Coughed Up
Brian Anderson had a lot of time to throw
Princeton 27 Columbia 24
Why Princeton Won
They made the big plays when they needed them over and over without making big mistakes. The offensive line gave QB Brian Anderson more than enough protection and Anderson didn't miss the opportunity. The defense was basically beaten all day, but they made Columbia work for their yards all day.
Why Columbia Lost
The obvious answer is they made a crucial turnover on the drive that could have won the game, but the defensive breakdowns on three long Tiger passes sealed their fate just as much. Without those errors, the Lions win this one going away.
Key Turning Points
1) After taking a 7-0 on a brilliant opening 67-yard drive, Princeton gets right back into the game with a quick 60-yard TD drive ended with a great play by Anderson, who avoided the rush and found running back Jordan Culbreath running into the end zone.
2) After Columbia moved the ball all the way from their one to get a half-ending field goal and moved within 14-10, the Tigers came out of the lockeroom and put together a momentum-killing TD drive highlighted by a 34-yard pass from Anderson to a wide open Trey Peacock.
3) After the Lions scored two TD's to make it 24-21 Columbia, Princeton struck back again with a 71-yard TD drive. The two big plays were an 18-yard Anderson-to-Will Thanheiser play on a 3rd and 12, and then another long bomb to an open Peacock, this time for 52 yards and the score.
4) After having a tremendous game, Columbia receiver Mike Stephens fumbled the ball away on what could have been the winning drive with less than two minutes to go at the Princeton 32.
Columbia Positives
Shane Kelly has shown for the third straight week that he can truly lead this offense. He continues to mix the pass and the run well, and this week he really had the offense clicking better than ever. The Lions mental errors on offense were also mimized considerably, something that you really have to credit Kelly for.
Mike Stephens is probably feeling like the worst guy in the world right now... but he shouldn't. He had an incredible game, catching tough passes, breaking tackles, and handling the punt return duties beautifully. He is going to be a star and he can't let this one mistake bring him down.
For the first time in their years at Columbia, Jordan Davis and Ray Rangel had a consistent and impressive game running the ball as a tandem. The Lion offensive line had a lot to do with that, but Davis's power running and Rangel's frequent cuts to the inside were a beautiful thing to see.
Drew Quinn had another 10+ tackle day on defense. He's on a pace to get something like 140 tackles this season!
Lou Miller had another great game, getting a sack and 3.5 tackles for a loss.
Nico Gutierrez did not have a catch, but he did get back into the lineup after re-tearing his ACL in the finale against Brown last season.
Matt Bashaw also returned to the lineup and made an impact at right end.
The Lions Have to Work On...
... pressuring the quarterback. Sure they gave up some big plays in the air, but Anderson doesn't make those big plays if he's forced out of the pocket more.
The kick coverage could still be better, but it wasn't the biggest factor in today's game. Still, Jon Rocholl kicked two kickoffs out of bounds. giving the Tigers the ball at their own 40 each time.
Generally, this is a team that can't give up on itself. These 3 losses have been terribly demoralizing for the fans perhaps, but the Columbia football team needs to build on the positives here. There's a lot of football left to be played.
posted by Jake @ 7:09:00 AM
19 comments
19 Comments:
Well said Jake; we are close to being a good team. No presure on the Princeton Qb, and allowing him to escape were killers. Also, our CBs have to learn how to jam the WRs. And our kicking game frankly stinks. We gave Princeton a shor tfield all day. Lousy kicks and lousy coverage. Kelly played great and so did #71 on the DL. As for #s of tackles, don't let that fool you. Tackles after 5 to 8 yard gains aren't what we need.
