The Columbia football team, which was missing its starting quarterback and running back, was on the wrong side of a 23-22 heartbreaker against Yale on Saturday afternoon. The Lions maintained a lead for most of the game, but two late fumbles helped the Bulldogs come back and steal a victory with a game-winning touchdown in the final minute of play.
Columbia’s regular starter at quarterback, Millicent Olawale, was dressed but did not play, while running back Ray Rangel did not dress and, according to head coach Norries Wilson, is out for the rest of the season. Freshman quarterback Sean Brackett played for the first time in his career and threw three touchdown passes and performed well in the loss.
Columbia’s defense was effective for most of the afternoon, especially in the first half when it recorded four sacks and didn’t allow a third-down conversion. The Lions’ first two touchdowns came immediately following turnovers, as the defense forced Yale running back Mordecai Cargill to fumble twice.
After the first of Cargill’s fumbles, the Lions ran a gadget play to perfection for a touchdown. Brackett gave the ball to running back Leon Ivery, who pitched it to Austin Knowlin on the reverse, and Knowlin pitched it back to Brackett. The freshman quarterback then heaved a pass to Taylor Joseph—who was triple-covered in the back of the end zone—and the senior captain caught it while keeping one foot in bounds to put the Lions up, 6-0. According to Wilson, though, he almost stopped the play before it happened.
“The reverse pass is a play that’s been practiced for two years,” Wilson said. “And I just happened to put my headset on and I asked what the play was, and they told me what it was and I almost called a time-out to stop it. … I didn’t call time out because we practiced that play for a season and a half and like I said, sometimes you’ve just got to throw them out there and hope they come up seven.”
On the ensuing kickoff, freshman kicker Greg Guttas, who had just missed the point after attempt, made a touchdown-saving tackle, pulling down Yale’s Adam Money near midfield. Given great field position with time winding down in the first half, the Bulldogs moved the ball into field goal range and Alex Barnes nailed a 47-yarder. It was Barnes’ first field goal attempt of the season but he made it look easy, putting the Elis on the board just before the half.
“Fortunately we did just enough things to stay in the game … kicking that field goal right before halftime I thought was a good emotional lift for the team,” Yale head coach Tom Williams said. “And then we just hung around a little bit in the third quarter, gave ourselves a chance, and then we got a spark.”
That was it for the scoring until late in the third quarter when Cargill coughed up the ball again and it was recovered by Columbia linebacker Chris Paruch at the Yale 31-yard line. For the second time, the Lions scored on the first play after a fumble, as Brackett faked an end around to Knowlin and hit a wide open Andrew Kennedy for a touchdown. The Lions decided to go for two, and Brackett, who scrambled effectively all afternoon long, kept it himself for the conversion.
In the fourth quarter the Bulldogs put the pressure on with a touchdown pass, but the Lions responded with a touchdown drive of their own. They drove 78 yards in nine plays, finishing with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Brackett to Knowlin. Ivery went untouched into the end zone for the two-point conversion to put the Lions ahead, 22-10.
Not to be outdone, the Bulldogs turned around with a quick scoring drive and pulled within five on a touchdown rush by sophomore running back Alex Thomas.
Yale’s late spark ultimately came on a play that at first seemed to shift the momentum in the Light Blue’s favor. The Lions had a chance to put the game away with less than five minutes left as Ivery ran for a gain of 75, but he was caught by his ankles by Money at Yale’s two-yard line. On the next play, running back Zack Kourouma was hit hard by Paul Rice as soon as he got the handoff, which caused a fumble that the Bulldogs recovered.
“It’s obviously a great hustle play, and I mean, Adam is one of those kids who never gives up on a play,” Rice said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him give up on a play. It’s just a testament to the kind of football player he is. We weren’t exactly fired up about giving up a 70-yard gain, but it gives you a little more hope—if we can just buckle down here on this goal line, we've still got a chance.”
The Lions’ defense forced a punt after Kourouma’s fumble, but couldn’t hang onto the ball to seal the win. While fighting for extra yards on a rush with just over two minutes left, Brackett was stripped by Money near the 50-yard line and Yale recovered, giving the Bulldogs a chance for one final drive and the win.
On this drive, Williams’ decision to change quarterbacks from Brook Hart, who went 9-for-16 in the first half and was sacked four times, to Patrick Witt came up huge. Witt finished the game with 166 passing yards, two touchdowns, and wasn’t sacked at all. Columbia defensive end Lou Miller, who had seven tackles including a pair of sacks, saw two changes in the second half that made it harder for him to get to Witt.
“Essentially it was two things: One, the quarterback threw the ball faster, he had a quick release, and [two] they were sliding my way in the second half a lot so it was harder to get to the quarterback in as much time,” Miller said.
The Elis went to the air and with 1:06 left in the game Witt led them to the red zone, where they needed to convert on 4th and 1 to stay alive. Witt threw a short pass to his favorite target John Sheffield that fell incomplete, but Light Blue linebacker Nick Mistretta was called for holding. On the next play, Witt hit A.J. Haase for a touchdown in the left corner of the end zone. The Bulldogs failed on their two-point conversion attempt but still led, 23-22.
Brackett threw an interception on the first play of the ensuing drive and the Bulldogs took over with 45 seconds left. They were able to run the clock out and send the Lions to their fourth consecutive loss.
Despite the late turnovers, Brackett had a strong afternoon for the Light Blue, going 10-for-19 with 180 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 68 yards on 15 carries. Ivery also played well, notching 127 yards on 16 rushes.
“Sean is great,” Knowlin said. “He’s going to be a great player in this Ivy League. Not just in Columbia, he’s going to be a great player in the Ivy League I think because he’s very confident in himself. He had a good week in practice this week and he just stays up, he stays up and he knows how to get the guys going and he can move a little bit too out there—he’s got some moves. He’s got a great arm so I think he’s going to be a great player in the Ivy League.”
Saturday’s game was not the first time that the Lions have let a late lead slip through their fingers.
“In the locker room I asked them if hurting today hurt a little bit different than hurting in the other losses because they had played as hard as they could play and they came up short,” Wilson said. “They feel as if they did enough to win the football game, but you’ve got to earn it and we didn’t earn it. I would like for them to take from this that you have to earn it.”
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