Some Recognition

Roar Lions Roar is brought to you by IvySport.







You can check out IvySport's Columbia products here.






Making the List

A group called “Optimum Scouting” has joined the preseason All Ivy fray with its one list.

Some of this list has to be taken with a grain of salt as there are many misspellings and some players misidentified as being with the wrong schools.

BUT... Columbia players fared a little better in their list.

OL Jeff Adams and LB Josh Martin made the 1st team, although Martin made it as a DE and he has now been moved to LB.

QB Sean Brackett, OL Bob Hauschildt, OL Kyle Stupi, and LB Ryan Murphy made the 2nd team.


I am really glad to see guys like Murphy, Hauschildt and Stupi recognized because you just don’t read those names often enough outside of this blog.

Indeed Columbia has an outstanding veteran offensive line and perhaps the best in the Ivy League coming into this season.

Besides Adams, Hauschildt and Stupi, you have Scott Ward, Xander Frantz, and Sam Cecil who are all battle-tested, solid, and potentially brilliant.

There is so much depth at this position that all the other strong players are just too many to mention. But check out the roster page right here and throw a dart at the offensive linemen and you’ve got a great chance of picking an All Ivy player.

Murphy’s recognition and Martin’s move to join him at LB are also encouraging. As Columbia moves to the 3-4 defense, three very strong most likely starters are emerging in Murphy, Martin and Nick Mistretta.

The big question is who will get that fourth and final spot at the top of the depth chart?

The two other LB’s with the most experience and talent that we know of are Evan Miller and Zach Olinger. But this seems like a big toss up unless you’re a coach in the know right now.

Of course with Murphy, Martin and Mistretta, it would be hard to go wrong with the fourth choice.

Even though none of the DB’s was recognized, I am also very confident about the secondary. Kalasi Huggins, A.J. Maddox, and Ross Morand are excellent and experienced corners. Steven Grassa and Neil Schuster are also very experienced and effective safeties. The bench is deep here too with a lot of up and coming younger players like Chris Alston, Marquel Carter, Christopher Thomas and more.

And don’t forget, the secondary is coached by one of the best assistants in ALL of college football… former U. of Minnesota head coach John Gutekunst.

So once again, that brings us to our main area of concern on this entire Lion team… the defensive line.

The depth chart for front three is really a mystery right now, but I feel confident in writing that Ben Popeck and Seyi Adebayo have an inside track to starting jobs.

Chris Groth seems like a no-brainer too, especially if he’s ready to play the traditional nose tackle position.

Will Patterson made some noise as a frosh at DE in 2009, but was quieter last year. He still has to be considered a factor.

Meanwhile, incoming transfer Wells Childress and the still injury-recovering Owen Fraser remain wild cards in my book but they both provide tremendous upside potential.


NEC Nod


Optimum also put together a preseason all star team for the NEC and there is one new name that the Lions need to be concerned about.

That would be Albany RB Dillon Romain, who made the 1st team list.

He will be yet another early season test for Columbia’s run defense which MUST improve this year.

It’s Priority One.


Burrell Back

More good news!

WR James Burrell is back on the squad after missing last season. Burrell is fast and a product of the formidable Bridgton.



Top 100 Moments of 2010


#43: Columbia Cashes In


Just when Dartmouth looked like it was sealing the deal against the Lions, Columbia grabbed an errant pitch by QB Connor Kempe and got the ball back at their own 30.

From there, QB Sean Brackett, WR Kurt Williams, and the rest of the offense wasted very little time.

Brackett hit Williams for nice gains on two of the first three plays of the drive, the second one for 30 yards to Big Green 42.

Brackett then ran the ball two straight time for identical gains of nine yards each.

Then came one of the more remarkable plays of the season, when Brackett led RB Zach Kourouma just a little too much with a pass right down the middle of the field.

But Kourouma stretched out incredibly and actually made the grab at the Dartmouth four for a 1st and goal.

Brackett took it in himself on the next play and it was now 17-14 Big Green and the Lions were back in the game.