Figuring the Front Five

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Last Liberty!


Enjoy your last free weekend Lion players! Next weekend, training camp begins!




Bob Hauschildt moves to center (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)



Who's Your Front Five?



Head Coach Norries Wilson put some of our notions about the offensive line out of whack this week when he said at the Ivy Media Day that senior Bob Hauschildt was moving back to the center position

That presumably makes last year's solid starter Kyle Stupi a backup.

But the Lions still return the most veteran and quality offensive line since 1996. By my count, a total of six returning players have started at least one game for Columbia. And I would call them "quality starts" since the Lions have improved so much in the running game over the last two years.


Hauschildt and top NFL prospect Jeff Adams are certainly the locked-in starters. I'd also put junior Scott Ward as a definite starter at right tackle. But maybe that's just me.

That leaves the two guard positions out there. The most experienced linemen left are Stupi, Xander Frantz and Sam Cecil. But they all have most of that experience at positions other than guard.

Coach Wilson would only mention sophomores Joe Ghergurovich and Jimmy Yukevich and junior Alec Kosminskas as vying for the guard spots, but Wilson is famous for not tipping his hand too much in interviews.

Yukevich is 6-7 and weighed in the 270's last season. If he can get into the 290's by training camp, you can see why he would be a dynamite candidate.

Ghergurovich is 6-3, but comes from a very tough high school conference and was considered a great recruit. He's in the mix.

Kosminskas comes from a dynamite Chicago-area high school program and would fit nicely with fellow Chicagoans Adams and Hauschildt, (if they all start this season, we'll have to call the OL the "Illinois Line"). Of course, Coach Wilson is a an Illinois offensive lineman himself, having grown up in the town of Markham.

Don't sleep on former D-lineman Joe Raimondi. The coaches thought so much of Raimondi as a frosh last season that he got significant playing time on the varsity. I have to think his switch to the O-line wasn't for nothing. This is a kid with a lot of strength and athletic ability.

Junior Eric Walker and sophomore Dylan Leonard could also make a splash this fall.

A lot of this guesswork will be easier after next weekend when the new weights should be listed, (give or take a day or two).


Top 100 Moments of 2010


#35: Sean Coughs it Up


QB Sean Brackett either threw or ran the ball on an incredible 62.5% of Columbia's 686 total offensive plays in 2010.

And despite carrying that heavy load he was responsible for just 9 turnovers, (six interceptions and three lost fumbles in those 428 plays. That's a turnover once every 48 total passes and runs combined.

But against Yale, Brackett had a much rougher time than usual in that department. And it all started with Columbia already trailing 7-0 in the first quarter.

On 3rd and eight from the Lion 26, Yale NFL prospect Ed McCarthy forced Brackett to fumble the ball away on a sack.

Four plays later, the Elis cashed in with a FG to make it 10-0.