A Bowl of Our Own

Cornell Big Red at Columbia Lions


November 13, 2010

Kickoff Time: 12:30pm


Location: Robert K. Kraft Field, Lawrence A. Wien Stadium at the Baker Athletics Complex


Gametime Weather Forecast: Sunny and 61 degrees


The Spread: Columbia is favored by 19 points


Columbia Game Notes

Cornell Game Notes


HOW TO GET TO THE GAME (Jake’s EVEN NEWER preferred methods):

By Subway: Take the Uptown A train to the final stop at 207th Street. Exit from the 211th Street exit and walk up to 218th Street.


By Commuter Rail: Take the Metro North train from Grand Central to the Marble Hill stop and walk back over the Broadway Bridge to the stadium.

By Car: Do whatever you can to avoid the Cross Bronx Expressway. But ALSO avoid the tie ups at Broadway north of Dyckman that are also a result of the subway construction. And the Harlem River Drive is now backed up on weekends because of GW Bridge construction. You can still take the RFK/Triboro Bridge to either 125th Street and stay on 125th going west until you reach the West Side Highway North, or take the RFK/Triboro to the Major Deegan North to the 230th Street exit and drive down Broadway to 218th.
If you choose the parking garages along 10th Avenue, I would get under the tracks as soon as you can on 10th and pull into the first garage you see within 10 blocks of the stadium.

More driving, subway, and bus directions and tips here


Backstory


Columbia and Cornell have followed eerily similar paths over the past 15 years or so. The teams have split their last 14 games right down the middle at seven wins apiece.

But the Lions come into this game having won the last two in a row and looking to beat the Big Red three times in a row for the first time since 1992, '93, and '94. Befor that, Columbia hadn't won three in a row against Cornell since 1960, ’61, and ’62.

When the game is in New York City, the local Cornell club makes a serious event out of it and even holds a short parade near its clubhouse in Midtown. The Big Red travelling crowd is usually the best you see at Wien Stadium compared to any other Ivy.

The added excitement of an actual named “Bowl” game and corresponding traveling trophy should make the crowd even more enthusiastic.



Keys to the Game



Run, Run, Run!


Cornell’s run defense is not strong by any stretch and the Lions must take advantage. Columbia needs to see if it can match or exceed the roughly 245 yards in rushing offense the Big Red has been allowing this season.


Avoid the Turnovers and Short Punts


The only way a team like Cornell can really improve on its 10 points per game average is to grab a bunch of turnovers and capitalize on insanely short fields.


Get the Sacks


The Big Red is allowing five sacks per game. Columbia needs to match that number and maybe even exceed it. It’s time for the defensive line that looked so good in the wins over Towson and Princeton to make its triumphant return.



Keep the Crown In, (and out) of It


Cornell’s crowd will be decent in size as it always is when the Big Red visit Wien Stadium. The Lions need an early lead and a grind-it-out clock-controlling game to keep the bad guys from cheering their team on to a 19-point underdog upset.

At the same time, the Lion crowd needs to keep cheering and drowning out the considerable Big Red crowd and large marching band.


Saying Goodbye

There are some all-time great Lions who will take the field at Wien Stadium for the last time tomorrow.

These guys all went through a lot for this program and our gratitude knows no bounds.

I know that there are a good number of seniors who are considering taking a 5th year because of injuries, but I do want to include the names of all the seniors here:

Dan Cohen OL

Rex Cole DB

Carl Constant OL

Alex Gross LB

Nico Gutierrez WR

Craig Hamilton DB

Paul Havas WR

Marc Holloway LB

Leon Ivery RB

Andrew Kennedy TE

Bryan Kipp DL

Zack Kourouma RB

Nathan Lenz FB

Adam Mehrer S

Matt Moretto LB

Mike Murphy DB

Daniel Myers DB

Calvin Otis CB

Clif Pope TE

Ian Quirk OL

Prentis Robinson OL

Tim Skalak OL

Josh Smith DE

Mike Stevens WR

Matt Stotler DL

Augie Williams LB