Day 44: A Rudd We can be Proud of!

Nick Rudd's famous game-winning kick over Fordham, 2002



The Patriot League has released its preseason media poll, putting Columbia's opening week opponent Fordham at 5th and our week four opponent Lafayette in a tie with archrival Lehigh at 3rd.

Here's the full poll:

1. Holy Cross
2. Colgate
3T. Lafayette
3T.Lehigh
5. Fordham
6. Bucknell
7. Georgetown


Fordham is a super-hard team to figure this preseason as the Rams returned a lot of their 2007 championship team only to fall to 1-5 in the Patriot League in 2008. And with athletic scholarships kicking in for next season, one has to wonder how that will affect the current players and staff who may be looking ahead to 2010.

The good news is that Columbia will have one scouting opportunity as Fordham begins its season on September 5th at URI. Then the Rams have a bye week before taking on the Lions in The Bronx on the 19th.

Even under relatively normal circumstances, I have found it very hard to measure just how good a team Fordham is over the years. I don't envy the job the folks voting in that media poll had to do this week.

Lafayette is boasting a lot of returning players, including some very impressive linemen, but seems a little thin at the skill positions. I am predicting a much better showing for the Lions than the last time they went to Easton, when they fell to the home team by a 29-0 score.

Speaking of media polls, we're just five days away from the release of the Ivy media poll, which for the 3rd year in a row, I was honored to participate in. Usually this poll buries Columbia at the bottom, but I would not be surprised if we saw the Lions emerge from their usual 7th or 8th place slot this time around.


Nick Rudd '05

Nick Rudd came to Columbia in 2001 and luckily for him, bore no relation to infamous '68 campus riot radical Mark Rudd.

The younger Rudd was a standout in soccer and football at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California.

As a freshman, Rudd was solely a punter and he made a great immediate impact at the position. He finished the 2001 season with a solid 39.0-yard punting average, especially making a difference in Columbia's close win over Cornell in Ithaca by averaging 47-yards per boot in that game.

For the next three years, Rudd had the tough job of handling the punts and placekicks, but he mostly excelled at punting upping his average to 39.1 yards per kick and making the All Ivy Second Team. Of course, the highlight of his 2002 season had to be his clutch last second field goal to beat Fordham 13-11 on national TV just moments after having an earlier attempt blocked.

Rudd was the 1st Team All Ivy punter in 2003 along with gaining Honorable Mention All Ivy honors as a kicker in 2003. That exciting season Rudd nailed 11 of 16 FG attempts, with a long of 43-yards.

Like most of his teammates, Rudd logged a mostly disappointing 2004 season, but the sum total of his four years at Columbia shows a record of very hard work under some very difficult circumstances.