Quick thoughts: (1)Accurate prediction last week that this was going to be a close game between two evenly matched teams which would be decided late in the fourth quarter; (2) Shane Kelly had another outstanding game and now has to be considered one of the best quarterbacks in the Ivy League; (3) The offensive line also had another solid game giving excellent pass protection to Kelly and opening up hole for the running backs; (4) The defense played well for most of the game, but failed to put enough pressure on the quarterback allowing him to throw the deep pass to Trey Peacock, a superb athlete who may be the best wide receiver in the Ivy League; (5) We pushed Princeton around in the second half, but once again had some amazing bad luck in certain regards--Princeton's defenders interfered with our receivers on numerous plays and the refs called a few, but the strange college rule that limits defensive pass interference to only a fifteen yard penalty really hurt us, particulaly when the interference occurred at the Princeton one yard line; (6) This was an exciting game and the Columbia fans stood and cheered for the team for a good part of the second half--that was great to see; (7) Our most important needs remain, as follows: (1) We need a breakaway runner who can go outside for big gains; (2) We need a "monster" lineman or linebacker to put pressure on and take down the other team's quarterback; (3) We need more distance on kickoffs. Summary: Tough loss, but this Columbia Football Team is a good football team that is close to becoming a very good football team that can defeat any and all of its seven remaining opponents.
You can't,repeat CAN'T, let a receiver split the deep middle in cover two defense and we let that happen TWICE. DB's had a terrible day and I don't know why we don't mix in more guys when the ones out there are screwing up. Granted the pass rush was not good enough either but however long a qb has to throw those guys back there have to continue to run with that guy and not let him get behind them in cover two.
As the tackler noted on the Pr AD page, he hit Stephens as hard as he could. All-Pros fumble with that kind of impact.
agree with last post. db's seem to come off their man when quarterback being pressured sometmes leaving wide open receiver during scramble. We can pressure but not sack if receivers open. By the way they made some unbelievable catches that killed us.
Most of Quinn's tackles were after very short gains or no gains, he is really leading this defense.
I like Quinn a lot. I also like #71 on the DL ( a big first year ). What I don't like is our special teams play and the failure of our DBs to bump the WRs and break them off their routes. I think that we need to start playing Cover 2 when the QB is in the gun. And I know that this will evoke a stream of denunciation, but Mitchell has to step up. Unless he just lacks foot speed, he needs a spin move or a better bull rush and a closing move to get to the QB or at least pressure him into making hurried throws. My ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST THREE GAMES IS THAT WE ARE CLOSE BUT NEED TO BRING MORE PRESSURE ON THE OPPOSING QB AND TO STOP GIVING GIFTS ON OUR KICK-OFFS. And my open message to Mike Stephens: chin up, you have a lot of guts and played your heart out. You will help us win a lot of games.
I cannot find any reference in the game stats to the fake field goal that almost worked against Princeton. Do you know where it is, Jake? Thanks.
Offense gets a A this week, They scored enought to win and put up over 400 yards in total offense. Penalties are down for this group. The much improved O-line has given us a predictable running game through the first third of the season. Kelly's mobility and ability to find good targerts is also a plus. I like the way he spreads the ball around on offense.
Defense gets a B. They are young and inexperienced in the secondary and it shows. Our 4 man front is improving each week and if they get healthy could bring some big plays in the rest of the season. We're on film getting beat for big gains over the middle in several games. The pressure over the middle will continue in the coming weeks.
Special Teams, well, not good at all. 2 kick offs out of bounds and one of the worst punts I've seen since PopWarner Football. The fake field goal was a good decision that didn't work out. That unit needs the most improvement. They are a very important phase of the game and really set up both the offense and defense.
The fake field goal would have worked if it was converted to a short pass. Agree with Catherine that our kicking game is really costing us. A few ways to improve it: on kick-offs kick the ball to the center of the field; there is never an excuse for kicking it out of bounds. On punt returns, put two blockers on each gunner and concede that we aren't going to block any punts; on kick-off returns, don't use Knowlin because he is too valuable as a receiver. Try a few of the RBs or DBs who are not on the two deep.
