Accolades
Mirroring my MVP choice, the Ivy League office named Adam Brekke the Defensive Player of the Week today. They also gave freshman Justin Masorti his due; naming him Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
And here's an interesting tidbit from the Ivyleaguesports.com's game notes for the Columbia-Brown season finale this coming Saturday:
"If Wilson’s squad can hold Brown to fewer than 25 points, the Lions will be the first team to hold all of its opponents under 25 AND not win the Ivy title since the 1985 Harvard Crimson ... Since then, five teams have done it and all have been League champions -- 1990 Dartmouth, 1994 Penn, 1995 Princeton, 1996 Dartmouth and 2002 Penn ... Those five teams have a combined record of 43-4-2 overall and 32-2-1 in Ivy play ... Holding every opponent below 25 is not easy, in fact, just nine of 241 Division I schools can make the claim [Appalachian State, Columbia, James Madison, LSU, Massachusetts, North Dakota State, Ohio State, San Diego and South Florida]."
Well, the amazing job the defense has done this year has not gone unnoticed. What a group of young men with a "never say die" attitude! Hopefully, the underclassmen will one day be rewarded with an Ivy title or at least one or two winning seasons.
posted by Jake @ 5:34:00 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Masorti looked like he was playing with a soft cast on his right hand. An effort like that while playing hurt is amazing. Look for Justin to be a unanimous all Ivy LB next season. He is the Second coming of Des Werthman!
You're correct. Broken thumb on first play of the game 3 weeks ago. Came out for a quick wrap, played the game, had x-ray after the game, cast, practiced, played Saturday, repeat, and repeat through last week.
Congratulations to all the young men who represent Columbia and to Brekke and Masorti for their D efforts and acknowledgements this week.
Jake, that is an amazing stat. What the players and this staff have done on the D side is remarkable. Congrats to the entire team.
Unfortunately, I think Brown will be very tough following the loss at Dartmouth. I also think the Columbia D Line will be the key. If they can get pressure on DiGiacomo, it will be another long day for Brown passing and could open some INT chances.
While we lose some significant players on the defense to graduation, we have a real exciting foundation with Mitchell (soph)and Bashaw (1st year), Masorti, Shalbrack, Quinn and Lou Miller in the backer positions and along with Eli Waltz at the nose. Norriss and his coaches have developed an outstanding defensive scheme. If he can develop that offensive line and get some speed and size at the wideouts in this year's recruiting class, 2007 could be a break out year.
This team has been exciting on defense all year. A win at Brown will be will be a truely wonderful end to Wilson, et.al's first year.
Go Lions
The 25 point thing might not have happened with a tougher schedule, but on the other hand playing some more competitive non-conference teams might have done a better job of getting the Lions ready for Ivy play. If you want to improve the team, you have to improve the schedule.
Is it true Iona is being replaced by someone even worse next year?
This will be the toughest game for the Columbia coaches this season. This team has a big temptation to let down after finally getting that Ivy win. The coaches have to keep these boys motivated.
No question about it--outstanding year for the Columbia defense and big improvement in the offense last week. Hope we can beat Brown in the final game which would be a nice way to end the season.
Regarding the anonymous comment about a tougher schedule, let's take one thing at a time. This year's schedule was perfect for a very young Columbia team that probably had more freshmen listed on the two-deep than the last five years combined. Playing Fordham, Georgetown and Iona at home made it easier for the Columbia coaches to gave significant playing time to Masorti, Miller, Shalbrack and all the other freshmen early in the season. If the games were in Easton, Pennsylvania or some other faraway place, there would have been time and travel constraints that would have been it more difficult for Coach Wilson to use so many freshmen. Also, if you look at the record, Columbia football teams have never been successfull against Lehigh, Lafayette,Colgate and Bucknell, etc. primarily because the Columbia program lacks the depth of those schools. What has happened is that our key players get injured playing those schools and then are unavailable for the Ivy League season. Sure it helps to play a competitive non-league footbal schedule, but only if you're not going to have major injuries. On balance, therefore, it's much better for Columbia to be playing local opponents such as Iona and Fordham than the Patriot League schools in Pennsylvania and Upstate New York.
No question about it--outstanding year for the Columbia defense and big improvement in the offense last week. Hope we can beat Brown in the final game which would be a nice way to end the season.
Regarding the anonymous comment about a tougher schedule, let's take one thing at a time. This year's schedule was perfect for a very young Columbia team that probably had more freshmen listed on the two-deep than the last five years combined. Playing Fordham, Georgetown and Iona at home made it easier for the Columbia coaches to gave significant playing time to Masorti, Miller, Shalbrack and all the other freshmen early in the season. If the games were in Easton, Pennsylvania or some other faraway place, there would have been time and travel constraints that would have been it more difficult for Coach Wilson to use so many freshmen. Also, if you look at the record, Columbia football teams have never been successfull against Lehigh, Lafayette,Colgate and Bucknell, etc. primarily because the Columbia program lacks the depth of those schools. What has happened is that our key players get injured playing those schools and then are unavailable for the Ivy League season. Sure it helps to play a competitive non-league footbal schedule, but only if you're not going to have major injuries. On balance, therefore, it's much better for Columbia to be playing local opponents such as Iona and Fordham than the Patriot League schools in Pennsylvania and Upstate New York.
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