Who's Your Front Three?

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Season Tickets 2011: “Let’s Get this Done!”



You now have just ONE more day to lock in your Columbia Football season tickets at the rolled back 2010 prices!!! Click here and get started!



The deal is good through June 30th.



FYI: I’ll be in my usual chairback seats in section D.




Seyi Adebayo (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)


The Front Three



Continuing on a theme I’ve been pondering all offseason…



Suddenly, the Columbia defensive line seems like it could quickly become a strength after being a nagging team weakness in 2009 and 2010.



The reason is depth and the change of the scheme from 4-3 to 3-4.



We already have four very good players returning to vie for those top three slots in Ben Popeck, Seyi Adebayo, Chris Groth, and Josh Martin.



Now throw in the wildcards of Owen Fraser, (if he’s healthy), and Wells Childress, (if he’s really ready to make the transition from Texas A&M to the Ivies). Both of them could throw the Lion D-line into a seriously higher gear.



I also love Will Patterson at DE, but he just seems more like a pure linebacker to me. It’s enough to make me wonder if he will officially change positions this summer.



But that’s seven very good players right there for a unit that needs three starters.



Let the competition begin.







Top 100 Moments of 2010





#80: Luke’s Field Goal




By the 4th quarter of the week two game against Towson, Columbia fans had already seen freshman Luke Eddy nail three PAT’s with lots of room to spare.



But after a 71-yard, eight-and-a-half-minute drive fizzled at the Tiger 20, Eddy was called on to make his first-ever collegiate field goal attempt.



And if there was any doubt left in anyone’s mind about his kicking ability, Eddy blew them away with a booming kick from 37 yards out that was picture perfect.



With five minutes left in the game, the kick basically iced the game for the Lions and put an exclamation point on the first win of 2011.

Senior Surprises?

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Season Tickets 2011: “Let’s Get this Done!”



You now have just TWO more days to lock in your Columbia Football season tickets at the rolled back 2010 prices!!! Click here and get started!



The deal is good through June 30th.



FYI: I’ll be in my usual chairback seats in section D.








Senior Surprises



You often hear people say that there isn’t much of a real improvement for Ivy players between their freshman and senior years.



They say good players aren’t really made by the coaches and experience.



But Columbia has had so many players who emerged as seniors just in recent years alone that it’s hard to make that argument stand up.



Consider players like Darren Schmidt ’07, an unknown starter for three years who broke out as a senior in 2006 to lead the Ivy League in sacks.



In 2007, Eugene Edwards was a surprise monster in the secondary and special teams.



In 2009, seniors Jared Morine and Ray Rangel had break out years. In fact, Rangel was on a pace for a 1,000 yard season before he was injured at Dartmouth in week 6.



Last year didn’t feature too many breakout seniors, but Craig Hamilton was an exception as he did a super job returning kicks and in the secondary all season long.



Of course, people like Alex Gross, Andrew Kennedy, Calvin Otis, Adam Mehrer and many other seniors had great 2010 seasons. But none of them was an “unknown quantity” coming into that year.



So, who are my picks to be “breakout seniors” in 2011?



One easy choice is Mike Stephens. No, he’s not an unknown player to Columbia fans and he’s a two-time captain returning for a 5th year senior season.



But because he missed just about 100% of 2010, the rest of the league has not seen what the pumped-up Stephens can do. In his junior year, he had just 20 receptions and one TD playing in the shadows of Austin Knowlin, Taylor Joseph and Andrew Kennedy.


Kurt Williams is another player with “breakout senior” written all over him. As he enters his second full season as a college football wide receiver, Williams has added experience to his already impressive physical attributes as he prepares for 2011. I would be surprised if Williams doesn’t outdo the 27 receptions for 400 yards and two touchdowns he achieved in 2010.



Two other senior WR’s, Mark Muston and Paul Havas could play surprise rolls. Muston has great size and Havas has great speed.



FB Nico Papas could do some damage this fall depending on what kind of offense the Lions run throughout the season. Columbia’s mostly spread formation attack doesn’t usually give fullbacks much of a roll.



Hard-running David Chao could surprise. He’s been impressive in the last two spring games and exhibits great fundamentals. With speedsters Nick Gerst and Marcorus Garrett already in the backfield, Chao could get a shot to do some power running this fall.



On defense, I would not be surprised to see great things from Neil Schuster at DB. Again, he’s not really an unknown quantity up to now but he is not well known around the league and that’s likely to change.



DL Ben Popeck is also not exactly unknown. You could argue his junior season was already a breakout year with 42 tackles. But Popeck seems primed to make an even bigger impact in his final year.



I know the only real dark horses I mentioned here are Chao, Havas and Muston.



But if any of the other players noted above make All Ivy, that would be considered a big surprise by the standard “Columbia-ignorant” experts around the league.



