In their last non-conference contest before facing off against Ivy League opponents for the final six weeks of the season, the Lions fell to Central Connecticut State University 24-14.

Three games into the season, Columbia football has found itself in a precarious position. The Lions are under .500 for the first time since 2016. The offense has been held to just 10 points in two straight games. The team is losing the turnover battle by a margin of 7-3. And yet, heading into their week 4 matchup against the Central Connecticut Blue Devils, the Lions maintain the same sense of optimism they hadhad before the season began.

In its first conference game of the season, Columbia fell to defending Ivy League Champions Princeton 21-10 as the Lions’ offense was only able to score 10 points for the second consecutive game.

Coming off a disappointing home debut in which Columbia lost to Georgetown 24-10, the Lions (1-1, 0-2 Ivy) are hoping to bounce back this weekend when they take on defending Ivy League Champion Princeton for the team’s first conference bout.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed California Senate Bill 206, otherwise known as the Fair Pay to Play Act, into law on Monday. The bill, which is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, will allow California NCAA student-athletes to profit off of their names, images, or likenesses.

“Disappointed.” That was the first word Bagnoli uttered when discussing the Lions’ first home game of the season, a game in which Columbia fell to the Georgetown Hoyas 24-10 as the Lions’ offense struggled to generate any positive momentum. The loss ended an eight-game winning streak against non-conference opponents for the Lions.

The Columbia Lions will play their first home game of the season against Georgetown (2-1) this weekend in the fifth consecutive iteration of the Lou Little Cup.

In a talk organized by the Undergraduate Committee on Global Thought on Monday night, Frank Guridy, a professor of sports history and of the history of the African diaspora in the Americas, made the case that sports play a central role in political movements. He drew connections between activism and sports using historical references, such as Muhammad Ali’s refusal to enlist in the Vietnam War, and more modern examples, like Colin Kaepernick’s protest during the national anthem, to illustrate the impacts that sports have had on the American political dialogue.

The Lions got off to a slow start in their first game of the season but scored 24 unanswered points after giving up two early touchdowns to Saint Francis University en route to a 31-14 victory, their fourth straight victory against Northeast Conference opponents. The Lions were able to dig themselves out of a 14-7 hole thanks to a combination of some explosive plays and a stifling defense that did not allow the Red Flash to score after the first quarter. However, Columbia may have reason to be concerned if it doesn’t find consistency at quarterback.

Columbia does not have an illustrious history when it comes to its football program. In fact, Columbia is the only school in the Ivy League that has an all-time losing record at 373-633-43. It also has the smallest number of championship wins among the Ancient Eight, with just one—from 1961, which it shared with Harvard. This year, however, the Lions are planning to challenge people’s ideas of what Columbia football is all about.