FOOTBALL Lions at Harvard: Final score—HARVARD 69 – COLUMBIA 0
The intermission could not come soon enough for the Lions, who trail the Crimson 42-0 at halftime following a miserable second quarter performance.
The Crimson put up 35 points in the quarter, setting a modern-day school record in the process as the Light Blue could not get anything going on either side of the ball. Quarterback Colton Chapple spearheaded the attack for the Crimson, throwing for three touchdowns and picking up another on the ground. Chapple’s first touchdown pass of the day and 19th of the season set a single-season school record.
Columbia’s best scoring chance came at the very end of the half, when Harvard muffed the punt and Columbia got the ball at the Harvard three with five seconds to play. But the Light Blue was unable to come away with any points after two plays.
No it hasn’t been pretty, but you can continue to follow all the action as it happens on our Twitter, @CUSpecSports.
It’s a beautiful day in Boston, as the Lions (2-5, 1-3 Ivy) come in to take on Harvard (6-1, 3-1). One of the perennial powerhouses in the Ivy League, the Crimson is heavily favored to come away with a win in this game. Still, if the Lions can execute their own offensive plans, and their defensive front-seven can contain a strong quarterback/running back combination, the Light Blue will have a good chance to come up with a big upset.
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Limit the mistakes
The Lions were able to get away with some mistakes in last week’s win over Yale, but that will most likely not be the case against a very strong Harvard team. With the margin for error very small, the Lions will have to execute each and every play to win on Saturday.
2. Get Brackett going
Harvard has the stingiest run defense in the league, giving up an average of just 52.3 yards-per-game on the ground. On the flip side, the Crimson has the league’s third-worst passing defense, giving up 284.9 yards-per-game through the air. Quarterback Sean Brackett will need a hot hand for the Lions offense to get going in Cambridge.
3. Get off the field
The Light Blue defense will have its hands full with a dynamic Crimson offense that averages nearly 500 yards-per-game. Key to stopping that offense will be forcing them into third-and-long situations, and subsequently making the third-down stop. Harvard is first in the league at third down conversions at 48 percent, so this will certainly prove to one of the challenges for the Light Blue.
We used up our effort last week
it appears that they did not follow your three steps – I mean, you told them, right?
But seriously, Harvard is pretty good, but we played Lehigh hard than this. What gives?
Well, shit.
Im 99% sure there are lots of highschool teams that could beat us.
Maybe Pres. Bollinger, the king of affirmative action, could dump some up for Columbia football.
I wrote “drum” not “dump.”. The iPad is shoddy. Or mabe it’s commenting on our football program.
If we’re going to have athletic programs that “eat-up” university resources, then we really need to start taking such programs seriously. Lion fans don’t have myopic visions of grandeur about winning perenniall Ivy League titles, but being in contention every few years should not be asking too much. If we’re going to have a football program, then we should start taking it somewhat seriously.
I think it’s the law you can’t keep playing football if you lose by 69 points.
Hooray student life fees..
the football team is just an excuse to have more blacks and minorities on campus. It would look bad if admissions to black kids with lower grades just like that so they put ‘em on the football team. I say do away with Ivy sports and with affirmative action……..and get rid of Obama (i think he played football for Columba)!
Eric,
that may sound racist to some but its not. i agree with you. The BSO is a disgrace at columbia bc they are so reverse-racist. the whole sports program lowers the atmosphere on campus. There is nothing worse than passing a group of smelly football players….black or white.
You guys realize that if Columbia were to drop football or athletics in general, then another school would have to be brought into the ivy league to take Columbia’s place.
Columbia would no longer be part of the ivy league. I hope you would be alright with that.
I think Columbia has excellent athletic teams and the students on these teams bring a lot to the Columbia community.
The football team is the only exception to this. Let us give Coach M a few years to change the culture of the football team. The team needs pride and I agree that dressing better for class will add to team pride. But, the team needs an entire makeover and Columbia needs to stand behind our new coach.
On thing is true, a winning football team will add greatly to the undergraduate experience. School spirit and pride will increase.
Get rid of the football team and build another science tower.
MIT, Caltech, Chicago do not have football teams and very limited athletics. They use all their resources for academics and do not have to lower their standards to take so many athletes.
MIT, Caltech and Chicago, are not members of The Ivy League.
That was not the point. The point is they are excellent schools that do not divert resources for sports teams or take less academically qualified applicants.
Every time I write a comment it seems to be about the defense. When Coach M was hired I wrote that the first thing he should do is recruit a defense. Apparently the comment never got to him. The comment still stands, except that the situation seems to have gotten worse. If anybody sees coach M please remind him that he’s got do something about his defensive unit. Maybe he (The College) needs to invest a ton more resources in that area.
Actually, MIT and Chicago do have football teams and fairly extensive sports programs.
Never heard of them. Must be NCAA level 12