Roar Lions Roar

Roar Lions Has Moved!

2012-01-07T19:36:00.010+07:00

email roarlions2012@gmail.com for info

Remember, the new blog has been active since Jan. 1st, so there's a lot you've missed!

This week, I've added a number of committed recruits, always beating the other sites with that info and I still have one or two exclusives.

And there's a lot more.

The new blog is by subscription only. But it's just $50 for an entire year. That's less than $1 a week and a lot less than sites like Rivals and Scout that charge about $100 per year or more.

There is a student discount subscription of $25 available to ALL student readers, by the way.

email roarlions2012@gmail.com for info on how to sign up!

Where's Jake?

2011-12-20T21:19:00.000+07:00

Thanks to all who have sent along their best wishes.

For answers to all your questions, please email me at jakesjokes@gmail.com

Lost in the Shuffle

2011-12-10T18:50:00.000+07:00

Mangurian Newser Now Available

2011-12-10T09:22:00.001+07:00

Pete Mangurian

Kudos to the athletic department for getting the Pete Mangurian news conference archived and readily available now on the GoColumbiaLions.com website. Yes, I was frustrated earlier today, but they fixed it and I appreciate it.

So here's what I can say after seeing the full video:

1. It's Man-Gurian with a hard "G"

2. Coach Mangurian gave a decent reasoning for why he is coming back to the Ivies. After 11 years of the NFL, I can see why getting back to a team with no thugs, head cases, etc. could be very refreshing.

3. That said, he certainly made the case that he won't take this job as a break from the pressure to win.

4. Mangurian focused on something many of us have called for at Columbia for decades: we need an identity. CU needs a team identity, (it could be a certain type of offense, defense, or an attitude). This will help us focus our recruiting and helping the team to prepare week after week.

5. He promised to re-evaluate every aspect of the Lions training and practice philosophies and schedules. That's essential.

Yes, it's all talk right now but Mangurian passed an important first test today.

A Minute of Mangurian

2011-12-10T02:44:00.000+07:00

I did receive an email at 2:29 telling me of a working link for the news conference.

So I saw about one minute of a youthful, (are we sure he's 56? He looks 46), Coach Mangurian who did sound enthusiastic and emphatic in the last few seconds of his comments.

But this event was about Mangurian and I hope they can get the archived tape of his opening statements online right away.

Sadly, only two people asked him questions and that's partly my fault for not being able to attend. I thought Coach M. handled the very general questions just fine.

From what I did see, I think he will be a great TV and radio guest for the large news media here in New York. He sounded like the kind of guy I'd like to hear talk not just about Ivy ball, but also the NFL and maybe even the European debt crisis.

Mangurian Newser Highlights

2011-12-10T01:47:00.000+07:00

Well, it's 2:25 and all I've seen so far is a blank screen.

Serves me right for not being able to make it in person.

I tried.

They can not be serious.

Mangurian Newser to be Streamed

2011-12-09T18:53:00.000+07:00

Three Questions

2011-12-09T08:16:00.000+07:00

BREAKING: MANGURIAN HIRED

2011-12-08T16:36:00.000+07:00

Pete Mangurian in his days with the Patriots

Pete Mangurian has accepted an offer to be the new head football coach at Columbia University.

The deal was announced just after midnight.

A news conference has been announced for tomorrow, (Friday), at Faculty House to formally introduce Mangurian.

I am hoping that event will be streamed online.

Mangurian now joins that rare fraternity of Ivy coaches who have been the head coach of more than one Ivy team.

The last time Columbia got a head coach with previous Ivy head coaching experience it was the great Percy Haughton from Harvard in the 1920s.

The last two Ivy coaches who took new head jobs with new Ivy teams were Bob Blackman and Frank Navarro. Blackman improved Cornell but was never able to get them anywhere near the level of his great Dartmouth teams.

Navarro had some success at Columbia, especially in 1971. But his Princeton teams later in his career were forgettable.

Venting

In case anyone is wondering, I plan to let everyone here who wants to vent on this choice do so for the next 24 hours or so.

After that, I agree with those who say it's time for all of us to get behind Coach Mangurian. Whatever failings the search committee had, they were not Mangurian's fault.

When I first broke the news that he was a serious candidate for the job, I emphasized Mangurian's successful tenure at Cornell.

Make no mistake, he is a good coach.

Now, he'll need our help getting him back up to speed on college, and specifically Ivy ball.

And we also need to make sure he gets all the help he needs to promote NYC. Everyone in the news media here should be aware that he spent some successful years as an assistant with the NY Giants. As of now, the news radio sports reports are not yet even reporting the news of the hire.

I want to hear Mangurian on WFAN and ESPN Radio, and see him on NY1, SNY, etc. and lots of other local outlets early and often. We can help make that happen.

Final point: Columbia had better teams than Mangurian did all three years we faced him and Cornell. He won two of those games anyway. Let's hope he squeezes more out of our guys too. I know he has done it before.

What NOT to Do

2011-12-07T19:57:00.001+07:00

Clock Ticking... Offer Made

2011-12-07T00:16:00.000+07:00

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ONLY 9 COACH SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT'S SELF-IMPOSED HIRING DEADLINE!!!

I know there are still 9 days left until the Dec. 15th deadline, but I expect Columbia to name a new football head coach tomorrow or Thursday.

I can report than an offer has been made to at least one candidate, but the deal has not been finalized and I cannot confirm the name of that candidate.

One big reason for the urgency here is that for the second straight weekend, football recruits will be on campus for visits.

I know some recruits were on campus last weekend and I am simply stumped as to how those visits went without anyone knowing who will be on the head coaching staff.

I realize the visits couldn't be canceled or easily rescheduled because of flight schedules and expensive flight-changing fees.

But I really don't think the athletic department will let another weekend go by without a new head coach in place.

That said, I can also report that Norries Wilson's entire coaching staff will not be returning next season. So this program needs to really staff up in a hurry!

Fordham Latest

Greg Toal's interview with Fordham went extremely well yesterday and he has to be considered a frontrunner for the job right now.

Toal has told one of my sources that if he gets the Fordham job he will -- how can I say this nicely -- look forward to playing Columbia every year.

Let's just say Toal used some more colorful language.

Uh oh.

Meanwhile, another candidate for the Fordham position is Joe Moglia.

Apparently, I am acting as an unpaid consultant for the Rams football program because just about every top candidate I write about for Columbia is getting interviewed by the Rams!

Tom Gilmore

Gilmore a Finalist... for an Award

Holy Cross Head Coach Tom Gilmore has been selected as one of five finalists from the football championship subdivision for the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award.

Can you say: "rising stock price?"

Lion Awardees

Some really deserving players were featured in last night's football dinner and award ceremony.

Guys like senior RB David Chao who won the "special forces award."

Senior FB Nico Papas winning the "Maniatty-Remmer Unsung Hero Award" was also quite fitting.

Senior Nick Mistretta was truly deserving of the Phil Fusco leadership award. Anyone who heard some of Nick's stirring speeches knows that.

Boding well for the future, there were plenty of non-seniors who were recognized.

Sophomore TE Hamilton Garner was the most obvious choice for Most Improved as he came out of virtually nowhere to lead the team in receiving TD's.

Junior QB Sean Brackett deservedly won the Sid Luckman team MVP award.

And it was another senior whose name I was really happy to see getting a top honor. Neil Schuster took home the defensive MVP award even though I feel like he was a bit overlooked his entire career at Columbia. But after leading the team in tackles this season, he could not be denied.

Keep Your Eyes Peeled!!!

2011-12-06T00:15:00.001+07:00

Bushnell Winners Provide Mild Surprise

2011-12-06T00:03:00.001+07:00

Jeff Mathews

Sophomore QB Jeff Mathews surprised many by winning the offensive Player of the Year award Bushnell Cup earlier today.

Dartmouth's Nick Schwieger was expected to edge out the underclassman Mathews for the award, but not by a wide margin.

The fact that Schwieger is graduating and would no longer be promotable by Dartmouth or the Ivy League may have played a role in the voting. But I am a man obsessed with PR opportunities, so perhaps I am biased in those considerations.

Both Mathews and Schwieger shredded the Lions defense this season, so Lions fans really can't have anby quibble with this decision.

In fact, Mathews set several Ivy single game passing records against Columbia in the Big Red's 62-41 win over the Lions in week nine.

Incidentally, Columbia hasn't had a Bushnell winner since 1982 when junior QB John Witkowski walked away with the hardware.

Josue Ortiz

Josue Ortiz was widely expected to take the defensive Player of the Year Bushnell, mostly because he flat out deserved it and he led the champion Crimson to the title.

It's hard to shut out the league champs from postseason honors.

Now the pressure really is on Mathews to live up to this honor and Cornell to improve on this season's 5-5 record with Mathews at the helm.

Mathews and the Big Red invade Wien Stadium for the 100th meeting between Columbia and Cornell on November 10, 2012.

Mark your calendars now!

BREAKING: Ortiz wins Defensive Bushnell

2011-12-06T00:00:00.000+07:00

Josue Ortiz wins the defensive POY award. Jeff Mathews is the surprise winner of the offensive POY.

MORE TO COME

BREAKING: Mathews win Offensive Bushnell

2011-12-05T23:38:00.001+07:00

Just breaking now...

Carl Goes Down South

2011-12-05T04:38:00.000+07:00

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ONLY 11 COACH SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT'S SELF-IMPOSED HIRING DEADLINE!!!

Basketball Triumphs!

More good news from California where the Lion Basketball team finished out a perfect trip to La La Land today with a 78-56 win over La Sierra College.

One adept reader has already pointed out that the next Lion men's basketball game is at home against Holy Cross. Will there be room on the Crusaders' team bus for head football coach Tom Gilmore in case he's like to come interview at CU?

You know... I'm trying to encourage carpooling to be "green."

Carl Pelini

Pelini Gets an Offer

Former Columbia footballer Carl Pelini, who some thought might make a good candidate for our vacancy, is reportedly about to get the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic University.

By the way, Pelini has never been a head coach above the high school level. But he does have eons of experience as an assistant, especially under his brother Bo who is the head man at Nebraska.

FCS Playoffs Thoughts

Towson, the team Columbia whipped by two TD's on Kraft Field just last season, won the Colonial Athletic championship and just barely lost to Lehigh in the second round of the FCS playoffs yesterday.

Anyone who says you can't turn around teams quickly should take a good long look at Towson.

Oh, and Chuck Priore's Stony Brook team just barely lost to the top ranked Sam Houstaon State in the same FCS playoffs.

Remember, Priore was the man who was the Columbia search committee's top choice the last time we had this vacancy.

The Cornell Connection

2011-12-03T19:32:00.001+07:00

More on Mangurian & What about Gilmore?

2011-12-03T00:19:00.000+07:00

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ONLY 13 COACH SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT'S SELF-IMPOSED HIRING DEADLINE!!!

Opening Shot

One reporter for a small Ohio newspaper asks a good question: why pay Urban Meyer up to $40 million to coach Ohio State when coaching Columbia is a much tougher job?

Not a bad question. Although I think the answer is to pay Meyer less and our next head coach a little more.

Pete Mangurian

More on Mangurian

Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of Columbia head coaching candidate Pete Mangurian's three years at the helm at Cornell:

-An overall W-L record of 16-14

-An Ivy record of 11-10, but 10-4 his last two seasons

-Best season overall was 1999 when the Big Red went 7-3, 5-2 Ivy and won games against Harvard, Penn and Brown. The wins against Penn and Brown came on the road and Brown was the eventual Ivy co-champion. The other co-champ, Yale, beat them handily at the Bowl, 37-20.

-Next best year was 2000 when the Big Red went 5-5, but also 5-2 in the Ivies and had they went into the final week of the season with a chance to win the title.

-Beat Harvard two out of three years.

-Record in games decided by three points or less: 7-1

-Record in games decided by 7 points or less: 9-4

-Developed some standout players like QB Rick Rahne and recruited the great Kevin Boothe who went on to the NFL.

-His recruits didn't perform all that well as the teams that followed his departure went 2-7, 4-6, and 1-9 and were 5-16 Ivy.

-His teams were strong on offense and emphasized the pass. His '99 team broke the 30-point mark four times.

-Defensively, the Big Red got progressively worse during his time; giving up 200 points in 1998, 235 points in '99 and 334 points in 2000.

-It's been 11 years since Mangurian coached in this league, but not much has changed. Harvard, Penn and Brown still pretty much dominate the league. But the recruiting and financial aid pictures are dramatically different and he'll need some brushing up there.

-Mangurian did not leave the Cornell program as late in the game as I thought. His resignation was announced in early January of 2001... not ideal, but not so terribly late that the Big Red couldn't possibly get a decent replacement.

Tom Gilmore

The Backlash

Ever since I broke the Mangurian news last night, I'd say the #1 reaction from the fans and football alums who contact me personally is: "WHAT ABOUT GILMORE?!?"

Tom Gilmore remains the fan favorite and there will be real disappointment if he is not interviewed at the very least.

It's a delicate situation since he is still under contract at Holy Cross, but this is a base that needs to be covered ASAP.

Times Heads Up!

The New York Times' Andrew Keh, (a recent Columbia alum), is preparing a piece on the Columbia coaching search. It should be published tomorrow or possibly early next week.

THANKS!

Visits to this blog hit an all-time high in November and rose a whopping 76.2% year over year.

Thank you!

