Fordham's Follies

Fordham's QB John Skelton scoring on Saturday


The impossible enigma that is Fordham reared its head once again Saturday as the vaunted Rams fell behind 41-7 to Rhode Island before coming back a bit to lose 41-28. But those last Fordham 21 points came after URI pulled its starters and its star QB went out with an injury.

Fordham was done in by a rash of turnovers, including six fumbles and a pick. The offensive line seemed pourous at times, and most interestingly for Lions fans, the Rams could not stop URI's QB Chris Paul-Etienne as a passer, but they REALLY couldn't stop him as a runner. The Rutgers transfer had 81 yards on 11 carries for a nice 7.4 yards per carry average. That's encouraging for teams with running QB's on Fordham's remaining schedule like Columbia with Millie Olawale.

On the other hand, he had to leave the game early after a bit of an injury. Even though it looks like he'll be back for URI's next game, that's a note of caution for for running teams with running QB's on Fordham's remaining schedule like Columbia with Millie Olawale.

Fordham generally looked sloppy, fumbling the ball six times and throwing one pick. Sure the Lions know a lot about being sloppy at this stage of their training camp but Fordham is a very veteran team and this kind of rustiness is really a shock. One part of the team that isn't exactly seasoned is the offensive line, and they had problems protecting the backfield and with penalties. I expect the Fordham coaches to be relentless over the next several days getting the kinks out.


The defensive line may have had a tougher time. Getting no sacks and giving up 229 net yards rushing. Again, that has to be encouraging to a Columbia team that seems to have a lot more rushing weapons than the Lions have enjoyed in decades.

But again, remember that this URI team is stacked with some of new Head Coach Jim Trainer's Rutgers transfers. So it's possible this Rhode Island team just overpowered Fordham at the line and forced a flurry of mistakes Columbia won't be able to duplicate.

We shall see in eleven days my friends.



John Seiler (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)


Day 11: John Seiler '10

Coming into the 2009 season, it's apparent Head Coach Norries Wilson is putting a lot of stock in senior John Seiler to lead a mostly veteran offensive line into the front lines of battle.

He comes to Columbia from Atlanta's Westminster School, where he captained the football and baseball teams.

Seiler was elected one of the team's six captains after the spring game. He has been a starter since his sophomore year, but he even got into three games as a freshman in 2006.

As he closes out his collegiate career, the left guard will have the opportunity to
work right alongside one of the Lions great hopes on the O-Line in rising sophomore left tackle Jeff Adams '12.

With a running QB and lots of high hopes, John Seiler and Columbia Lion offensive line will play a huge role in deciding the team's fate in 2009.


AND ONE MORE THING...

Speaking of offensive linemen, one of Columbia's greatest offensive linemen was Bob Hackett '71, and he and his illustrious football family is profiled in today's Madison Press of Madison, Ohio.,