I thought the Princeton QB, Anderson, was superb at avoiding sacks, improvising when the blocking broke down, and scrambling for key 1st downs. I liked our running attack, which made for 2nd and 3rd and shorts- which allowed Kelly to operate without the usual all out rush that we faced most of last season. Stephens was just trying to make a play and sometimes the ball comes loose when you try for that extra yard. Although he probably feels bad, the fact is that with over 400 yds in total offense, we should have never been in that position at that stage in the game, playing catch up and battling the clock. Overall theres improvement everywhere you look- keep your chins up guys!
Jake,
I had plans to attend this game in person but ended up staying out way too late on Friday night, unable to answer the bell on Saturday morning.
Instead of listening to the usual Princeton radio feed, I chose you and your Columbia play-by-play partner Jerry.
You guys do a great job. Accurate, informative commentary with just enough Columbia "homer" bias to be honest without being overbearing.
Congratulations on a very professional production from start to finish.
Regards,
Princeton Class of '82
Any information on the Junior Varsity Football Game against Princeton this afternoon?
Moderated comment from a reader: Regarding the JV game. Final score I believe 23-3 Princeton over Columbia (but I could be off on this as I missed the last few minutes).
We were outplayed on all aspects but special teams. We got one (thats right, one!) first down in the 1st half, and that was on a busted play. I dont have stats, but I estimate Princeton must have generated at up to 400yds of offense vs our <100. Fumbles, bad snaps, dropped balls, lack of pass protection, poor throws by the QB, (missing wide open receivers or throwing into double and triple coverage), poor tackling and linebackers and defensive secondary was very slow to react. On top of this was penalties, and the Columbia players often not knowing they were in the game and running in at the last second-very sloppy and uninspired. A huge difference between this and the varsity game, where we saw good football. It was very sad to see. We did make a 45 yd field goal, despite a bad snap. And our return game and coverage of punts was superior to Princeton. Overall...
B on special teams. D on offense. D on defense.
I don't worry about the JV score, since our best young players are playing varsity. We have 7 first years on the two deep. My guess is that none of them suited up for the JV game.
I thought Saturday's varsity game was the Lions' best overall game in their last 13 games. Numbers don't lie and they show some much improved offense with Columbia in much better position in the Ivy stats in run and pass after 3 games. Shane Kelly is 13th in the country in FCS passer rating @ 150 and 22nd in country in total offense @ 261. So congrats ofeensive line! Rushing defense is 6th in Ivy @ 130 yds per game and 3.0 yds per rush. They are only 10 yds. per game from 3rd place. Drew Quinn is now 4th in the country with 13.7 tackles per game.
Passing defense needs time for some of our younger DB's to gain some experience.Lions are now 7th in Ivy in pass defense ,allowing 238 yds per game.
I liked what I saw!
4th and Ten
Another comment from a reader highly edited by Jake:
We can't expect to out-skill or out-man our opponents. We need to outsmart the other guys.
We went 3 and out with #16 at QB in one series and that hurt us. That possession might might well hae made a differnce in the outcome.
We need to get the ball more into Knowlin's hands. Look at the ways that princeton used #21. He was WR, TB and even took snap as shotgun QB.
I also would have liked to see us throw the ball to the TE more and free up our WRs more.
I don't think "scheme" is the problem right now. On offense we're much more diverse than last year. While I'd like AK to get the opportunity to break a few big plays, I think our other AK can be a big play receiver as well. He has size, speed and some hands. 1 has been a nice surprise this year, he can make some plays. Anyway, on offense its not the scheme. 16 is a player and hopefully well find a way to get him on the field. While his series in this game was marred by bad decision, he was very effective earlier in the year. I wouldn't quit on him.
On Defense, the 4 man front is a familiar scheme to most players. We just aren't playing at the same game speed in the secondary. Princeton ran some nice routes with some big play kids and they hurt us. Our secondary just needs time and reps.
Agree. We are last in pass defense efficiency in Ivy. Looks like teams complete 70% of passes against us. We have to provide better coverage so we can get more pressure/sacks. LB making a ton of tackles. Is this primarily on running plays or on the short passes? In a defense like ours, what receivers are the LB responsible for? And how are they doing therefore on pass defense? Do we have a blitz package?
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