PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Senior wide receiver/wildcat quarterback Kyle Castner rushed for three touchdowns and threw for two more scores and first-year quarterback Ty Lenhart passed for career-highs of 298 yards and 28 completions as Columbia put together a dominant second half and came from behind to defeat host Brown 42-20 Saturday at Brown Stadium.
 
With the win, Columbia improves to 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the Ivy League. With today's victory, Columbia established a new school-record with 13 wins in consecutive seasons, its most wins in back-to-back seasons since joining the Ivy League in 1956. It also marked Columbia's third come-from-behind win of the year. With a win next Saturday against Cornell, Columbia can record back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1961 and 1962.
 
Every time Columbia needed a big play on offense, it turned to Castner. With his five touchdowns, Castner tied a Columbia school-record for most touchdowns responsible for in a game. He rushed for touchdowns of one, two and 31 yards and threw touchdown passes of two and 25 yards. On the day statistically, Castner rushed for a team-high 88 yards on 15 carries, caught four passes for 48 yards and completed 2-3 passes for 27 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the Lions with 136 all-purpose yards.
 
In only his second career start, Lenhart completed 28 of 42 passes for 298 yards and was responsible for leading Columbia down the field. The Lions scored a season-high 42 points and amassed a season-high 515 total offensive yards as they bested the Bears in total yardage (515-254), first downs (24-6), rushing yards (190-88) and passing yards (325-166). The Lions scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to take the lead and secure the win. First-year running back Ryan Young scored two touchdowns (25-yard reception and nine-yard run) as he rushed a career-high 21 times for 76 yards and caught a career-high four passes for 44 yards. Junior wide receiver Ronald Smith notched his fifth career 100-yard receiving game with a season-high nine receptions for 112 yards.
 
Columbia's defense was dominant in the second half as Brown was held to zero points, 26 total yards of offense on 30 plays, eight yards rushing, 18 yards passing and only three first downs. The Lions also registered a team-record 10 sacks and intercepted two passes in the contest.
 
"At halftime we challenged them," Columbia's Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli said. "We stressed to the team that we are capable of doing a lot better. The players responded and I thought the second half was about as well as we've played all season long, collectively; when you factor in offense, defense, the weather, the field conditions, with the wind and against the wind considering all of the factors."
 
Columbia had to battle back from a 14-0 first quarter deficit and 20-14 halftime deficit as Brown used three long plays to jump out to its early lead. After Columbia put together a 16-play drive that ended in a failed fourth-and-two play, Brown struck first when Scott Boylan caught a pass in the flat from quarterback Michael McGovern and motored 76 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. The score gave Brown a 7-0 lead with 3:35 left in the first quarter. Then, Brown went up 14-0 when McGovern lofted a pass over the Columbia defense to running back Livingstone Harriott, who ran 52 yards for another score. The touchdown gave the Bears a sizeable 14-0 lead with 1:37 left in the first quarter.
 
"The emphasis on defense after the Harvard game this week was to try to limit explosive plays," Bagnoli said. "It was frustrating to watch. All three of their touchdowns were explosive plays. To their credit, Brown did a good job on those plays and they did some things that we hadn't seen."
 
But Columbia rallied. The Lions cut the deficit to 14-7 when Castner, in the game as a wildcat quarterback, faked a run and lobbed a pass over the line to junior tight end Rory Schlageter for a two-yard touchdown pass. The Lions used an eight-play, 75-yard drive to set up the score. The drive was fueled by a 48-yard pass play from Lenhart to Smith, who caught the ball in the middle of the field and sprinted deep into Brown territory.
 
On Columbia's next possession, Castner scored his second career rushing touchdown, a one-yarder, to tie the game at 14-14 with 8:26 to play in the second quarter. Columbia took advantage of favorable field position (Brown 33-yard line) following an 18-yard punt by Brown and the Lions drove 33 yards in six plays. Fueling the drive was Castner, who took a direct snap and ran around the left end for a 16-yard gain, and Lenhart, who hit Smith for a 13-yard pass play that gave Columbia a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.
 
Brown (1-8, 0-6 Ivy League) took a 20-14 lead into halftime after it used a trick reverse play that resulted in a 90-yard touchdown run by Jacob Prall. The Bears couldn't get off the extra point attempt as the snap was fumbled.
 
In the second half, Columbia came out a different team as it scored 28 unanswered points and held the Bears scoreless. On its first second half possession, the Lions took a 21-20 lead after using a 53-yard drive to score on a two-yard touchdown run by Castner. Lenhart found sophomore tight end Casey Mariucci open down the left sidelines for a 34-yard reception, then Lenhart hit Castner for a nine-yard grab to get inside the 20-yard line. A pass interference penalty setup the Lions with a first and goal inside the five-yard line. Castner scored on a two-yard touchdown run.
 
Columbia scored again to make it 28-20 in the third quarter when Young caught a Kyle Castner pass and turned it into a 25-yard touchdown run. On a second down and seven-play from Brown's 25-yard line, Lenhart lateraled to Castner, who threw cross-field to Young, who caught the ball, broke several tackles and rambled through the Brown defense for a 25-yard touchdown. The drive was kept alive when Columbia went for it on fourth and two and converted as Castner fell forward for two yards.
 
Facing another fourth down and short play in the fourth quarter, Castner put the game away as he burst through the middle of the line for a career-long 31-yard touchdown run and 35-20 lead. The Lions added an insurance score and went up 42-20 when Young ran for his nine-yard touchdown. The score was setup by junior linebacker Michael Murphy, who intercepted a Brown pass.
 
Castner's all-around performance was not a surprise. As a three-year starting high school quarterback at Indianapolis' Ben Davis High School, Castner was named Indiana's Mr. Football, led his team to a 28-7 career record and threw for 6,944 yards passing and 63 touchdowns, both school records. He was recruited by Columbia to play quarterback, but he switched to wide receiver prior to his junior season. He has been a starting receiver ever since the position switch.
 
"We made a conscious effort this week to get Kyle more involved in the offense," Bagnoli said. "We said, 'he's one of our most dynamic guys so we have to expand his package.' They were forecasting rain in the weather so that was a factor. We have to generate offense the best we can and try to take some heat off our quarterback considering all of the conditions and situation involved, so we expanded his package by 4-5 plays. The pieces this week were different than last week. You try to get your best and most explosive players to touch the ball as much as you can."
 
Two Columbia players set season school records on Saturday. Senior placekicker Chris Alleyne set the school record for most points scored by a placekicker in a season (he now has 63 points), while junior Daniel DeLorenzi set a new school record for season sacks (9.5).
 
Columbia plays its final game on Saturday, Nov. 17 when it hosts Cornell for Columbia Football Players Club Senior Day. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET as 19 Columbia seniors will play their final collegiate football game.