Top 100 Moments of 2010





#81: Calvin’s First Pick




If Columbia thought they could breathe easy after taking a 21-10 lead early in the fourth quarter against Towson in week two, that feeling didn’t last long.



Hakeem Moore returned Greg Guttas’ kickoff to the Tiger end zone all the way back to his own 32 yard line.



On the first play from scrimmage, Towson QB Chris Hart completed a 25-yard pass to the Lion 43.



But Towson’s aggressive play backfired on the next play when Hart’s deep pass was picked off by Calvin Otis who made a pretty play to grab it at the Columbia nine.



It was the first of three interceptions for Otis who also had 40 tackles and eventually made 1st Team All Ivy.

Let's Get These Tickets Sold!!!

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Season Tickets 2011: “Let’s Get this Done!”



As one of my readers wrote in the comments section this weekend, it’s time to make a big push to get EVERYONE who reads this blog to buy season tickets for the Lions in 2011.



Some of us may complain from time to time about our won-lost record, but we all know that going to Columbia games is an extremely enjoyable, inexpensive, fan-friendly experience that EVERYONE should have as much as possible.



So let’s get this done.



Show these players, these hard-working student-athletes that we support THEM and what they stand for above all else.



You now have just THREE more days to lock in your Columbia Football season tickets at the rolled back 2010 prices!!! Click here and get started!



The deal is good through June 30th.



FYI: I’ll be in my usual chairback seats in section D.



Jeff Adams (CREDIT: COLUMBIA ATHLETICS)




Senior LT Jeff Adams is ranked as the 19th overall offensive tackle prospect for next year’s NFL draft.



That ranking comes from the NFL Draft Scout website, which also projects Adams going somewhere in the 7th round.



The site also tags Adams’ fellow offensive lineman Bob Hauschildt as a senior some scouts are watching.



The Columbia juniors on the watch list are Sean Brackett, Joshua Martin, Seyi Adebayo, and a somewhat surprising name in Scott Ward.



(*UPDATE) As some readers have pointed out, I made an error yesterday when I wrote that I didn’t think Ward had started a game in his Columbia career. I knew he played extensively throughout the season, but I relied too much on the late-season official stats. Ward actually started SIX games as a sophomore last season.

Sorry about that Scott.



Top 100 Moments of 2010





#82: Gerst’s Beautiful Touchdown




With Columbia’s lead shaved down to 14-10 in week two against Towson, the Lions got the ball back at their own 20 with five minutes left in the third quarter.



The Light Blue desperately needed to answer the Tigers long TD just moments earlier… or they at least needed to get a few first downs to avoid getting into a bad field position hole.



That’s when the Lion offensive line took over.



In a drive that almost exclusively featured the run, there were a lot of pretty plays.



Leon Ivery had an eight yard scamper for the initial first down.



Sean Brackett had a huge 25-yard run for a first down on a 3rd and 17.



But the nicest play was the 13-yard TD Nick Gerst scored when the drive finally ended on the first play of the 4th quarter.



You can see the TD here.



It was Gerst’s first TD of his career and hopefully the first of many.

Quick Punishment

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TICKETS!!!!

You now have just FOUR more days to lock in your Columbia Football season tickets at the rolled back 2010 prices!!! Click here and get started!

The deal is good through June 30th.

I will be sitting in my usual chairback seats in the home "D" section in case anyone wants to sit near me, (or avoid me for that matter).


FACEBOOK

Facebook is a great way to keep updated on Columbia sports, and it’s easier when you “friend” the Columbia athletics page. You can do that by clicking here. The athletic department is trying to get to 4,000 "friends" on this page and as of this post the number is over 3,500. Let's help them get there!




Moore made a lot of Lions miss



Top 100 Moments of 2010



#83: Quick Punishment


Columbia was leading 14-3 in week two against Towson and looking to put the Tigers away midway through the third quarter when the Lions faced a 2nd and ten from their own 48.

What followed was a scenario that was thankfully very rare for the rest of the season.

QB Sean Brackett threw a medium range pass that was intercepted and downed at the Towson 38.

Then just two plays later, Towson QB Chris Hart threw a deep pass to Hakeem Moore and Moore broke several tackles for a 62 yard score.

That made the score 14-10 and put the Tigers back in the game.

Columbia certainly had its problems in 2010, but Brackett interceptions and tackling errors in the secondary were not common at all.

In fact, Brackett threw just six interceptions all season.

That's six picks in 10 games and 287 attempts, or one interception every 48 passes.

As far as the secondary went, safety Adam Mehrer and Calvin Otis both finished the season as All Ivy honorees. Otis actually made the first team.

The Lions allowed just 11 TD passes all season and finished in the top four in the Ivies in overall pass defense.

Only Brown and Penn gave up fewer TD passes.

