(STATS) – The white-hot spotlight of New York sports will be focused on Queens this weekend and a potential Subway World Series preview between the Mets and Yankees.
The Bronx, meanwhile, is being reserved for a much more muted crosstown rivalry, albeit one that includes two of the longest streaks in the Big Apple.
Unfortunately for Columbia and first-year coach Al Bagnoli, it’s a pair of losing streaks that are likely to be extended as the Lions opens the season Saturday against No. 18 Fordham for the Liberty Cup.
Columbia has lost 21 in a row dating to a win over Cornell on Nov. 10, 2012, and has also dropped 22 straight on the road since winning at Ithaca three years earlier.
The Lions’ overall losing streak trails only Savannah State’s 22-game skid in all of Division I, but it’s well short of a team-record 44 losses in a row from 1983-88.
Bagnoli – the FCS all-time wins leader at 148 – will try to restore the roar in the lowly Lions after unexpectedly leaving Penn following 23 years and nine Ivy League titles, including three from 2009-12.
“We’re still trying to get a handle on everything,” said Bagnoli, who was 20-3 against Columbia with the Quakers. “We obviously have a completely new staff and the players are getting used to us and we’re getting used to the players.
“So far, I’ve been very happy with the kids’ attitude, their work habits, their attention to detail. I think we’re all excited to start a new chapter. We’ll kinda wait and see, but we remain very optimistic moving forward.”
That means improving a team that’s been outscored by an average of 30.0 points during the overall losing streak, including 101-14 over the last two matchups with the Rams (1-1), who have been ranked in the Top 20 for 30 straight weeks.
Bagnoli isn’t expecting things to go smoothly for a team that totaled 61 points in conference play last year.
“I think we’re going to have to measure success in different ways,” he said. “Obviously, the most basic way is the won-loss record. The emotional state of the kids. The enjoyment factor of the kids. The retention rate of the kids in the program.
“I think there’s a lot of different ways we can measure progress in addition to the won-loss record.”
There’s enough belief in Bagnoli to improve the downtrodden program that Columbia finished seventh in the conference’s preseason poll, three points ahead of the Big Red.
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BREAKING BARRIERS=
Princeton offensive lineman Mason Darrow told Outsports.com earlier this week that he’s gay. He’s believed to be the first openly gay player in major college football, but he doesn’t think it’s a big deal.
“People will surprise you,” the junior said. “I was definitely concerned that people, teammates, would react poorly. I think in this day and age people really just don’t care about it. It’s really not a big deal anymore.”
Darrow and the Tigers face Lafayette (0-2) on Saturday night looking to snap an eight-game losing streak in season openers. However, Princeton has won seven straight over the Leopards, including three straight in Easton, Pennsylvania.
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BEEN A LONG TIME=
No. 25 Harvard is aiming to become the first team to win three straight Ivy championships since Dartmouth did it from 1990-92.
That quest doesn’t begin until next week’s matchup with Brown. Before that, the Crimson look to extend the FCS’ longest winning streak to 15 on Saturday when they face Rhode Island (0-2) for the first time since a 35-0 victory in 1923.
“We’re not destined to go 10-0. We’re not entitled to go 10-0,” coach Tim Murphy said of addressing his team. “If for any reason, you think that you’re entitled to it just because your teammates have won three of the last four Ivy championships, the bottom line is you’re going to get hammered. Every team in our league is going to be better than they were a year ago, maybe other than Harvard.”
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FAST STARTERS=
Dartmouth has won five straight season openers entering its first matchup with Georgetown (1-1) since a 10-0 loss in 1936.
The Big Green fell one game shy of gaining a share of the league title last year, and they’re expected to be in the race again after finishing second in the preseason poll while earning four of 17 first-place votes.
Part of the reason for that is the return of senior quarterback Dalyn Williams, the only Ivy Leaguer on the STATS LLC Offensive Player of the Year Watch List. He tossed 21 touchdowns against three interceptions and his 67.5 completion rate led the league.
Williams is also a running threat, gaining 1,269 yards with an average of 3.6 per carry and 14 TDs in three years.
“He’s a very athletic guy to begin with,” coach Buddy Teevens said. “He runs the ball very effectively. He’s not afraid to run the football, but he’s very cerebral as well. He sees a lot of things on the field. He understands the flow of the game. He’s had attention from some of the NFL folks. He’s got all the tools.”
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HIGH-OCTANE BULLDOGS=
Yale, which has won eight straight season openers, led the Ivy with an average of 41.1 points last season – 8.4 more than the next closest team (Harvard). That high-scoring offense will again have Morgan Roberts under center after he had league highs of 22 touchdown passes and 3,230 yards as a junior. That included 379 yards and two scores while hitting 23 of 33 passes in a 45-31 win over Colgate on Oct. 18. He’ll face the Raiders (0-2) again Saturday, but they’ve allowed 260 total passing yards so far this season.
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ALL-OR-NOTHING BEARS=
Brown is looking to take a step forward this season after finishing 5-5 last year, but any additional success will center on senior QB Marcus Fuller. He had 15 touchdowns and seven picks last season, but all of those INTs and just five TDs came in losing efforts. All of the Bears’ wins came against teams with a combined 8-46 record, including three versus teams with one or none. They’re facing Bryant (1-0) for just the second time, after winning 41-14 on the road Oct. 12, 2013.
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NEW ERA BEGINS=
With Bagnoli bolting for the bright lights of Morningside Heights, the Quakers promoted longtime assistant Ray Priore. Replacing a legend isn’t the only problem he’ll have, as he’s trying to revive a program that went 2-8 last season with its only wins coming against Columbia and Cornell. Priore’s tenure kicks off with Penn’s first meeting against Lehigh since a victory 12 years ago.
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RUNNING NOWHERE=
Cornell kept Columbia company at the bottom of the Ivy for much of 2014. Luke Hagy changed that by scampering for a 63-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 30-27 road win on the penultimate day of the season.
Hagy is back as a first-team preseason All-Ivy selection after leading the Big Red with 734 yards and 4.9 per carry with four TDs. He’ll try to capitalize against Bucknell (1-1), which allowed 175 rushing yards and 4.3 per attempt in last weekend’s 26-7 loss to Duquesne. The Big Red lost 20-7 to the Bison on Sept. 27 after winning seven straight matchups by an average of 15.1 points.
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PATROIT VS. IVY=
There are six matchups between teams from the Ivy League and Patriot League this weekend, with 15 overall on the season after the conferences split 14 last year. Fordham has won six straight against Ivy League competition.
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