BREAKING: Mangurian in the Mix

2011-12-02T08:35:00.000+07:00

3-2-1 Contact, And No Toal

2011-12-01T23:07:00.000+07:00

Three Things

When the real interviewing process begins our search committee needs to make sure the head coaching candidates are prepared to handle three very key things:

1) Coaching in the very different and tough recruiting environment of the Ivy League.

2) Coaching in the very different and tough environment that is Columbia.

3) Be ready to promote New York City and the unique opportunities and advantages the city has to offer.

We've had head coaches who have come to us with Ivy experience.

But I'm not sure we've ever had a modern era head coach who came to us very aware of the unique issues at Columbia and one who was also ready to pump the New York City mantra out there every chance he got.

Let's do that this time.

Greg Toal

Toal Out of the Running

My dreams of renaming Wien Stadium "The Toal House," and writing tons of bad "pay the Toal" puns appear to be over.

Numerous sources tell me that under no circumstances will Bill Campbell or Dianne Murphy consider hiring a high school coach. That includes Don Bosco's Greg Toal.

Campbell et al are apparently very worried about Columbia "looking desperate" if we hire someone from outside the pro or college ranks.

Here's an update: WE ARE DESPERTATE.

We're desperate for a winning team, and while I admit that quite a few of our opponents would laugh at us for hiring someone like Toal... I wouldn't mind if we're the ones laughing when the games are over and the Lions have won.

Of course I haven't endorsed Toal or any other coaching candidate, (I think if I did so publicly, that would probably HURT that candidate's chances), but I think there were some very good arguments for him at Columbia.

And I can confirm that Toal was interested in this position at Columbia.

Don Bosco is hardly a "high school" team in any way that almost anyone thinks of a high school team.

Toal's troops regularly play games all over the country, going on roadtrips that are far longer than Columbia does every year.

I also know that Toal's practices are conducted more efficiently and productively than just about any college team at any NCAA division level.

I suppose the only way to PROVE that Columbia has or hasn't made the right decision on Toal will be for him to get hired by another college sometime soon and we can judge his record then.

He is indeed a candidate at Fordham, and unless Bob Surace turns it around next year Toal could get the Princeton job too.

I'd just hate to end up losing to this guy year after year.

Official Quotes

Murphy gave some quotes to the Spectator in today's article updating the coaching search.

Here are a few of them:

“We have been working on this since the morning that I informed Coach Wilson that he would not be returning.”

Geez, I hope the work began long before that.

“We have actively recruited names. I’ve been on the phone with tons of ADs, conference commissioners, and other football coaches that I know to get names of potential candidates."

This probably means there's a focus on current ASSISTANT coaches. You don't go calling AD's to ask for ideas and expect them to mention their existing head coaches. I'd rather Murphy be calling AD's for permission to talk to their head coaches, especially Holy Cross' Tom Gilmore.

“As we get more involved in the decision I will be asking others in the industry, such as Robert Kraft and Bill Campbell, for their advice and counsel.”

Um... no. Campbell is not just "offering counsel." Once again, he's very much setting the tone on this search and has already personally nixed Toal. And while I wish Kraft would take an active role, I don't think he'll be "consulted" until an hour or two before a final offer is made to the leading candidate.

“There are a lot of coaching opportunities out there,” Murphy said. “There have been a lot of coaches that have been let go at the D-I level. There are going to be lots of people looking for jobs. You don’t want to lose potential candidates because you are sitting around not doing your job.”

This is the second best quote of the piece. It shows that Murphy knows this is a manic period for football coaching moves at all levels of football... even the NFL. The good news at this point is that Fordham is really the only competition we have that is even remotely close to our level. The field could get a lot more crowded in the coming weeks.

“We expect to improve. We expect to win. We expect to get better in a very short period of time."

And that's the best quote of the piece. Because in this case, those words are not just platitudes. Everyone knows Columbia football is in a MUCH better place than it was after Bob Shoop was fired in 2005 and Ray Tellier was forced out in 2002.

In 2005, the roster was down to about 65 non-graduating seniors when Shoop was ousted. And the Lions were badly blown out in most of their games that season.

In 2002, Columbia had better talent returning and a more competitive team than the 2005 squad. BUT the talent level for the returning Lions for 2012 is considerably higher and the practice and training facilities are a lot better than they were nine years ago as well.

On other words, based on the schedule and some other factors it's a good bet Columbia will win a lot more games next year almost by default. It's a good launching pad season ahead for the new coach, and many of the candidates jamming Murphy's inbox know that.

Also interesting in the article was the fact that Murphy is saying that she has conducted about 20 phone interviews and I can confirm that as of now, only phone interviews have been conducted.

With two weeks to go until the self-imposed hiring deadline, you'd expect Murphy and Tellier to have met at least one candidate in person by now.

Dave Patenaude

New Name of the Day: Dave Patenaude

Georgetown's impressive 8-3 season was mostly fueled by a potent offense and the offensive coordinator was none other than former Columbia assistant coach Dave Patenaude.

Patenaude was an assistant for four years under Ray Tellier. His last year at CU was 2001 when he was the offensive coordinator for a Lion offense that was still pretty potent despite nagging injuries to Johnathan Reese and other key players.

He then went on to serve as head coach at the University of New Haven.

Going back to the three special criteria I set up at the top of today's post, it would appear Patenaude can fit the bill.

He had Ivy and Columbia experience, and he's a New York area native who could easily be a true promoter of this city if given the chance.

Jim Tressel

Tressel's Choice

reports that former Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel has turned down an offer to coach the University of Akron, but will help them with their search.

So there is still hope... :)

Hot Stove Football

2011-11-30T23:48:00.001+07:00

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ONLY 15 COACH SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT'S SELF-IMPOSED HIRING DEADLINE!!!

Do you spend a lot of time speculating on who our next head coach will or should be on this blog?

Of course we do.

It's called, "being a fan" and having some fun in a "hot stove league" of sorts as we wait out an offseason that is somewhere between 300 days and the gestation period of an elephant.

Is such speculation helpful to the search process?

Who knows? And frankly, I don't think it matters. It's almost like asking if booing the other team or the refs during a game helps the Lion cause.

We're fans and this is what fans do.

On my end, I'll repsonsibly report anything that's true out there about the search. There's not much right now and that's a testament to the professionalism of everyone involved in this process right now.

Until then, the fans will continue to discuss potential candidates... because we're fans.

Did We Fumble on Kelly?

Speaking of speculating...

My sources tell me that current Oregon Head Coach Chip Kelly was indeed a candidate for the Columbia job the last time it was available in late 2005.

In all fairness, it's not like Kelly was such an obvious catch back then as this article detailing Kelly's amazing and quick rise documents.

But it's a good case study to prove that Columbia DOES and IS getting top notch applicants for this job.

It's also encouraging that Ray Tellier, who was not as intimately involved in the coaching search last time, is now such an integral part of the process.

I know I have reported on Tellier's ties to possible candidates like Hopkins Head Coach Jim Margraff, but he is not the only successful coach out there with a positive connection to Tellier.

Considering Tellier's active role in landing a super coach like Brett Boretti for Columbia baseball, there's good reason to be more optimistic about the football coaching seatch this time around.

That said, anything the fans can do to keep the decision-makers honest is useful.

... and I'm sure you will all continue to do so. ;)

Recruiting News

News about incoming freshmen commits has been more scarce this year than it has been at any time since I started this blog.

But some of the recruiting web sites do have a few names of players who has been offered spots on the team... at least according to them.

Here are some names:

Jonathan Ford

Elijah St. Hilaire

Jordan Bronowitz

Brandtly Wilson

Tanner Thexton

Luke Longinotti

Lavondre Nelson

John Buchanan

Braden Meador

Dalton Stogner

Max Keefe

The Case for Columbia

2011-11-29T23:44:00.000+07:00

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ONLY 16 SHOPPING DAYS FOR A NEW COACH BEFORE THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT'S SELF-STATED DECEMBER 15TH DEADLINE

Let's say you were the guy or gal in charge of offering the Columbia head coaching job to the best candidate, how would you seal the deal?

And how would you do it if you couldn't go over a base salary offer of $250,000 per year?

If it were me, I'd offer three key perks that are enticing yet realistic:

1) Total "New York City" cost protection: generous allowances to cover all added expenses related to living in this area from parking garage fees to eating out allowances. A big effort needs to be made to get the coach to live full time in Manhattan. Let's get creative here.

2) Personal Staff: I would upgrade and increase the head coach's personal staff for everything from communications to scheduling. We're all dying for more emails and other updates from the coach and this should be made extremely easy for him to do as often as he likes. This is not to say the staff that worked with Norries Wilson did a bad job, but we need to offer our new coach a Cadillac-standard of excellence in this regard so he knows he has a sterling pipeline to the fans and big donors that stays online at all times.

3) Media Blitz: once the Ivy season ends, our head coach is allowed to fulfill any contractual deal he can work out, (and we will help him do so), with any of the many media outlets in New York covering the final weeks of the college football season and the bowl games. That includes working as an in-studio analyst on game days. With the right deal, this could be a VERY lucrative job for our coach and it could also truly boost recruiting interest in Columbia.

I realize not every coach is camera-ready or even willing. But I think the most successful candidate at Columbia will be someone who relishes New York City as the media capital of the world and is just cocky enough to know that he can conquer the media in this town with a few good quips and friendly insight.

The last few head coaches we've had have been relatively camera shy or even downright guarded, and that doesn't work in New York. I agree with what former Head Coach Larry McElreavy told us last week when he said that the new head coach MUST be a real New York lover and wear that love on his sleeve every single day.

I'm not sure we can project the greatness of the city with a football head coach who hightails it to Connecticut or New Jersey every night.

Clawson Staying at BG

It looks like most of the Dave Clawson talk at Columbia, Fordham and U. Richmond is already over.

Several reports suggest Clawson is NOT out at Bowling Green and he has publicly stated he is committed to remaining at the Ohio school for as long as it takes.

Bushnell Follow Up

Earlier today, I posted the news about the four finalists for the 2011 Bushnell Cups.

The actual award will be presented to the winners on Monday December 5th at 11:30am at the Waldorf-Astoria here in Manhattan.

(Yet another case in point for my argument that New York City MUST be used as a PLUS for Columbia football and it must be used OFTEN. Even the hopelessly Princeton-bound Ivy League sports offices know enough to host this event in the city!)

John Audino

The Bagnoli Way?

Penn's Al Bagnoli had a successful career as the had coach of Union for 10 seasons before he took his current job and the rest is impressive history.

Ever wonder who took over the job at Union when Bagnoli left?

That would be none other than former Columbia assistant coach John Audino, who served five seasons on Morningside Heights under head coaches Bill Campbell and Bob Naso.

In fact, Audino has been the only head coach for the Union Dutchmen since Bagnoli left following the 1991 season. In that time, he has an impressive 141-60 won-lost record.

Heck, John even is the same exact age as Bagnoli, 58.

But unlike Bagnoli, Audino had some big time playing experience, toiling as a running back under Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame in the early 1970's.

If Union is some kind of great pipeline of Ivy coaches, perhaps John Audino deserves a look.

BREAKING: Bushnell Finalists Named

2011-11-29T23:20:00.000+07:00

The Ivy League has released the names of the finalists for offensive and defensive players of the year for football.

On defense, the two finalists are Harvard's Josue Ortiz and Penn's Erik Rask

On offense, the two finalists are Cornell's Jeff Mathews and last year's co-winner, Nick Schwieger.

All of the finalists are graduating seniors, except for Mathews... and boy is he not a senior... he's just a sophomore with a lot of passing records yet to break presuming he stays healthy.

If I were voting on these awards, my choices would be relatively easy ones.

On defense, I'd go with Ortiz who set a tone on a dominant Harvard team that mostly relied on offense to win, but got just enough defense thanks to Ortiz.

And while I think Jeff Mathews is one of the best passing QB's we've seen in years, I don't think he produced enough tough wins for his team compared to what Schwieger meant to Dartmouth.

Plus, Mathews' not-so-great performance in the Big Red's loss to Dartmouth seems like a good tie-breaker to me.

But if I were a publicist working for the Ivy League, I'd be pulling hard for Mathews - a very marketable quantity for another two years - to win this award as a sophomore and grab national headlines.

Of course, if Mathews does win it won't exactly be an outrage. He is a legitimate star.

Possible New Name

2011-11-28T20:23:00.000+07:00

Some Facts

2011-11-28T08:16:00.000+07:00

The Season Ain't Over!

2011-11-26T21:25:00.000+07:00

Return Engagements?

2011-11-25T23:16:00.000+07:00

Lifeline for Williams?

2011-11-24T18:46:00.000+07:00

BREAKING: Kelton not in the Running

2011-11-23T23:58:00.000+07:00

Aaron Kelton

Mulitple sources have confirmed to me that former Columbia defensive coordinator and current Williams Head Coach Aaron Kelton will NOT be a candidate for the head coaching job at Columbia.

It appears Kelton himself is taking himself out of any possible consideration.

Kelton has been successful in his first two years at Williams, going 8-0 last season and a respectable 5-3 this year.

The Calls for Gilmore Get Louder

2011-11-23T23:18:00.000+07:00

ALL IVY LIST RELEASED

2011-11-23T02:09:00.000+07:00

All Ivy Football 2011

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Chuck Dibilio, Princeton (Fr., RB, Nazareth, Pa.)

FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY
Offense
Jack Templeton, Brown (Jr., OL, Ramsey, N.J.)
Jeff Adams, Columbia (Sr., OL, Western Springs, Ill.)
Ryan O'Neill, Dartmouth (Sr., OL, Orland Park, Ill.)
Kevin Murphy, Harvard (Sr., OT, San Clemente, Calif.)
*Greg Van Roten, Penn (Sr., OL, Rockville Centre, N.Y.)
Jeff Mathews, Cornell (So., QB, Camarillo, Calif.)
*Nick Schwieger, Dartmouth (Sr., RB, Norton, Mass.)
Kyle Juszczyk, Harvard (Jr., H-Back, Medina, Ohio)
Chuck Dibilio, Princeton (Fr., RB, Nazareth, Pa.)
Shane Savage, Cornell (Sr., WR, Leesburg, Va.)
Ryan Calvert, Penn (Sr., WR, Studio City, Calif.)
John Gallagher, Dartmouth (Sr., TE, Salem, Ore.)

Defense
Kyle Rettig, Brown (Sr., DL, Clearwater, Fla.)
*Josue Ortiz, Harvard (Sr., DL, Avon Park, Fla.)
Eddie Smith, Dartmouth (Sr., DL, Louisville, Ky.)
Brandon Copeland, Penn (Jr., DL, Sykesville, Md.)
Caraun Reid, Princeton (Jr., DL, Bronx, N.Y.)
Brett Wyman, Brown (Sr., LB, Bridgewater, Mass.)
Alex Gedeon, Harvard (Sr., LB, Hudson, Ohio)
*Erik Rask, Penn (Sr., LB, Newport Beach, Calif.)
Jordan Haynes, Yale (Sr., LB, Folsom, Calif.)
A.J. Cruz, Brown (Jr., DB, Lake Forest, Calif.)
Stephen Peyton, Brown (Sr., FS, Woodland, Calif.)
Shawn Abuhoff, Dartmouth (Sr., CB, Hialeah, Fla.)
*Matthew Hanson, Harvard (Sr., DB, Lafayette, Colo.)

Special Teams
Brad Greenway, Cornell (Sr., PK, Encinitas, Calif.)
Nathan Lovett, Brown (Sr., P, East Providence, R.I.)
Rashad Campbell, Cornell (Sr., RS, Cheltenham, Pa.)
Shawn Abuhoff, Dartmouth (Sr., RS, Hialeah, Fla.)

SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY
Offense
J.C. Tretter, Cornell (Jr., OL, Akron, N.Y.)
Austen Fletcher, Dartmouth (Sr., OL, Old Brookville, N.Y.)
Jack Holuba, Harvard (Jr., OL, Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.)
Matt Allen, Princeton (Sr., OL, Tulsa, Okla.)
Jack Geiger, Brown (Sr., OL, Whitefish Bay, Wis.)
Gabriel Fernandez, Yale (Sr., OL, Honolulu, Hawaii)
Collier Winters, Harvard (Sr., QB, Claremore, Okla.)
Trevor Scales, Harvard (Jr., RB, Stone Mountain, Ga.)
Alex Thomas, Yale (Sr., RB, Ansonia, Conn.)
Alexander Tounkara-Kone, Brown (Sr., WR, Staten Island, N.Y.)
Kurt Ondash, Cornell (Jr., WR, New Canaan, Conn.)
Chris Smith, Yale (Jr., WR, Midlothian, Va.)
Cameron Brate, Harvard (So., TE, Naperville, Ill.)

Defense
Clayton McGrath, Brown (Sr., DL, Longmeadow, Mass.)
Nnamdi Obukwelu, Harvard (Jr., DT, Brockton, Mass.)
Jared Sholly, Penn (Sr., DL, Clear Lake, Iowa)
Mike Catapano, Princeton (Sr., DL, Bayville, N.Y.)
Jake Stoller, Yale (Sr., DL, Shaker Heights, Ohio)
Josh Martin, Columbia (Jr., LB, Aurora, Colo.)
Steven Cody, Princeton (Sr., LB, Midlothian, Va.)
Andrew Starks, Princeton (Jr., LB, Plainfield, Ill.)
Will McHale, Yale (Jr., LB, Old Greenwich, Conn.)
Daniel Smithwick, Brown (Sr., DB, Danville, Calif.)
Rashad Campbell, Cornell (Sr., CB, Cheltenham, Pa.)
Brian Owusu, Harvard (Jr., DB, Oxnard, Calif.)
Matt Hamscher, Penn (Sr., DB, Whitehall, Pa.)
Drew Baldwin, Yale (Sr., DB, Alexandria, Va.)

Special Teams
Patrick Jacob, Princeton (Sr., PK, Solon, Ohio)
Joe Cloud, Princeton (Jr., P, Edwards, Ill.)
Gio Christodoulou, Yale (Sr., RS, Miami)
Chris Smith, Yale (Jr., RS, Midlothian, Va.)

HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Scott Ward, Columbia (Jr., OT, Costa Mesa, Calif.)
Kyle Cook, Dartmouth (Sr., OT, Anaheim, Calif.)
Joe Bonadies, Penn (Jr., OL, Leonia, N.J.)
Kyle Newhall-Caballero, Brown (Sr., QB, Gilbert, Ariz.)
Sean Brackett, Columbia (Jr., QB, Brooklyn, Conn.)
Patrick Witt, Yale (Sr., QB, Atlanta)
Mark Kachmer, Brown (Jr., RB, Wheaton, Ill.)
Brandon Colavita, Penn (Jr., RB, Sewell, N.J.)
Luke Tasker, Cornell (Jr., WR, East Aurora, N.Y.)
Chris Lorditch, Harvard (Sr., WR, Chalfront, Pa.)
Deon Randall, Yale (So., WR, San Diego)
Hamilton Garner, Columbia (So., TE, Duluth, Ga.)
Ryan Houska, Cornell (Sr., TE, Plymouth, Mich.)
Luke Nawrocki, Penn (Sr., TE, Syosset, N.Y.)
Zack Imhoff, Cornell (Sr., DE, Cincinnati)
John Lyon, Harvard (Jr., DE, Durham, N.C.)
Matthew O'Donnell, Brown (Sr., LB, Tipton, Iowa)
Brandon Lainhart, Cornell (Sr., LB, Cincinnati)
Bronson Green, Dartmouth (So., LB, Los Angeles)
Joshua Boyd, Harvard (Jr., LB, Hyde Park, Mass.)
Alexander Norman, Harvard (Jr., LB, Lewisville, Texas)
Joey Casey, Dartmouth (Sr., DB, Noblesville, Ind.)
Dan Minamide, Harvard (Sr., DB, Escondido, Calif.)
Foley Schmidt, Dartmouth (Sr., PK, Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
Jacob Dombrowski, Harvard (Jr., P, Gaylord, Mich.)

*Unanimous Selection

Not surprisingly, Columbia's only first teamer is Jeff Adams.

Junior Josh Martin was the only second teamer. He was on the 2nd team last year as well.

QB Sean Brackett was an honorable mention.

I was happy to see junior Scott Ward and sophomore Hamilton Garner on the honorable mention slate, hopefully leading to a very strong 2012 seasons for them both.

Showing us the Love

2011-11-23T00:13:00.000+07:00

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All Ivy Today

The All-Ivy football teams are about to be announced at the Ivy sports website.

Coming off our 1-9 season and a ton of injuries, we cannot expect the list to be kind to Columbia today.

I really wish that were not the case, especially for the seniors and the fifth year seniors who sacrficed so much, achieved a great deal, and deserve better.

On the other hand...

But I can confirm at this time that there has already been tremendous interest in the Columbia head coaching job and there are already a lot of coaches actively applying.

Those people include some "big name" coaches we have discussed here, some we have not, and some strong candidates that may not be very famous but have serious and successful coaching experience.

With the talent level on the team much improved from the last time the head coaching job was open, (2005), to the stronger funding position Columbia athletics enjoys, it is an objective fact that this is really a great time for the Lions to be in this "buyer's market."

Coach Mac Speaks Out!

For those of you who don't read the comments section regularly, former Head Coach Larry McElreavy wrote a long assessment of the situation here at Columbia last night.

It is just too good to keep hidden in the comments section, so here it is:

"Yes, Jake is a friend, and I did inform him that I might create a post for the blog. Also please excuse any mispellings or grammatical errors, it is a result of a "land grant education".

Even after 23 years I have not left Columbia Football, I put three years of my life into the program. The ship sank while I was the captain, and no matter what the circumstances were behind the sinking, the responsibility lies with me solely.

I would like to give you my insights as to what it will take to produce a successful football program. These are random thoughts.

For you younger guys and even for the older ones who may have forgotten, please let me refresh you about my background: My college coaching career began at Dartmouth; freshman coach in 1974, I recruited 14 out of 22 starters that would win an Ivy Championship in 1978 (Including Dartmouth Coach-Buddy Teevens).

1975-1980: OL coach at Yale where we won 4 championships in 6 years finishing 2nd the other 2.

1981-82 the OC/OL coach at UPenn where we took a loser and won a championship our second year, Penn for the most part has been winning ever since. Their president at the time made a statement to the effect that it cost Penn more to lose than it did to win, we found out later the winning the championship sent alumni donations into a record setting year.

1983-85 Head Football Coach at the Univ of New Haven, where I took it from Div 111 to a National ranking at the Div 11 level and became a stepping stone for coaches like Tony Sparano(Miami Dolphins), Mark Whipple(pro and college), Chris Palmer (pro and college)

1986-88 Columbia and "The Streak".

Now to Columbia football today

1. You are fortunate to have a Bill Campbell, He has "walked the walk".

2. Ray Tellier and your committee will do a great job. Ray has "walked the walk".

3. Stop complaining about bus rides to Baker (Yale has a not so nice ride to get to their practice facility) Parkers, NYC, etc

4. Believe it when I tell you the new coach is going to look into the eyes of the team he inherits and if he sees or hears bitching about the past staff, he will recruit his own players, he is going to want to see enthusiasm, commitment. He is going to want players that can look in the mirror and say I can do better. Just think if Columbia had played the whole season with the passion and enthusiasm they did against Brown, we wouldn't be having this dialogue.

5. The following is, I feel, the most important think I can relay to you. If any of you will have imput into the hiring process, look for this. To be successful, your next coach needs to have a passion for being in NYC and at Columbia. There are lots of good X & O guys out there with great resumes, great references, etc but if they go to Columbia because it is a job that will get them a better job or if they think they are going to get a great salary and benefits, they are doomed. If you can get that same guy and he can demonstrate a passion to be a part of the dynamic that is Columbia, the core and NYC, he will be able to sell all of this to great young athletes and their parents, the athletes will come and you will win a lot. We proved we could recruit against the Big 3 and everybody else, our freshman teams against predominately Ivy teams were a combined 14 and 4 with an undefeated team in there.

6. You can recruit against anyone!

7. The dynamic of Columbia and NYC is second to none.

8. The Baker Field setting (I have gone to a number of games over the past few years)is second to none in the Ivies or Patriot League.

9. You are fortunate to have Jake and his forum, I would suggest that you close it to current players and parents. All it takes is for one player, parent to read a negative comment and it will begin to erode the confidence in the current or new staff.

10. I thank Jake for allowing me to post this, it will be my only post. I wish you all (even Flickr and Alex) nothing but wins and happy Saturday nights. For those players that have gotten back in touch with me, it has been wonderful, thank you."

Coach Mac

MORE LATER WHEN THE ALL IVY TEAM IS ANNOUNCED

Ivy Power Rankings, Final List

2011-11-22T01:53:00.001+07:00

1. Harvard

The Crimson stumbled out of the gate with a loss to Holy Cross, but never looked back after that. It's interesting that Harvard played its best games against the best Ivy opposition: Brown, Penn, Dartmouth and Yale, while seemingly underachieving against teams like Princeton and Columbia. But that's a small concern on a team that may have been the best Ivy offensive machine in a decade.

2. Brown

It's a tough call here, because the Bears finished the season weakly with two straight losses. But Brown defeated two of the three other teams tied for second in the Ivies and barely lost to the other. Certainly for the first eight weeks of the season, the Bears looked as strong as they come.

3. Penn

The Quakers took a much bogger step back this year than I expected, especially on defense. But Penn still played every opponent tough, (except for Lafayette in week one).

4. Dartmouth

A great turnaround in the second half of the season puts the Green in the top tier for 2011. Dartmouth's running game was really impressive and one can only imagine how far this team could have gone with a more consistent starting QB and a slightly better defense.

5. Cornell

Finished the season on an up note, but was still a basket case defensively. Jeff Matthews has two more years to continue shredding the Ivy record books, but he did plenty of great work this season alone.

6. Yale

A bad showing at Harvard capped a weak overall second half and disappointing 2011 season. Yeah, the Elis beat Cornell soundly in week two, but would you bet on them to take Cornell if they had to play tomorrow? I wouldn't.

7. Princeton

Without RB Chuck DiBillio, the Tigers might be the worst Ivy team in 26 years. But they did have DiBillio, and that's worth a lot. Finally, Princeton has something it can build on for next year. As for this year, they played some good opponents tough at times and that kept them out of the power rankings cellar.

8. Columbia

The Lions showed just how good they can be when Sean Brackett is healthy in their 35-28 win over Brown Saturday. But he wasn't healthy enough this year and the team was simply not prepared to win without him.

Still Safe

2011-11-21T23:34:00.000+07:00

Ahead of the Curve... for Now

2011-11-21T07:20:00.000+07:00

BREAKING: Wilson Fired, Search Team Named

2011-11-21T00:20:00.001+07:00

The Norries Wilson era at Columbia has officially come to a close.