Of course, Brackett is back for another two years at CU, but replacing Otis and Mehrer will be a tall order this coming season.

Enter Gerst

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Facebook is a great way to keep updated on Columbia sports, and it’s easier when you “friend” the Columbia athletics page. You can do that by clicking here. The athletic department is trying to get to 4,000 "friends" on this page and as of this post the number is over 3,500. Let's help them get there!






Top 100 Moments of 2010


#84: Gerst's Real Debut

Midway through the third quarter in week 2 and leading 14-3, the Lions had a chance to put Towson away when they took over at their own 22.

The defense had just forced a Tiger three-and-out and Nico Gutierrez had a nice 10 yard return of a long Towson punt.

That's when highly-touted sophomore Nick Gerst got his first real work of his Columbia career.

Gerst hadn't played much up to that point, with just one carry for one yard earlier in the game, (a nice 13 yard run had been wiped out by a holding penalty).

But there was no holding back #34 at this point, as he took the first down carry for an explosive 12 yard run.

On the next play, he burned Towson for another eight yards to the Columbia 42.

Gerst had already become a major fan favorite on the Internet, where his supporters constantly praised his talents.

But these back-to-back carries in the third quarter were the first evidence of what he really could do.

Gerst finished the game with 73 yards on 11 carries and had 350 yards on just 69 carries for all of 2010.

What will he be able to do with what should be many more carries in 2011?


TICKETS!!!!

Speaking of 2011, You now have just FIVE more days to lock in your Columbia Football season tickets at the rolled back 2010 prices!!! Click here and get started!



The deal is good through June 30th.

Big Green Game Changer?

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Facebook is a great way to keep updated on Columbia sports, and it’s easier when you “friend” the Columbia athletics page.

You can do that by clicking here.







Bruce Wood reports that the Great Ivy Football Transfer Parade of 2011 may not be over as UNH sophomore QB Alex Park may be on his way to Dartmouth in the coming weeks.

Park is a promising prospect at a position that remains the biggest question mark for the Big Green this coming season.

In other words, if he is a real deal, he could start.


Season Ticket Clock is Ticking!!

You now have just SIX more days to lock in your Columbia Football season tickets at the rolled back 2010 prices!!! Click here and get started!

The deal is good through June 30th.

FYI: I’ll be in my usual chairback seats in section D.



Top 100 Moments of 2010


85: Ivery’s Big Run

Leon Ivery came to Columbia in 2007 after finishing an extremely impressive high school career in California’s Bay Area.
But he didn’t quite crack the BCS-level scouting lists because of bad bone spurs in his feet that developed in his senior year.
Instead, Ivery performed reliably for the Lions, especially his junior and senior seasons where he helped create a strong running attack by committee.
Ivery’s best single moment of 2010 came early in the second half of the 3rd quarter of week two as Columbia was clinging to a modest 7-3 lead over Towson.

The Lions had just forced the Tigers to punt after grabbing one first down on their first possession of the 2nd half.

On first down from the Columbia 35, Ivery burst through for a 38 yard run that jolted the crowd and the Towson defense.

That run would be the second longest from scrimmage all season long for the Lions.

Four plays later, Ivery scored on a five yard run and the Lions had a two score lead.

Leon finished the season with 345 yards rushing and four TD’s

One can only imagine how far Ivery could have gone at Columbia with just one more season on the varsity.

Get Your Tickets NOW!

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You gotta be here!




Season Ticket Clock is Ticking!!



You have just SEVEN more days to lock in your Columbia Football season tickets at the rolled back 2010 prices!!! Click here and get started!



The deal is good through June 30th.



FYI: I’ll be in my usual chairback seats in section D if you’d like to sit near me and my little girls every home game.





Brinson News is Official





Wagner College has officially announced that Columbia’s tight ends coach Tony Brinson is the Seahawks new defensive coordinator.





I haven’t seen any news about who will replace Brinson here.



Wagner is continuing its new series with Cornell this fall after shocking the Big Red by a 41-7 score last season.







Top 100 Moments of 2010





#86: Martin’s Big Sack




Columbia went into the locker room at halftime in week two clinging to a modest 7-3 lead and kicked off to Towson to start the third quarter.



The Tigers had pulled starting QB Chris Hart late in the second quarter and red shirt grad student Bart Blanchard was under center and starting to gel.



After Blanchard completed a 14 yard pass for a first down and a short run, Towson faced a second down and seven from their own 41.



But the Tigers drive came crashing down on that play as sophomore DE Joshua Martin bulled into the backfield and sacked Blanchard for an 11 yard loss.



From that point on in the game, it was like Martin was living in the Towson backfield.



He would finish the game with three sacks, four QB hurries, and six tackles overall.



But the stats just don’t tell the whole story of just how dominant Martin was in that game.



