Ivy League Football

Offense

Critics will point to Dartmouth's question marks at QB and the offensive line, and they are a big concern. But Dartmouth has something that just about every other Ivy team doesn't, a gamer at tailback in Milan Williams.

Is Milan Williams going to make people forget about Mike McLeod at Yale? No. But I think he has a real shot at a 1,000-yard season. Columbia was lucky enough to play the Big Green last year during one of the two weeks Williams was out of the lineup.

As for the QB position, I think Alex Jenny, who played well in the Columbia game last year, will win the starting job and he has enough talent to lead.

The wide receiver corps does not instill the most confidence with a lot of new faces, but there is hope that Eric Paul will be back at 100 percent and challenge for All-Ivy status. Paul was out with an injury most of 2007. Phillip Galligan is the most experienced receiver back from last year.

Only one real starter is back on the offensive line, but he's a good one: Alex Rapp. This is a major concern, though, and this problem more than any other will probably keep the Big Green out of the top three in the final standings.

Defense

Another top player who missed 2007 due to injury is a key to Dartmouth's hopes on defense. Safety Ian Wilson should help the Big Green improve on the 266 yards passing allowed per game (seventh in the league) last season.

Like just about every other Ivy, there isn't a lot of star power on the defensive line, but I like Max Copello, who certainly had a nice game against the Lions last year.

Andrew Dete leads the linebackers along with Joe Battaglia, who is the top returning tackler on the team.

Special Teams

Senior Brian Scullin is a solid punter and Phil Galligan does a good job returning kickoffs (not so much on punts).

But the real question is at placekicker, where the Big Green needs to fill an open slot due to graduation. Frankly, Dartmouth has not been strong kicking the ball since Tyler Lavin graduated a few years back. Getting lucky here with a new kicker could help the Big Green in a big way...or vice versa.

Intangibles

Buddy Teevens is in the fourth year of his second stint at Dartmouth, and the team seems to be generally improving in a tough environment. I say tough because of the resurgence of Harvard as a power, and that always seems to take something away from Big Green when it comes to regional recruiting and support.

The Teevens factor should loom large though, as he is someone who has already seen the "big time" college football world and come back. Any fears that he will bolt again or leave this program in general are probably more unfounded here than any other Ivy.

Jake's Overall Take

Perhaps I am overrating Milan Williams, or perhaps I'm overrating the value of a potential 1,000-yard rusher. But it just seems like Dartmouth has something so many other Ivies don't, and I think Williams will step it up this year because he has something to prove.

But like every other team in this league other than Harvard, there are too many questions about the offensive and defensive lines to feel confident about picking the Big Green to do better than 5-5.

Columbia is reaping Ohio's bumper crop of linebackers  Strong defensive lines are a rare commodity in the Ivy League. Right now, only Harvard seems like a team with a front four or front three that you can call fearsome. That means the linebackers at just about every other Ivy school need to pick up the slack.   If Columbia uses the same 4-3 defense it featured in the Spring Game, the competition should be fierce for those three starting spots.   One slot is definitely taken, as Drew Quinn will hopefully be 100 percent healthy after playing through the pain most of last year. He still played in all 10 games and made his mark as the team's second leading tackler.

Quinn is uniquely dangerous against the run and the pass, and I expect him to make a big dent against the mostly short-passing attack you see in the Ivies these days.  After Quinn, the picture is not as clear. Surely, Ivy League Rookie of the Year Alex Gross has an inside track to one of the two remaining slots, but nothing is certain on Norries Wilson's team. My main concern about Gross is his 202-pound frame, but he will likely bulk up a bit by training camp.  Clark Koury was having a great junior year in 2007 before he went down with an injury. He, too, was showing a great ability to defend the run and the pass, especially in the win over Marist, where he picked off two passes and had two key tackles for a loss.   Quinn, Gross and Koury are all from Ohio, meaning we could see an all-Buckeye State starting linebacking corps. Fellow Ohioan Lou Miller is being moved to the defensive line; otherwise he'd be in the running at linebacker as well.

His younger brother, Evan Miller, might make an impact as a freshman this season. The younger Miller was the top linebacker on high school powerhouse Saint Xavier's 15-0 state championship team.   One more Ohioan with a shot at decent playing time is sophomore Derek Lipscomb, who impressed everyone after basically walking on to the team last year.  But a couple of New York guys could break up the Buckeye party. Sophomore Matt Moretto made a great impression last season with 45 tackles and an interception. His weight is also a question at 196 pounds, so we'll be looking closely at his new numbers when camp starts.  Also from New York is incoming freshman Nick Mistretta, who already has a huge amount of positive buzz surrounding him. Mistretta played just over the border at New Jersey power Don Bosco Prep, where he was named a first-team all-state linebacker. At 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, he should be ready to make an impact.   Last year, I thought sophomore Marc Holloway was the best bet to make an impact as a freshman. He did get into some games, but he was overshadowed big-time by guys like Gross and Moretto. I still think he has a lot of the tools to succeed in this league, and he could surprise this year.   Another guy not to forget is senior Corey Cameron, who started two games last year and could lend some needed veteran experience on the field.   With what looks like the demise of the 3-5-3, (again, that's an educated guess, not an official announcement), the sheer number of linebackers on the roster is a lot smaller. Andy Shalbrack and Augie Williams are now listed as safeties, which was really where they played last year anyway.   This means that the three linebackers on the field will have to shoulder more responsibility. Columbia needs to make this a strength if it wants to succeed in 2008.

