Poor First Half Downs Lions in Rout

The Lions offense continued to struggle establishing the run in their 59-28 loss to the University of Pennsylvania (2-3, 1-1 Ivy) today, while the Quakers ran all over the newly dedicated Robert K. Kraft Field.

Penn’s defensive line dominated up front, holding the Lions (1-4, 0-2 Ivy) to only eight yards rushing. Head coach Norries Wilson attributed a lot of the Quakers' success to defensive lineman Joe Goniprow.

“I told the coaches, and I said on more than one occasion, if you don’t get him [Goniprow] blocked … you’re going to have a long day and that’s how it panned out for us,” he said.

Lions senior quarterback Craig Hormann had a career high 417 yards passing with two touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Austin Knowlin recorded 10 catches for 188 yards, including a career long 90 yard reception early in the first quarter. After making a defender miss at midfield, Knowlin was brought down from behind at the one yard line.

“I just think it’s disappointing when it’s third and 26 and it happens,” Penn head coach Al Bagnoli said. “It was disappointing, but again that was a classic case of us not getting pressure in the middle and the kid [Hormann] stepping up, there’s nobody there. He gets a chance to run forward and he’s pretty accurate and they’ve got a good kid catching it.”

With the Quakers leading 10-7, junior Jon Rocholl attempted a 45 yard field goal that was blocked. Penn’s Jordan Manning recovered the ball and returned it for a touchdown to put Penn ahead 17-7 going into the second quarter.

“It was a big play in the game,” Wilson said. “I don’t know if it was a turning point in the game. They did what they wanted to in the first half … and they got out of here with a much earned win.”

Penn’s main running back, junior Joe Sandberg, played his first full game this season after being sidelined periodically by injuries earlier in the season. Sandberg averaged nine yards per carry and finished the day with 198 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

“He’s slippery and elusive,” Wilson said. “You’ve got to do a good job tackling him. We didn’t do a good job getting after him … he made some big runs and when he got a crease he ran the ball downhill and put it in the end zone.”

Two of Sandberg’s touchdowns came in the second quarter, both resulting from Hormann’s interceptions. Quaker quarterback Bryan Walker threw two more touchdowns in the second quarter to give Penn a 45-7 halftime lead.

“The first half, obviously, we played pretty well,” Bagnoli said. “They’re not an easy team to prepare for because they do a lot of things on defense, they’ve got people running all over the place. I thought our offensive line would have to play well and I think they did.”

The Lions came out of the locker room determined, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter to make it 45-21, and kept Penn off the board.

“I told the guys that they had just left the field at halftime, losing 45-7, and all the people that came out to see them actually cheered for them when they left the field,” Wilson said. “And I was actually encouraged by that, when they could’ve just as easily—and rightfully so—booed them when they left the field. So it was my full intent to go out and play and for the defense to shut them down.”

Columbia scored on its first two possessions of the half and the defense kept the Quakers off the field and off the board in the third quarter, making the score 45-21 at the end of the third quarter. Sophomore running back Ray Rangel had two rushing touchdowns—one in the first quarter and his second in the third—and finished the day as Columbia’s leading rusher.

“In the second half the gentlemen settled down and executed the plays that we had called and we actually had some success,” Wilson said.

Sandberg opened the fourth quarter with his fourth touchdown run. Columbia answered, though, with Hormann throwing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Knowlin for his second touchdown of the game. But on the ensuing kickoff, Penn’s Tyler Fisher returned Rocholl’s kick 96 yards to make the score 59-28 with ten minutes left.

After failing to convert on fourth and one at the Lions own nine yard line, Wilson put in sophomore transfer Shane Kelly at quarterback for the final two drives. Kelly was 1-3 on the day, and finished as the Lions’ second leading runner with 11 yards.

“At that point it was 59-28 and there were four minutes left, and although I told the students at half time it was my intent to go out and win the football game—that was my intent, that wasn’t just lip service—winning the second half has no bearing,” Wilson said. “You’ve got to win the football game. To try and score 30 points in four minutes, I don’t think even an act of Congress would have got that done for us.”

Nothing, in fact, stood in the way of Penn's emphatic victory at Columbia's own homecoming game. The minutes fell and so did the Lions, dropping their second Ivy League matchup of the season with the final score, 59-28.

Columbia travels to New Hampshire to face Dartmouth (1-4, 1-1 Ivy) next Saturday afternoon.