Year in review: Midseason lull ends football’s title hopes

The 2009 edition of the Columbia football team started its season strong, experienced a detrimental lull in the middle, and ended on a high note with victories over Cornell and Brown. The Lions finished with a 4-6 record (3-4 Ivy), which was good enough for fourth place in the Ancient Eight.

In the season-opening Liberty Cup game against Fordham, the Light Blue reclaimed the Cup for the first time since 2006 with a 40-28 victory in the Bronx. Senior quarterback Millicent Olawale took home MVP honors for the Lions by virtue of throwing two touchdowns and running for a pair as well. The Columbia defense made life tough for eventual-NFL Draft pick John Skelton, intercepting him three times and sacking him twice. Skelton attempted 47 passes and threw for 383 yards, including four touchdowns.

After a loss in their home opener to Central Connecticut State University in which Columbia started strong but got manhandled in the second half, the Lions headed to Princeton to open Ivy League play. This game marked the Tigers’ first without star running back Jordan Culbreath, who had his career cut short due to an anemia diagnosis that week. It might not have mattered if Culbreath played or not, as the Lions dominated the Tigers on both sides of the ball en route to a 38-0 win. The victory marked the Light Blue’s first against Princeton since 2003 and was the program’s first road shutout in league play since 1961.

Columbia kept its momentum going in the first half of its next game against Lafayette and took a 21-10 lead into the half. However, the Leopards controlled the ball for over 20 minutes in the second half, and managed the clock perfectly to take the lead with just 13 seconds to go. Not only did the Lions lose the game, but they also lost junior all-Ivy linebacker Alex Gross, who tore his right ACL on the opening kickoff.

Homecoming brought eventual Ivy champion Penn to Wien Stadium, and the Quakers took advantage of seven Lions turnovers—six by Olawale—to earn a 27-13 victory. Despite four first-half turnovers the Light Blue only trailed by eight at halftime, but it failed to score in the second half for the third time in five games, leading to its second of five straight losses.

Of those five straight losses, its loss to Dartmouth the next week was the most embarrassing. The Big Green entered the game winless, which was mostly a result of having played the strongest schedule of any Ivy League team to that point. Still, the Lions were heavily favored to win and they needed to in order to keep their hopes of an Ivy League title alive. However, the Light Blue played its most uninspired football of the season and was dominated by the Big Green, 28-6. Columbia also lost senior running back Ray Rangel for the rest of the season after he suffered a foot injury late in the game.

In a surprise move the next week against Yale, Rangel wasn’t the only regular starter to miss the game, as Olawale also sat out with a sprained right shoulder. Freshman Sean Brackett started under center for the Lions and was quite impressive in his collegiate debut. The Lions held a 22-10 lead with 8:32 left in the game, thanks to a touchdown toss from Brackett to senior wide receiver Austin Knowlin and overall great play by Brackett and the defense. Yale stormed back with a quick touchdown, and on Columbia’s next possession running back Leon Ivery sprinted for a 75-yard gain, but was caught by the ankles at the two-yard line. Zack Kourouma fumbled on the next play to keep the Bulldogs alive. Yale was forced to punt, but took advantage of a Brackett fumble to take the lead for good and hand the Lions a 23-22 loss.

After being routed at home by Harvard, 34-14, the Lions went on the road to Ithaca looking to end their five-game losing streak. Both teams got off to a fast start as the Lions led, 16-13, at the end of the first quarter, but for the rest of the game both defenses settled down and started to make stops. With the Light Blue trailing 20-16 in the third quarter, Brackett fumbled, and head coach Norries Wilson decided it was time to put in Olawale, who had missed the past two games with a right shoulder injury and was only expected to be used in a reserve role. Olawale’s entrance changed the game entirely, and he ran for two touchdowns to give the Lions their third win of the season. The Columbia defense shut down the Big Red in the second half and had a solid day in general with six interceptions and five sacks.

Though Olawale helped the Lions prevail against the Big Red, it cost him his senior day. On a 19-yard touchdown run that sealed the win, he gingerly jogged off the field and missed the team’s final game due to plantar fasciitis. With Brackett back under center, the Lions ended the season with a 28-14 win over Brown. Though Brackett played well, this game will be remembered as the one that may have yielded the play of the decade when junior free safety Adam Mehrer intercepted a pass as time expired in the first half and worked his way down the right sideline to midfield. There, he saw some daylight to his left, so he turned and cut toward the middle of the field. It seemed as if he were going to be taken down, but he alertly pitched the ball to senior strong safety Andy Shalbrack, who continued the return along the left sideline and, thanks to some key blocks, ran into the corner of the end zone.

The 2009 season did not yield the results that the team had been looking for at the start of the season, but there were many individual accomplishments. Knowlin set Columbia records for receptions (208) and receiving yards (2,442) and was named first team all-Ivy for offense and honorable mention all-Ivy for special teams. Senior defensive end Lou Miller—who had eight sacks and 13 tackles for a loss—joined Knowlin on the all-Ivy first team. Junior tight end Andrew Kennedy and Mehrer were selected for the second team all-Ivy, and seniors Corey Cameron and Shalbrack were honorable mentions.