Lineups Released

The two deeps for Staurday’s home opener vs. Monmouth are now available on the CU website. 

The changes to the lineups are to be expected: Trevor McDonagh is of course now listed as the starter at QB, Kelly Hilinski is the backup.

Chad Washington moves to the starting DE slot left open by the injured Seyi Adebayo.

Cameron Molina is still listed as the backup RB, even though Alan Watson played that role behind Marcorus Garrett last week.

Justin Aimonetti is still listed as the backup Center, even though he started ahead of Ryan Thomas vs. Fordham.

And like last week, we have no information on the return specialists. After the miscues by Trevor Bell and Griffin Lowry on a couple of returns, we may see some changes this Saturday.

Mangurian Radio Spot

Head Coach Pete Mangurian will be a guest on the Kevin Callahan Monmouth football radio show tonight at 7pm.

I wonder if he'll take any questions about CU's pass protection?

Looking to Monmouth

Come on... papa needs a win against the Hawks!

Leading Off: A Big One

So on a scale of 1-10, how much do you think the Lions need a win in their home opener this Saturday?

After the devastation of the rout at Fordham and the horrifying bad luck injuries that went along with it, only a win can soothe the hurting CU nation at this point.

I get the argument that winning the following week at Princeton is even more important, but Columbia needs a win and needs it now.

Two Deeps

The latest round of two deeps should be released tomorrow.

As I expected last week, the week one two deeps were only about 80% accurate. Freshman Justin Aimonetti was the starting center and Ryan Thomas the backup, not the other way aroung.  Alan Watson was the backup RB, not Cameron Molina. WR Chris Connors was listed as one of the backups, but he was nowhere to be found on the sidelines.

Again, just always take the two deeps with a grain of salt.

Protection is Job 1

I’ll never understand how Columbia could snag a golden boy QB transfer from Stanford and then have the coaching staff send him out there with a pass-happy game plan and not enough decent protection against a bigger team like Fordham.

But let’s move on and see if the staff learns from its mistakes.

Not only does the Lion OL need to do a better job protection new starter Trevor McDonagh, but the game plan needs to get better and smarter to put our thinning QB corps less in harm’s way. The good news is that Monmouth’s defense isn’t nearly as big or aggressive as Fordham’s. The Hawks did get three sacks last week at Holy Cross, but Monmouth played with a big lead for much of that game and could afford to blitz more.

I thought every time Marcorus Garrett touched the ball Saturday it felt electric. He ran extremely well, and with very good instincts. The few times he stayed in the backfield to help protect Nottingham his pass blocking was clearly much improved. Garrett is a star and a team captain. As much as the team should rally around McDonagh, this is Garrett’s turn to really play a leadership role. I wonder if he, or any other player, is even allowed to approach the coaches and ask for more of a role. Let’s hope so.

This should also be an important game for TE Hamilton Garner, who was shut down for the most part against Fordham. He could play a big role in helping McDonagh feel more comfortable as the game begins.

But it all comes back to the O-line in the end. I’m actually for giving them a bit of a pass for Fordham considering how much bigger, stronger, and blitz-happy the Rams were. But while Monmouth is a very good opponent, the Hawks defense is much closer to the Lions level. The front five needs to step up.

Hempel/Williams Share Player of the Week Honors

Harvard QB Connor Hempel and Dartmouth QB Dalyn Williams both had big games Saturday, but I’m not sure how they won the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week award over Yale’s Tyler Varga who carried the ball 39 times for well over 200 yards in the Elis win over Colgate. Throw in the fact that both Dartmouth and Harvard were heavy favorites and Yale was an underdog, and I think you have an even stronger argument for Varga. 

Concert for Solo

(Click image above to enlarge)


After football, Solomon Johnson's '91 great passion in his professional life was music.

And so it's fitting that a benefit concert will be held for Solo's family at the Blue Room Lounge this coming October 4th. Doors open at 7pm.

And remember, you can still donate to the Johnson family fund by clicking here.

Looking at the League

The Columbia Spectator website has an excellent video that shows both the injuries to Brett Nottingham and Seyi Adebayo. Excellent job by those guys.

The headline after this weekend’s games is this:

The stage is perfectly set for the crucial Brown-Harvard matchup on national TV this coming Saturday night.

Brown is always very well prepared to start the season by Head Coach Phil Estes, but the Bears’ 45-7 mauling of Georgetown was particularly impressive.

Harvard is sometime NOT that sharp in week one, but the Crimson were stellar in a 42-20 easy win at San Diego.

Here are the sub-headlines from around the league:

-Yale Head Coach Tony Reno gets it: you do what you have to do to win, screw “the system.” Thus, he had his offense hand the ball off to Tyler Varga 39 times Saturday and he responded with 236 yards on the ground in the Elis impressive 39-22 win over Colgate. I know another coach or two in this league who could learn from that performance. Varga was the best individual performer in the league this weekend.

-Dartmouth Head Coach Buddy Teevens also made the right decision, (one I’ve called for as well), to essentially make Dalyn Williams his full time starter. Williams responded with a stellar game through the air and on the ground in the Big Green’s 30-23 win at Butler. I’m not sure what to make of Butler’s late comeback, but I like Dartmouth’s chances even more than I did before the season.

-Penn looked a little better than I expected them to in  27-21 win over Lafayette. QB Billy Ragone passed especially well, but I will tell you this: the Quakers really do miss Lyle Marsh after looking bad on the ground most of the night.

-Princeton’s Head Coach Bob Surace is all about deception all of the time. And that’s on and off the field. After not listing RB DiAndre Atwater on the two deep and not mentioning his name all off season, (except when I asked him about it), Surace used Atwater early and often and he responded with 111 yards on the ground and nifty TD. But the Tigers are hurting after blowing a 22-3 halftime lead in a 29-28 loss to Lehigh. Mountain Hawk QB Brian Bialkowski was brilliant. He not only passed well, I was really impressed with his ability to avoid sacks. On the other side of the ball, I thought Princeton’s Quinn Epperly was clearly the more effective QB of the Epperly-Connor Michelsen platoon and Surace should adjust accordingly.

-Cornell’s Jeff Mathews didn’t have the kind of stats you’d expect in Cornell’s 45-10 thrashing of Bucknell. That’s because the Big Red defense returned two fumbles for TD’s and shut down the Bison passing game. Cornell still gave up a lot of yards on the ground though, and that’s very bad news for a team that has to take on Tyler Varga and the Elis at the Yale Bowl this coming Saturday. Look for Varga to get another 35+ carries.

Here are my Ivy Power Rankings after Week One:

1) Brown

2) Harvard

3) Dartmouth

4) Penn

5) Yale 

6) Cornell

7) Princeton

8) Columbia