NEW YORK—A blocked punt, stingy defense, timely offensive plays and favorable field position keyed Columbia as it registered a come-from-behind 17-10 football victory over Yale Saturday at rainy and windy Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The win improved Columbia to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Ivy League, while Yale dropped to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Ivy League.
 
Columbia was outgained by Yale in total yardage (428-160), first downs (22-9), passing yards (238-51) and time of possession (33:48-26:12). But the Lions won the field position battle all day long as punter Drew Schmid pinned Yale inside its own 20-yard line a school-record seven times, placekicker Chris Alleyne converted the second-longest field goal in school history, a 51-yarder in the first quarter, fourth-string quarterback Ryan Suitt found tight end Casey Mariucci for a third quarter 16-yard touchdown pass after Carson Powell blocked a Yale punt, third-string running back Ryan Young scored on an impressive 30-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Columbia's defense held Yale scoreless in the second half and stopped Yale three times in the fourth quarter.
 
"This was a tremendous win," Columbia's Patricia & Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli said. "It was really a combination of being really good in the kicking game, continually pinning them down for some deep, long fields, making enough plays on offense, our kids stepping up when they had to step up and making enough stops on defense."
 
"Our special teams' play was also the key to the game. We hit a 51-yard field goal to get us on the board early, our punter had a really good day in terms of pinning them deep and we were able to block the punt that gave us good field position as well. Yale did move the ball, they had some yards, but they had really long fields to deal with. In today's weather conditions, that's tough to sustain when you have to go 80, 85 yards every time."
 
Columbia entered the game with more than 20 of its key players sidelined with injuries. It was playing Saturday's game without its top three quarterbacks, its top two wide receivers, its top rushing threat and without nine other players who had started games this year.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of our players," Bagnoli said. "The volume of things that have happened to us this year has been staggering. Somehow, we find a way to pick ourselves up and keep going. This has been one of those epic years; every time you look up, someone's missing. Kudos to having Ryan Suitt come in as your quarterback and then Matt Dame come in as your quarterback. We lost our starting tailback today (Lynnard Rose) and having Ryan Young come in as a true freshman was a big boost. We just fight and we try to control the variables that we can control. Our players give tremendous effort and today they were rewarded. It's just a tremendous feeling against a good football team in really bad weather. This is something hopefully that will speak volumes of where the program is these days."
 
Trailing 10-3 in the third quarter and after the teams traded possessions, Columbia sophomore Carson Powell got his hand on a Yale punt. The blocked punt traveled just four yards and was recovered by the Bulldogs at their own 30-yard line. Senior quarterback Ryan Suitt, who was in his first career start and had completed just 1-12 passes for one yard up until that point, found Mariucci for a 15-yard pass. Two plays later, Suitt fired a bullet to the sideline to Mariucci who caught the ball at the two-yard line, shrugged off a tackler and strolled across the goal line for a touchdown. The 16-yard touchdown pass, with 5:23 left in the third quarter, tied the game at 10-10.
 
Two possessions later, Columbia took over at the Yale 45-yard line after a short 23-yard punt. Four plays later, first-year running back Ryan Young burst through the line and raced down the middle of the field for a 30-yard touchdown run. Young's first career rushing touchdown and career-long run ended a 45-yard, 5-play drive and gave Columbia a commanding 17-10 lead with 14:12 to play.
 
From then on, Yale drove deep into Columbia territory three times, but the Lions' defense stopped the Bulldogs on each drive. First, the Lions forced Yale into missing a 37-yard field goal attempt. On Yale's next possession, the Bulldogs went for it on fourth and 12 from the Columbia 37, but quarterback Jimmy Check was stopped short of the first down marker by Columbia's Sean White. With 25 seconds to play and Yale at Columbia's 23-yard line, senior Ryan Gilbert secured Columbia's victory as he intercepted a pass in the end zone.
 
Columbia went up 3-0 on a Lawrence A. Wien Stadium record 51-yard field goal by senior Chris Alleyne with 3:16 left in the first quarter. The Lions used an eight-play, 42-yard scoring drive and took advantage of a defensive holding penalty and a 14-yard run by Young to set up the field goal.
 
In the second quarter, Yale took a 7-3 lead when Alan Lamar rushed up the middle for a two-yard touchdown with 3:08 to go before the half. Lamar set the score up with a 44-yard run following a six-play, 66-yard scoring drive. The Bulldogs went up 10-3 just before halftime on a 20-yard field goal by Alex Galland. Following a 65-yard punt by Columbia's Drew Schmid, Yale drove 93-yards in 14 plays for the field goal. Check completed three passes in the drive including a 37-yard pass to D. Major Roman, which put Yale in the red zone.
 
Yale was held scoreless in the second half.
 
Young finished the day with a career-high 91 rushing yards on 19 carries, Mariucci caught a career-high three passes for 50 yards, senior safety and co-captain Landon Baty returned from an injury, intercepted a pass and made a season-high five tackles and senior safety Ryan Gilbert intercepted a pass and led the Lions with 12 tackles. Schmid set a school record with a 44.7 yards per punt average in 11 punts.
 
Yale was led by Check, who completed 18 of 35 passes for 238 yards with two interceptions. Lamar rushed for 77 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown and wide receiver Reed Klubnik caught eight passes for 97 yards.
 
Next week, Columbia travels to Cambridge, Mass. to take on Harvard Saturday. Kickoff is at Noon ET.