Columbia Wrapup

Xboreturns · Columbia Wrapup

Well first of all, a big thank you to the Columbia head coach who played the entire second half assuming his 21 points would win the game. I really didn't see much to be happy about on our side except for the two great catches made by Stripe on the final drive.

Three picks in the red zone by Curley made this a much more difficult game. All three were just bad decisions on his part. He did redeem himself on the closing drive with a couple of nice runs and the passes to Stripe.

The O-line really struggled getting the running game going, what was our longest run, maybe 8 yards? Pass defense was terrible. Number 79 got beat four straight plays after getting called for a holding penalty.

Secondary play was too soft in the first half and we were unable to get pressure on Columbia's QB. I don't think we would have won the game if CU used the same game plan in the second half.

Bottom line is a win is a win, we'll take it and move on to Harvard.

carney2

Just back from Fisher. A real thriller. Some quick observations:

Good teams find a way to win. Are we looking at a good team?

At the very least, this bunch just passed a test of character.

On the other hand, very disappointed by the play in the trenches. Columbia seemed to control the line of scrimmage most of the way. The pocket seemed to be collapsing around Curley all evening. On the other side of the ball, our front shut down the run after those first 3 Columbia scores, but there was little to no pressure on the QB all evening.

Curley seemed "off" for stretches. At times, it was the constant pressure, but other times he was just misfiring.

We seem to have a receiving corps that just picks each other up. If it isn't Layton or Bennett, it's Stripe. These guys can flat out go get it.

The running game continues MIA.

Pard94

The Maroon

Curley still had 295 yards against a nice secondary with less time. He still made some beautiful plays. The INT in the end zone was the only one I really didn't get...He had running room and NO chance to complete the pass. Not seeing a defender happens...Seeing 4 defenders and thinking you can thread the needle when you are in field goal range and having open field ahead of you? Not his best move.

But hell..he knows that.

Curley's on pace for over 2,600 yards....teams are basically saying "if you are going to beat us than Rob Curley's gonna have to do it" and he's delivering. They through some crazy blitzes at him tonight...again...they made a game plan thinking Curley couldn't handle the heat.

Fordham had about 900 yards against these guys in defeat. There's always just enough to keep us humble.

65Pard

Tavani when interviewed said Curley has not been feeling well...one, if not two, of the INTs looked like mis communication on the route. Curley gave a credible impersonation of Elway on that last drive.....he would not be denied, even under immense pressure, scrambling when he had to.......Bodes well for the future.

Seemed like our guys did not really believe that this was a different Columbia team, until they saw it for themselves in the first half....Credit them for the gut check turnaround; a mark of , yes Carney, a good team.

Colgate, HC and LC have all been exposed......PL championship may well come down to superiority in game plan preparation and adjustments. The players have the talent and mojo to make it happen, assuming Curley stays healthy...He seems to be the key.

carney2

I was surprised to see the statistical superiority, to wit:

1st downs: LC 26, C 12
Total Yards: LC 405, C 294
Time of Possession: LC 36, C 24

According to Paul Reinhard, Columbia only recorded two first downs in the second half. I guess trailing for 59 minutes and 47 seconds has a way of making things look bleak.

Andy

Curley is what George Steinbrenner calls "a warrior". He can play for me any time. I loved that display of emotion after the scramble for first down. I'd like to see him favor the run more in run/pass decisions a la Maurer. Man, he threw some strikes yesterday, not all caught: remembering the bullet to Stripe (I believe) to the two yd line KFH end and others. Bad decision on the INT off the scramble, sure, but he wont do that again. There was basically double coverage on Layton taking away the deep ball, the overthrows were easy pickin's. So Stripe filled the void. He seems to have made great strides as a receiver. How bout Doty? Not bad for a guy who many saw as a D lineman.

One of my few worries is third and short failure to convert running the ball. I dont like having to resort to fade patterns from the 2 yd line.

Anyway, that was a great college football game and one we might not have won in past years. Go Pards!

X, sorry I missed you, scanned the nose bleed sections where u like to sit, no luck.

What, no PEP BAND?! Thrilled that Columbia left their band at home.

TheRock90

Liberty bused our pep band down to their game so they could play at halftime. Really, I think the students were n break.

Franks Tanks

Andy

Pard94

The students were on break. Also, the broadcasting crew mentioned at the start of the game that Columbia has been on the short end statistically in every game they have played thus far...except for turnover ratio and points scored.

People are complaining about the running game. I get it I guess. Watching that game, however, I would suggest that we actually used the running game pretty effectively. When we determined that the flats where not available for either running or passing plays, I thought we wnet to Tavani Ball (right up the gut) pretty effectively. That style of game never looks pretty. You don't typically break those kinds of plays for big numbers. Howwever, I think we were able to chip away at them, 4 yards at a time, pretty effectively when we needed to.

My concerns from last night were the following:

O-line...seems Columbia was throwing the kitchen sink at us last night. I know it is tough to block when they opposing team trying to get across the line outnumbers you by 2 or 3. That being said, nothing is going to get done if Curely is running for his life. I'm not overly concerned about this because we have seen this group perform very well against some very talented defenses. I think the Lions had the perfect scheme going on a night wheen Curley wasn't himself anyway. I don't think every team we play in the future can replicate what the lions did lst night.

Related to that, I would have liked to have seen more plays called to compensate for the all out blitzes that were coming across. They had the screen pass pretty well defended but I think they could have had more quick drop dumps to tight ends and receivers over the middle.

D-backs. What the hell? It's not like we were blitzing Columbia like they were blitzing us. It seemed like they could complete any pass they wanted to for a while there. What happened to the coverage?

I point out these concerns becuase I think it is important to learn from those mistakes. I'm sure film on Monday won't be fun for more than a few people. I do believe, however, as I said with Columbia this type of win doesn't take away from a team...it adds to a team. I have no doubt future opponents will learn somethingd from last night's film. I', also equally confident that the Leopard players learned how important it is to keep fighting and that they are able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. That's an invaluable lesson to learn.

Harvard next. This a good but beatable team. I think if we can pull out a win next week there is a strong chance we will break the Top 25. More importantly it will send a strong message to the rest of the PL that the 2009 PL is more than just the Holy Cross Colgate show.

HUGE GAME! GO PARDS!!!

Pard4Life

I hope we do not get ranked even if we beat Harvard because that just adds to expectations, pressure and puts a target on our back. Being the anonymous team that everyone thinks is questionable is better... until you win a title of course.

Again, we saw a team employ the recipie on how to beat the Pards:
- mobile QB
- fast recievers
- exploiting the middle of the field
- out routes and giving cushions along the sideline... something always seems to break down when two WRs line up on one side with our safety off the line 10 yards, and the corner covering the outside reciever either switches, blitzes, or spies the QB. Again, big catches made in front of our secondary. We seemed more effective when we went man coverage.

PS if there is no CU illegal shift, we are dead ducks. How the hell does one WR beat three guys? Our secondary is one area where we gave been consistnently weak each year. BUT if McGovern doesn't lay out that big hit on knowlten on third in the fourth quarter (which was a catch without the hit) it could have been a different outcome.

Expect Harvard to follow the same formula, which is what they usually employ against us (with more RB handoffs following pass completitions). Columbia is still inexperienced in winning, which is equally responsible for the loss as our great character resolve.

Franks Tanks