Princeton Pulls Away In Fourth Quarter To Give Lions First Loss Of Season

Upper West Side NY

03 October, 2021

1:14 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY MATTHEW KIM AND BERNARD WANG OCTOBER 2, 2021 Facing one of the best teams in the Ivy League in its conference opener, Columbia football fell 24-7 at the hands of Princeton (3-0, 1-0 Ivy). The Lions (2-1, 0-1 Ivy) remained competitive for much of the game, but a fourth-quarter push by the Tigers put the game out of reach. "I don't think the game was indicative of a 24-7 score," head coach Al Bagnoli said. "We got some bad breaks, some questionable calls, and you don't have a great margin of error in games like this." The Lions gave Princeton its biggest challenge thus far this season. In their first two games, the Tigers shutout their opponents 32-0 and 63-0, dominating both ends of the ball. For the first time this season, the Lions could not find success with their running game. Their running backs were bottled up by a Princeton defense that had only allowed one rushing yard in its first two matchups. The Lions finished with only eight yards on the ground, a far cry from the 543 rushing yards accumulated in their first two games. Despite its inability to find the end zone in the first half, things started off positively for the Light Blue. With Princeton driving down the field, senior free safety Fara'ad McCombs picked off quarterback Cole Smith's pass, returning the ball to the Columbia 44-yard line. However, the Lions could not capitalize on this opportunity. Princeton defensive lineman Samuel Wright II sacked sophomore quarterback Joe Green on the Light Blue's first offensive play. The Lions went three-and-out, and fifth-year Drew Schmid punted into Princeton's end zone. The Tigers came back firing on all cylinders after Schmid's punt. A pair of third-down conversions and effective runs by the offense brought them to their own 49. Smith then found wide receiver Andrei Iosivas across the middle for a 30-yard gain, bringing Princeton deep into Lion territory. However, Columbia's defense stood strong. On third-and-five, senior linebacker John Harris sacked Smith for a nine-yard loss, forcing Princeton to settle for a 42-yard field goal. The successful kick opened up the scoring for the Tigers with just under five minutes remaining in the first period. Penalties haunted the Lions—who finished with 10 penalties for 98 yards lost—for the remainder of the half. On the ensuing kickoff, a big return by senior wide receiver Mike Roussos was negated by a blindside block penalty. Several plays later, a false start halted the Lions' momentum following their first first down of the game. After another Schmid punt, the Tigers were boosted by a 15-yard facemask penalty by Columbia as they drove downfield. With the ball on the Columbia 7, the Light Blue was called for an illegal substitution, moving the ball forward half the distance to the end zone. Ja'Derris Carr rushed from the Columbia 1 for a touchdown, expanding the Princeton lead to 10-0. With under two minutes remaining in the half, a critical fourth-down stop gave Columbia the ball on its own 20. The Lions' two-minute drill was largely successful. On first down, Green completed a 24-yard strike to sophomore wide receiver Wills Meyer, which was initially called incomplete but was overturned on review. Three plays later, Green hit sophomore wide receiver Marcus Libman for an 11-yard gain, Libman ran out of bounds on the left sideline to stop the clock. A screen pass to Roussos and a cross-field dart to Libman on the right sideline put the Lions on the Princeton 20 with 13 seconds left. As Green dropped back to pass, Princeton defensive lineman Uche Ndukwe took him down for a 12-yard sack. In the ensuing scramble to snap the ball, the time on the clock hit zero, and the Tigers stormed onto the field in celebration. However, the Tigers were charged with a delay of game penalty, and the officials put one second on the clock, allowing the Lions one last play from the Princeton 27-yard line before halftime. The Lions' scoring chances now rested on preseason First-Team All-Ivy kicker Alex Felkins, whose kick went low and deflected off the Princeton defensive line. In Bagnoli's eyes, however, the officials were to blame for the botched play. He felt that the referees did not clearly communicate that the clock would begin on the snap since the ball was dead. As a result, the Lions thought that the clock would start as soon as the ball was placed, forcing them to rush the snap. "You can blame the guys in the stripes," Bagnoli said. "That had nothing to do with us." Although the Lions came up empty-handed, the energy from the fast-paced drive carried over