It seemed like the refs could, or should, have called holding on Towson on every offensive play based on how the Tigers handled Martin’s speed rushes from the outside.



For a Lions team struggling to replace Lou Miller, who graduated the previous spring, it was an encouraging sign that all began with that 11 yard sack in the third quarter.

Coaches and Versus Making Big News!!! UPDATED

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There’s a tremendous amount of news to get to today, so let me do this “news flash” style with just a comment or two for each one:

First, FootballScoop.com is reporting that Lion Tight Ends Coach Tony Brinson has indeed taken the job as Defensive Coordinator at Wagner College on Staten Island.

So now, the Lions need to replace and All-Ivy TE in Andrew Kennedy and the man who coached him. Training camp begins in about 55 days.


Second, Columbia’s head wrestling coach Brendan Buckley has been named Head Wrestling Coach at California Polytechnic State University. This could be the opening football fans need to see if gridiron and grappling prodigy Wyatt Baker may at least consider playing both sports in the future at Columbia.

There are some other wrestlers on the roster who may also want to consider football now.

Finally, we’re going to have a late afternoon homecoming this year. The Versus Network has just announced that the October 15th Penn-Columbia game will be nationally televised and start at 3:30pm.

This makes the Penn game, a game where in recent years Columbia has found out just how good or bad it really is, will have even more excitement attached to it because of the national TV coverage.

It will also give fans lots more time to party before the game and get psyched!!!

The other interesting part of the Versus news is that the network will cover five, instead of just three, games in 2011.

Most of the games will feature Penn, in what looks like a calculated move to attract fans of the Ivy’s two-time defending champ and most dominant team in the last few years. And by grabbing the rights to the Penn-Harvard game and “The Game”, Harvard-Yale, Versus is really taking ownership of what are the best and most crucial individual games on the schedule.

I believe the YES Network will still broadcast three games this season, (a service Yale PAYS for, by the way), and the Columbia game may be included in that.


GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!!!

You only have a little more than a week to reserve season tickets for 2011 for the 2010 prices. June 30th is the last day.



Top 100 moments of 2010


#87: Eddy’s First Kick


After Columbia scored its first TD in the week two game against Towson, freshman Luke Eddy went a long way towards easing fans’ fears about the Lion kicking game when he nailed the ensuing PAT.

But even the most optimistic Columbia fan could not have predicted that that PAT would be the first of a team record-breaking 27 straight successful PAT’s until he finally missed one in the Brown game in week 10.

That earned Eddy the nickname, “Eddy Money.” (Although I can’t believe anyone young enough to play college football today can remember Eddie Money the rocker from the 70’s and very early 80’s).

Eddy enters his sophomore season with a lot of opportunities ahead of him in football.

He only started kicking in late 2009, making the switch from soccer at the great Worcester Academy in Massachusetts.

His booming leg and consistency as a raw freshmen last season have a lot of us talking about a possible future for Mr. Eddy in the NFL.

No Deal

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Tevin Hood



Looks like no Tevin Hood for Yale!



Hood was being touted pretty heavily by Yale fans as a real game changer for the but something has happened and he is no longer with the Bulldogs.



It’s hard to look at this news and not continue to scratch your head about the Yale coaching staff’s apparent inability to manage transfers properly.



The continuing Patrick Witt saga, with his bizarre behavior and erratic play, is one of those kinds of stories that happen often at BCS schools but not in the Ivies.



For the record, I think Witt is very talented and does give the Elis more than he takes away…



But what the heck is going on in New Haven?





Top 100 Moments of 2010







#88: The Big Connection




Trailing 3-0 early in the second quarter against Towson, the Lions needed a spark on offense.



On 2nd and 10 from their own 33, QB Sean Brackett woke up the crowd and the team with a beautiful 26 yard pass to Mark Muston.



It was not only the moment that got the offense going after scoring just nine points through the first five quarters of 2010, it was the moment that awakened the offense for the rest of the season.



After that completion, Columbia needed just five more plays to score a TD.



Three of those five plays were pass plays, including the 19 yard TD pass to Zack Kourouma.


That gave the Lions a 7-3 lead they never gave up.

Our New NEC of the Woods

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Thanks to Big Green Alert’s Bruce Wood for noticing that our week 4, (and Dartmouth’s week two), opponent Sacred Heard has released a preseason prospectus with projected starters and lots of other goodies Ivy teams just don’t seem interested in releasing these days.



As Bruce points out, Sacred Heart had a top notch QB last year in Dale Fink. But “had” is the operative word, because Fink has graduated along with a lot of the optimism surrounding the program last season.



This will be the first-ever meeting between Columbia and Sacred Heart and it begs the queston: will Sacred Heart’s NEC football conference become the new Patriot League for Ivy teams?



That’s possible if the pro-scholarship forces in the Patriot League win out in the end.



