Weight Off Their Shoulders?
Coach Wilson said it himself, Columbia really got pushed around by the Fordham lines Saturday night.
Things might be different this Saturday. Check out the weight difference between Fordham's starting offensive and defensive lines and Marist's lines:
FORDHAM OFFENSIVE LINE
RT-Justin Sarabaez 301 lbs.
RG-Michael Nardone 300 lbs.
C-Mike Breznicky 295 lbs.
LG-Robby Reis 300 lbs.
LT-Andrew Tyshovnytsky 290 lbs.
Average Weight: 297 lbs.
MARIST OFFENSIVE LINE
RT-Jake Dembow 270 lbs.
RG-Danny Angelastro 270 lbs.
C-Neil Walsh 235 lbs.
LG-Jason Tillery 270 lbs.
LT-Dan Cooper 250 lbs.
Average Weight: 259 lbs.
FORDHAM DEFENSIVE LINE
END-Fonzie Culver 240 lbs.
NOSE GUARD-Darzell Wright 270 lbs.
TACKLE-Greg DeMarco 248 lbs.
Average Weight: 253 lbs.
MARIST DEFENSIVE LINE
DT-Tony Riley 225 lbs.
DT-Matt Wolfman 255 lbs.
DE-Oghogho Igbinosun 215 lbs.
Average Weight: 232 lbs.
Now, I'm certainly not saying weight is everything. If that were the case, Columbia wouldn't have won more than a game or two last year. But the heft and strength of the Rams' linemen just does not seem to be something Marist can duplicate and that's good news for a Lions team that lost the line of scrimmage battle on play after play in game one.
posted by Jake @ 7:32:00 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
With all due respect, I think size considerations and comparisons here are something of a red herring. Heart and skill also count for a lot. (Not even the rapacious likes of Mae West ever chose a "teammate" simply by his, uh, "size," after all.) At any rate, the important thing is that Norries' charges are ready, whatever the size of their opponents, no?
On a "lighter" note, the CU Club of Northern NJ held a dinner last night at which both men's basketball coach Joe Jones and women's coach Paul Nixon spoke about their prospects for the coming season. Jones is always riveting and charming, and last night was no exception. He noted, by way of praising their dedication, that this year's 6 seniors joined him to play at Columbia even though the last Lions team before he took over went just 2-25. "These guys are always going to be among my closest friends," Jones said with the onset of some moisture in his eyes, and there was no reason to doubt him. The genuine opportunity is there for an Ivy title this season, although, as Jones noted, his brother's charges at Yale also look very,very good (they return several starters from a team whose loss to Columbia at Yale in fact prevented them taking the Ivy title), as does Cornell.
Paul Nixon, however, a much less "public" figure to most of us, was a revelation. Measured, modest and charmingly plain-spoken, he stressed just how much the CU women have improved over the last few years in several important ways (such as 3-point shooting, a Columbia woman is the current national leader), how much raw talent is there. And how competitive they intend to be come November 9, when play opens for both the men and the women in a home "doubleheader."
What struck me last night, as previously more than once with Norries Wilson, is how lucky CU seems to be with so many of its coaches. They do all understand the concept of the student-athlete, for example, and to actually relate to their players as individual human beings.
"Things are changing much for the better across the board in Columbia athletics," Jones said by way of summation, and he offered up those 5 Ivy championships by various Lions teams last year as just one (important) indication. The existence of this very blog is surely another one.
RS
Great news about JJ and Paul Nixon. Did JJ say if all six seniors will be able to play? As you know, we have a great swingman with bad knees.
RS:
I had my own disclaimer in the post about size not being everything, but we're talking about a 40 POUND per player average difference in the size of the Marist offensive line. That's significant and should be considered seriously.
Another factor is speed or quickness at the point of attack. We didnt seem to be able to shed blockers against Fordham to get to their ball carrier. Conversely, at times the Fordham line got into our backfield before our ball carrier could make a move. This is not a factor of size,this is something CU will have to improve upon.
Marist was soundly beat by Lafayette 49-10 in their opener. Lafayette beat a mediocre(by their standards) Penn squad 8-7 last week. We'll know alot more about this team over the next two weeks.
We were outweighed in front last year as well. Abrams was around 250, but as I recall Mitchell was in the 240s and Schmidt was barely 200. Whatthe 3 3 5 depends upon is speed of pursuit. While Fordham was huge to be sure so were teams like Yale and Cornell, with whom we went toe to toe. What we need is to have 11 guys converging on the ball carrier. I thought we looked like we were too slow to react. As for the OL, the proble wasn't huge defensive linemen for Fordham. It was in my opinion early season cobwebs, especially on the part of our QB (which is not meant to be critical).
Going back to women's basketball, nice to hear that Nixon made a good impression. Too bad Judie Lomax, the Oregon State transfer and likely All-Ivy player of the future, has to sit out a year and can't make an immediate contribution.
I am hoping that Coach Nixon can build on Lomax's commitment to the program to recruit an exceptional first year class for the fall of 2008. It's way past time for Columbia (of all schools) to have a top women's program.
Leonidas
Well, Ms. Lomax can't play this year, but Nixon praised her for contributing to the team already via her dedication and hard work. This is becoming a more-than-fair time in which to play on a Columbia team all across the board.
And it's nice to hear that someone previously so heavily recruited by Columbia eventually "woke up" and realized she's much better off here. I believe that as a freshman she led Oregon State in rebounding and perhaps one other category.
Whatever the size of the lines we face this season, Norries' charges have to be quicker and more aggressive off the snap. That was alll too apparent Saturday night. We should now only wish Fordham success in the Patriot League this season.
RS
I think we had a slow start last week. We're still a young team overall (especially on defense) and its just hard to practice at game speed. We'll improve a lot this week and play an opponent that should be an easier test.
Hopefully, the coaches will develop the players on the field but also help them obtain and maintain the mental edge to compete. We have experienced coaches so I hope that they have the perspective to know when the kids need a boost to keep the game fun AND competitive. Young players can be easily discouraged with too much criticism. If the going gets tough, it'll be especially important that everyone believes in each other.
As the first poster said, the charges must be ready for game play. There are at least 3 aspects to being ready to play: physical ability and condition, preparation for the game, and finally (possibly most important) passion and commitment to the team.
Go Lions!
I agree with the poster who noted the excellence of the Columbia coaching staff.It seems like we have an outstanding coach in almost every sport. Just look at our success in women's soccer, men's and women's golf, men's and women's cross-country, etc. As a soccer and football fan, I can't wait to see the women's soccer team play at Baker Field next month. I hope they repeat as Ivy League champions.
Two-deep linked on AD Marist prelim
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