What We Can Learn from the '09 Quakers
A Championship Goal Line Stand
Penn won the Ivy League title Saturday with a 17-7 win over Harvard at Harvard Stadium.
(Okay, I know it's not official and that Penn could somehow lose to Cornell at Franklin Field Saturday, but is anyone willing to take that bet? Also, there was a controversial TD call for Penn in that game that may have actually been a fumble by Quaker QB Kyle Olson. But I did not see the play and if anyone did, I'd love to hear your opinion).
I'm going to take a little time to bask in the glow that I was one of the few, if only, published writers about the Ivies to predict a Penn win in this de facto championship contest.
Okay, I'm done.
Of course, this is a Columbia blog and it's not meant to simply throw extra glory Penn's way.
But perhaps the Lions could learn a little, or maybe a lot, from what the Quakers accomplished this season.
Like Columbia, Penn had some injuries. Some of them were serious.
The Quakers did not have much of a passing game, or a 1,000 yard rusher.
But the difference was, in addition to the usual added piece of luck that every championship team needs to have, Penn found a way to win close contest after close contest with ice water in their veins like efficiency.
I don't know how you teach that to a team, especially at the college level. But whatever it takes to get that iron constitution when close games are on the line... we need that.
Columbia is not alone in this quest. Ask the folks at Brown who lost razor-thin contests to Harvard and Penn this year. Ask Cornell; the Big Red lost super close games to Columbia, Princeton, and Dartmouth. Ask Yale; the Elis found a way to squeak by the Lions, but they lost to Cornell and Princeton in games they could have won.
I don't care if it's the NFL or Pop Warner, winning a football game is really the greatest feeling in sports. The seasons are short, so the wins just mean more.
And for Lions fans, they mean more than they do for anyone else in this league.
posted by Jake @ 3:43:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
"Ask the folks at Brown who lost razor-thin contests to Harvard and Penn this year."
Not to mention Stony Brook. If only we had a kicker...
Sigh.
By the way (and this is purely speculation), but if we had a kicker, we would have beaten SB, tied Harvard and sent the game to overtime with all the momentum, and beaten Penn 10-7 in regulation. We would be at least 8-1 and very possibly 9-0, and heading into an all-important matchup in NYC this weekend with a talented Columbia squad; the makings of a perfect Ivy League finish. Oh, what could have been!
That's tellin' it, Jake.
Jake, the difference was on the defensive side. Penn's defense, especially up front, was stout. Our defense was erratic, and absolutely decimated with injuries. Remember, the Fafayette players thought we were the best squad they saw all year (from the Ivies). We lost many more guys to injries than Penn: Gross, Frazer, Otis, Huggins, etc.
Your comment that "I'm not sure you can teach that" is accurate. However, you get it, in part, by focusing on recruiting kids from top level high school programs for which losing is a rare event. Those kids know what it takes to win, expect to win, and contribute to a culture of confidence that we will come through at those crucial junctures during a game. A few more exhibitions like that against Cornell will be a big boost in that direction.
Post a Comment
<< Home