In some ways, the NEC has already replaced the Patriot League for Columbia in ever-increasing fashion.



The NEC is made up by Sacred Heart, Albany (our week two opponent), Central Connecticut State, (a team we played and lost to in 2009), Duquesne, (a team we played and defeated in 2005), Monmouth, Robert Morris, St. Francis and Wagner.



Five of the above teams are within one hour trips from the Columbia campus, making them inviting home or road games for both sides.



But is that what the fans want?



Let me know…





Top 100 Moments of 2010







#89: Towson’s Ground Attack




After Fordham just kept testing and testing Columbia’s run defense in week one, (see moment #93), other teams followed suit week after week.



For Towson, that moment came on the Tigers first possession of the second quarter.



Taking over at their own 20, Towson ran the ball six straight times getting all the way to the Columbia 46 before a two yard loss on the sixth attempt pushed them back to the CU 48.



From that point on, the Tigers mixed the pass and the run more often and eventually made a 28 yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.



But for the second time in 2010, it was obvious that Columbia would need to shore up its run defense in order to win games, especially against the better teams coming up on the schedule.

Sacked but Not Out

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Brackett got off to a rocky start against Towson (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)


Top 100 Moments of 2010


#90: Sacked Out


After scoring just 9 points in the season opener against Fordham, the Lions were determined to show a more potent offense in week two at home against Towson.

But it didn't start out looking good.

Each team had three possessions each with no points as Columbia took over at the Lion 42 for its fourth try on offense with just 1:10 left in the first quarter.

A 13 yard 1st down run by Nick Gerst was negated by a penalty, but QB Sean Brackett answered with a 20 yard run to the Tiger 44 on the ensuing 1st and 16.

But an incomplete pass and a little two yard run by Leon Ivery left Columbia with a 3rd and eight at the Towson 42.

But on that play, Brackett was sacked for an 11 yard loss back to the Lion 47 and the drive was over.

It was the third sack of the game at that point and it left Lion fans wondering if the offense would ever get going.

Of course, it was about to, perhaps in part because all those early sacks served as a wake-up call in the nick of time.

Sour Ending

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Top 100 Moments of 2010



#91: The Fumble


After the very impressive drive to get to Fordham four, one of the most painful moments of 2010 ensued.

With about 50 seconds left in the game, and Columbia trailing 16-9, the Lions were set up in their usual shotgun formation on 1st and goal from the four.

But the snap from center Kyle Stupi was either a little high, or QB Sean Brackett was looking away and the resulting fumble was recovered by Fordham at the nine yard line.

The Lions had a few more chances to win games with final drives in 2010, but only one other opportunity brought them as close as they came against Fordham in week one.

That would be the Cornell game in week nine, and that had a much happier ending.

The Drive... Almost

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Most of the incoming freshman now have full bios and links to their highlight videos on the GoColumbiaLions.com football roster page. Check it out!!!









Top 100 Moments of 2010





#92: The Drive


After Fordham took a 16-9 lead with 4:54 left in the 4th quarter, the Lions began their drive all the way back on their own 18.



With the pressure mounting, Columbia showed its resilience even after the first play was a two yard loss on a run by Leon Ivery and the second play was called back for holding.



On 2nd and 20 at his own eight, QB Sean Brackett took over. First he ran it himself for 11 yards to set up a 3rd and nine.



Then he hit Nico Gutierrez for a clutch 39-yard pass.



Two plays later he ran for nine yards.



Two plays after that he made a clutch nine-yard pass to Brian DeVeau to convert on 4th and one.



The next two plays were nice completions both to Mark Muston to put Columbia at 1st and goal at the Ram 4.



I know I haven’t exactly spoiled the next big moment of the season by saying that the drive didn’t end the way the Lions wanted it to.



But it can’t be ignored that the team had the guts and ability to drive all the way inside their opponent’s five even without their #1 receiver on the field.



It was yet another example of the remarkable fight in this 2010 Columbia team.

Weakness Exposed

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Good news Lions fans! Xavier Martin has graduated!






Columbia has announced the incoming basketball freshmen class.








Top 100 Moments of 2010







#93: Rams Run Wild




With 13:23 left in the 4th quarter in week one, Fordham took possession of the ball with Columbia ahead 9-6.



That’s when the Rams decided to do what so many other Lion opponents would do throughout 2010 – test Columbia’s run defense.



Fordham took over at the Columbia 40 and ran the ball EIGHT straight times.



The first seven of those eight carries, most of them by RB Xavier Martin, brought the Rams to the Lion two yard line. Fordham only had to face one third down before that eighth carry, and that was a 3rd and two.



But on that eighth play, Ram QB Blake Wayne lost two yards after being smothered by LB Matt Moretto.



Fordham settled for a short FG and tied the game at 9.



