Week 6 Picks
Homecoming ticket challenge!
In the spirit of NY gubernatorial candidate Jimmy McMillan let me say this:
“Get your DAMN Homecoming tickets NOW! And don’t wait another DAMN minute!”
The weather forecast is holding up! 64 degrees and now upgraded to sunny from partly cloudy! A lovely day for a game!
Homecoming Rooting Points
-Freshman Luke Eddy needs to hit just six more PAT’s to tie Larry Walsh’s 27-year-old record of 22 successful extra points in a row. With the way the Columbia offense has been playing at home, a five-TD game is very possible.
-Despite Columbia’s relative success in recent years against Dartmouth, there are still two losses that stick in my craw. First, the 1987 loss that extended the infamous losing streak with Dartmouth kicked a late FG and Columbia missed a late kick that would have won it. Second, the 1989 game that Columbia lead 12-3 for most of the game only to give up 10 points in less than two minutes. Those were two of the toughest losses I have ever experienced at Wien Stadium. It’s not that the Big Green did anything dirty to win, but can’t we make the other guys go home sad this time?
Picking the Winners
Once again, the injury “news” failed me last weekend, but I’ll make no excuses for my second subpar week in a row.
Here’s how I did:
Fordham +7 at Yale
Jake Said: "I think Fordham wins this game outright.”
Result: Yale squeaked by with a 7-6 win. 0-1 overall, 1-0 against the spread.
Lehigh +11 ½ at Harvard
Jake Said: “I think the Crimson win and cover the spread too if Andrew Hatch starts and I’m just guessing he will.”
Result: Hatch didn’t play and Harvard lost. Thanks for the heads up, Coach Murphy! 0-2, 1-1 ATS
Colgate -15 ½ at Cornell
Jake Said: “Cornell is improving, but the Raiders win this by 17.”
Result: Colgate won by 17,000. 1-2, 2-1 ATS
Brown -14 at Princeton
Jake Said: “Take the Bears and lay the points.”
Result: Princeton made it very close. 2-2, 2-2 ATS
Holy Cross +4 ½ at Dartmouth
Jake Said: “I like the Big Green to win this game, but not to cover the spread.”
Result: A late defensive TD pushed Dartmouth beyond the spread. 3-2, 2-3 ATS.
So, on the season I am now 18-10 overall and 18-10 against the spread.
On to this week…
Lafayette +8 at Fordham
The Leopards are bouncing back and are underrated. They will cover the spread, but Fordham should eke out the win.
Cornell +19 at Brown
Brown got a wakeup call after that near loss at Princeton, and they should cruise in this game. I think the Bears win by 20 or 21.
Harvard -10 at Princeton
Harvard has been sputtering, but the Crimson should bounce back and cover the spread here.
Penn -3 at Yale.
Am I missing something? Yale’s great RB Mordecai Cargill is out, and Penn is riding high. Take Penn and give the points here before the bookies come to their senses and make the Quakers the 10 point favorites they deserve to be.
posted by Jake @ 6:47:00 AM
22 comments
22 Comments:
At least the Homcoming tickets are NOT "to damn expensive"
At least one person is honest in assessing their predictions
What's foehi's take on our game tomorrow? I have always found his lack of bias and greatness of mind and spirit to be a refreshing contrast to the cynicism of modern life.
Quit fixating on that boob.
I like that the Gerst kid still seems to be running under the radar. He gets any kind of blocking watch for a big day.
It was tough last week---the worse week I ever had in predictions. I'm now 26-6 ATS.
Time to get back in the race.
I too like Penn -3 over Yale
I don't like giving anyone +19 so I'm taking the pts and Cornell over Brown
Harvard -10 over a soft Princeton squad
DC vs CU. Always a hard call to make. I'm hoping the Lions bounce back after a poor outing last week and I'm taking them -8 over Dartmouth.
Good luck to all.
