Columbia-Penn: Lions Gift-Wrap Win for Quakers

Penn 15, Columbia 10

Why Penn Won

They showed up and were in a receiving mood for Columbia's many turnovers and other miscues. The Quakers also made enough defensive adjustments in the second half to seal a win.

Why Columbia Lost

The Lions were in a giving mood, turning the ball over four times and also giving up a safety on a high punt snap. Columbia gave Penn each and every one of their 15 points. The miscues negated a tremendous performance by the defense, who played their best game of the season.

Key Turning Points

1) After the Lions got a quick first down into Penn territory on the first possession of the game, Shane Kelly hung a pass up that Britton Ertman picked off and returned to the Columbia 30. It was to be the beginning of a long day for Kelly and a big day for Ertman.

2) Late in the first quarter with the score tied at 3-3, Penn fumbled the snap, and it was recovered from Lion nose tackle Owen Fraser. But after getting one first down and then moving as close as the Quaker 36, Columbia was forced to punt. The Lions were unable to capitalize on the one Penn turnover of the game, while the Quakers would eventually score on three of the four Columbia giveaways.

3) With the score still tied at 3-3, Columbia opened the second quarter with two straight fumbles deep in their own end on their first two possessions. The result was 10 points for Penn and a 13-3 lead.

The leader on defense yesterday was Alex Gross, who made an incredible 17 tackles, and most of them were hard hits. He kept it going the entire game and even made the final first-down-saving tackle that gave the Lions one last chance in the fourth quarter.

Lou Miller had his best game to date with 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 2.5 overall tackles for a loss.

The Columbia defense held Penn to just 83 net yards rushing. I can't remember the last time the Lions held an opponent to under 100 yards on the ground. The Quakers had just 10 first downs.

Ray Rangel had a tremendous first half, rushing for more than 70 yards and beating Penn up the middle time after time. The Quakers adjusted nicely to stop him in the second half, but he still came up big as he took huge hit after huge hit and never fumbled.

Jon Rocholl had a strong game—hitting his one field goal attempt, nailing his kickoffs, and getting a rare touchback on the free kick after safety. It was the best game yet for the Lions kick coverage team against a Penn team that had the best kick returners they'd faced yet.