I see many people on Bleacher Report and in the world in general talking about how the SEC or the Pac-10 or the Big 12 has some of the best history in all of college football.

While these leagues may have had recent success and may possess "a rich history," one league stands out above all others when we consider the history of college football.

That league is the Ivy League.

Many people know that Rutgers played in the first collegiate football contest, but do you know who they played in that game?  The Princeton Tigers.

From 1869 to 1926, the Ivy League won 51 national championships by Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Princeton, and Pennsylvania.  From 1900 to 1925, Ivy League football teams won 20 national championships.  No other conference has achieved such dominance since then.  Princeton still has the most national championships out of any college in the country at 24.

In fact, Yale had the most collegiate football victories out of any school until Michigan surpassed them in 2001.

The Ivy League is the home of three Heisman Trophy winners in Yale's end Larry Kelley (1936), Yale's QB Clint Frank (1937), and Princeton's RB Dick Kazmaier (1951).  That's not to mention the 1971 snub of Cornell's RB Ed Marinaro, who finished second in the voting by a mere 152 points to Auburn's QB Pat Sullivan.

The "Father of American Football," Walter Camp was the head coach of Yale in the late 19th century.

In 2006, ESPN ranked the Harvard-Yale rivalry as the seventh best rivalry in the nation. 

Pennsylvania's Franklin Field was the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Democratic nomination acceptance speech, home of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1958 to 1970, and home of the first rugby World Cup game on American soil.

There is so much history in the Ivy League that is not debatable.  While some conferences claim that they have "the most history" out of any conference, you might want to compare yourself with the Ivy League before you open your mouth. 

Just like claiming Ole Miss is a terrible team despite their success in the 1990's, just like claiming Stanford is a perrenial Pac-10 pushover despite their 2000 Rose Bowl, it's easy to forget about the past.  But it's just important to remember where the game started as where it is right now.

1993 marked a huge change in Ivy football, as freshmen were finally allowed to play in varsity games (nitpickers will point out, however, that during World War II and the three to four years following, freshmen were also allowed to suit up in varsity games).

Since '93, Columbia has probably played the most freshmen of any Ivy team.  Most of the time this was due to necessity, but a number of these pure freshmen have made a nice impact right off the bat.

Not including the WWII era, here now are the top five freshmen players in Columbia history.

5) Travis Chmelka, 2000

The Fremont, Nebraska native burst into training camp and immediately became the fastest man on the squad.  Chmelka saw action in the very first game of his freshman season as a kick returner and played a nice role in a 43-26 win over Fordham.

He wasn't much a part of the regular offense until 2002, when he became a speedy pass target over the middle.  But he just got better and better as a punt returner, and by his senior season of 2003 his returns were making the difference in game after game.

4) Alex Gross, 2007

The Ivy League Rookie of the Year burst onto the scene against Princeton by leading the team in tackles in an tough but exciting 42-32 loss to the Tigers.  Gross ended up getting the Ivy League Rookie of the Week award four times, the most in league history.

As the season wore on, Gross became more of a key part of the Lions defense as they desperately tried to plug a weakness up the middle.  By season's end, that weakness had improved decidedly, thanks in great part to Gross.

3) Andy Shalbrack, 2006

You really could argue that Shalbrack should have been named the 2006 Ivy Rookie of the Year.  His stunning freshman campaign included leading the league in interceptions and putting up 55 tackles, five of them for loss.

Shalbrack made an impact right away by forcing a fumble against Fordham in the first game of the season, then followed that up in week two with 11 tackles versus Georgetown.  He won the Ivy League Rookie of the Week award twice.

2) Austin Knowlin, 2006

He edged teammate Andy Shalbrack for the 2006 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Award by bursting on to the scene as a key receiving threat. Knowlin scored on a catch-and-run 62-yard TD in the opener versus Fordham and finished the season with 44 receptions for 553 yards and four touchdowns.

Knowlin upped the ante in his sophomore campaign with 74 catches for 988 yards and 11 TDs.  He has the inside track to shattering just about every receiving mark in the Columbia record book.

1) Johnathan Reese, 1998

The exciting 1998 season was the launching pad for Reese's extraordinary Columbia career.  He won the Rookie of the Year award despite fighting injuries for much of the season.  But he made a strong showing in the opener with 72 yards rushing in a 24-0 shutout of Harvard.

