Coming Up Short
Sophomore Austin Knowlin finished as the top receiver in the Ivies (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics/Gene Boyars)
Brown 30 Columbia 22
Why Brown Won
They jumped out to a big early lead and didn't completely lose their nerve when the Lions almost came all the way back. Big interceptions late in the game by Brown's resilient secondary were a big key.
Why Columbia Lost
They squandered scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity and then couldn't close the deal on a remarkable second half comeback. Hormann's three late interceptions were daggers to the Lions' hearts.
Key Turning Points
1) Trailing 21-0 early in the second quarter, freshman Adam Meher forced and recovered a Brown fumble at the Bear 23. But the Lions failed to even get a first down and Brown came away unscathed.
2) After cutting Brown's lead to 21-3, Columbia appeared to be gaining momentum. But the Lions allowed the Bears to drive all the way to the Columbia 26 and Steve Morgan was able to boot a long field goal to give Brown their 21-point advantage once again.
3) After cutting the lead to 24-10 and getting another defensive stop, the Lions drove all the way from their 20 to get a 1st and goal at the Brown 6. But they couldn't get any closer than the 3 and had to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Jon Rocholl. Columbia's next possession followed a similar pattern as the Lions failed to get a TD after driving all the way to the Brown 9. Another field goal made it 24-16 when it could have been 24-24 by that point.
4) After the Eugene Edwards 69-yard fumble return for a TD cut the Brown lead to 24-22, Columbia forced another three-and-out and got the ball back. But Hormann promptly threw a crucial interception that killed the momentum. Columbia would not score again.
Columbia Positives
1) Against an excellent offense, the young Lion defense adjusted beautifully and gave the team more than enough chances to win. The excellent play of freshmen Alex Gross, Adam Mehrer, Augie Williams, and Calvin Otis stood out. Obviously the sophomores and juniors contributed brilliantly as well. If these kids stay with it, the future is indeed bright.
2) The Ivy leader for 2007 in receiving yards, Austin Knowlin, fell 12 yards shy of the all-time Columbia single season record for passing yards, but he still had another 100+ yard game and made a lot of great plays. He also finally broke a good long kickoff return in what we hope will be a hint of things to come for the next two years.
Game MVP: Eugene Edwards had a great game with nine tackles and his all-out sprint for a TD on the fumble recovery was impressive.
posted by Jake @ 7:58:00 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Jake, you wrote another great summary. Thank you so much.
Eugene Edwards closed his career in style with a great game against Brown including that highlight reel return of a fumble for a touchdown. Very nice memory to have for the rest of your life. Congratulations to Gene and his family.
I believe that Gene may be coming back for a 5th year. Thoughts?
That would be good news for Columbia Football as Gene Edwards has improved significantly every season and played a great game against Brown.
So what happens now on this site for we Columbia football faithful? This "band of brothers?" It's been a long, rough season and it's an even longer interval till 2008's training camp.
Perhaps, since team support is often (correctly) stressed here, I'll meet some other posters from here out at Stony Brook at Saturday afternoon's basketball game? I always feel bad that these guys have to give up their Thanksgiving recess, thus always try to make a home or nearby away game if at all possible on Thanksgiving weekend. Both men's and women's basketball seem off to slow starts, but it's early in the schedule and the men who played Ohio State so well for about 32 minutes definitely seem to have a real shot at an Ivy title this season.
rs
BITING MY TOUNGE ALL SEASON
Football is a game which should be played with joy.It was apparent that the coaching staff had sucked all the life from the team.The overly complicated playbook did not create the mismatches and isolation required for success.The contraction and expansion of the opposing teams defence was never achieved.You could see the natural instincts of many players had been taken away.
We lost on many fronts.No o-line play means you must create something from nothing.Move the QB around.If he is a man stuck in cement all the other team has to do is tee off.Move him around, create deception, you buy yourself another second or two.All the talk of CH's arm is poppycock.Yes, it is strong,but it is not his accuracy more than his inconsistancy.75% of all his throws are way too high not allowing any rac or yac.Our receiving corps was never in a position to consistently extend a play or create uncertainty in the opposing team defence.
The lack of any run option killed us.The opposing DB's never were forced to commit between the passer and receiver making their jobs much easier and ours much harder.The lack of isolation put on anyone defensive player was horryfing.The receiving core bailed CH out many times.What's this talk about him being a bushnell cup candidate with a good O line.How many 70 yard throws do you see in the Ivys? The one common thread in the winning teams QB's is that they are mobile and can throw on the run.They can prolong plays and extend drives.How many 3 and outs did we have in the first half of most games?Our big drives were mostly in the second half when the game was for the most part over.
The running game from the shot gun without a mobile QB or H back just doesn't work "maybe with Adriane Peterson".
We had three to four games to try our other QB’s and start to prepare them for next year.The writing was on the wall after five games and I am being kind.The freshman QB’s handed in their playbooks after training camp,why? Shane Kelly CC,PH,and MA all had chances to play big chunks of time,but these opportunities were squandered.6000 yds and records for what? Always throwing into coverage and forcing throws to AK.
In the ivys there is always someone open.This is not the NFL or even the SEC.All the good teams in the Ivys rely on the short game,dump offs and dink passes to keep the opposing linebackers honest.
The opposing defences were salivating at the opportunity to make plays without having to check any options.
No shovel passes or properly executed screens to take the pressure off the pass rush shame on you.
