10 Keys to the Season

Can Jordan Davis or another tailback step up? (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)


1) Establish the Run

There are no panaceas in football, but having a strong and reliable running game can cure a lot of ills on the field. It helps the offense, defense, and clock management. And when you can approach short-yardage situations with absolute confidence, then you really have something.

Columbia has not had a credible running attack, let alone a strong and reliable one, since 2004. That streak has to end.

Getting the running game going is never as simple as it sounds. It requires good ball carriers, good blocking, and good play calling. The Lions are starting to look more like a veteran unit, both on the offensive line and in the backfield, and that should pay dividends on the field this season. If not, then something is wrong.

There are a lot of potential tailbacks and fullbacks on the roster this year with varying degrees of experience and estimated talent. But it's refreshing to see the big number regardless. I expect the coaches to work on finding the best combination.

And who gets the nod at QB will also play a big role in the effectiveness of the running game. If the eventual starter is able to run an occasional option play, naked bootleg, QB draw, or just a wicked scramble, that will help. It appears all the candidates for the QB job have considerable running ability.


2) Stop the Run

This was Columbia's #1 problem last year and I've gone over the ugly stats so many times that I don't feel like repeating them. In all fairness, the situation did improve a bit towards the end of the season, and the Lions have some decent momentum to work with in this area.

Switching the defensive alignment to a 4-3 should help. Another help would be if someone can step up to play a classic nose tackle position and plug that middle. It was downright odd that teams had so much success running straight up the middle against Columbia while the speedy linebackers and safeties did a pretty good job of shutting down the outside lanes. Size isn't always enough, but I have to think the Lions' relative lack of bulk was a big reason for the troubles up the middle. The addition of some big freshmen who reportedly, (according to Coach Wilson's published missives), made strides in camp could be a real game-changer this season.

A big clue to how much Columbia has or has not improved this season will be right in the opener at home against Fordham. Fordham is a team that prefers to throw the ball, but if the Rams start running and running often, then you'll know we still have some work to do. Fordham has a great veteran offensive line, so any strides the Lions make against the run in game 1 would be significant.

Stay tuned.


3) Get Settled at QB

It's great that more football fans are focusing on the unjustly unsung players like offensive linemen these days. But quarterback is still the most important position in football and Columbia will have a new starter this year.

The Lions don't have the luxury of waiting to break in a new guy. Whoever jogs out onto the field 15 days from now needs to be ready to lead this team and make the most of our deep and talented receiving corps. After winning Ivy Rookie of the Year in 2006 and making 1st Team All-Ivy last season, wide receiver Austin Knowlin's junior year cannot be wasted trying to get acquainted with a new passer.

Either way, we'll learn a lot about Coach Wilson and offensive coordinator Vinny Marino this season by who they choose to start the year and by how they manage things if their initial choice doesn't work out. This is the football equivalent of the "3am phone call in the White House" judgment issue we've been hearing a lot about this year.


4) Stop the Bleeding in the Red Zone

By midseason, my broadcasting partner Jerry Recco was already tired of pointing out how poorly the Lions were doing on defense in the red zone and how ineffective they were on offense in the red zone. Opponents scored touchdowns 74% of the time when they entered the Columbia red zone compared to a weak 48% TD-scoring rate for the Lions offense in the red zone. They were dead last in the Ivies in overall red zone defense, and last in the league in TD's scored in red zone for the offense. Last is bad.


5) Turn it Around on Turnovers

As I noted several weeks ago, Columbia's turnover ratio of minus 4 was not so bad for a 1-9 team. The only trouble is that the Lions almost always allowed opponents to score off of their turnovers and almost never capitalized on their own takeaways. Lion opponents scored an eye-popping 98 points off of their 24 takeaways while Columbia scored just 33 points off its 20 takeaways. That's a killer margin and it killed the Lions week after week.


6) Let Phil Mitchell Loose

If he played for Harvard or Yale, not only would Phil Mitchell be a 1st Team All-Ivy, he'd be on those preseason "watch" lists and All-America teams. Because of numerous roles he had to undertake on the line last season and being generally banged up, Mitchell had to settle for All-Ivy Honorable Mention in 2007. That can't happen again.

Someone else needs to emerge on the D-line to let Mitchell focus on his natural defensive end position and harrass quarterbacks and cutting runners.

There are a lot of candidates for this "helper" role on the line, and we should learn very early in the season who, if anyone, is stepping up.


7) Establish an Alternative to Austin

It's amazing how Austin Knowlin is able to get open on play after play even when everyone in the stadium knows the play is going to him. He not only gets open, but most often he's open right in the middle of the field!

By the end of 2007, Nico Gutierrez had established himself as a legitimate alternative to Knowlin thus making them both more lethal to opposing defenses. If he's fully recovered from his ACL tear in the final game against Brown, then Columbia looks especially strong at wide receiver. If not, the Lions need to be able to go to someone else.

Taylor Joseph may be the best 3rd receiver in the Ivies, and he certainly is one of the hardest workers on the team. But he alone does not occupy defenders' minds enough to keep them from blanketing Knowlin.

The good news is there are some good returning and incoming wide receivers who could pop in this role. Again, we should learn early on who is stepping up.


8) Get More People in the Stands

Okay, I say this every year, but attendance has to improve. The sports marketing people have done a great job making football game day at Baker a very family friendly and generally fun experience. With the addition of yet ANOTHER parking garage in the area, the #1 logictical problem with going to Columbia games is really eliminated now. (There are so many garages within 6 blocks of the stadium, mostly on 10th Avenue that you really have a lot of choices).

Hopefully, the weather will cooperate a lot more than it did last year when it seemed to rain every home Saturday. But it's really up to the fans to do more and bring more of their friends to games, especially friends with families.


9) Make the Return Game a Weapon

Knowlin returned a good deal of kicks last season and seemed to get better as the season went along. But it would be great not to have to use him in that role. It's hard to underestimate how much of a spark getting good field position off kicks can be.


10) Beat Princeton

I hate to overemphasize one game in a 10-game season. But the Princeton game has really set the tone for the entire season for the last five years or so.

In 2003, the Lions pulled off an incredible Hail Mary win, and the team ended up winning 4 games that season, three of which came in the final moments.

In 2004, Columbia lost a heart breaking overtime game against the Tigers, and ended up losing several other games in the final moments.

In 2005, the Lions were thoroughly whipped in Princeton and the season spiraled out of control after that.

In 2006, Columbia fought the eventual Ivy champs hard, but fell short. That set the team off on a rough stretch where they lost 5 of 6 before they got back on track in week 9.

Last year, the Lions lost a golden opportunity for a win by squandering Tiger turnovers and then making crucial turnovers of their own that Princeton used to win the game. That unpleasant scenario played out again against Dartmouth and Brown.

So while it is just ONE GAME, it does the Princeton contest can effectively set the tone for the year. I think it will again this time around, and the Lions need to make sure that tone is a sweet one.