Running with (a lot of) the Bulls

My halftime interview for the Princeton game was Greg Abbruzzese and his lovely wife Laurel. We talked about how Greg was one half of a great running tandem at Columbia, his partner being the speedy Solomon Johnson from 1988-92, (they both did 5th years because of injuries).

I thought Columbia’s running attack was very similar to the 1988 team that featured “Abba” and “Solo” in all their pre-injury glory.

But now I’m beginning to think the Lions look a lot more like the 1961 Columbia team that truly employed a running attack by committee.

And oh, it worked so well.

Tom Haggerty, Tom O’Connor, and Russ Warren were the pure runners while QB Tom Vasell ran well too.

Of course, we like to make comparisons to the ’61 team whenever we can because that was the Lions’ sole Ivy title.

But perhaps the better comparison to make is Sean Brackett with Archie Roberts.

Roberts was a ground breaking passer as everyone knows, but he was also a great runner who led the Lions in rushing for two of his three varsity seasons.

Current QB Brackett has one big thing in common with Roberts that set them both apart as passers and that’s completion percentage.

In Roberts’ day, completion percentages of 50% or higher were rare. But as a sophomore in 1962, Roberts blew the stats away by completing 60% of his passes. He upped that to 62% the following year.

Brackett is posting a shocking 70% completion rate and an ungodly 10 yards per attempt average. Roberts best year for YPA was his junior season of 1963, when he averaged 7.2 yards per pass.

Brackett’s high completion rate, high YPA, and super 7-1 TD to INT ratio make him the current FCS leader for pass efficiency.


But he can run too.

Brackett is currently the #5 rusher in the Ivies with 168 yards and 4.5 yards per carry. Archie never averaged more than 2.8 yards per carry, but he did run for eight TD’s in 1963.

This little look back in history is all about making the point that this Lion offense may be something of a fantasy team.

You see, Roberts didn’t join the varsity until 1962… one year after the championship team graduated stars like Warren and Haggerty.

But imagine if all those talented runners had been able to play with, even for just one season, a passer like Roberts?

The current Columbia team may be as close to that fantasy as we’ll ever get.

The Lions have a great running attack by committee with Nick Gerst, Leon Ivery, Zack Kourouma, Marcorus Garrett, and Nathan Lenz. And there’s also Brackett in the mix with his great running and passing abilities.

Three of the above-mentioned Columbia runners, Gerst, Brackett and Ivery are all on the top 10 rushers list in the Ivies right now. The longer they stay there, the longer the Lions will be a nightmare to defend and defeat.


Selective Highlights

Now THIS is a job worthy of the guys from Pravda. Check out this highlight reel from Princeton's athletic site of the game against Columbia last week. Something is, er, missing.


Another Option

There is another good option to getting to the Columbia home games from Queens and Long Island, (that includes both JFK and LaGuardia Airports).

Because my beloved Harlem River Drive has been overrun with spillover traffic from the GW Bridge weekend construction, I have been taking the Triboro/RFK Bridge to 125th Street in Manhattan and crossing over to the West Side Highway north to Dyckman Street. That’s not as long a trip as it sounds, and the only harrowing part of it is driving along 125th Street where all the jaywalkers and double parkers pose a challenge.

But there IS another way! You can take the Triboro/RFK Bridge to the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87 North) and get out at exit 10, 230th Street. From there, just drive down Broadway to 218th Street and the Baker Complex.

As always, tune in to 1010 WINS, or 880 WCBS for traffic reports. They update them every 10 minutes.