As of Monday night at 9:14 p.m., the Columbia football team ranks first in the league with a 2-1 (1-0 Ivy) start to the season after drumming Princeton 38-0. The Lions lead the league in scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense, time of possession, red zone defense and—most importantly—turnover margin.
After their loss last weekend to Central Connecticut State University 22-13, Columbia head coach Norries Wilson said that the Lions were “not a good enough football team to overcome a myriad of mistakes, maybe one, maybe two, but if we’ve got five, six, seven mistakes that’s not going to happen for us.”
So far, the Lions haven’t made the mistake of frequently turning the ball over. The offense has only committed one turnover over the past three games, a fumble by quarterback Millicent Olawale in the fourth quarter of the season opener against Fordham, with Columbia leading 34-28.
The senior has protected the ball since and has not thrown an interception all year. Senior running back Ray Rangel has handled the ball 54 times without a fumble.
The defense has certainly held its own with 14 points over the past three games from two pick sixes by senior cornerback Jared Morine. More importantly they’ve got Columbia sitting pretty with a turnover margin of +6, excluding the blocked kicks on special teams.
Three interceptions and a fumble recovery against Fordham gave the Lions their first 1-0 start since 2006. Three more against Princeton on Saturday—two fumbles and an interception—and the Lions beat the Tigers for the first time in five years.
In their only loss of the season, the Lions did not create a single turnover and had a blocked field goal, a blocked punt, and a blocked extra point. That’s when Wilson mentioned the importance of playing to perfection.
It seemed as if after every game last season, the opposing coaches said how much potential the Columbia team had and how Wilson was starting to rebuild the Columbia football program. Last season, Wilson didn’t want to hear it. After the 2008 Princeton game—a 27-24 loss—he said that the only statistic that counts is who is on the left side, the winner’s side, of the column on Sunday.
The season has only just started, but if this Columbia team can continue to protect the ball, it has a shot to be on the left side of the column regularly this season.
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