Football to showcase talent in annual spring game

For those of you who have been in serious football withdrawal since the 2009 season ended, today is your lucky day. Tonight your beloved Light Blue will take the field again in its annual spring game.

For those of you who haven’t been eagerly awaiting tonight’s game, the rundown is this: the Lions will scrimmage themselves tomorrow starting 7 p.m. at Robert K. Kraft Field. The first team offense and second team defense will compose one team and the opposing team will be comprised of the second team offense and the first team defense, creating solid matchups all around.

Fans headed up to Baker tomorrow will undoubtedly have many questions concerning the future of coach Wilson’s team—most of which have to do with the replacements for Columbia’s graduating seniors. Who will be filling in for the first and second string positions vacated by our star players?

One of the most important vacant positions is that of starting quarterback, as senior Millicent Olawale can no longer lead the charge. In the fall, Olawale sat out four games with a shoulder injury and fans got a sneak preview of what might happen when the position opened permanently. In those four games, head coach Norries Wilson started Sean Brackett, while sophomore Jerry Bell earned some playing time as well.

The playing styles of Brackett and Bell are in sharp contrast and each will certainly favor different offensive techniques. In the fall, Brackett demonstrated his quick feet and ease in scrambling around the field. On the flipside, Bell doesn’t move around as much but showed comfort in the pocket, relying more on his passing game to gain yardage.

Another important offensive position left open is wide receiver now that senior Austin Knowlin is graduating. Adequately replacing Knowlin will be more than difficult, as it requires searching for another star player on track to break the career receiving-yards record that Knowlin now holds.

In addition, fellow wide receiver Taylor Joseph is graduating in May, leaving yet another spot open on the offensive line. You can expect to see Mike Stephens filling in one of those spots since he has played consistently in each of the last two seasons. But even with Stephens taking the spot, there will still be another space for someone to step up and fill.

Though the Lions had an extra year to find a replacement running back, the spot is still looking for a stellar successor to Ray Rangel. Rangel went down last season in Columbia’s game against Dartmouth leaving a huge gap on the offensive line.

Leon Ivery and Zack Kourouma both tried their hand at the spot for the remainder of the season. Rangel, though, left big shoes to fill. Ivery and Kourouma both had good performances as well as unconvincing ones in the remaining games, leaving the position still up for grabs.

There are critical gaps that need to be filled on defense as well. Columbia athletics will certainly be missing Lou Miller, the likes of whom could be found on a wrestling mat in Dodge in addition to in the defensive end position up at Baker. Miller was named first-team All Ivy last season and led the team in sacks for the last two.

Senior Matt Bashaw has seen his fair share of playing time over the last four years at the defensive end, leaving just another spot that the Lions are looking to fill.

Andy Shalbrack leaves another defensive spot open at graduation—strong safety. Shalbrack contributed 63 safeties last season, 24 solo, after starting all ten games. Excluding new recruits, the Lions will only have two strong safeties left after graduation: Mike Murphy and Anthony Maddox. Murphy hasn’t seen much playing time in the past, so it looks like if Maddox plays well tomorrow and practices well, he might have a shot at the spot.

In total, the Light Blue team that went 3-4 in the Ancient Eight last year (4-6 overall) will be graduating 26 seniors and this year’s recruitment class won’t be released until after May 1.

The Lions tied with Princeton for fourth in the league in 2009 after losing to the likes of Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard and league-champion Penn. Columbia did however beat Fordham 40-28 to start the season before picking up wins against Cornell and Brown and blowing out Princeton, 38-0.

This year’s season will open up Sept. 18 at home against Fordham. But before they get there, the Lions have to get through tonight’s scrimmage. The spring game begins tonight at 7 p.m. on Robert K. Kraft Field up at Baker.