Don Jackson, Ted Gregory, and Kevin Ward will be the alumni advisory group in the search process that athletic director Dianne Murphy and Ray Tellier will lead.

Time is short as December 15th is the target date for the naming of a new replacement.

But speed cannot become an excuse for making the wrong choice.

Many of us have favored candidates and we should do our best to present them to Gregory, Ward and Jackson as best we can.

BREAKING... Wilson Fired

2011-11-21T00:16:00.001+07:00

Head Coach Norries Wilson was relieved of his duties earlier today.

More details coming...

Waiting Game

2011-11-20T19:21:00.001+07:00

It's most likely that any announcement about Norries Wilson and whether he remains as head coach will come out tomorrow.

Remember that even if he is retained, the team and current recruits need to know as soon as possible.

If I hear anything credible, you all will be the first to know...

For those who are wondering, Bill Campbell was in attendance yesterday. He was sitting for much of the game in the bleacher seats talking to Ted Gregory '74.

The Day After...

2011-11-20T18:56:00.000+07:00

Best for Last

2011-11-20T08:05:00.000+07:00

United in Victory!

Columbia 35 Brown 28 (2 OT)

Why Columbia Won

Columbia's defense forced six Brown turnovers, including three INT's of QB Kyle Newhall-Caballero who had only thrown four picks in all the previous nine games combined.

On offense, QB Sean Brackett just kept running for crucial yardage and completing just enough key passes to keep the Lions alive. He finished with four rushing TD's, one passing TD, and no interceptions.

Why Brown Lost

The Bears kept failing to put Columbia away, especially in the third quarter. The Brown long passing game was almost non-existent, and the defense finally became too tired to chase after Brackett.

Key Turning Points

-Late in the first half, Brown was leading 21-7 and driving again to a first and goal at the ten. But on that play, Newhall-Caballero's pass picked off and returned 77 yards by senior A.J. Maddox. Columbia did not end up scoring on the ensuing possession, but it kept Brown off the scoreboard and the Bear offense was never quite the same after that.

-Early in the third quarter and the score still 21-7, a Griffin Lowry fumble gave Brown the ball at the Lion two yard line. Then, Evan Miller went to work. On first down, he nailed Matthew Sudfeld for a two yard loss. Two plays later, he popped the ball out of a running Newhall-Caballero's hands and it was recovered by fellow senior Neil Schuster at the one.

-With the score still 21-7 early in the fourth quarter, Ryan Murphy sacked Newhall-Caballero on a first down and 10 at the CU 48 and Seyi Adebayo recovered at the Brown 46. An agonizing eight play drive ensued, but Brackett finally ended it with a two yard plunge for a TD and the Lions were back in it.

-On the ensuing Brown drive Columbia forced a three-and-out, finished off by Murphy's second sack back at the Bear five yard line. Three plays later, the Lions faced a 3rd and 3 at the Brown 33 when Brackett found senior Mike Stephens, who had to make an awkward turn to grab the ball before taking off for several more yards to the Bear seven. Three plays later, Brackett ran it in from the one for his third rushing TD of the game and the 21-21 tie.

-Trailing 28-21 in the first OT, Columbia faced a 4th and 1 at the Brown 16. Brackett banged it through for two yards and then on the very next play found TE Hamilton Garner for a 14 yard TD to send it to the Lions first-ever double OT.

Columbia Positives

-The team never gave up and several players had career days even in limited roles. Maddox and Ross Morand kept coming back from getting knocked out of the game with injuries. Fellow senior David Chao saved Columbia's bacon several times, especially when he grabbed a bad snap meant for Brackett and scampered ahead for a three yard carry on the Lions' second TD drive. On the final play of the day, somewhat unsung heros senior Chris Groth and transfer sophomore Wells Childress combined to stop Sudfeld maybe a hair shy of the end zone. Miller had 19 tackles, three of them for a loss.

-Brackett took over the game just like he did so many times in 2010, but never was able to this season before today. He begins the wait for his senior season on a high note.

-This time, the Lions made some good adjustments in the second half. The best one was the decision to finally start blitzing more.

-Lion kickoffs and punts were stellar all day and made a difference in the game.

Columbia Negatives

-It took the offense too long to finally get going, and the long passing game was non-existent.

-For some reason, no one wants to block the blitzing defender on Lion PAT's and FG's. This is not just something that happened today.

Columbia MVP

There are a lot of candidates, but I have to give this one to Sean Brackett. He directed his troops to an amazing comeback and deserves the most credit for the win.

Holding Steady

2011-11-19T19:21:00.000+07:00

In the Dog House?

2011-11-19T00:42:00.000+07:00

Tom Williams

I hate to dance on a man's soon-to-be grave, but there is proof today that not EVERY embarrassing incident in Ivy football is connected to Columbia.

Yale's controversial 3rd year Head Coach Tom Williams is in a lot of hot water over allegations that he lied on his resume.

The specific question is whether as a football player at Stanford, Williams truly was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. Williams resume says he was, but no Stanford faculty member will step foward to confirm that.

Williams will already be on thin ice if the Bulldogs lose to Harvard AGAIN, (this would be the 5th year in a row), and he is not popular around the league for his aggressive personal style.

If Williams does get fired over this, and it's a good chance he will, we could see THREE head coaching vacancies in the Ivies in a couple of days.

That's assuming Norries Wilson is out and Dartmouth's Buddy Teevens is out too.

If all three are gone, the competition for the best talent adaptable to Ivy football should be fierce.

And that means the Columbia administration needs to be ready and aggressive.

Let's do what we can to help it, shall we?

Week 10 Picks

2011-11-19T00:29:00.000+07:00

No excuses... I had a rough week last week.

Here's the look back...

For Yale -10 1/2 at Princeton I wrote:

"Take Yale and lay the points."

Actual Final Score: Yale 33 Princeton 24

Straight Up 1-0, Against the Spread 0-1

For Dartmouth +17 at Brown I wrote:

"Brown win, by only by about 11 or so."

Actual Final Score: Dartmouth 21 Brown 16

SU 1-1, ATS 1-1

For Penn +13 at Harvard I wrote:

"I like the Crimson to eke out a win here."

Actual Final Score: Harvard 37 Penn 20

SU 2-1, ATS 1-2

OVERALL 2011 RECORD: 30-9 SU, 21-18 ATS.

With my Against the Spread record dubiously close to .500, here I go with my final picks of the year:

Penn -6 1/2 vs. Cornell

The Quakers won't let down on the final weekend. This will be a strong final game for the Penn seniors. Lay the points.

Princeton +18 1/2 at Dartmouth

I like the Green to win by two scores, not three. But Princeton sure doesn't get as much out of freshman running back Chuck DiBillio as they should. Any other Ivy team with a consistent 100 yard rusher would at least control the clock a bit better.

Yale +14 1/2 at Harvard

Lots of added drama for The Game this year. Patrick Witt and Collier Winters in their last games against each other. Witt starting and presumably missing out on his chance for a Rhodes Scholarship interview. And Eli Head Coach Tom Williams in deep trouble for possibly lying on his resume. Elis lose, but keep it close.

Last Chance

2011-11-19T00:03:00.000+07:00

It's About the Team

2011-11-18T23:16:00.000+07:00

Band is Back

2011-11-18T18:46:00.000+07:00

The Columbia Spectator is reporting that the athletic department has relented and will let the CU Marching band perform at the game against Brown tomorrow.

Based on this announcement fromt the department, I don't think it's a leap to guess that President Lee Bollinger had a lot to do with the latest reversal:

“We have reconsidered our decision regarding the he Columbia Band’s performance at this Saturday’s last game at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium at  the football game between Columbia and Brown University on Saturday,  November 19,” said M. Dianne Murphy, Director, Intercollegiate  Athletics  and Physical Education. “We are proud of our talented and dedicated  student-athletes—but as we have discussed this issue over the past day, we come to the conclusion that the core free speech values of the  University are best served by providing a forum both for  speech that might sometimes offend—as well as for the kind of open  discussion that ultimately leads to greater understanding and  collegiality among all members of our community.”

Remember, Bollinger's great claim to fame is championing free speech.

Bands and Coaches

2011-11-18T01:31:00.000+07:00

Occupy the Win Column: Scouting Brown

2011-11-16T23:44:00.000+07:00

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Kyle Newhall-Caballero

Overview

Love or hate Norries Wilson, love or hate the athletic department, there's no denying that the 2011 Columbia Lions players deserve the dignity of achieving at least one win this season.

It's come down to one last chance against one of the best teams in the Ivies, Brown. And after last week's upset loss to Dartmouth, you know the Bears will be more focused than ever in hopes of finishing their season with a win.

Nothing seems to come easy for Columbia football, especially this season where non-conference opponents like Sacred Heart who were set up as "easy" wins turned out to be a lot stronger than anyone thought.

At least with Brown, we all know we're taking on a serious powerhouse that can beat just about any team in FCS football.

Offense

You don't have to be a Brown fan to enjoy the thing of beauty that is the Bears scoring machine.

5th year senior QB Kyle Newhall-Caballero is having his best season with 15 TD passes and just four INT's. Pickoffs used to be his one downside, but he is just throwing one pick for every 82 passes thrown this season, (that has to be some kind of record).

"KNC" is spreading the wealth to a lot of receivers. Four different Bears already have more than 25 receptions this year and two have more than 40. (By contrast, only one CU WR has 40 or more catches).

The top target is senior Alex Tounkara-Kone, (yes, Brown also leads the league in hyphenated names), with 43 grabs for 539 yards and four TD's. Junior Tellef Lundevall is a close second with 41 receptions for 451 yards and four TD's, and then there's Jimmy Saros. Saros may be the most dangerous of them all even though he has only 39 catches for 407 yards and three TD's. Junior running back Mark Kachmer is also a frequent aerial target with 26 catches, two for TD's.

The running game has been spottier, but mainly because Brown likes to throw so much. Kachmer has 543 yards rushing and averages 4.7 yards per carry, but he only gets about 14 carries per game. Sophomore John Spooney has a 5.2 per carry average, but he only gets about 11 carries per contest.

The offensive line has allowed just 10 sacks despite all that passing. They're good.

Defense

The Brown defense is only mediocre against the run, allowing 135 yards on the ground per game. In both of their two losses this season, the opposing running games were the biggest reason why.

The passing defense is much stronger. The Bears allow fewer than 190 yards passing per game and have 12 interceptions.

They don't put too much pressure on QB's with just a modest 16 sacks so far this season.

But the key is the Bears just don't miss too many tackles, especially in the secondary led by junior AJ Cruz.

Special Teams

The best special teams weapon is Cruz, who averages more than 30 yards per kickoff return and has a TD return this season.

Primary punt returner junior Anthony Franciosi averages just four yards per return. Cruz averages just three yards per return when he handles punts.

Sophomore placekicker Alexander Norocea is 7 of 12 on field goals and he does not have a range much beyond 35 yards. He doesn't boom his kickoffs either.

Senior punter Nathan Lovett, on the other hand, is a booming punter who had seven punts of 50 yards or more and 20 boots inside the 20.

Senior Farewells (continued)

Kalasi Huggins

Kalasi burst onto the scene in week 2 of his freshman year when he won Ivy Rookie of the Week honors after a tough loss at Towson. Injuries marred much of the rest of his freshman and sophomore seasons, but he came back stronger this year and last. Fans will long remember his forced fumble and takeaway in the Penn game at Homecoming this year.

Kevin Lenehan

Another Lion QB who has shown his ultimate loyalty to the team by changing positions, in his case to tight end. Extremely well-liked hard worker who will be missed.

Raphael Lopez

We haven't really seen Raphael on the field in his four years here, but he made a great story when he first committed to Columbia when several Southern California newspapers featured his hard-working mom from the Los Angeles area. Truly, Lopez is a Columbia success story no matter how you slice it.

A.J. Maddox

An extremely talented and fast player, Maddox made an impact on day one and only injuries have slowed him down. Surely a career highlight will be his pick six to give the Lions an early lead at Princeton this season. I'm not sure if he's eligible or even considering doing a 5th year, but we'd love to keep him!

Evan Miller

Being the younger brother of all-time Columbia sack leader Lou Miller can't be too easy. But Evan never rested on his brother's laurels and has worked hard all four years. He will always be remembered for that fateful night at Lafayette in 2009 when he was thrust onto the field after Alex Gross was suddenly injured. Miller ended up having a strong game and the following week against Penn he had 12 tackles.

The Brown Factor

2011-11-16T00:21:00.000+07:00

Ivy Power Rankings, Senior Profiles, & Gross Goes Pro!

2011-11-15T00:34:00.000+07:00

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Alex Gross with two of his biggest fans

Alex Gross to Play Pro Ball in Europe

One of Columbia's all-time great linebackers, Alex Gross '11, has signed on with the Graz Giants and will play pro football in Austria beginning early next year. The season actually starts in March.

Alex tells me the level of American football in Austria is the best in Europe, and he opted for Austria over Canada because he wants to get a chance to live and experience European culture.

The Giants head coach is Rick Rhoades, who has an extensive coaching resume at the college level in the States. Alex spoke especially highly of him.

I don't think I have to remind any readers here how good a player Alex was for the Lions. He was the 2007 Ivy Rookie of the Year, 1st Team All-Ivy as a sophomore and a senior, and only a terrible injury in his junior year stopped him from making the All Ivy team that year as well. After that injury, Alex came back even stronger last season. He has been sorely missed this year.

