Football Supplement: 2009 Recap—Highs and Lows

Highs

Columbia at Fordham
After two straight years of dropping their first game to the Rams, the Lions brought the Liberty Cup to Morningside with a 40-28 victory. It was a back-and-forth game for most of the first half, with Fordham drawing first blood. The Light Blue recovered quickly, though, taking a 27-21 lead by the end of the half. Columbia’s Jared Morine put a cap on the game when he intercepted Fordham quarterback John Skelton’s pass in the fourth quarter and ran 36 yards for a touchdown, increasing the Lions’ lead by six. Andy Shalbrack sealed the victory for the Lions with another interception in the Columbia end zone that stopped the Rams at the Columbia eight-yard line.

Columbia at Princeton
Columbia made history in its first Ivy League game of the year by crushing Princeton in a 38-0 shellacking. The Light Blue offense, defense, and special teams gave a complete effort in the rout, breaking the game open with Jared Morine’s third-quarter interception return for a touchdown. Columbia scored via the run, the pass, the scramble, the turnover, and the field goal. The victory was the Lions’ biggest ever against Princeton and their first conference road shutout since 1961. The best part? It had to be the Daily Princetonian’s headline for their game recap: “Perennial Pushover Tops Tigers.” Sore losers.

Columbia vs. Brown
A season filled with ups and downs ended on the highest note possible for the Lions, as they beat Brown 28-14 in their final game of the season. The 26 seniors on the team finished their college careers with a win, which was highlighted by an improbable pick-six that started with an interception by safety Adam Mehrer and ended with Andy Shalbrack running into the end zone after catching a lateral along the left sideline. Freshman Sean Brackett started in place of Millicent Olawale, who sat out with a foot injury, and he had a fantastic game, running for 171 yards and passing for 151.

Lows

Columbia at Lafayette
Columbia dominated the first half against Lafayette before ultimately falling to the Leopards in heartbreaking fashion. Senior quarterback Millicent Olawale put the Lions on the scoreboard with a 27-yard touchdown run, and freshman kicker Gregory Guttas converted the extra point to give Columbia a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. At halftime, the Lions held a 21-10 advantage, but Columbia did not score at all in the second half. The Leopards got within four points of Columbia with a third-quarter touchdown and the final blow came with just 13 seconds left in the fourth, when senior tailback Maurice White’s two-yard run gave Lafayette the 24-21 victory.

Columbia at Dartmouth
The Big Green wasn’t supposed to win. It just wasn’t. At the time, Dartmouth was on a 17-game losing streak and coming off a 20-point loss to Holy Cross. But in Dartmouth’s Homecoming game against Columbia, the Big Green showed something different in its first win since 2007 with a 28-6 thrashing of the Lions. Big Green running back Nick Schwieger rushed for a school-record 242 yards, and the defense capitalized on numerous Columbia miscues—including a two-yard punt, missed field goal, blocked field goal, fumble, and two interceptions—to pull off the upset.

Columbia vs. Yale
Despite holding a 22-17 lead with less than six minutes remaining, Columbia dropped a 23-22 heartbreaker at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The Lions were done in by two late turnovers and a late 10-yard touchdown pass from the Bulldogs that gave the visitors the lead for good. The late-game theatrics spoiled the debut of then-freshman quarterback Sean Brackett. Brackett, filling in for an injured Millicent Olawale, completed 10-for-19 for 189 yards and gained 68 yards on 15 carries, while Light Blue tailback Leon Ivery recorded 127 yards on 16 carries.