"They Really Could be 3-0 right now"

The Leopards got pushed around up front by the Crimson last week (CREDIT: Lafayette Athletics)


Those are the words of Lafayette Head Coach Frank Tavani from yesterday's weekly football media luncheon.

Sure, some of that is PC-esque "coach talk," but the truth is the truth.

Can Columbia get over the hump against the Leopards? Lafayette isn't the easiest team to beat on the remainder of the Lions schedule, but are they better than every team Columbia has played so far? You could probably say they're better than Towson, (although the Tigers had favored Northeastern running scared with a 17-7 lead in the second half before losing 35-17), and it's hard to say how Lafayette compares to Princeton... but I think the best comparison we can make here is with Fordham.

The defense is very similar to Fordham's. The Leopards seem to have a big and powerful defensive line backed up by a superstar linebacker named Andy Romans who could certainly be a BCS-level player. Another linebacker, Mark Leggiero, is also a force. My take is that these two linebackers are making the D-line look better than it is, and keeping them busy with some different looks on offense might free up the conventional running game.

I see Lafayette's defense as being somewhat beatable with option runs and the occasional deep ball. That was the combination that worked much of the time against the Rams and certainly put the Lions in a position to win.

On offense, Lafayette relies mostly on 5-8, 205-pound tailback named Maurice White who Columbia did not face in last year's 29-0 loss in Easton because he was out with an ankle injury. White is averaging 110 yards per game overall, but just about 55 yards per game in his two contests against Ivy teams, (Lafayette's other two games have been against very weak opponents Marist and Georgetown).

The Leopards will also be using a different QB than the Lions saw last year. Rob Curley is at the helm now and he is pretty solid, but not as good as his predecessor Mike DiPaola who has graduated.

While the run blocking has been good, the pass protection for Curley has been very questionable as the Leopards have allowed 11 sacks, including a total of six against Marist and Georgetown. Perhaps Curley is holding on to the ball too long, but for a Lion defense that desperately needs to start pressuring the quarterback, this certainly seems like the week to do it.

Curley's best receiving target is WR Shaun Adair. If the Leopards attempt to test the Lion defense deep like Princeton did last week, he'll be the guy they go to. But Curley is just not passing for a lot of yards this season as he seems content to go short. His longest pass play this season is for 37 yards.

Adair may be more of a concern as a returner as he handles kickoffs and punts. He's averaging 20.3 yards per KO return but with a long of just 30. On punts he's having more trouble, with just one net yard on five returns. Lafayette covers kickoffs pretty well, and is decent against punts. The special teams strength is sophomore kicker Davis Rodriguez, who has a really good leg.

Coach Tavani said yesterday that Lafayette "hasn't played too well" at Wien Stadium over the years, and that's somewhat true. Columbia beat the Leopards in a monsoon at Wien in 1996 by a 3-0 score, routed them in 2000 on a monster game from Johnathan Reese 47-22, blew a 21-0 lead and lost to the Leopards 28-21 in 2002, and lost control of what had been a close game in 2004 and fell 35-14. But considering the fact that the Lions have never won at Lafayette, you could say that the Leopards have played relatively poorly here in New York.

I think the key to this game will be keeping the linebackers Romans and Leggiero from running wild into our backfield and making the QB Curley be the one to beat us on offense by containing Maurice White on the ground.

I'm feeling confident that the ever-improving option offense can do just about whatever it wants against any defense when they don't make mental errors. What we don't know yet is if the Lion defense can simultaneously stop the run and the pass at key moments in the game.

I think we'll find out this Saturday.