Monday, September 27, 2010

Week Four Columbia football notebook

Good looking turf field
Friday, the Tide played on turf for the second time in four games. The other was against Northeastern. It will be the best field the Tide will play on this year.
The helicopter flyover before the game was a planned event and added a nice touch to the opening.
I'm sure this will get some comments, but the concession stand food was good. The cheeseburger (yes just one, but it was a double cheeseburger) I had before the game was awesome and the chicken corn soup was good, but a little too spicy for me. Best upcoming stands will be Northern Lebanon, who usually has pretty good soups and Annville-Cleona, who has the best hot dogs in the league.
What I didn't like was the hundreds of young people walking around the "walking" track during the game, often interfering with people watching the game. It seemed more like a social event than a football game. My question  is why go to the game if you aren't going to watch it. Did notice the Bubblers had a student section.
Among those seen walking around was PIAA Executive Director Brad Cashman.

Injuries mount
Two players were injured. John Markley left the game early in the second quarter with an arm injury and was in a sling. Brock Taylor left the game late in the first half. Not dressed for the game were Lamar Porras, Quincy Mancotywa, Tyler Dietz, Dion Matthews, Chris Murray and Victor Rivera. Matthews and Dietz are out with shoulder injuries.

Offensive numbers
Quarterback Tyler Harrison, who is recovering from an ankle injury and didn't have a full week of practice, had a big game. He was 22 of 35 with one pick for 266 yards and one score. Michael Burke caught a season-high nine balls for 95 yards and a score. Harrison completed passes to have different receivers.
DJ Wells caught six balls for 92 yards and also rushed for 58 yards and a score.

Defensive numbers
Still not good. Columbia gave 246 yards on the ground, including 168 to Ryan Miller. QB Jared Bliss made the most of his seven pass attempts, completing six for 98 yards and two scores. Seth Lefever was the top tackler for the game with eight stops.

Extra points
The Tide continues to struggle with points after scores. They converted one of three, a two-point conversation late in the game from Harrison to Burke. They are 2 of 7 in one-point conversions this year and 3 of 8 in two-point conversions.

Other numbers
The Tide has been outscored  in the second quarters of games, 39-27 this season and 41-18 in the third quarters. They have dominated first quarters, outscoring their four opponents, 31-20. Columbia outscored the opposition, 37-36 in the fourth quarter.

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