to the second half. The defense came out hot in the third quarter. On the Tigers' first drive of the half, senior linebacker Cam Dillon sacked Smith, forcing a third-and-16 that Princeton failed to convert. After fielding the punt, the Lions started their drive with senior quarterback Ty Lenhart in the game. Lenhart proceeded to hit a strike down the middle to senior wide receiver Ernest Robertson. Green came back into the game to swing a 20-yard pass to senior wide receiver Emerson Kabus on the left sideline. On third-and-16, Green lofted a pass to junior tight end Luke Painton for a 19-yard touchdown—Columbia's first and only of the day—marking the first points Princeton has allowed all season. After forcing the Tigers into another three-and-out, Columbia got the ball back with great field position at its 45-yard line. Bolstered by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Princeton and some strong runs through the middle of the defense by senior running back Dante Miller, the Lions marched their way into the red zone. The Light Blue was in prime position to score on its second consecutive possession. However, on third down from the 19-yard line, Green bobbled a snap in the shotgun, and Princeton linebacker Jeremiah Tyler flew in to sack him before he could escape the pocket. The sack moved the Lions back 11 yards, forcing Felkins to attempt a 48-yard field goal. This time, his kick cleared Princeton's line and flew the distance, but the kick was wide left, and the Lions again came away from a productive drive with no points. The normally reliable Felkins ended the day 0-2 on field goals. Despite the missed opportunity, the Lions' defense continued to keep them in the game. After Princeton took over on downs from the missed kick, they drove to the Columbia 30 and faced a fourth down with less than a yard to go. On the ensuing conversion attempt, junior defensive tackle Mitch Moyer stuffed Princeton running back Collin Eaddy at the line of scrimmage, once again giving the offense a chance to take the lead. This, however, was when Columbia's luck ran out, as the offense began to sputter. With nine minutes left in the game, Princeton capped off an eight-play, 61-yard drive with Eaddy falling into the end zone from two yards out. The Lions only gained one yard through three downs on their ensuing drive, forcing the Light Blue to punt back to the Tigers. Princeton methodically marched down the field and Eaddy broke several tackles and turned what looked like a tackle for loss into a 17-yard rushing touchdown, putting the nail in the coffin. Columbia found most of its success on offense in its passing game. Though Green ended the day 23 for 37 for 171 yards and a touchdown, he was disappointed with the offense's season-low seven points. "We just offensively needed to play better, and that starts with me," he said. The Lions' defense came up with several big stops, holding the Tigers to a 7-15 success rate on third down and a 1-3 success rate on fourth down. Fifth-year defensive back Ben Mathiasmeier ended the day with 10 tackles, and McCombs finished with seven tackles to go along with his interception. "We played tough today," Mathiasmeier said. "They're a very disciplined football team and they're very well coached. I thought we responded well in red zone situations and I thought we didn't finish in the fourth quarter, but I thought we really played hard as the defense." Columbia held Smith—who ahead of Saturday was averaging over 300 passing yards per game —to just 119 passing yards, but allowed him to run wild for most of the day, conceding 64 yards on 20 carries. The Tigers ran much of their offense through run-pass options and quarterback draws, which allowed Smith to find open space. Smith's running volume was a surprise for the Lions as the quarterback had only run for 4 yards going into the game. "He definitely ran the ball more than we expected," Mathiasmeier said. "I don't know how much he put on us on the ground, but he was definitely more athletic than we probably expected or wanted." Despite the result, Bagnoli believes there are positive takeaways. "I'm proud of our kids' effort," he said. [Princeton's] a really good team … It's a growth opportunity for us moving ahead next week." The Lions will take a break from Ivy play next Saturday in their final non-conference game of the season at Central Connecticut State. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET. Deputy Sports Editor Matt Kim can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @matt_kim9. Staff writer Bernard Wang can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow Spectator Sports on Twitter @CUSpecSports. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.