It seemed as though everything that could go wrong did on Saturday afternoon as the Columbia football team fell to Penn, 27-13. The Lions turned the ball over seven times and were shut out in the second half for the third time this season as they dropped to 2-3 overall (1-1 Ivy).
“I thought they played pretty good on defense, considering the situations that they were put in,” head coach Norries Wilson said. “I thought it was a good effort on the defense … as a team it was obviously not a very good effort.”
The Quakers got on the board early thanks to a fumble by the Lions. Quarterback Millicent Olawale missed a snap on the first play of the Light Blue’s second possession, and it was recovered by Penn’s Brian Levine at the Columbia 19-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Keiffer Garton—who was just returning after missing two games with a right elbow injury—hit wide receiver Matt Tuten to put the Quakers up 7-0.
Later in the first, a fumble by Tuten gave Columbia the ball deep at Penn’s 28-yard line and the Lions wasted no time in making the Quakers pay for it. On the first play of the drive, Olawale dropped back, faked short, and then went deep and hit tight end Andrew Kennedy in the end zone to tie the game.
Two possessions later, Olawale looked long again, this time to his favorite target: wide receiver Austin Knowlin. Despite being covered by two defenders, Knowlin—who finished the day with a team-high five catches for 109 yards—came down with the ball and cruised for a 68-yard touchdown. Freshman Greg Guttas’ PAT attempt was blocked, making the score 13-7.
The Lions’ lead was short lived, though, as the Quakers drove 52 yards on 11 plays to take a 14-13 lead on the ensuing possession. After fullback Luke DeLuca kept the drive alive with a two-yard run on 4th and 1 from the Columbia 15-yard line, Garton notched his second touchdown pass of the afternoon with an 11-yard strike to running back Matt Hamscher.
Another turnover by Olawale—the senior quarterback had six on the day—helped the Quakers build on their lead before the half. With less than three minutes remaining in the second quarter, Olawale fumbled under pressure and the Quakers took over in red zone. Four plays later, DeLuca jumped the pile at the line of scrimmage to put Penn up 21-13.
The damage could have been worse, as Olawale fumbled again on the next possession, giving Penn the ball at the Lions’ 25-yard line. The defense pushed the Quakers back—thanks in part to a sack on first down by defensive end Lou Miller—and a 43-yard field goal attempt by Penn’s Andrew Samson went wide left.
Both teams were sloppy in the first half—there were a combined seven turnovers—but the Quakers were able to rectify their mistakes during the intermission, while the Lions could not. In the second half, the Lions turned the ball over three more times, gained just 77 yards on offense, and failed to convert any third downs.
One of the main problems for the Light Blue was the constant quarterback rush coming from Penn’s defense. Olawale was under a lot of pressure throughout the game, which definitely played a part in his six turnovers. “I just held on to the ball a little too late, a little too long,” Olawale said. “You have to be decisive and know where to go with the ball. They had a good pass rush, but again I think our line did a pretty good job—I just held onto the ball way too long.”
While the Lions’ offense struggled, their defense gave a strong performance. Despite being on the field for over 38 minutes, the Light Blue defense gave up just 222 yards on 70 plays and forced three turnovers. Miller led the defense with 10 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and five tackles for a loss and was named the inaugural John Toner Columbia Football Homecoming Player of the Game.
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