Down Goes Another One

Yale's star running back, and arguably the Bulldogs' best player, Alan Lamar is out for the season.

Yale still has talent at the RB position, including senior Deshawn Salter who had a strong sophomore season but was hurt much of last season. They also have the enigmatic Andrew Grinde, who was expected to make a big impact last season as a freshman, but decided to take the year off just before training camp.

The Lamar injury, joined with the injury to Princeton star John Lovett, and the loss of Penn's heir apparent starting QB and top DB to transfer decisions are just some of the reasons why this season continues to look like it will be the most wide open Ivy football race in some time.

Broadcast News

A big story for Columbia that I haven't written about yet is the SNY deal to broadcast five Lions football games this season, (SNY will also broadcast some men's and women's basketball games this academic year).

Ever since cable TV and internet broadcasting exploded into our current 1,000 channel world, I've wondered why a network like SNY wasn't sought out as a logical hometown broadcaster for Columbia Football. For several years, Yale paid the YES Network to broadcast 3-4 of its games per year, but that deal was allowed to expire.

We still don't know exactly how the SNY games will be staffed. I'm guessing that the Columbia broadcast team for the Ivy League Sports Network will simply be simulcast on SNY, but again that's just a guess.

I can report that after an incredible 11-year run as play-by-play man for CU Football, Jerry Recco is stepping away from the booth this season. I worked with Jerry for three seasons in my capacity as color commentator and he was the most professional and decent person I've ever come in contact with in sports broadcasting. He is also very good and right on top of the call every play. You never missed anything on a play where Jerry was doing the games, even if you only could follow the audio.

I do not know yet who is replacing him. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say it would be Columbia Basketball and Baseball play-by-play man, (and also the pregame and postgame N.Y. Giants radio show host), Lance Medow and color man Sal Licata.

On the very bright side, this SNY deal makes Columbia Football a consistent national product for the first time. And for people on the go, putting almost every Columbia game on regular cable TV, (four other games will be on the new 11 Sports Network), means that folks will be able to DVR the games and watch them on their own time without knowing the score in advance. (That's something you still can't do when watching an archived game on the internet). And SNY's reach into some more distant regions of the country should help the recruiting process.

This is just the latest piece of a puzzle that started with the hiring of Al Bagnoli and continued with the building of the practice bubble that sets the Lions program up with everything it needs to become successful.

It's one thing to get all these games on TV, it's another to live up to the attention by putting an exciting and winning team on TV week after week.

A lot more people will be watching. It's time to step it up.

 

It's Game Week!

Alex Thomson

It's finally game week as Columbia can specifically set its sights on home opening foe Wagner.

The Seahwaks fell to St. Francis 31-6 and sputtered offensively most of the game. Things got especially worse after veteran team leader QB Alex Thomson went down with a shoulder injury late in the first half. We don't know yet if he'll be able to go against the Lions this coming Saturday. He was replaced by Luke Massei who went 9-for-15 for 100 yards and two interceptions. Unlike Thomson, he does not bring a running attack to his personal array of weapons. 

I watched the game on ESPN3 and thought that Wagner still looked as good on defense as can be expected over the long haul of a game that became more and more unwinnable as the offense could not get anything going. Even with Thompson still in the game, the Seahawks scores only came as a result of long kickoff returns. Thompson's passing was ineffective and the running game never got going. But again, I think the Wagner defense is better than the 31 points SFU score would indicate. 

More on Wagner in the coming days.

Week two opponent Georgetown had a better result Saturday, eking out a 16-10 win over Campbell in North Carolina.  In that game, the Hoya defense also was a lot more impressive than the offense as a defensive touchdown settled the affair. The return of GU QB Tim Barnes was less than impressive as he went 14-for-28 for just 180 yards, a TD, and two interceptions. But the offensive bright spot was WR Michael Dereus, who caught six passed for a 144 yards and that TD. Otherwise, the Hoyas only had eight 1st downs. 

The defense netted seven sacks and held Campbell to just 60 yards rushing. 

Week four opponent Marist shook off a slow start and exploded in the 4th quarter for a 38-17 win over lowly Stetson.  QB Mike White had a great game with 337 yards passing, one TD pass, 58 net yards rushing and two TD's. The other star was WR Christian Keenan, who had 11 catches for 143 yards. 

On defense, Marist held Stetson to just 69 rushing yards and four yards per pass attempt.

Coming into View

With the loss of Matt Tofano to injury, the already big question mark over the Columbia linebacker corps got a lot bigger this week.

But now, we know a little more about a unit that needs to replace all of its starters and could determine whether the Lions have a good or bad season in 2017.

The latest release from the athletic department confirms long-held beliefs that sophomores Jalen Williams and Michael Murphy will be two of the three starting linebackers. This is no surprise as both were impressive as freshmen and were two of the most prized pieces of Head Coach Al Bagnoli's first full recruiting class.

Some of us were surprised that Williams, who was so impressive in training camp and scrimmages last year, didn't get more varsity playing time. But he was playing behind Columbia's best defender in Gianmarco Rea, and he had a phenomenal season. Plus, the coaches also clearly wanted Williams to bulk up more, which he has done.

Murphy got into more regular action as a LB last season, and I thought he moved incredibly fast during the Penn game especially,

The problem is Tofano, whom I can now say was the third projected starter, is now not an option. That means junior Sean White and senior Parker Tobia will have to be the next men up. But I think they will be on a figurative short leash as freshman Justin Woodley gets more up to speed. We already knew Woodley was one of, if not the top, recruits in this freshman class. But he won't have the luxury Williams had to develop for a year before he's really needed. Don't be surprised if Woodley is starting by the Princeton game. Fellow freshman and another top recruit Carson Powell could move up the depth chart too.

The number one factor for Columbia's fortunes this season remains the play and health of QB Anders Hill. But these linebackers must step up now more than ever. The talent is certainly there, if not the experience. Luckily, the other two parts of the defense on the line and in the secondary are filled with veterans who should be able to fill that void. But that will only take the Lions defense so far.

Let's who's ready for the challenge.

Martin gets the start

There are lots of Ivy grads playing in the NFL these days, but a precious few see serious playing time.

That's why news that Josh Martin '13 will be starting at Outside Linebacker for the New York Jets this Sunday in Buffalo is a big deal.

Yeah, it's the Jets. But while the offense is a total mess, the defense is still very good overall and getting a start with this unit is impressive.