With Hormann Benched, Kelly Gives a Glimpse of Lions' Football Future

For just the third time since becoming Columbia’s starting quarterback, Craig Hormann was benched midway through Saturday’s action. The senior co-captain, who has the second-most completions in Columbia history, couldn’t manage Cornell’s relentless blitzing attack and was replaced by sophomore transfer Shane Kelly when the Lions were down 34-7 near the end of the third quarter. Kelly showed glimpses of brilliance, and although he may have been facing a0 subdued Big Red defense, he nonetheless excelled in areas where Craig Hormann has struggled this season.

Cornell’s defensive game plan was to run a huge variety of blitzes from every possible direction. Head coach Jim Knowles figured that if his team could keep Hormann under pressure, they’d also neutralize the threat posed by the Lions’ talented wide receivers. His strategy proved effective, as Hormann was hurried six times and didn’t get a long completion on a dropback pass until the second quarter, when he hit Austin Knowlin, Taylor Joseph, and Nico Gutierrez for five passes over 10 yards each.

Hormann’s drop-back passing looked better as the game progressed, but he wasn’t able to make plays when his protection fell apart. He said after the game that he had made tactical mistakes at the line of scrimmage that were dooming plays before the snap.

“They bring all kinds of different blitzes,” Hormann said of the Cornell defense. “They bring safeties, linebackers, pretty much everybody. Throughout the game, I didn’t do a very good job recognizing when they were blitzing. We had worked all week on checking out of certain plays when we saw blitz—putting ourselves in better situations.”

Columbia head coach Norries Wilson said he was disappointed with the way Hormann managed the offense and added that he went with Kelly to see if a change would provide a spark. The transfer from Temple University did just that, throwing five completions in a row to get the Lions into Cornell territory. He showed how a little bit of quickness could compensate for a deteriorating pocket.

Probably the best example of how Kelly could lead the offense next year came on an 80-yard touchdown pass that was called back due to holding. He dropped back for a screen and with several options available, put the ball in Austin Knowlin’s hands in stride five yards past the line of scrimmage. The ball placement gave Knowlin the space to burst past the defense and up the sideline. The play required exceptional field vision and forced Kelly to throw across his body.

Rookie mistakes, however, pointed out why Hormann has been the starter for every game this season. Kelly was sacked twice, took a penalty for intentional grounding while under pressure, and did not audible out of an inside run play when the defense was clearly expecting it. These mistakes shot down three drives, but the offense finally scored on a great pass from Kelly to Knowlin in the end zone for his first touchdown pass as a Lion.

Coach Wilson said he’d wait to review the game tape before evaluating Kelly’s performance, but as the Lions head into their final game and Craig Hormann prepares for the last snaps of his college career, it would be surprising if one quarter of play changes the depth chart. Seeing Kelly improvising on his feet and buying time to make unexpected passes could very well have been a glimpse at the key to next year’s offense.