I know we all wish Alex the best in Austria and hope that he replaces the "Sound of Music" with the sound of some bone crushing tackles!

Ivy Power Rankings Week 9

1. Harvard

After looking a bit vulnerable last week at Columbia, the Crimson make a big statement with an easy win over Penn. Harvard rushed for 204 yards and held Penn to just 24 net yards on the ground.

2. Brown

The Bears are still #2, but a more distant second to Harvard after a surprising 21-16 loss to Dartmouth at home Saturday.

3. Penn

The Quakers got surprisingly sloppy Saturday and blew a chance to three-peat. Will Penn fall back further next season?

4. Yale

Played Princeton a little too close for comfort, but the win over the Tigers last season was even closer.

5. Dartmouth

The win at Brown changes everything. A good showing this coming weekend against Princeton could really save Buddy Teevens' job.

6. Cornell

Jeff Mathews proves the next two seasons in Ithaca should be a lot of fun as he shreds the Big Red passing record book in the 62-41 win over Columbia. But there's still no running game or consistent defense.

7. Princeton

The Tigers really need a QB. I can't believe that senior Tommy Wornham is really the best they have. Either way, he's graduating soon and his last game is this Saturday.

8. Columbia

Expect big changes here in about six days...

Farewell Seniors

Over the next few days, I will do my best to offer a short tribute to each and every one of the outgoing seniors. Their final game is just five days from now and it must seem like it's ending so fast for them and their families.

Paul Havas (5th year)

A rare Canadian import, Havas came to Columbia as a speedy QB and made the switch to wide receiver last season. Has two TD catches this season, including a spectacular grab for a score at Princeton.

Because he's Canadian, (where they have an extra year of HS), did an extra year of prep school at St. Paul's, and because he's in his fifth year at CU, Havas is almost 24 years old. Staying in college and with this team for so long shows his serious commitment to football.

Mike Murphy (5th year)

Sadly, New York City high school players rarely make an appearance on Columbia football rosters anymore. But Staten Island's Murphy is an exception to that rule.

Murphy has made the most of this 5th year, contributing nicely on kickoff returns and in the secondary.

His INT in the Yale game this season was a snow-bound beauty.

Mike Stephens (5th Year)

Broke into the starting lineup as a wide receiver and punt returner his sophomore year and immediately had an impact. A tough and quick receiver, Stephens has absorbed some of the roughest hits I've ever seen in the Ivies.

It's not a stretch to say that Mike has sacrificed his body several times over for this program.

A two-time captain, my favorite memory for Mike was his TD catch that sealed the 38-0 win over Princeton in 2009.

He will really be missed.

Jeff Adams

I hope against hope that Adams will find some way to get into the game at least for a play or two this Saturday.

Adams remains a good bet to get to the NFL and has worked very hard to improve his stock as a potential pro player.

As soon as he broke into the starting lineup in 2009, the Columbia running attack improved greatly. It's rare that one player can make that kind of impact.

Jerry Bell

It's hard to think of any Lion who has been put into a tougher position over the years than Jerry.

As a backup to both M.A. Olawale and then Sean Brackett, the hard throwing Bell has had to replace two QB's who play the game much differently than his traditional passing style.

But he's never shied away from that tough emergency duty and his service will not be forgotten.

Sam Cecil

A rare West Virginia import to the Lions, Cecil has plugged a lot of holes in the Columbia offensive line over the years.

I know it's hard to remember considering the struggles the Lion offensive line has had this season, but remember that 2009 and 2010 were strong seasons for that unit and Cecil was a real contributor to that.

Flood Gates

2011-11-13T20:10:00.000+07:00

Insult to Injury

2011-11-13T03:33:00.001+07:00

Columbia's march for a respectable final score backfires as Cornell gets a pick six.

Cornell leads 62-41.

That's not a typo.

Williams Gets his 3rd TD

2011-11-13T03:21:00.001+07:00

I wish it meant more, but the Lions just went down the field and got another Brackett-to-Williams TD pass.

It's 55-41 Cornell.

55-34

2011-11-13T03:16:00.001+07:00

Another long TD pass to Shane Savage and this game is over.

The Big Red now look like they will even cover the 14 point spread.

27-0 Cornell in the 2nd half.

Will the people still asking for Norries Wilson to get another year please report to Bellevue ASAP!

TWO SHOCKERS!!

2011-11-13T03:10:00.000+07:00

Dartmouth has beaten Brown in Providence, 21-16!

Meanwhile, Harvard is mauling the Quakers 37-13 late in the game.

Put it together and it looks like the Crimson will clinch the Ivy title in just a few minutes.

Huh?

2011-11-13T03:08:00.000+07:00

It's funny to hear the Cornell announcers gush about how great the Big Red defense has played in the third quarter.

I guess the Big Red defenders are the ones who broke into the Lion locker room and forced the Columbia coaches to use that terrible game plan and make no good adjustments.

48-34 Red

2011-11-13T03:06:00.000+07:00

Cornell can only stop itself. They have to settle for a 32 yard FG by Greenway.

Cornell leads by two TD's now with less than 9 minutes left.

117-20

2011-11-13T02:48:00.000+07:00

That's the third qtr tally against the Lions this year.

This staff can't get fired fast enough.

Please Leave the Coaches in the Locker Room

2011-11-13T02:43:00.000+07:00

Cornell has just scored another TD as another disastrous 3rd qtr continues in Ithaca.

Shane Savage scored on a nice catch and run for a 46 yard TD and it's Big Red 45 Columbia 34.

Poor third quarter play is just about always the coaches' fault.

Here we go again.

More 3rd Qtr Madness

2011-11-13T02:37:00.000+07:00

The Lions have been outscored in the 3rd qtr this season, 110-20!

Cornell Back on Top

2011-11-13T02:35:00.001+07:00

Cornell, unlike Columbia, is sticking with their offensive game plan, and it's working.

Matthews has just found Shane Savage with a post pattern bomb down the middle of the field for 47-yard TD.

38-34 Red.

Greenway cashes in

2011-11-13T02:26:00.000+07:00

Brad Greenway mails a 46-yarder to make it 34-31. Cornell was forced to kick it after a nice sack by Shad Sommers, his second of the game.

Three Qtr, Three and out

2011-11-13T02:22:00.001+07:00

Once again, the Lions open the third quarter with a whimper. They got three and out and the wind holds up a Lion punt. Cornell starts at the Columbia 36.

Three Qtr, Three and out

2011-11-13T02:22:00.000+07:00

Once again, the Lions open the third quarter with a whimper. They got three and out and the wind holds up a Lion punt. Cornell starts at the Columbia 36.

Can You Believe This???

2011-11-13T01:58:00.000+07:00

A short Cornell KO gave the Lions the ball at the Big Red 46 with 59 seconds left and Brackett and WR Mike Stephens sliced the Cornell defense up. An eight yard TD pass to Hamilton Garner ended the drive and Columbia went for one. Eddy's PAT was good.

It's 34-28 Columbia at the half!

Here are the amazing first half stats:

QB Sean Bracket is 16 of 26 for 252 yards, three TD's and no INT's.

Brackett also has a 12-yard rushing TD.

Kurt Williams has eight catches for 120 yards and two TD's

Mike Stephens has three catches for 64 yards.

Griffin Lowry has 10 carries for 57 yards, a TD, but also one costly fumble.

Columbia already has 325 total yards on offense, Cornell has 260.

Cornell QB Jeff Matthews is 21 for 25 for 240 yards and two TD's.

Back and forth we go

2011-11-13T01:46:00.000+07:00

Cornell goes right back down the field and Greenway's PAT gives the Big red the lead with 1:04 left in the half. Kurt Ondash hauled in a 24-yard pass from Matthews for the score.

28-27 Red.

Sudden Awakening

2011-11-13T01:44:00.000+07:00

Columbia has now scored more points in this first half than they have an any entire game so far this year.

Kurt Makes a Gem!!!

2011-11-13T01:42:00.000+07:00

Kurt Williams just made a beautiful catch with a Cornell defender all over him for a long TD and the Lions take a 27-21 lead. Luke Eddy missed the PAT so it's 27-21 Lions.

Rare Miss!

2011-11-13T01:39:00.000+07:00

Cornell's great PK Brad Greenway just missed a chip shot FG and the score remains 21-21!

This is a Shootout!

2011-11-13T01:33:00.001+07:00

The Lions come right back down the field for a 47 yard drive after a great KO return by Mike Murphy.

Brackett had some nifty throws in the drive, including a 27-yarder to Paul Havas. The TD went to Kurt Williams for eight yards from Brackett.

21-21.

Cornell Gets its First Lead

2011-11-13T01:28:00.001+07:00

The Lions went three and out on their possession and a short punt set Cornell up at the Lion 47. Matthews' passing and Ryan Houska's wildcat runs chewed up that short field and the Big Red lead 21-14. Houska got the TD run from three yards out.

Cornell Cashes In

2011-11-13T01:17:00.000+07:00

A fumble by Lowry at the Lion 15 set the Big Red up nicely and it's now 14-14 after a Matthews TD pass to Gellatly.

Lowry's great 1st qtr

2011-11-13T01:12:00.000+07:00

Griffin Lowry has 52 yards rushing at this point early in the 2nd.

14-7 Lions!

2011-11-13T01:08:00.000+07:00

Brackett with a nice run to give the Lions the lead back. 12 yards, and about 15 jukes and moves for six.

Eddy kick good.

Now lets' see how Cornell passes against the wind.

7-7 Start of the Second...

2011-11-13T01:06:00.000+07:00

Columbia is driving and will now get the wind to their backs as they begin the second quarter.

A Rare Break, but Cornell Answers

2011-11-13T00:53:00.001+07:00

Columbia's first possession was about to end on a three-and-out but a roughing the punter penalty kept the drive alive.

The Lions then marched down the field for a 79-yard TD drive.

Griffin Lowry took it in for 4-yard score.

7-0 Columbia.

On the ensuing drive, Cornell's Jeff Matthews performed surgery on the Lion defense and Luke Tasker scooted in for a 2-yard TD to tie it at 7-7.

Week 9 Picks

2011-11-12T01:38:00.000+07:00

Only one game really tripped me up in last week's picks, but when you're only picking three games total, one is still too much.

Here's how I did:

For Yale +10 1/2 vs. Brown I wrote:

"I like Brown to win this game... but this could be decided by less than a touchdown."

Actual Final Score: Brown 34 Yale 28

Straight Up: 1-0 Against the Spread: 1-0

For Penn -17 1/2 vs. Princeton I wrote:

"Princeton will suffer."

Actual Final Score: Penn 37 Princeton 9

SU: 2-0 ATS: 2-0

For Cornell -3 at Dartmouth I wrote:

The Big Red can... convince any remaining doubters with a win on the road in Hanover. The Big Red can... (put), the final nail in the Buddy Teevens'coffin. The Big Red will do both.

Actual Final Score: Dartmouth 33 Cornell 24

SU: 2-1 ATS: 2-1

OVERALL 2011 RECORD: 28-8 SU, 20-16 ATS.

Now for this week's picks...

Yale -10 1/2 at Princeton

The Elis finished last week's game against Brown in strong fashion. Tomorrow, they will steamroll the Tigers. Take Yale and lay the points.

Dartmouth +17 at Brown

The Big Green usually play very well against Estes and the Bears. Brown win, by only by about 11 or so.

Penn +13 at Harvard

I like the Crimson to eke out a win here. Penn has been coming on strong lately. Harvard by 3 or 4.

Mega Bowl III

2011-11-11T23:53:00.000+07:00

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Columbia Lions at Cornell Big Red

November 12, 2011

Location: Schoelkopf Field

Kickoff Time: 12:30pm

Gametime Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy, 54 degrees

The Spread: Cornell is favored by 14 points

Columbia Game Notee

Cornell Game Notes

TV/Radio

You can catch audio of the game on the SideLion Pass on GoColumbiaLions.com with Jerry Recco and Sal Licata. VIDEO of the game will be available for $7.50 on RedCast. HINT: DO WHAT I DO, which is buy the opposing team's video feed and then mute their audio while I listen to the Columbia audio. It usually syncs up pretty well.

If you're in your car, WKCR student radio is at 89.9 FM, (and you can get its feed over the internet too).

Backstories

Columbia has beaten Cornell three years in a row and you know the Big Red circled this game on the schedule at the beginning of this season as a "must win" for the seniors. The chances of Cornell coming out flat in this game where they honor those seniors seem slim.

The Lions come in to the game realizing this is probably their last realistic chance to get a win this season.

Meanwhile, if Cornell loses it will be hard for the program to really convince alums that it has improved this season, (even though they truly have).

For Columbia, it's hard to believe a win will do much to change Head Coach Norries Wilson's fate... but stranger things have happened.

Columbia's Three Keys to the Game

Disrupt the Red Pass

Cornell's passing game is everything. If you can jam the receivers on the line and rush QB Jeff Matthews effectively, you can win.

Columbia will have to dare the Big Red to beat them with the run, but that means the linebackers will have to be ready to make a play when the run does come.

Also, I expect Cornell to test the Lions' secondary tackling. If short passes and screens turn into long gains, that's all the Big Red will do all day.

Establish the Run

If there ever was a game for Columbia to get out of the spread and try some straight ahead running, this would be it.

But we all know we won't be doing that, so it's essential that RB's Griffin Lowry and Alec Fisher get some consistent yardage. And QB Sean Brackett will also have to get running more tomorrow. Based on the way he ran against Harvard, Brackett seems healthier than he has been all year.