While Columbia dodged the worst bullet in this situation, Lions would indeed have more trouble forcing opponents to even TRY to pass in several important moments as the season went on.



Unfortunately, this particular Fordham possession was just a preview of things to come.

Broken Arm, Broken Dreams

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Top 100 Moments of 2010





#94: Stephens Goes Down





Unfortunately today’s moment was not only a bad one for the 2010 Lions, it may have been the worst single moment of the season.



Just a few seconds in to the fourth quarter, Fordham’s Patrick Murray boomed a punt 68 yards in the air that Mike Stephens had to backtrack to field just at the Columbia goal line.



That’s where Stephens was slammed by the Rams’ Joseph Sullivan.



It was a horrific collision.



And anyone who saw Stephens writhing in pain knew he was seriously injured.



In fact, he had broken his arm.



Stephens’ season was over.



It’s hard to quantify exactly what losing Stephens, a co-captain and the #1 receiver, meant for the Lions in 2010.



TE Andrew Kennedy did a lot to fill the void. He ended the season with a healthy 50 receptions and nine TD’s.



But for a Columbia team that was already facing its first post-Austin Knowlin year, losing Stephens was just a bit too much to bear.



One positive result was that DB-turned-WR Kurt Williams got a better chance to shine in his first year with the offense. He ended up catching 27 passes for 400 yards and two TD’s.



But losing Stephens, who came into the fall with a super-pumped up frame and an even more pumped-up attitude, was devastating and we’ll never know just how much better 2010 could have been with him.



Luckily, Mike will be back for this fall thanks to the medical redshirt rule.



And since he didn’t suffer a leg injury, I expect his elusiveness and quickness to be better than ever in 2011.

My Madison Avenue Moment

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My unofficial advertising line for the Columbia Lions 2011 season is:





“Columbia Football 2011



No Lockouts. No PSL’s. No Thugs.”




Now put that slogan on a few billboards around the NYC area and THAT will create a real buzz and maybe a few hundred more fans in the stands this fall.



I wonder what Don Draper would say about that?



Do me a favor and pass along the new slogan and see what kind of reaction you get from your friends and co-workers. Then report back in the comments section.




Luke Eddy (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)



Top 100 Moments of 2010





#95: Perfetti’s Blocked PAT



Dean Perfetti was a godsend in 2009 when he brought some stability to a catastrophic placekicking situation. His most crucial kick came against Cornell, and he made a big FG in that thrilling 30-20 win in Ithaca.



But a young kicking prodigy joined the Lions last year in the form of Luke Eddy.



While Perfetti’s blocked PAT after the Columbia TD against Fordham hurt at the time, it opened the door for Eddy to get an earlier chance to play. And Eddy was up with the varsity by the following week against Towson, going three-for-three on his PAT’s and making his only FG attempt as well.



Eddy finished the season a sparkling 27 of 28 in PAT’s and a very solid six for nine in his FG attempts, (including five of six from less than 40 yards).



Perfetti remains with the Lions, providing Columbia with very rare experienced depth at the position.



Meanwhile, Eddy is well positioned to break some Lion kicking records if he can stay healthy and poised.

Brief Glory

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Football Scoop is reporting that Columbia tight ends coach Tony Brinson is being considered for the defensive coordinator position at Wagner College on Staten Island.



Check out the four new freshman profiles on GoColumbiaLions.com.






Mike Stephens (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)


Top 100 Moments of 2010





#96: Stephens’ First, (and only) TD





Just three plays after Neil Schuster’s fumble recovery, (see moment #97 below), Columbia scored its first TD of the 2010 season via a 14 yard Sean Brackett-to-Mike Stephens TD pass.



Stephens was not wide open, but a pinpoint throw by Brackett made it possible for Stephens to leap just a bit over his cover man for the spectacular play.



The score would be the first 6 of 58 points Columbia scored off turnovers last year. That’s not a bad total considering the Lions grabbed just 20 takeaways all season.



58 points on 20 takeaways is roughly three points per opponent turnover.



By contrast, the Lions turned the ball over 29 times and allowed just 45 points off those turnovers, or just 1.5 points per giveaway… equal to “half” a field goal.



In that sense, Stephens’ TD catch was a good harbinger of things to come in 2010.



The bigger story is this would be Stephens’ one and only catch and score for the season as he was about to go down for the year.



But more about that later…

Takeaway #1

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Schuster comes up with the ball!



#97: Wayne's Bobble

With the scored tied at 3 in week one, Fordham got the ball first in the second half and was promptly facing a 3rd and three at its own 31.

Columbia came in on a run blitz led by LB Alex Gross and safety Neil Schuster that rattled Ram QB Blake Wayne who promptly bobbled and fumbled the shotgun snap.

First Gross grabbed the fumble, but he lost it. Luckily Schuster then got it and the Lions took over at the Fordham 21.