Is it fair to say that playing at home has its advantages, in the Ivy League where, among other things, travel team restrictions sometimes inhibit the coaching staff of the visiting team from taking with them all of the players in particular situations?
Our running backs had an off-day against Penn, but will do just fine tomorrow. Aside from Nick Gerst, we also have two talented senior running backs who have the ability to score from anywhere on the field. Remember this Lion offense put up huge numbers against Princeton and Lafayette.
One of the keys to tomorrow's game, will be the ability of the Lions' defense to get to Dartmouth's quarterback as the Green offensive line has only yielded one sack all season.
What about the NW decision after winning the toss last week to elect to kick off? I am generally not in favor of doing so unless you have a high degree of confidence that you can stuff the other team's offense.
Stop the run...win the game.
What percentage of coaches do you think elect to kick-off after they have won the pre-game coin toss? I'm guessing that it is between 80-90%. It may not always be the correct decision, but it certainly is the common decision.
Do you watch a lot of football?
I've been playing and then watching football for 50 years, and I don't know where this 90% figure comes in. Unless you think you have a great defense and can stuff the other team's offense, you always elect to receive. that goes all the way up to the NFL. In fact, NFL teams almost never elect to kick off. Here, our offense is playing better right now than our defense. We should always elect to receive.
The Gerst kid averages 6.0 yds per carry. 2nd in the IVY league. Yes, 2 other good running backs but if you have watched the games this kid is electric and the numbers speak for themself.
GO LIONS
I'm so up for the Homecoming game, I'm even half-ready to tolerate the infantilism of the band (especially having noticed that Penn's was no more "adult" playing in their home stadium).
Class band of the last several years, however, was Central Connecticut State's, which actually played the Columbia alma mater and "Roar Lion Roar."
And could someone please post the verse to the song here? I realize it's almost never sung, but still, I'd like to recall it. It's never even printed in the program.
Google is your friend:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roar,_Lion,_Roar
Congratulations to Rory Wilfork for being inducted into the CU Athletics Hall of Fame this evening. Way to go #45!
My opinion is that the Columbia Band easily won the "Battle of the Bands" with Penn, last week at Franklin Field. From a strictly musical standpoint, the Columbia Band is good, and its loud. However, the Band would be smart to stick to music and eliminate its non-musical verbal rant at the beginning of the game which no one understands. Thanks to the Columbia Band members for their efforts. Go Lions!
No one will be rooting harder for the Lions tomorrow than the members of the 1961 Columbia Football Ivy League Championship Team. Good Luck Guys!
also:
a_peck roar1
on youtube
this is also on facebook for cu athletics from back in august
"In fact, NFL teams almost never elect to kick off."
Now, I know for sure that you don't watch a lot of football. Pay attention on Sunday and you'll see how wrong you are.
Ten or twenty years ago, you would have been correct. Back then, choosing to receive the ball first was considered giving yourself the opportunity to establish momentum.
But the pendulum has completely swung the opposite way over the past two decades. Now the thinking is that, if you take the ball in the second half, you will have more information at that time in terms of two quarters of elapsed play and the game situation at the time.
It's the football equivalent of choosing to bat last in baseball. You get the same three outs as in the top half of the inning but you can do more with them because you have more information at the time.
Promise me that you'll keep track of the next ten games that you watch. At least seven, if not more, of the coaches will choose to kick off to start the game. The exceptions will be the teams with truly explosive offenses: Oregon Ducks, Oklahoma Sooners, Indianapolis Colts; people who expect to and usually do score on every possession.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVsXseZJPg0
hear:
Roar, Lion, Roar! -Columbia University's most well-known fight song written by Corey Ford (CC '23)
Roar, Lion, Roar
And wake the echoes of the Hudson Valley!
Fight on to victory evermore
While the sons of Knickerbocker rally 'round
Columbia! Columbia!
Shouting her name forever!
Roar, Lion, Roar!
For Alma Mater on the Hudson Shore!
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