at least to run some kind of interference as the ball is being thrown.

3) Spread the offense out even more than the last few years and really make the defense work to get to the play.

4) Second half strength is a key. Columbia's second half collapses were all too frequent last year. A fresher, better conditioned team could stem that tide.

It's thought #4 that gives me the most pause. It's true that Columbia was absolutely TROUNCED in the second half last season. But about 90% of that negative point differential occurred in the THIRD quarter, not the fourth. 

Check out the scores by quarter for the entire season:

                      1      2       3     4   OT  Total

Columbia	44	62	20	71	14	211
Opponents	57	89	117	58	7	328

The Lions were actually outscored more in the 1st and 2nd quarters than they were in the 4th. 

And anyone watching a lot of Lions football knows that fatigue wasn't the issue in the third quarter as much as it was about poor adjustments, or lack thereof, by the coaching staff. 

Now, Mangurian is much more of an expert at looking at and analyzing game film than I'll ever be. But I'm worried he may have gotten the wrong idea about where the second half collapses came from in this one instance. Hopefully, his better overall coaching experience will solve that probably automatically with or without any conditioning improvements by the team.

The one real fear we all have, whether we have the nerve to say so or not, is the nagging fear that Columbia will be faced with a lot of 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 type situations where big boys with a lot of bulk are going to be needed more than some swift and light guys to get the job done.

Quick Numbers

Average weight for Columbia's D-linemen: 267 lbs.

Average weight for Columbia's O-linemen: 264 lbs.


Number of CU players over 275 lbs: 4

Number of CU players under 250 lbs: 84


Number of Columbia players from NY/NJ/CT: 20  

Number of Columbia players from Texas: 13


DAYS UNTIL KICKOFF: 11!!!!

Wrapping it Up

Time for a short break


Full training camp winds down today, wisely so since classes begin tomorrow.

There will be a final practice tonight before a more regular in-season schedule begins.

This will be an exceptionally tough week on the freshmen, who will have to contend with Ivy League academics and football at the same time for the first time in their lives.

For the young men coming from the top prep schools and Catholic academies, this transition is often a little easier than it is for the rest of the guys. Of course there are a lot of exceptions.

But it's also a great time when the players finally get the full chance to interact with their non-athlete classmates and professors. It's a time when most of the put their best foot forward.


Adams Signs with Bengals

Jeff Adams '12, didn't make the final cut with the Dallas Cowboys, (a late trade Dallas made for some more O-linemen sealed his fate), but he has been signed by the Cincinnati Bengals and assigned to the practice squad.

At the very least, Cincinnati is a little closer to his hometown in Illinois. We'll be watching to see if he moves onto the roster anytime soon.


UTSA Looks Good

If UT San Antonio transfer Jake Wanamaker was good enough to play for their varsity last season and make an impact, (and he was and he did), then there's more evidence he will be a starting WR for the Lions this season.

That evidence comes from the way his former team looked in a 33-31 win over the University of South Alabama. I saw the final moments of the game on ESPNU this morning, (on tape of course), and the game was clearly played at a VERY high level for FCS football. It really looked like BCS ball most of the way. UTSA won the game on 51-yard FG that had room to spare.

 

What we're up against...

Week one opponent Marist crushed Bryant in Rhode Island today by a 35-10 score.

This graph says it all:

"Offensively, the Red Foxes amassed 419 yards of total offense (241 rushing, 178 passing), had zero turnovers, went 10-for-15 on third-down conversions, and scored touchdowns on all five trips inside the red zone. Defensively, the Red Foxes held the Bulldogs to 295 yards of total offense, and limited star running back Jordan Brown to just 43 yards on 22 carries."


Dual threat QB Chris Looney passed for 178 yards and ran for 92 yards on 10 carries.

Bryant had been picked to finish near the top of the NEC and Jordan Brown is considered the best all around athlete in the conference.

Yikes.

Week four foe Lehigh did what was expected and had a solid 27-17 win over Monmouth at home.

Senior NFL prospect WR Ryan Spadola had nine catches for 111 yards.