As we've discussed over and over on this site, Columbia's run defense really needs to improve in 2011. But this was one play where the defense really performed beautifully and killed a play before it even started.

And yes, they got a little lucky too.

The fumble was the first takeaway for the Lions in 2010, a season where they had 20 takeaways compared to 29 in 2009.

That number has to climb back up again in 2011 if Columbia is going to contend.

Martin Emerges

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Joshua Martin (CREDIT: COLUMBIA ATHLETICS)



Moment #98: Martin's First Sack


Late in the second quarter of the Fordham game and the score tied at 3, the Rams took over at their own 33 with 2:27 left in the half.

Fordham got two quick first downs to get to the Lions 37 with plenty of time to grab the lead before the break.

But a first down incomplete pass was followed by a sack by sophomore Joshua Martin that led to a 3rd and 16 at the 43. Ram QB Blake Wayne's ensuing pass fell incomplete and the tie was preserved.

Martin would finish that game with four total tackles, including that one sack.

It turned out his preformance against Fordham was just a prelude to a breakout game against Towson the following week.

Columbia's defensive line play against the run and in the pass rush was not as effective as any Lion fan hoped for in 2010. But Martin's emergence was a bright spot, especially for a sophomore.

Remember, Martin was a University of Wyoming recruit who changed his mind and decided to come to Columbia. And it's clear now what the Cowboys coaches saw in this young man from Colorado.

Great Woman, Great Cause

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Ralph DeBernardo and his mom Pat, 2007


Ralph DeBernardo ’09, a great offensive lineman for Columbia, is joining Justin Nunez '07 and a few other Lion football alums in participating in an event I’ve written about before called The Decathlon.

But Ralph is competing in honor of his mom, a woman I was privileged to know for too short a time myself. Pat DeBernardo died in 2009 of cancer.

I still expect to see her every time I go to a Columbia game. She was really great in every way.

Here’s a message from Ralph himself:

“I am doing this event in honor of my Mom and I hope you can join me in honoring her and others who have/are fighting this tough battle. She devoted her life to helping others during her 30 year career as a nurse, maintaining a constant full time work schedule even while going through intense chemotherapy. I hope that together we can raise money in support of this tremendous cause, which will help both people currently battling cancer and fund research to prevent it in the future.”
Donations and how to contribute:

All donations go to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and are 100% tax deductible. Please go to TheDecathlon.org and search for 'Ralph DeBernardo' on the upper right side of the website. There are a few different ways to donate, you can either give a one-time flat amount or you can use the performance-based style that The Decathlon has created."



Preview of Coming Attractions

I just stumbled upon to this video of a game Sean Brackett’s high school team played back in 2008. Even though Brackett’s team lost by a lot, you can see some snippets of his blossoming talent at that time.





100 Most Important Moments of 2010


#99: Try, Try Again


Trailing Fordham by a 3-0 score early in the 2nd quarter, the Lions found themselves started a drive at their own 14. After getting an initial first down from three running plays to the 25, Columbia started getting bitten by the penalty bug.

A false start made it 1st and 15 from the 20.

And two plays later, a holding flag negated a 27-yard completion to Mike Stephens.

But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise as QB Sean Brackett connected with Nico Gutierrez for 39 yards on the next play.

The Lions ended up getting a field goal on that drive and tying the game 3-3.

But this sequence would turn out to be the first inkling of a remarkably resilient Lions squad throughout 2010.

It may not have been as good a year as many of us hoped for Columbia football, but the bounce back ability the team showed was a pleasant surprise.

These Lions didn’t give up, even in several games when it looked like all hope was lost.

They didn’t give up when they fell behind 24-0 to Yale, (and ended up losing just barely by a 31-28 score).

They didn’t give up when they trailed Cornell 17-7 late in the game, (and ended up winning 20-17).

Obviously Columbia didn’t always win the games even when they kept fighting, but the 2010 Lions showed les “quit” than almost any other Light Blue unit I’d seen in a long time.

100 Key Moments of 2010

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Craig Hamilton (CREDIT: COLUMBIA ATHLETICS)


Today marks 100 days until the 2011 season finally begins.

Long-time readers of this blog know that I usually do something to help this last third of our offseason go by with a daily countdown of sorts.

This summer, I thought I would use the 100-day countdown to help us recap the 2010 season and make sure we learn all the lessons we should learn from last year’s triumphs and failures.

It would be hard to RANK each of the 100 moments, (although choosing the top 10 best and worst moments would be easier), so I will go in chronological order instead.

Some of the moments will seem pretty insignificant when taken individually, but they will end equaling more than the sum of their parts when taken altogether at the end of the countdown.

And now… I give you the first of the 100 key moments of Columbia Football 2010:


#100: Hamilton’s First Return

The very first play of 2010 was a good one for Columbia as Craig Hamilton returned the opening kickoff a healthy 28 yards to the Lion 32.

