Who's Getting the Ball?

3 Days Until Kickoff!

We still haven't seen a two-deep for Columbia's opener against Fordham Saturday, and since the athletics office has been keeping us more updated this season than any time I can remember, I don't think this is due to laziness on anyone's part. It looks like Coach Wilson really meant it when he said that starting lineups will not be posted until game day. I realize this could change, but this only serves to stoke the anticipatory fires for fans who have been waiting 42 weeks for the new season to finally start.

I still think Craig Hormann will be the starting QB and Jordan Davis will get the nod at tailback. A lot of the other starters probably won't surprise anyone, but there are some parts of the team that really are a mystery. The Wide Receivers are a big question mark. Will Wilson go with veterans like Adrian Demko, Nick DeGasperis, and Jim Besselman? Or will he give Tim Paulin and Austin Knowlin the nod? Obviously questions like these can occupy one's time forever, and while I'd love for Columbia to get any advantage it can by being secretive, I guess I'm hoping to see a two-deep on the CU Web site sometime before Friday.

Wilson and History

This Saturday Norries Wilson will attempt to become the first Columbia football head coach to win his first game since Aldo "Buff" Donelli did it in 1957. Donelli was also the last CU coach to lead a squad to a championship season as he was at the helm in the 1961 Ivy title year. Donelli had a tough job taking over for the legendary Lou Little, and he ended up becoming one of the beloved figures in Columbia football history.

The last two Columbia coaches suffered close losses in their opening games. In 1989, Ray Tellier led an injury-depleted Lion squad to a 10-9 halftime lead over Harvard at Wien Stadium, before two late touchdowns brought the Crimson at 26-10 victory. Tellier wouldn't record his first win until the next-to-last week of the season when the Lions edged Cornell in Ithaca by six points.

Bob Shoop's opening game in the 2003 season at Fordham featured a strong Columbia rally that fell a TD short in a 37-30 loss to the Rams. He got his first win a week later at home in a close one against Bucknell.

For Wilson to win in his debut would be a huge accomplishment for a program that's usually had to break in its new coaches for awhile before there's any success.