Test them Deep then Burn them Short

With Cornell's woes against the run, not too many teams have needed or tried to go long against the Big Red. It might be time to test the corners especially with speedsters like Kurt Williams, Paul Havas and Connor Nelligan. A few throws like that along the sidelines should open things up on the inside to Mike Stephens and Hamilton Garner.

22 Years Ago...

In November, 1989 a downtrodden and 0-8 Columbia team headed north to Ithaca in what looked like the slim hope of getting new Head Coach Ray Tellier his first win at Columbia.

Just like this year, that 0-8 Lion squad took on a 3-5 Big Red team.

QB Bruce Mayhew was a big star that day with 24 of 39 passing for 276 yards and two TD's.

TE Matt Less, one of CU's all-time greats, had eight receptions for 123 yards and a TD.

Oh, and Columbia WON 25-19.

I remember sitting in my dorm room that cold rainy Manhattan day following the game on WKCR and enjoying every minute of it.

Let's hope history repeats itself tomorrow.

In Other News...

For years, I've said that senior Co-Captain Bob Hauschildt is one of the smartest guys on the team.

My contacts at Morgan Stanley who supervised him there the last two summers say the same thing.

Now everyone knows.

Hauschildt has been chosen for the Capital One Academic All-District Football First Team.

This is awesome news.

Basketball Tonight!!!

Men's basketball tips off tonight against defending national champion UConn in Storrs. The game is being broadcast on ESPNU, so be sure to check it out!

Unhappy Valley

Perhaps there's really nothing informative I can add about the Penn State scandal and the terrible way it's making so many of us feel.

But I will say this: I have been to two football games in Happy Valley and I can honestly say they were two of the most incredible sports experiences of my life.

They were the best combination of football enthusisam combined with friendly hospitality that I have ever seen in a group of fans anywhere.

The fact that it was the wonderful world of Penn State football that Jerry Sandusky used to help lure his victims will forever tarnish those memories for me.

May the victims gain some degree of comfort and justice soon.

A Little Comic Relief & the Cornell Rivalry

2011-11-10T23:35:00.001+07:00

Scouting Cornell

2011-11-10T00:56:00.000+07:00

Our (not so) Short List

2011-11-08T18:58:00.000+07:00

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A number of good names have been floated for the soon-to-be-vacant Head Coaching job at Columbia.

Anyone who thinks it's too early to be talking about this doesn't understand the speed with which you have to replace head coaches in college football; it is essential for recruitng and team continuity.

Here are a few candidates with their pros and cons:

Tom Gilmore

Tom Gilmore

Pros: plenty of head coaching experience and success at what had been a very struggling program at Holy Cross. Knows the Ivies well as a former assistant at Columbia and Dartmouth. Was an Ivy League MVP Bushnell Cup winner at Penn. (The last Penn alum to coach at Columbia was Lou Little).

Cons: very intense and may clash with a tepid CU administration not used to aggressive coaches. Fans will always wonder if he's just waiting to take the Penn job when Al Bagnoli finally leaves or is struck by lightning.

Greg Toal

Greg Toal

Pros: Has turned losing programs around three times in his illustrious high school coaching career. His current team, Don Bosco, is riding a legendary winning streak right now and is a national household name. Prepares his teams better than anyone else in tough practices. Is familiar with the best Catholic school programs around the country that have consistently sent the best players to the Ivies. Lives nearby and could be ready to jump right in.

Cons: No college head coaching experience. His intensity may rub some players and administrators the wrong way.

Don Brown

Don Brown

Pros: Was a successful head coach at three schools, most recently at UMass. Knows the Ivies after spending some years as an assistant at Dartmouth and was defensive coordinator at Brown in 1996 and 1997. Good defensive strategist who usually molds teams adept at takeaways. Now the D-coordinator at UConn and thus is also close by.

Cons: Not too many that I can see or have heard.

Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly

Pros: Current HC at Georgetown has turned the program around this year and produced some eye-popping wins. Knows the Ivies at least as an opposing coach as his Hoyas have played Ivy opponents just about every year since 2006. Was also a an assistant on Dartmouth's 1991 Ivy championship team. Excellent resume with D-I coaching experience at Marshall, Syracuse, and a distinguished tenure at Navy.

Cons: Georgetown's turnaround may only be a one-year thing. Seems to have strong ties to the Maryland-DC area and may need more coaxing than others to come to New York.

Jim Margraff

Jim Margraff

Pros: Has turned Johns Hopkins into a consistent winner. Coached at Penn and under Ray Tellier at Columbia. Was deeply respected by the Lions players when he was here.

Cons: Never been a head coach at the FBS or FCS level. Is currently at his Alma Mater for 22 years and counting and may not be easy to lure back to NYC.

Bill Lazor

Bill Lazor

Pros: Excellent experience as an assistant in college and the pros. Currently the offensive coordinator at a rising University of Virginia team. Knows the Ivies as he was a star QB for the Cornell Big Red in the early 1990's. He then was an assistant at Cornell from 1994 to 2000.

Cons: No head coaching experience.

Aaron Kelton

Aaron Kelton

Pros: Familiar with just about all the current players as he was Columbia DC just two years ago. Has had success as head coach at Williams. Very good personality.

Cons: Not a lot of experience as a head coach. Not everyone is convinced he made a good enough improvement in the CU defense.

Joe Moglia

Joe Moglia

Pros: a uniquely driven and goal-oriented leader who knows the Ivies and now has some head coaching experience. Connections to Wall Street are ideal for Columbia players who often go on to dominate the Street. Might be able to pay his own salary or just take a dollar a year kind of deal.

Cons: An outside the box choice who may be too outside the box. Only one year of HC experience. Hasn't coached at any level in the Ivies in decades.

Jim Tressel

Jim Tressel

Pros: Legendary success at the small college level and at Ohio State. Reportedly looking for redemption after his ouster in Columbus. Could pay his own salary. Recruits would definitely take his calls. Columbia gets millions of dollars of free publicity and intense media interest in a heartbeat.

Cons: It's a crazy outside the box choice. Scandal in his past could sink him. Bollinger would definitely be too afraid to talk to him without a lot of goading.

Help Wanted & Ivy Power Rankings Week 8

2011-11-08T00:54:00.000+07:00

Half Alive

2011-11-06T06:06:00.000+07:00

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Harvard 35 Columbia 21

Why Harvard Won

The Crimson shook off some sloppy plays and let its deep passing game doom the Lions in a blistering third quarter run. QB Collier Winters threw for 323 yards and three TD's.

Why Columbia Lost

Once again, Columbia came out in the second half looking flat-footed and lost its momentum quickly. The Lions opening drive of the third quarter ended in a three-and-out and the second possession ended in a turnover that Harvard turned into the lead they never gave up.

Key Turning Points

-Leading 7-0 with a little over five minutes left in the first quarter, the Lions had the Crimson in a tough 3rd and 25 situation at the Harvard 39 thanks to three false start penalties in the same series. But the Crimson got the first down on a brilliant sideline pass to Chris Lorditch that went for 27 yards. Three plays later, Harvard had tied it at 7-7.

-With the score tied 14-14 in the third, Sean Brackett's pass was just a little too wide for a diving Mike Stephens, who got a hand on it but couldn't stop it from being intercepted by Brian Owusu who returned it 11 yards to the Columbia 24. Three plays later, the Cromson had the lead they would never give up.

Columbia Positives

-The Lions played extremely well against the league's best team for most of the game, and mostly lost because of Harvard's greatest strength: the passing offense.

-Ross Morand's fantastic interception and 87-yard runback for a TD was the best play of the year for Columbia and a great statement by the senior co-captain.

-Harvard came into the game having yielded just 12 sacks in seven previous games. Columbia got five sacks today including two from Josh Martin, two from Mike Waller, and the first-ever sack by Texas A&M transfer Wells Childress.

-Brackett wasn't 100% perfect, but he looked like the Brackett of 2009 and 2010 with some beautiful runs and improved passing. His 19 yard run for a TD late in the fourth was a thing of beauty.

Columbia Negatives

-The missed tackles were on display many times, leading to a good number of Harvard's scores. Perhaps the worst example was the Crimson's final TD, a 41 yarder from Winters to Kyle Juszcyk that should have been a 15 yarder at most.

-Even though the Crimson moved the ball primarily and effectively through the air, you got the feeling they could have done even better had they stuck more to the run. The fact is, Columbia was lucky that Harvard passed as much as it did.

-The third quarter nightmares continue. The Lions were outscored in the 3rd by 14-0 today, bringing the season total in that stanza to 100-20.

Columbia MVP

Ross Morand was brilliant with five tackles, two pass breakups, and that super pick six that won't be soon forgotten.

RANDOM CELEBRITY SIGHTING

After the game I saw actor Danny Aiello hanging outside the Chrystie Field House. I got the feeling he was somehow related to a Harvard player. If anyone can explain why he was there, let me know.

Gameday in the NYC

2011-11-05T17:21:00.000+07:00

Nico in his high school days

Nico Noticed

Senior FB Nico Papas is mentioned briefly in this piece from Boston.com. It mentions how much he wants to beat Harvard and the fact that his father, John, was once an assistant to Crimson Head Coach Tim Murphy. To say that I wish the Lions would use Nico more often would be an understatement.

Super Stunner

Perhaps the football team will get some inspiration today from a major upset pulled off by Columbia tennis senior co-captain Haig Schneiderman who stunned #5 nationally-ranked Chase Buchanan of Ohio State Thursday. Schneiderman won 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarters at the 2011 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships.

That quarterfinal match was last night and Schneiderman fell to the #4 player in the nation, Eric Quigley. But what a run!

Tugging on Superman's Cape

2011-11-04T23:10:00.001+07:00

Parkas: The Answer

2011-11-04T22:45:00.000+07:00

I have spoken to multiple reliable sources trying to figure out why the team did not have proper winter coats and gear for Saturday's game vs. Yale.

All of those sources say the same thing...

The football team doesn't have parkas.

It NEVER had parkas...

... at least not for the last decade or so.

There was no "loan" of the non-existent parkas to any other team.

I'll just leave it by saying I love the idea of fans here donating whatever they can to purchase the proper gear in time for next season.

Week 8 Picks

2011-11-04T22:21:00.000+07:00

Week 8 Picks

Last week was another almost perfect week for me, but this time it wasn't a half point that sank the S.S. Perfect against the spread.

It was a full TD.

Here's how I did...

For Penn +12 at Brown I wrote:

I like Brown to win this game by about a touchdown, no more.

Actual Final Score: Brown 6 Penn 0

1-0 Straight UP, 1-0 Against the Spread

For Cornell -6 at Princeton I wrote:

Princeton's big stretch game was last week at Harvard. Now they will come back to Earth. Take Cornell and lay the points.

Actual Final Score: Cornell 24 Princeton 7

2-0 SU, 2-0 ATS

For Dartmouth +24 at Harvard I wrote:

I don't like big spreads in bad weather games. The Crimson will probably grab this win by 11 to 14 points.

Actual Final Score: Harvard 41 Dartmouth 10

3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS

OVERALL 2011 RECORD: 26-7 SU, 18-15 ATS.

Now to this week's games.

Yale +10 1/2 vs. Brown

I like Brown to win this game, but Yale always plays Brown really well. This could be decided by less than a touchdown.

Penn -17 1/2 vs. Princeton

The Quakers are hungry to show that last week's shutout loss to Brown was just a snowy fluke. Princeton will suffer.

Cornell -3 at Dartmouth

The Big Red can go a long way to convince any remaining doubters with a win on the road in Hanover. The Big Red can also go a long way toward putting the final nail in the Buddy Teevens' head coaching coffin. The Big Red will do both.

The Key 5

2011-11-04T00:34:00.000+07:00

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Columbia's game notes and two-deeps are posted now at GoColumbiaLions.com.

With senior Jeff Adams hurting, an amazing four freshmen have cracked the two-deep on the offensive line, albeit all of them as backups.

Although he limped off the field late last weekend, senior co-captain Mike Stephens is listed as the starter.

Ryan Fitzpatrick

The Harvard Rivalry

It's never really seemed like Columbia and Harvard have had much "bad blood" between them in football.

But over the last 20 years, there have been a few games that really kicked up the drama when the Lions and Crimson squared off.

Here are the 5 most important Columbia-Harvard games from a Columbia fan's point of view since 1991:

1994: Harvard 39 Columbia 32

The Lions almost ruined Tin Murphy's debut as Harvard's head coach with a furious comeback from a 28-10 deficit.

But the Crimson rallied to score a TD with just 21 seconds left.

Columbia actually righted their ship after that loss and put together its first winning season in 23 years.

Harvard mostly struggled as it took a few years for Murphy to get his bearings in Cambridge.

1995: Columbia 28 Harvard 24

After 16 straight losses to the Crimson, Columbia finally broke through with a clutch win at Harvard Stadium.

QB Mike Cavanaugh starred with some key passes and even more clutch runs. On the final winning drive alone, Cavanaugh had four rushes for 41 yards. Four of those yards came on a key 4th and 2 on the Harvard 28 when everyone ih the stadium knew Cavanaugh was going to run with it anyway.

1996: Columbia 20 Harvard 13 (OT)

A true thriller at Wien Stadium with the Lions coming back from a 13-0 halftime deficit and then forced OT when Marcellus Wiley blocked what would have been a chip shot FG late in the final moments of regulation.

It was Columbia's first win of its remarkable 8-2 '96 season.

1998: Columbia 24 Harvard 0

The Lions decided to make their season opener Homecoming and they made it count with
an incredibly dominant performance.

