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.
posted by Jake @ 6:06:00 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Not to sound like a broken record, but, big D line that holds or makes penetration is the key. The smaller faster line that started most of last year didn’t do that starting with the bigger OL of Penn. Penetrate or clog up the middle disrupting the plays leads to more turnovers. They had talented plays in the middle that really should have been DE and that killed us. The first three games last year were against week and smaller OLs which was misleading in results. This year the first 4 games are in that category. Hopefully the new DC doesn’t fall into the same trap as last year. The spring game has to make you wonder .
For all the talk about the defense being so bad and how good the Offense it is very surprising that the 1st team offense failed to score once during the spring game. As happened numerous times last season the offense failed to convert, whether to move the chains or score inside the red zone. One thing that everyone seems to me missing is the coaches’ responsibility and to correctly utilize the talent he has recruited. Offenses should not get delay of game penalties on change of possession as we do, that is the head coach’s faults. If the team does not have a winning season, is time for Wilson to be replaced.
ouch!
methinks that the natives are restless
OK, what drove me nuts last year was the insistence of the OC to have Brackett walk over to the sideline while the team had returned to the line of scrimmage to get the play called. I think that is a very bad idea. It wastes time and energy.
The truth is, you are both right! The D-Line was too small and they looked ill prepared. It was the reality, not an opinion.
Re: Offense at the Spring game... you are correct as well. They didn't score and at times they looked dazed at confused. I would attribute that to new personnel though. They need to stabilize that running game too. Gerst may be the answer, but in two years we haven't seen anything? I like his running style. He's a hard nose, north and south runner, but something must be awry? The coaches can’t be that stupid to keep him off the field. Also, as I mentioned before, this kid Chao should get the ball. I’ve seen him as well and he’s better than Gerst in my opinion. The other kids they had trying to run the ball seemed timid between the tackles and nobody had “turn the corner” speed… Last thing... How can you keep this kid Andrew McHugh off the field? He's a HUGE FB with soft hands (note two catches at the Spring game out of the backfield). His size and hands alone should make him an H-Back and take some of the pressure off Brackett as a safety valve.
My concern is that there is far too much talent on the sidelines. It seems like the coaches simply don't recognize what they have in the stable. To that point, the staff are very good recruiters as they have a plethora of talent. The down side is that they don't know how to use it...
I am part of the restless chorus of natives. If Wilson and his coaching staff cannot have a winning record with this roster, THEY are the problem. If the first four games are against soft opponents, then we should expect nothing less than a 7-3 season (or better). Every game should be competitive as well. We lost 27-13 at Penn...at home we should make it very close. We lost by 3 to Yale at Yale...this game is a must win this year. At a minimum, we should beat Yale, Cornell and Princeton and "upset" one of the remaining Harvard/Brown/Dartmouth/Penn to go 4-3 in the ivies. This has to be our minimum expectation.
Chen 82
Navy and Army win consistanly win with under size player, we should expect the same for Columbia. Again, this is the coaches responsiblity to properly prepare and adjust, which Columbia coaches seem not to be able to do.
I expect to beat Penn this year, and I expect to beat a vastly overrated (by themselves) Dartmouth team. We need one of the WRs to have a break out season, and we need to get better DL play as the season progresses. If those pieces fall in place we have the talent to win the league.
Navy wins with small players, but Army doesn't. Navy may be a more attractive option than Army. Gung ho guys take Marine option; guys who don't want to b egrunts prefer the Navy.
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