Week One Power Rankings
Roar Lions Roar is brought to you by IvySport.
You can check out IvySport's Columbia products here.
So, how does the league stack up after week one?
Here are my Ivy rankings:
1. Brown
The Bears win on the road against what sure looked like the toughest opponent for any Ivy team this Saturday. Sure, Stony Brook's penalties are what killed them... but Brown was disciplined and talented enough to take advantage. And of the three 1st Team All-Ivy QB's playing yesterday, only Kyle Newhall-Cabellero had a decent game.
2. Yale
The Elis defense was predictably questionable, but Patrick Witt started the season out right.
3. Dartmouth
The Big Green gets a big win over Colgate, but the Raiders played without their #1 weapon in RB Nate Eachus.
4. Harvard
The Crimson got uncharacteristically sloppy for a long stretch in the loss to Holy Cross. But the game was on the road against a good team.
5. Penn
A shocking rout at the hands of a questionable Lafayette team and at home no less. But it seems too early to write off the two-time defending champs so soon.
6. Cornell
Great win at home against Bucknell to start the year, but Bucknell is not top flight competition. Let's see how they do next week at Yale.
7. Columbia
Lions come out sloppy in week one, but look improved on defense.
8. Princeton
Tigers play powerful Lehigh pretty close for awhile, but they have a habit of doing that every year. Bucknell comes in next week.
posted by Jake @ 5:27:00 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Every possible break went against us in the Fordham game and yet we almost defeated the only team on our schedule with 32 full athletic scholarship players including some remarkable freshmen talent. Our guys played extremely well on defense, holding Fordham to very little yardage on the ground. Our offense would have put at least 21-24 up on the scoreboard if not for the admittedly bad goal line interception and a field goal attempt that hit the right goal post. Harvard also had a ridiculous97 td interception in its loss to Holy Cross, and Penn's quarterback had a miserable initial outing so maybe the Gods had it in for some of the Ivy League quarterbacks on opening day. Anyway, the Columbia players now have a game under their belts and I would not be surprised at all if we take a major step forward during the next few weeks.
You mention that Fordham is the only team on our schedule with 32 full scholarships for FB. Just curious if anybody knows what Albany and Sacred Heart offer re: football scholarships? Are they in the same ballpark?
Did every possible break really go against us or did we call a terrible play on 4th and goal and change the momentum of the game? In college, teams are successful on 2-point conversions less than 50% of the time. It's not easy to punch it in from three yards out. The coaches had to know our odds of scoring a TD from the three were less than 50% and that failing to score would be a huge morale boost for Fordham. If you take the points, you have a two-score lead late in the first half with the D playing well and you put the pressure on Fordham. Recco is right that the most likely outcome was 7-0 and Fordham gets the ball at the two. But even that is a morale boost for them and a letdown for us. With a team that has trouble winning close games, you take the points and keep the pressure on. As has been the case for the past two seasons, we have a good team that plays well in stretches but we tend to make our own breaks and they're rarely good ones.
My understanding is that the Northeast Conference Schools are limited to 34 full athletic scholarships which are distributed on an equivalency basis so that some schools might have more than 34 players on partial athletic scholarships, but not full athletic scholarships. While the NEC schools may have approximately the same number of athletic scholarships now as Fordham, the big difference is in the value of the scholarship and the number that Fordham to distribute each year. Assuming Fordham distributes about 20 full athletic scholarships each year, it will be up to 80 in four years, that's well above anyone in the NEC. As for the Patriot League, Fordham football is in pariah status, meaning it's ineligible to win the Patrior League Championship while being eligible to receive a bowl bid if one is offered. The issue of whether the other Patriot League schools will offer football athletic scholarships has been tabled for two years.
Short sideline passes to the wide receivers are always risky, but particularly when you are in your own or your opponent's red zone because that is where the defensive backs are most likely to take chances and step in front of the wide receivers. The outcome of our own Blue-White game this spring was decided when Chris Thomas picked off an errant sideline pass at about the 20 yard line and ran for a TD. Also, if I rembember correctly, our own Andy Shalbrack picked off a couple of errant sideline passes against Fordham and another team a few seasons ago. Against Fordham, Brackett did threw a perfect floater into the far corner of the end zone to Stephens for our second touchdown.
I cannot say that I now feel upbeat about this season. Yes, it was "just" the first game.
But yes too, tougher opponents loom.
Really, are there enough real, equally desperate-feeling Lions fans out there to join me in a Faustian bargain with Old Nick? If enough of us offered our souls to him in a package deal, he might actually allow us to have at least one winning season before the deal comes due.
cathar,
I am actually feeling great about what I was seeing at the game. Too many mistakes on offense, but, it looked good.
The defense did great considering they ran a nickel for the most part which was a good adjustment against Fordham. The 3 4 should work against teams like Penn, but, they are showing they can adjust to the team on the field. Only one really big run when we made a poor decision to switch defense to something any 2 year old could have expected. They did and beat us running a draw on a full out blitz.
Play calling wasn't as one dimensional as in the past and other than some really bad mistakes they were executing ok. Dropped passes, passes that shouldn’t have been thrown and penalties at key times hurt. Even with that they really did look good.
Special teams were great. Good kicking and a great blocked punt are a few examples. Even the failed onside kick was done really well. Just a touch higher on the kick and we might have had a chance. They will have to work on the off sides.
Post a Comment
<< Home