Another note: this was all-time Columbia leading rusher Johnathan Reese's debut and he had 72 yards on 11 carries.

2003: Columbia 16 Harvard 13

With Harvard and future NFL QB Ryan Fitzpatrick out, Columbia eked out a win thanks to back-to-back interceptions by sophomore DB Prosper Nwokocha.

State of Play and Scouting Harvard

2011-11-02T23:12:00.000+07:00

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For those of you having trouble following exactly where we are with the Columbia football situation, (and who can blame you?), here's the state of play:

1) A very highly placed source in the Columbia administration tells me the firing of Norries Wilson is a done deal.

2) BUT there is a serious concern about a very strong political attack against the firing that will be launched against President Lee Bollinger and perhaps Athletic Director Dianne Murphy. That concern is slowing down the process somewhat.

3) I have asked the readers here to email President Bollinger and A.D. Murphy to show them your support for the decision to relieve Wilson and promise to back them up when and if the attacks come against them. Their emails are:
officeofthepresident@columbia.edu and mdm2111@columbia.edu

4) I have asked major Columbia donor and New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft to get involved in the process of finding a new coach or at least offer some guidance.

5) I have also urged the man who truly controls Columbia football, Board of Trustees Chair Bill Campbell, to make the bold move of hiring a major name/talent to be our next head coach. It's time to throw the long bomb again, just as he urged the Apple board to do when it debated paying for the iconic MacIntosh commercial in 1983.

6) A new issue has arisen over the lack of cold weather gear for the players at Saturday's game or the possibly deliberate decision not to use such gear by the coaching staff or some other authority. No one has publicly taken responsibility or blame for this as of this time. This is despite the fact that the stadium crew did an excellent job getting the field as playable as possible during the game.

7) Columbia hasn't won a football game in 12 months. The Lions have lost eight games in a row and 12 of the last 13. Coach Wilson's career record at Columbia is 16-41, 9-30 Ivy.

When you're Tim Murphy, you can get away with carrying the game plan in your pants

Scouting Harvard

Overview

This is a very, very good Crimson team.

Even by recent Harvard standards, it's making a good case to be one of the best Tim Murphy coached teams of all time.

As the only Ivy team without a conference loss, the Crimson are the only team controlling its own destiny.

And control it they have.

But with three games to go, Harvard's last two serious challenges - Penn and Yale - both lie beyond this weekend's game with the Lions.

That sets up the classic "trap game" scenario.

In fact, the Crimson haven't exactly played their best games against Columbia in most of the last five meetings, and I have to think that's because Harvard is looking ahead a bit to those crucial final two games each season.

Offense

What can you say? This might be the best offense Columbia has faced in years with great QB's, RB's, and everything else.

Both Collier Winters and Colton Chapple have torn up defense after defense from the quarterback position. Winters is back in the starting spot after being out with an injury, but all Chapple did in his place was throw for 12 TD's versus just two INT's.

Running backs Treavor Scales, a junior, and Zach Boden a freshman, are both lethal on the ground.

The wide receivers are solid if not spectacular, but the stats are deceiving because Winters and Chapple did such a good job spreading the ball around. Seniors Chris Lorditch, Adam Chrisis, and Alex Sirkisian are seniors who have had big games against Columbia in the past. Sirkisian is having the best year so far.

Sophomore tight end Cameron Brate can be a terror and he has six TD catches.

The offensive line has allowed just 12 sacks through seven games.

Defense

You weren't expecting a respite on this side of the ball were you?

The Crimson are allowing just 17 points per game, 19 points less per game than the Harvard offense is scoring. That's an amazing cushion in case you didn't notice.

The leader in the defensive fear factor is Josue Ortiz, who has a real chance of getting into the NFL. He has six sacks so far this season.

Another leader is senior captain LB Alex Gedeon. He has 66 tackles this year, a sack and two interceptions.

The secondary is giving up more passing yards per game than you'd expect from a Crimson squad, (244), but you test this unit at your peril. Matthew Hanson and Brian Owusu are the leaders on the third line and both are set for some postseason All Ivy honors.

Special Teams

No relief here either.

Kicker David Mothander is 33 of 34 on PAT's and has hit four of his five FG attempts including one from 42 yards out.

Punter Jacob Dombrowski is one of the best in the Ivies.

Freshman Seitu Smith is handling the punt and kickoff returns and he's doing a terrible job.

Just kidding.

Smith is averaging an incredible 31 yards per KO return and 13.3 yards per punt return. One of his KO returns was for a 91 yard TD.

Coaching

Tim Murphy has built Harvard into the league's most consistent winning program.

Every successful season Murphy puts together sheds more light on just how erratic and underachieving his predecessor Joe Restic really was.

Unlike Restic, Murphy has parlayed Harvard's natural name recognition into an almost perfect recruiting advantage each and every year. The depth on this team, as evidenced by the Winters/Chapple performance at QB, is simply breathtaking.

That's Murphy's work on display.

Someone should learn from it.

Bold Statement

2011-11-01T22:41:00.000+07:00

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This iconic image was brought to you by Bill Campbell

I am reading Walter Isaacson's brilliant biography of Steve Jobs.

Yesterday afternoon I came to the fascinating part of the book where the history-making TV spot for the Apple MacIntosh is being made.

Jobs was, of course, very enthusiastic about the ad and had hired film director Ridley Scott, fresh off his work on Blade Runner, to helm the project.

But a good chunk of the Apple board, especially the hapless then-CEO John Scully, hated the commercial and didn't want to spend the big money to put it on during the Super Bowl.

I now quote directly from the book:

"Sculley, perhaps to avoid a showdown with either the board or Jobs, decided to let Bill Campbell, the head of marketing, figure out what to do. Campbell, a former football coach, decided to throw the long bomb. 'I think we ought to go for it,' he told his team."

The rest is history.

The MacIntosh commercial aired in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII and one of the greatest brands was born.

That was 28 years ago.

It's time once again for Campbell to push his team to take a bold step and win.

His team is the Columbia football program. As long as most of us have been around, it has always been his team.

Campbell needs to bite the bullet and make sure the replacement process for Head Coach Norries Wilson goes through.

He needs to make sure President Lee Bollinger keeps his resolve when the criticisms come from outside sources.

And then, Campbell needs to take the even BOLDER step and set out to find a stunningly brash choice to become the new Lions head coach.

Columbia needs someone as stunning and powerful as that Apple commercial a quarter of a century ago.

No more unproven assistants.

No more people without the maturity and proven track record of winning.

Someone who will make an impact as dramatic as that woman who threw the hammer and shattered the massive TV screen filled with the image of Big Brother.

Ivy Power Rankings

1. Harvard

Every team had to play in snowy, windy, and slippery conditions Saturday.

Only one team didn't miss a single beat.

The Crimson thrashed Dartmouth 41-10 to hold serve atop the Ivies and inject a new round of fear into their remaining three opponents... the first of which is Columbia, of course.

2. Brown

An amazingly mature performance by the Bears got the job done in a 6-0 win over Penn on Saturday.

But Brown is still forced to pray for a Harvard loss if it wants to get any piece of the championship pie.

3. Penn

A very gutty performance by the Quakers came up just short in Providence.

Penn seems to be getting better as the season moves on.

It too needs Harvard to lose to get a share of the title.

But unlike Brown, the Quakers can handle that on their own with an upset at Harvard Stadium next week.

4. Yale

The Elis proved that they have the running game to win in any conditions Saturday.

They also proved that maybe the coaches are silly to have Witt passing so much when running is a lot less risky.

5. Cornell

The Big Red were almost as impressive as Harvard Saturday, it's just that they won their game against an awful Princeton team in New Jersey.

6. Dartmouth

Buddy Teevens was probably fired after that loss at Harvard. These will be his last three weeks in Hanover unless they give him a job in the administration.

Meanwhile, the Green have a real challenge this week with Cornell and it may serve as a nail in the Teevens coffin.

7. Princeton

The Tigers have two things going for them: freshman RB Chuck DiBillio, and the fact that they already played Columbia.

8. Columbia

The Lions let a golden opportunity for a win against a superior opponent slip through their hands with a questionable game plan in the snowy slop at Wien Stadium. 0-10 seems like a certainty now.

Words of Encouragement

2011-10-31T22:53:00.000+07:00

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Takin' to the Streets!

LET THEM KNOW!!!

I'm going to be totally POSITIVE on the blog today.

I think we all deserve it.

So I am urging all my readers to send emails to President Lee Bollinger and Athletic Director Dianne Murphy as they go about replacing Norries Wilson as head coach.

This might seem like an easy decision to most of us, and maybe some of us think it will be easy to actually carry out.

But it won't be.

Bollinger, Murphy, Bill Campbell and the University as a whole could be in for an avalanche of criticism and unwarranted attacks for relieving Wilson at this time.

Politics will be brought into this, among other issues that have nothing to do with football.

We have to let the powers that be know that we demanded this decision and we support them for putting it into place.

You can email President Bollinger at: officeofthepresident@columbia.edu

You Can email Dr. Murphy at: mdm2111@columbia.edu

Let them know you know how hard this choice is and how they will have your support.

Let them know you will NOT be silent when the newsmedia or anyone else comes at them with crazy accusations of unfairness to Coach Wilson or anyone else.

Let them know that this dismissal is beyond warranted and no one has a right to criticize it on any sane level.

This blog and its readers aren't just about criticizing and wishing for better things.

We're also all about supporting good decisions at least twice as loudly as we bemoan the bad ones.

Let's prove that TODAY.

Not Just a Snow Job

I also want to say something VERY nice about the people who run things at Wien Stadium.

Now, we've all heard the comments about whether the players had the right gear... that's another issue.

I want to point out the hard work and excellent ADVANCED PLANNING that went into making Kraft Field even somewhat playable Saturday.

I watched as not one, but two snowplows and several people with shovels worked feverishly to clear as much of the field as possible before the game, at halfime, in between quarters and during timeouts.

The pickup truck snowplow drove faster in reverse than I've ever seen a plow go just to set up each new run.

These people were working really hard... and smart. I was really impressed.

I really wish I knew the names of the people who were smart enough to make sure those plows got there and then the names of the people who drove and shoveled that muck away. If anyone in the administration isn't afraid to email me, please let me know their names so I can give the proper kudos.

But I DO know that as AD, Dianne Murphy deserves a lot of credit for at least assembling the right stadium staff to handle this.

I know that Erich Ely is the Associate Athletics Director for Facilities Operations. Steve Figueroa, Scott Butch, and Maggie Johnson are listed as part of that staff.

And I know that Alex Oberweger is the guy who makes sure the broadcasters could at least try to get video and audio on the air.

I've been a TV producer for 17 years, and I can tell you getting clean shots on the air even on good days can be impossible. The fact that anyone not at Wien Stadium was able to follow any of the game is a testament to all the people at YES and Columbia who busted their butts to get it done.

Snowed Over

2011-10-30T18:13:00.000+07:00

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This is New York City... in October!

Yale 16 Columbia 13

Why Yale Won

In a driving freak snow storm that buried Kraft Field, the Elis were able to establish a consisten running game. Mordecai Cargill carried the ball an amazing 42 times for 230 yards and two touchdowns. That helped Yale jump out to a 16-0 lead, which was just enough to win.

Why Columbia Lost

The Lion offense took way too long to get going, finally finding a spark from sophomore RB Griffin Lowry and some decent play action passes. The defense was too inconsistent in its efforts to stop the Yale run, but it still gave the team more than enough chances to win.

Key Turning Points

-A short pass followed by a long run by WR Louis DiNovo set Columbia up with a 1st and 10 at the Yale 25 to start the 2nd quarter. But the Lions proceeded to move backwards on a sack, throw an incomplete pass, and then QB Sean Brackett was intercepted at the Eli 4.

-Later in the second quarter, sophomore DB Jeremy Mingo stepped right in front of a Patrick Witt pass but dropped the sure INT. On the next play, the Elis kicked a FG for the first points of the game.

-Trailing by just 3-0 at the start of the second half, Columbia had no answers for Cargill on the opening Yale drive. He carried the ball on seven of the eight play TD drive that went for 59 yards. Cargill had 52 of those yards to make it 10-0.

Columbia Positives

-It was an amazing team effort to fight until the very end in conditions like that. The late rally the Lions put together should be something to build on, or at least keep morale at a high level as the team prepares for a new coach next season.

-It was a good game for the sophomores. Lowry, DiNovo, K Luke Eddy, and TE Zack McKown. Eddy made a tough PAT after a CU false start penalty and McKown got beautifully free for Columbia's first TD. It will be interesting to see if any of them, especially Lowry, get more playing time going forward.

-Another sophomore who impressed was P Paul Delaney. Not all of his punts were perfect, but his last one was and it set up Columbia's second TD. That kick after he was pretty badly beat up on a punt earlier in the half when a bad snap forced him to run back for the ball and take a big hit as he finally did get the kick away.

Columbia Negatives

-The Lion play calling for much of the game seemed too complicated considering the conditions. Columbia passed the ball 36 times while Yale threw just 10 times.

-The offensive line didn't protect Brackett well enough. He was sacked hard twice and rushed several more times and forced to make amazing escapes.

-Some of the non-tackling of Cargill really hurt the Lion efforts. There was plenty of good gang tackling too, but just not enough.

Columbia MVP

After seeing a game in conditions that defied belief, I have to give the MVP award to the entire team just for gutting it out all day. Remember the game was broadcast on YES, so the TV timeouts alone prolonged the contest by at least a half hour.

