Lions Capture 400th Win In Homecoming Battle Against Penn

Upper West Side NY

18 October, 2021

12:29 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY MATTHEW KIM OCTOBER 16, 2021 Trailing against Penn in overtime 31-28, quarterback Anders Hill, CC '18, launched a line drive to wide receiver Josh Wainwright, CC '20. Finding a hole in the flustered Quaker secondary, Wainwright, parked at the front of the end zone, brought down Hill's pass for the score—and the win. Wainwright's teammates dogpiled on him in celebration as Columbia beat Penn 34-31 in miraculous fashion to crown 2017's Homecoming game. Behind them, Columbia fans stormed the field, rejoicing at the Lions' first 5-0 start since 1996—as many wins as they had in 2015 and 2016 combined. While the drama of the 2017 Homecoming game did not repeat itself this year, the result certainly did. Searching for its 400th all-time win, Columbia (4-1, 1-1 Ivy) took down Penn (2-3, 0-2 Ivy) in Saturday's Homecoming clash 23-14, extending the Lions' Homecoming winning streak against the Quakers to three. For many players and fans, Saturday's game was their first taste of Homecoming, given the cancellation of the event in 2020. Despite the festivities and buzz surrounding the yearly tradition, according to offensive coordinator Mark Fabish, the team did not approach this game differently than it approaches any other. Still, the Lions could not deny the excitement of playing in front of what will likely be their largest home crowd of the year. "It's always nice to be supported—I think I'll speak for everybody," head coach Al Bagnoli said. "The crowd was vocal. It was nice they were into it." Both squads came out of the gates slowly, neither able to go deep into their opponent's territory on either of their first possessions. After steadily driving down all the way to the Penn 14 on their second drive of the game, the Lions could not gain another first down and settled for a 32-yard field goal by junior kicker Alex Felkins, opening up the scoring 3-0. In the second quarter, a booming third down sack by senior defensive end Paul Akere on Penn quarterback John Quinnelly forced a Quaker punt, giving the Lions another chance after Felkins missed a field goal attempt. "It was a big energetic play for our defense, knowing that we can crack through their offensive line and we can keep going and getting back there and putting them in positions they don't want to be in," Akere said. However, the momentum shifted when senior kick and punt returner Mike Roussos struggled to locate the punt and fumbled it. The Quakers recovered the botched return on the Columbia 30. As Penn took over possession, Maurcus McDaniel, who normally plays defensive back, came in at quarterback for the second time to relieve the shaken-up Quinnelly. The sophomore immediately made his presence felt, showing off his mobility as he ran in a touchdown from five yards out to take the lead 7-3. The Light Blue's response was shockingly immediate. On the first play off of the ensuing touchback, senior running back Dante Miller patiently waited for a gap before breaking out on the left side for a 75-yard touchdown run, one-upping his 65-yard touchdown run against Central Connecticut State University last Saturday. "I'm just waiting to get leverage. Once I get leverage, I take advantage of it," Miller said. The Lions' quick scoring continued into their next drive. Only two plays after Roussos returned Penn's punt 23 yards to the Penn 43, sophomore quarterback Joe Green—who missed on a couple of deep attempts earlier in the game—threw a bomb to sophomore wide receiver Wills Meyer in the end zone, earning the Light Blue its second touchdown in less than two minutes. Felkins' extra point was successful, extending the Lions lead to 17-7. "For a couple of those first two balls, the receivers were getting open. I just gotta put it on them," Green said. "So to finally connect on one [was] huge." A questionable pass interference call against the Lions on the third down gave Penn a fresh set of downs and favorable field position on the Columbia 37. Two plays later, Penn running back Isaiah Malcome broke free for a 30-yard touchdown run, making the score 17-14. "[The referees] influenced the game a little bit more than they should have," Bagnoli said regarding the pass interference call. Neither team gained much of an edge in the second half. Felkins sank two more field goals while the Quakers were held scoreless to secure the game for the Lions. Miller, who was named the John Toner Homecoming Player of the Game, continued his dominant ways. The North Carolina native found running lanes at will, rushing for 187 yards and a touchdown on only 16 attempts. "He's done a fabulous job this year of being patient, and then once the seam opens, he can accelerate and put it in a different gear," Bagnoli said. "If you're a Columbia fan, that becomes really exciting. It becomes a little scary if you're not." Meyer led the Lions with 54 receiving yards, and Green completed 12 of his 22 attempts for 182 yards, including his 41-yard touchdown pass to Meyer and a 49-yard completion to senior wide receiver Ernest Robertson. Still, the Lions once again left points on the board. They were forced five times to settle for field goals, of which Felkins missed two. "We still left a few plays out there, missed a couple scoring opportunities … and so that made it a little bit more interesting than it should be," Bagnoli said. In addition to keeping Penn scoreless in the second half, the Lions' defense gave Penn's star wide receiver Ryan Cragun fits, holding him to only two catches for 27 yards. Quinnelly completed only six of his 25 attempts for a measly 83 yards. Junior linebacker Scott Valentas stuffed the statsheet with 12 tackles and a pass breakup, while Akere added six tackles, two for loss. The Quakers did much of their damage through their running game, which was facilitated by McDaniel. The defensive back had only seen offensive snaps once this season, so his heavy usage at quarterback threw the Lions a curveball. "They did a nice job of recognizing [that] the best way they had to win the game was trying to run the ball, lead the clock, keep our offense out, so I give them a lot of credit," Bagnoli said. "We thought we'd see a little bit of [McDaniel], but we didn't think we'd see 25, 30 plays of [him]." With the win, the Lions improve to 4-1 overall and clinch their first Ivy League win of the season. The team hopes that the win is an omen of good things to come as it goes into its remaining five Ivy League games. The Lions will travel to Dartmouth (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) next week to try and give the Big Green its first loss of the season. The game is set for Friday at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU. Columbia's next home game will be against Harvard on Nov. 6. Deputy Sports Editor Matt Kim can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @matt_kim9. 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.