Our special teams are just a microcosm of how poorly prepared the coaching staff had are our boys ready.A big stick on a kickoff has a much more positive impact than a return TD against us.
Special teams can set the tone.We were sloppy at best.
Princeton was the first of many IVY league games that we let slip away because our guys were not playing to the whistle as much as the other guy was ,plain and simple.
Many times we lost on lack of fundamentals.not form tackling or dishing out major hits or even wrapping up properly.
We were caught holding one too many times.
The Denver Broncos untill recently had the smallest o line in the NFL and its best running game.We are loosing on technique and coaching.Execution and a coherent game plan,focusing on the strength of the players as opposed to their weaknesses.
How hard is it to recruit three stout nose tackles or a killer mlb who can set the tone early on in games.Let the other team fear going over the middle. Belichek goes into the trenches ,NW will have to get down and dirty and teach our young line proper technique.
Our bad plays and we are second and 13,our opponents bad plays against us are a gain of 3or4yds.
Sometimes you have to take two steps backward to really start to move forward.Well we blew half a season not recognizing who we were and not taking advantage of not preparing our boys for next year.Our QB was a square peg in a round hole.It was not his fault,it was the coaching staffs for not recognizing this.How ever couragious Craig was he was never put into a position where he could do well.
they wasted precious time that will have to be spent learning the rythms and strengths of the other QB’s.
Ivy league players should not be terrorized by the opposing teams or there own coaching staff.
If I was the offence of coordinator I would start to worry.NW having many great attributes must realize he is ultimately responsible.
Game time adjustments are one of the most important elements in winning football games.We consistently tried to fit our kids to a system instead of vice versa.
Schools which are ranked in the top 25 frequently rotate QB’s frequently as a change of pace as the situation demands.Heck they will even trust a freshman qb.Would not MA have been a viable option in some second and third down situations, just to keep them guessing.
We are an Ivy league team we are supposed to be a team of thinkers.We should not get beaten up so badly on strategy and fundamentals alone.
In the first super bowl of the Kraft era,Bledsoe had the smarts and decency to realize that he could not get it done,because he wasnt,so he handed the keys over to Brady in the middle of the super bowl.I am not saying for one second that we have another Brady in our midst.But if a QB1 has this sense with all the marbles on the table,how come our staff wasted a whole half season trying to salvage a one win season.1 and 9 or 3 and7 is still a bad team,but to throw away the opportunity for real live game action experience,why?
On the positive side ,this seems to be a team that really cares for each other.We have fine human beings as coaches.We should somehow simplify,execute and some how bring the joy of playing football to Columbia.Lets have fun the rest will come.Trick plays,deception all have their place in small doses.The fun is in beating the other team with your mind as well as your heart.We must be better prepared out of the locker room after half time.How many games fate were sealed on the opponents first drive after half time.
We should not be beaten before the game starts.Go out and have fun kick some ass next and in the end it is only a game.
Sadly, have to agree with previous poster (12:44 PM). Brain trust doesn't seem "brainy" enough, especially for Ivy League ball, in particular on offense (although defense has also looked totally unprepared in first quarter).
The oc position may need to a refresher course on how to treat people with respect.
Can we keep it civil and constructive? Nothing gets accomplished with rampant negativity.
nice to see the mark rudd wannabes out in full force on Jake's board. All they ever want to do is bring Columbia down.
to
"biting my tounge":
too many words and too much
bull----.
What is the record of you football team?
It was a tough season, and for that reason it makes no sense to turn on each other or to turn a blind eye to why next year will be different. Those who've seen it all, saw it again. That's why we'll be out there again next September.
I'm sorry but that 12:44 post does not hold up on several points,
-how many top 25 teams rotate their QB on a regular basis.
-You say it's not that hard to recruit THREE stout NT's or a MLB it's hard to recruit period, let alone someone who can come in right away (as this coaching staff only has one and a half recruiting classes under their belt)
-guys weren't playing to the whistle in the Princeton game, did you watch it? the team came back from a large deficit in the first half precisly by playing to the whistle
-perhaps CH played over the other freshmen because of his maturity, and ability
-your arguement that 75% of his passes went over his wide outs heads is ridiculous, check out his stats you're actually complaining that CU had a 6000 + yd passer who actually gave the team a chance to win most games and simply was trying to do too much
-notice that when Shane Kelly came into the Cornell game he played about the same if not a bit better as CH but late in the 4th quarter when Cornell was subbing in and had a substantial lead, his only TD came with only a few seconds left hardly a mandate
-the extremely young defense did nothing but improve throughout the season week in and week out
-the lack of coaching adjustments? Brown 21 Columbia 0, end of quarter one...they then procceded to hold the best passing offense in the conference to 9 points with little to no help from the offense until the second half, but I suppose the players did that all alone
-I believe NW has wholly accepted all of the responsibility for every loss this season
-finally, sorry for making this so long but that got under my skin. I agree with the last point that football should be fun and that it is winning which is fun, not the rest of football. let's be realistic CU is loaded with young talent, but this year was horrible. The main solace is that possibly our boys and coaches will take this as a learning experience move on and come back better for it, even if it was a tough pill to swallow.
For what it's worth, Hormann completed 54.7% of his passes. The Lions had 14 TDs by passes (at least two by others). Several, good ones were dropped, of course.
A major problems was that too many receivers didn't get to the first-down stripe. Whose fault that was is unknown, to me, at least.
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