Near-Shocker

It was a defensive struggle last night


Princeton forced double overtime and darn near beat the high-flying Colgate Raiders last night before falling 21-14. The Tigers were huge underdogs coming into that game.

In football, especially college football, you have to be wary of the transitive property. In other words, just because Princeton lost to us by 38 and fell to Colgate by 7 doesn't mean Columbia is 31 points better than the Raiders.

Also, with the short rest for both teams, this game isn't as easy to read as the usual Saturday contests.

BUT, there were some constants in the two games that put the Lions in a very positive light:


-The Tigers have a very good defense. Against Colgate, it shined more because the Raiders frankly don't have as diversified an offense as Columbia does. Thus, they held them to a lot fewer points.


-Princeton QB Tommy Wornham had a much better game, but he still is having timing issues. Whether it's leading his receivers too much or holding the ball too long in the pocket, he's often just seconds away from being dangerous. Columbia took advantage of that better than Colgate did and that speaks volumes about our linebackers and front four, especially without Owen Fraser.


-There's no way this Lions team doesn't fully realize now that they can hang with anyone and beat anyone on the schedule from here on out.


On another note I thought the ESPNU crew did a SUPER job on this game, perhaps the best I've seen any network do on an Ivy game in a long time. I also liked how the announcers often stated their opinion that Ivy champs should be allowed to play in the FCS playoffs.