This turned out to be the beginning of a better-than-average season for the senior Hamilton, who emerged from the shadows of having to return kicks beside Austin Knowlin for the two seasons prior.

Averaging anything better than 20 yards per kickoff return is pretty good, and Hamilton averaged 22 yards per return last year.

But you also like to add that little element of scoring danger to your repertoire and Hamilton never did get a TD last season. His longest return was 54 yards.

In this game against Fordham, Columbia failed to get a first down after the return and the first offensive series of 2010 was a three-and-out.

Nevertheless, Hamilton did yeoman’s work as the primary kickoff returned, fielding 27 of the kicks when no one else on the team returned more than seven.

Hamilton graduated last month, so the most experienced returning returner is 5th year senior Mike Murphy who was that #2 man with seven total returns before an injury cut his season short. Murphy averaged 16 yards per return with a long of 27.

Rising senior Ross Morand had four returns for a 21 yards per return average.

But I expect there to be a lot of candidates trying out for the kick returning job this summer.

Whoever gets the spot would do well to perform as Hamilton did last season, but we can all hope for a little bit more.

And if he returns all his kicks as well as Hamilton fielded that first boot of 2010, Columbia will really be in fine shape.

All Star Time (uh oh)

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John Brady


Incoming frosh LB John Brady is mentioned and quoted in today’s Cincinnati Enquirer as he prepares to play in tomorrow night’s Southwest Ohio Football Coaches Association/Ron Woyan High East-West All-Star Game.

Incoming Brown frosh QB Nick Lawley, may be participating in the game as well, but I cannot confirm that. I would like to see him play since he is listed at 6"6!

Thus, the season of all-star games is beginning and that always makes me nervous.

It’s great to see our incoming players get recognized in this way, but I also get worried about injuries in what amounts to an exhibition game.

Then there’s the false advertising factor.

Last year, Dartmouth incoming frosh QB Cole Marcoux got so much buzz from his appearance in the All American Bowl, that people were talking about how he should have “de-committed” with the Big Green and pursued scholarship offers with BCS schools.

A year later, the book on Marcoux is that he’s not ready for prime time. Maybe in another year he’ll be ready, but I don’t expect him to play for the Dartmouth varsity this year either.

Columbia’s most disappointing burst balloon from high school all star games was a player named Christian Daniels who caught the game winning TD pass in the Orange County, CA all star game in the summer of 2008 only to quit the team before his first preseason training camp was even over! (Actually, it was on day ONE!).

I’m still bummed about that one.

But we wish young Mr. Brady all the best tomorrow night and understand our outstanding young players deserve all the extra recognition they can get!

Make Your Case

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No, not THAT kind of wrestling!!!


First, Be sure to check out the new updates on our incoming freshmen footballers on the GoColumbiaLions.com.

The first two players profiled today are Colton Bishop and Augie Braddock. (I'm especially happy that Braddock is joining the team, since that means the graduation of Augie Williams last month will not leave the Lions without an "Augie" this season.)


Meanwhile, the debate goes on concerning whether Wyatt Baker should or could try to play football and wrestle at Columbia.

What’s the best case any of you can make for anyone taking on such double duty?

Let us all know in the comments section below…

My argument for doing wrestling and football at Columbia can be summed up in two words: "Lou Miller."

Thank you

First Prediction

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The Sporting News is out with its predictions for the 2011 Ivy League Football season, (and of course, the rest of the college football conferences),

It chooses Penn to win a third straight championship, and Columbia for 7th.

Here’s the entire prediction breakdown:

1. Penn
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. Brown
5. Dartmouth
6. Princeton
7. Columbia
8. Cornell

The piece, written by Andy Jasner, who is apparently a correspondent for the Boston Globe, speaks of how Columbia will struggle this season because of the graduation of Andrew Kennedy.

Jasner predicts Penn’s Billy Ragone will win the Bushnell Cup as Ivy player of the year and incoming Yale frosh Max Fink as the newcomer of the year.

With Kennedy, Alex Gross, Calvin Otis, and Adam Mehrer graduating last month, you can bet Jasner won’t be alone in picking Columbia near the bottom of the pack. The fact that the Lions have the best overall QB in the league in Brackett and a stellar offensive line returning this fall won’t hold most weight with the prognosticators. I’d also say the pundits are unfairly discounting the chances for Columbia to show serious improvement along the defensive line.

More Honors for Baker

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The new Class of 2015 t-shirt is here.





Wyatt Baker



Incoming wrestling freshman Wyatt Baker was just named male athlete of the year by the Orange County Athletic Directors Association.

Baker is the enormously talented wrestling AND football player from Servite High School who could truly boost both teams at Columbia if he chooses to play both sports.

We'll see what he decides.