By the final game of the season, Reese was the go-to guy, getting carry after carry in a valiant drive against Brown in the final moments that came up just short.  Reese now owns just about every rushing record in the Columbia books.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Roy Hanks 1994, Hashim Dalton 1995, Ryan Kiernan 1997, Philip Murray 1999, Adam Brekke 2003, Tad Crawford 2003, Jon Rocholl 2005, Matt Bashaw 2006, Taylor Joseph 2006, Justin Masorti 2006, Lou Miller 2006, Brian England 2007, Nico Gutierrez 2007, Calvin Otis 2007

(PHOTO CREDIT: Columbia College Today)

Draft Daddy is by no means an official Ivy League related organization, but they come out with a helpful preseason All Ivy football list and here it is for 2008:

QB Chris Pizzotti ~ Harvard
RB Mike McLeod ~ Yale
RB Luke Siwula ~ Cornell
WR Matt Luft ~ Harvard (Jr.)
WR Austin Knowlin ~ Columbia (Jr.)
TE Colin Cloherty ~ Brown
OL James Williams ~ Harvard (Jr.)
OL Darius Dale ~ Yale
OL Alex Rapp ~ Dartmouth
OL Stephen Morse ~ Yale
OL Ryan Pilconis ~ Harvard

Defense

DL Peter Ajayi ~ Harvard
DL Phillip Mitchell ~ Columbia
DL Jim Develin ~ Brown (Jr.)
DL Desmond Bryant ~ Harvard
LB Bobby Abare ~ Yale
LB Drew Quinn ~ Columbia
LB Jason Colabella ~ Penn
DB Andrew Berry ~ Harvard
DB Tyson Maugle ~ Penn
DB Tim Bax ~ Cornell
DB Steve Santoro ~ Yale


Jake's Take: I don't agree with a lot of these choices, but most are spot on. Columbia's three reps are good smart choices, especially since they had to overlook Quinn's and Mitchell's tough injuries last season, (they both played through them, but lost a step).

Knowlin is a no-brainer. If he can stay healthy and click with whoever gets the new starting QB job he's got a real chance to be the Player of the Year this season and when he's a senior in 2009.

I like Pizzotti overall, but he had such a great line in front of him that I think he's a bit overrated. Brown's Michael Dougherty is my choice for #1 QB in the league and I think he's going to have a monster season throwing long passes to Buddy Farnham and short little flips to Bobby Sewall who will amass monster "yards after catch" numbers. Sewall deserves to be somewhere on the preseason All-Ivy list too, but he's kind of an old school flanker, and not a pure halfback or wide receiver.

Mike McLeod is another no-brainer, but Luke Siwula is really not the real deal. With future NFL'er Kevin Boothe and the spectacular running QB Ryan Kuhn running interference, Siwula had a great 2006, but since Boothe and Kuhn graduated Siwula has been average. I realize Siwula was injured most of last year, but I still don't think he will have a big year in 2008.

I do feel the Draft Daddy guys' pain though, because after McLeod there's not a lot of proven backs to choose from. But I think Dartmouth's Milan Williams brings a lot to the table, and Harvard's Cheng Ho has a spectacular line in front of him. I think both Williams and Ho will have better seasons than Siwula.

The College Sporting News is out with its preseason football picks for the Ivy League.

Here's how it looks:

1. Harvard

2. Yale
3. Brown
4. Penn
5. Dartmouth
6. Cornell
7. Princeton
8. Columbia


Should I be worried that this prediction doesn't look all that bad to me?

I'll get to the Lions being picked last in a moment, but I too plan on picking Harvard, Yale, Brown and Penn as my top four when I release my detailed picks later this summer.

Unless something changes, Harvard looks like the team to beat with a great offensive line, experienced QB and overall strong defense.

Yale has a shot, because of star running back Mike McLeod, but the Elis have lost a lot of stars on the offensive and defensive lines.

Brown is everyone's favorite to surprise after last season's offensive explosion.

I am surprised by how low they placed Princeton and how high Dartmouth ended up, but you don’t know how hard these guys work on picking the Ivies after the first 2-3 teams.

As far as Columbia's last place prediction, well, you have to expect that after going 0-7 last year.

Any team starting a new QB is always a little suspect and Columbia will need to do that this season.

Of course, it's always nice to surprise people and the Lions certainly have the opportunity to do that in 2008.


Game of the Day

November 4, 1951

Columbia 21, Cornell 20


Yesterday, I highlighted Columbia's thrilling one-point upset win over Cornell in 1950. The Lions did it again a year later in Ithaca.

This time the final score was 21-20.

Once again, an extra point that wasn't the biggest role in Columbia's victory.

Big Red kicker, Bill Kirk, simply missed the PAT after Cornell had stormed back from a 21-7, fourth quarter deficit to make it 21-20.

But Columbia still needed an interception by Ben Mione a few minutes later to truly ice the game in front of 21,000 very cold fans at Schoelkopf Field.

Other of the other Lion stars were Wes Bomm, who broke Bill Swiacki's career receptions record with seven grabs on the day.

The Lions won despite being out gained 383-273 from scrimmage.

Columbia also lost two fumbles, but made up for it with three interceptions, including the game-clincher.

And the unsung heroes were the snow removal crews from “gorges” Ithaca.

The entire field and most of the stands were covered in heavy snow before the game, but the snow plows quickly made the field playable.