Penn Picked First
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There is an avalanche of news of this Ivy League Football Media Day.
You can click the link above to hear ALL the details for yourselves, so let me focus on what I think were the most important news items in bullet point form:
-Two-time defending champ Penn was the overwhelming choice to repeat as champions in the media poll, (*disclaimer: I participated in the poll this year for the fourth straight year). Columbia was picked 6th. Here are the poll results below:
1. Penn (12 1st place votes)
2. Harvard (2)
3. Yale (1)
4. Brown (2)
5. Dartmouth
6. Columbia
7t. Cornell
7t. Princeton
-A BIG HEADLINE is that this year and from now on, the Bushnell Cup will be given to one offensive player and one defensive player. This should go a long way towards negating the offensive skill player bias in awards voting.
-When penalties are committed with less than two minutes in the half, the non-penalized team can chose to take the yardage penalty and run 10 seconds off the clock, or just take the yardage.
COLUMBIA NEWS
-Head Coach Norries Wilson mentioned a number of names that maybe many of us didn't expect to hear. Mike Waller was mentioned as someone who stood out as an LB in the spring and perhaps in the mix to mentioned, Ross Morand mentioned as the leader of the secondary punt returner. Bob Hauschildt will play center this year, (he played that position as an underclassman), Scott Ward and Jimmy Yukevich are battling for the Right tackle spot. Wilson also mentioned that Alec Kosminskas and Joe Ghergurovich are coming along in the hunt for the guard spots. Zach Olinger was mentioned as a linebacker who has to step up along with Waller.
I'll have more analysis of Coach Wilson's comments and all the other coaches' comments throughout the coming days.
Top 100 Moments of 2010
#39: Pierre's Push
Just moments after Dartmouth icily converted a 3rd and 10, the Big Green faced another 3rd and 10, this time at the Columbia 41.
A short pass from QB Connor Kempe to Nick Schwieger almost produced another first down, but Shad Sommers and Alex Gross stopped him just a yard short of the marker at the Lion 32.
With the game on the line, Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens didn't hesitate to go for it on 4th and 1. He also didn't hesitate to give the ball to #2 RB Dominic Pierre, who easily picked up the three yards for a 1st down at the Lion 29.
It was a deflating moment for the Columbia defense, but there was more deflation to come.
posted by Jake @ 4:15:00 AM
15 comments
15 Comments:
Jake,here is the link to Football GamePlan's 2011 Ivy League Preview. We're picked for sixth place, but Sean Brackett is recognized as the top offensive player in the League and the comments about the Lions are very positive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6f6W1zl5dQ
Columbia's football schedules for the next three years are listed in the new Ivy League Media Guide referred to in the telecoference notes. Not much change in the schedules, although next year we open against Marist before playing Fordham in the second game of the season. Incidentally, the composite schedules of the Ivy League teams show that Fordham's only Ivy League opponents in the next three years will be Columbia (three times) and Penn (once).
Football Gameplan considers incoming freshman quarterback, Kal Prince, as Columbia's top recruit. With senior Kevin Lenehan switching from quarterback to tight end, it seems likely to me that either Prince, or our other promising freshman quarterback, Percee Goings, will make the three deep early in the season.
I am looking for a huge season from Josh Martin at LB this year. I really think he has the potential to be the best LB in the Ivies. Moving him to LB was a great move. I also expect great things from Mistretta at LB. Both have great size and strength.
The predictions make sense to me. Yale, Brown and Dartmouth are our competitors, and we haven't shown we can rise to the top of the second tier. Focus on those three teams, rather than the first tier Penn and Harvard or third tier Princeton and Cornell, and good things will happen. I'd rather go 4-3 Ivy, 5-5 overall than 3-4 Ivy, 6-4 overall.
I think the buzz about Penn is not justified. Granted I can't stand them, but there will be a big drop off in their run game because they have lost so much of their OL. Neither one of their QBs is better than average as a passer. And I am very excited by the potential in our OL this year.
... Penn is beatable ... ANY team in the Ivy League is beatable ... but for us, we have to play well ... we need to have a run game so we don't have to rely on throwing the ball or having Brackett scramble for 8-9 yards on 3rd down ... we have to play DEFENSE and stop their running game ... we MUST be play well consistently, not now and then or after we put ourselves in a deep hole ...
Frank F '70C
More than any other sport football depends upon having a positive mental attitude.
... I was looking at The Lehigh football website and saw that the Mountain Hawks have an "Alumni Steak Fry" at the end of summer camp .... wouldn't that be a great way to start the 2011 season, a barbeque at Baker with team and alumni ...
Frank F '70C
It was good to hear Olinger mentioned. He had a solid Yale game and I wondered why he didn't see more time. All things being equal I favor going with young guys who can develop into difference makers.
The two big running game ifs: If Columbia can establish a running game and stop its opponents' running game, the Lions will contend for the Ivy League Championship.
I would be happy with a winning season...walk before we run (pun intended although not very good).
The wild card this year is Nick Gerst. If he stays healthy and is allowed to do his thing watch the offense go. We have only seen flashes of this great talent. I hear he has been nursing injuries but let's also hope the coaches know how to use this exceptional kid.
How fast is Gerst? Does he have breakaway speed? What about Garrett?
Of course there is a bias toward offensive players in handing out annual awards for all the obvious reasons. But the Ivy League has actually been extremely cognizant of playmakers on the defensive side in naming the Bushnell Cup winner.
I would love to see a comparison of the percentage of defensive players of the year in the Ivies compared to the Heisman (only Charles Woodson ever, I believe) and other conferences. I'll bet the Bushnell percentage ranks very highly.
Is the new rule allowing the defense to run time off the clock after a late game penalty an Ivy rule or an NCAA rule? As far as I know, there are no Ivy-specific rules for what happens on the field during the game. We just follow the NCAA rulebook.
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