Thanks guys, we are all proud of you!

***QUESTION***

I'm sure this is the first time in at least 25 years that any snow at all has fallen during a Columbia home football game. But can anyone here tell us for sure when the last time we had the white stuff at a CU game?

Gameday Updates-- No Alex Thomas

2011-10-29T18:04:00.000+07:00

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No Rain Yet

The promised rain has not yet started to fall in the New York City area, although I do expect it to begin soon.

Part of me is happy for the bad weather as I'd like to see today be the worst possible physical and emotional afternoon for Yale.

RB Alex Thomas will be out today for the Elis, and that should help. Of course, Yale still has Mordecai Cargill, a big back that could test the Lions' erratic tackling.

An Open Letter to Bob Kraft

2011-10-29T01:50:00.000+07:00

Let's add an Ivy championship trophy to that hardware!

I don't know how this letter will ever actually get in front of Mr. Kraft's eyes. But anyone reading this blog, perhaps some members of the FOOTBALL COMMITTEE, that can get this to his attention would be providing Columbia football fans a great service!

Dear Mr. Kraft:

First off, let me give you my most sincere thanks for all your generosity to Columbia and Columbia football over the years. Your help has been invaluable in everything from athletics to the improvement of Jewish life on campus, both of which I have been the direct beneficiary of many times.

Secondly, let me extend my condolences to you once again for the loss of your lovely wife Myra. As you continue through this mourning period and recite the Kaddish for her every day, I cannot possibly expect to offer any kind of real comfort to you. I do hope it gives you some encouragement to know that so many people in the Columbia community are praying for you.

We all know that you are an extremely busy, hands on owner for the New England Patriots. What you've been able to accomplish with that franchise is nothing short of stunning, but also inspiring. It's hard to remain too downtrodden about one's favorite team, or even personal career, when you remember how much the Patriots have overcome and where they are today compared to 20 years ago.

And so that brings us to Columbia football. The team that proudly plays on the field that bears your name badly needs your help at this time. Specifically, your acumen when it comes to identifying and securing excellent coaching talent.

The search for a new head coach at Columbia begins now, and I know I speak for the entire alumni and fan community when I say we all hope you will somehow find the time to become personally involved. This need not be a serious time commitment. For example, identifying some good candidates perhaps in the NFL ranks, or simply evaluating the candidates Columbia eventually considers would be a great help. We simply believe your input and guidance at key moments will be essential and beneficial.

This is not intended to be a knock on Bill Campbell and the current administration. Choosing winning coaches is hard and no one in their right mind could say otherwise. But you have a proven track record in this area. Combine that with your already very established commitment to Columbia football and this is a perfect role for you at this time. Anyone from President Lee Bollinger to Dianne Murphy would surely be infinitely grateful for your help.

And yes, we need absolutely need your help. Columbia's football players and fans are a very special breed. We all deserve to be a part of a winning program, even if just to beat back the ever clanging chorus of naysayers who refuse to stop saying that football can never be successful at Columbia.

I refuse to believe that.

And I refuse to believe that the man who made a three-time Super Bowl champion out of a franchise everyone had written off believes that either.

Thank you,

Jake Novak '92

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Hope and Change?

2011-10-29T00:16:00.000+07:00

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Columbia Lions vs. Yale Bulldogs

October 29th, 2011

Location: Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium on the Baker Athletics Complex

Kickoff Time: 12pm

Gametime Weather Forecast: Oy. 44 degrees and rainy.

The Spread: Yale is favored by 16 1/2 points

Columbia Game Notes

Yale Game Notes

TV/Radio

The game is being broadcast live nationwide on the YES Network's "Yale on Yes" package.

You can catch audio of the game on the SideLion Pass on GoColumbiaLions.com with Jerry Recco and Sal Licata. If you're in your car, WKCR student radio is at 89.9 FM, (and you can get its feed over the internet too).

HOW TO GET TO THE GAME:

My 2011 Guide to getting to Wien Stadium

*REMEMBER* the #1 Subway train WILL be running tomorrow!

Backstories

The tenure for Columbia Head Coach Norries Wilson is less than a month from over. The next four weeks will determine whether Wilson ends his time at Columbia on a strong high note or a whimper.

The Lions are coming off a stunningly flat performance at Dartmouth that was reminiscent of the darkest days of this football program in the 1980's. It certainly was the worst overall played game by Columbia in the Wilson years.

Much of that was due to not having starting QB Sean Brackett in the game because of an injury. Brackett is back this week and fans will be looking to see if the rest of the team responds.

The Lions also come into the game with very vivid memories of the last two contests against the Elis that both were squeezed out by Yale in heart-stopping fashion.

Last season, Columbia fell behind by 24-0 in the early going, and came all the way back to withing three points only to see that comeback stall there. The Lions lost, 31-28.

In 2009, Columbia unveiled then-freshman QB Sean Brackett for his first ever collegiate start. Brackett mesemerized the Bulldogs for most of the game before a series of improbable turnovers allowed Yale to steal the game in a 23-22 win.

In 2008, the Eli and Lion squads got into a nasty shouting match before the game began at the Yale Bowl.

The Bulldogs won that game comfortably by 15 points, but it was the continuation of even more bad blood between the two teams that began in the Wilson era with a 2006 contest that saw Yale RB Mike McCleod do an unsportsmanlike backflip into the endzone and a decision by Head Coach Jack Siedlecki to call time out with his team up several scores to get one more TD on the board in the final seconds.

Columbia has not defeated the Elis since 2001. Only Penn has a longer active winning streak against the Lions.

Yale started this season with a good number of experts predicting the Bulldogs would win the Ivy League. But with the Elis these days, it's really all about one player in QB Patrick Witt.

Witt is an outspoken Nebraska transfer who has held the team's fate in his hands week after week pretty much since 2009.

He has exceptional talent and good smarts, but he can be erratic and the offense probably chooses to pass the ball too much out of deference to him.

Another bigger than life personality is third year Head Coach Tom Williams, whose aggressive nature is beginning to wear thin on his colleagues and opposing fans who encounter him and his antics on the sidelines.

Yale has yet to win a road game this year and you can bet Williams will be livid if this game is anything but a strong rout as the Elis look to bounce back from a tough loss at Penn last Saturday.

After Columbia, it's Brown at home, Princeton on the road, and Harvard at home for the Bulldogs and Williams is looking to jumpstart the squad right here and right now.

The fact that he's never really easily beaten the Lions is probably a sore spot.

Columbia's Keys to the Game

Just Think About the Game

Yeah, the head coach is on his way out and the Lions are already 0-6... but any win against an Ivy opponent is always sweet and this one would be really sweet considering the recent history versus Yale.

Playing with reckless abandon can be fun, and I can't think of any team that is probably least expecting that out of Columbia tomorrow than Yale will be.

Get Brackett Back into the Groove

Coming off the week off the ease his injuries and maybe clear his head, the Lions need Brackett to take charge of the team and be sharper than he's been all season.

Put Pressure on Witt

It's the same story every week, opposing QB's get too much time to do their worst against the Lions. There was some good early pressure on Penn's QB's two weeks ago, but in some ways that Homecoming game seems like it was in the last century, doesn't it?

Change of Heart???

2011-10-28T00:14:00.000+07:00

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Back from Bizzaro World

Something has changed in the last 72 hours and my sources now tell me Norries Wilson's tenure as head coach will indeed end at the close of the season.

I apologize for having everyone ride the emotional rollercoaster here, but when you're as insignificant to the program as I am you have to rely on the sometimes shifting information you get from the people who actually have power and influence.

Let the search for the best replacement begin.

Week 7 Picks

A lousy half point in the Brown-Cornell point spread stopped me from getting a perfect week last Saturday!

But the improvement is refreshing.

Here's how I did in each game.

For Penn (pick 'em) vs. Yale I wrote:

"... at Franklin Field, I think Coach Bagnoli will have his Quakers ready to play and beat Yale."

Actual Final Score: Penn 37 Yale 25

1-0 Straight Up, 1-0 Against the Spread

For Princeton +30 1/2 at Harvard I wrote:

"Harvard will win big, but not by 30 points or more."

Actual Final Score: Harvard 56 Princeton 39

2-0 SU, 2-0 ATS

And for the fateful Brown -11 1/2 at Cornell I wrote:

"Watch the Brown offense score in bunches on the fast Schoelkopf field turf. Take the Bears and lay the points."

Actual Final Score: Brown 35 Cornell 24

2-0 SU, 2-1 ATS

OVERALL 2011 RECORD: 23-7 SU, 16-14 ATS.

On to this week's games...

Penn +12 at Brown

I like Brown to win this game by about a touchdown, no more. The weather could be a factor in slowing down the Bear scoring machine. Penn's running game will test Brown, but Estes and his boys will get it done.

Cornell -6 at Princeton

Princeton's big stretch game was last week at Harvard. Now they will come back to Earth. Take Cornell and lay the points,

Dartmouth +24 at Harvard

I don't like big spreads in bad weather games. The height of the storm could be blowing at gametime. The Crimson will probably grab this win by 11 to 14 points.

Scouting Yale

2011-10-26T22:56:00.000+07:00

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Columbia's game notes and two-deeps for this Saturday were released last evening.

(Ever notice how the game notes always come out earlier in the week as the season goes on? Does anybody know why that is?)

It's hard to put too much stock in the two-deeps when QB Sean Brackett was listed as the starter last week when everyone on the team knew he wasn't going to play at Darmouth as early as Tuesday.

But some astute readers have already pointed out that junior Andrew Weiss is now listed as the backup to Brackett. Since we don't really know if Brackett will play, we could see a brand new starter this Saturday on national TV no less.

Also notable is freshman Alec Fisher getting listed as the #2 running back and freshman Chad Washington listed as a backup defensive lineman. Congratulations to them!

Patrick Witt makes Yale all about him

Looking at the Elis

Overview

Last year, Yale made a strong move up the Ivy standings mostly by winning a series of extremely close games.

This season, none of their games has been decided by less than nine points, (and that game wasn't really as close as it looked).

No nailbiters this year.

What we do have is an improved overall offense and a team that has performed well at home and generally poorly on the road.

Offense

Veteran readers of this blog know I'm no fan of Yale QB Patrick Witt.

That's even though he's just been named the only Ivy finalist for this year's Bill Campbell trophy.

It's not that I don't think he's talented, because he clearly is. When he gets that quick release going he is impossible to stop.

It's not that I don't think he's smart. He clearly is; posting some stellar grades all the way through school.

My issue with Witt is that he seems to lack the complete maturity and leadership qualities to bring the Elis victories in tough games or on the road.

So the question is whether Witt will play the role of Dr. Jekyl or Mr. Hyde this Saturday.

One player who has clearly made strides over last year is senior RB Alex Thomas, who is having a great season running the ball for Yale. The only trouble is, he doesn't get the ball enough. Thomas is averaging just 15 carries a game, and I can't understand why. In short, I think the Bulldogs are passing the ball too much this season and that may be Witt's fault.

The offensive line has been excellent, notably giving up just seven sacks all season. But starting LT Wes Gavin is out for the year after going down in the Penn game and that could change everything in the coming weeks.

Defense

Yale's D is noticeably weaker this season, as many predicted it would be after several top players graduated.

The Elis are closer to the bottom of the Ivy pack allowing 136 rushing yards per game, but the real weakness has been pass defense. No Ivy team has been passed against more than Yale and those passes are being completed a league-high 66.7% percent of the time for 255 yards per game.

And yet the Bulldog defense also put together a 30-0 shutout of Dartmouth in week four, so there is some ability here.

Special Teams

The best part of the special teams at Yale is punt returner Gio Christodoulou who averages almost 15 yards per return and has a TD this season

Second best is junior Chris Smith who averages almost 26 yards per kickoff return.

The kickers aren't quite so great.

Place kicker Philippe Panico has been spotty, missing four PAT's already this season. He's a decent FG kicker, but nothing over 35 yards out is a good bet.

Punter Kyle Cazzetta averages just 35 yards per punt and has had one blocked.

Bizzaro World

2011-10-26T00:08:00.000+07:00

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So you think that it's 100% obvious that Columbia Head Coach Norries Wilson has failed and there's no question he will be fired at the end of the season at the latest?

Not so fast my friend.

Based on my sources, I can now report that Wilson's job remains secure and he can expect to be back next season.

That's even if the Lions go 0-10.

That's even if we see another debacle like last weekend's 37-0 loss at Dartmouth.

That's despite everything that's completely plain to everyone watching Columbia football.

Why?

Because Wilson has been given a big vote of confidence again from the one person who matters in CU football.

I can't confirm this part of the story, but click here to see video of an actor portraying that vote for confidence and calm as it happened just this week.

The rest of us don't matter.

Reality doesn't matter.

In short, it is Bizzaro World.

Who Do We Call?

Everybody at Columbia likes and respects Bill Campbell.

But for some reason, he has a blind spot for Coach Wilson and this has to end now.

If he likes him personally, wonderful. I have no interest in ruining a friendship.

But their friendship now needs to remain independent of the head coaching position in the Columbia football program.

I want everyone to remain civil and respectful, but if you are dismayed by all of this you can send an email to the general address for the Board of Trustees at secretary@columbia.edu

I trust those emails will be passed on to Mr. Campbell's office directly.

Again, I really must insist that everyone remain civil, but I also am not naive enough to think that remaining silent will do this situation any good.

Otherwise, we're as far beyond reality as this guy: