GAME FOUR: FINAL NON-CONFERENCE GAME
COLUMBIA (2-1, 0-1 Ivy League) at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE (1-3, 1-0 NEC)
Saturday, October 9, 2021 • 1:05 p.m. ET • Arute Field • New Britain, Conn.
 
THE FACTS
 
Television: NEC Front Row (Play-by-Play: Bruce Biel; Color Analyst: Marc Robbins) | Watch Live on NEC Front Row
 
Columbia Online Radio: Alex Oberweger and Shawn FitzGerald | Listen Live
 
Live Stats: www.ccsubluedevils.com | Live Stats
 
Coaches: Columbia- Al Bagnoli, 7th year at Columbia (24-29), 39th year overall (259-127). Central Connecticut State- Ryan McCarthy, 3rd year at CCSU (12-5), 3rd year overall (12-5).
 
Complete Game Notes: Click here.
 
Series: Columbia and CCSU meet for the fourth time in series history. CCSU holds a 2-1 advantage in the series which began in 2009. The two teams last met in 2019, a 24-14 CCSU win in New York City. The last time Columbia played CCSU in New Britain, the Lions came away with a 41-24 season-opening victory in 2018.
 
GAME NOTES
 
NEW BRITAIN, Conn.—Columbia (2-1, 0-1 Ivy League) travels to New Britain, Conn. to take on Central Connecticut State (1-3, 1-0 NEC) in its final non-conference matchup of the 2021 season on Saturday. The contest will be played on Oct. 9 at Arute Field with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
 
TODAY'S TOP STORYLINES
 

• With a victory, Columbia would conclude its non-conference portion of the schedule with a perfect 3-0 record for the third time in the last four years.
• Columbia enters Saturday's game after having won 10 of its last 12 non-conference games and six of its last seven vs. Northeast Conference opponents.
• Columbia Head Coach Al Bagnoli faces his alma mater, Central Connecticut State. He is a 1975 graduate.
• Columbia's Bagnoli entered the 2021 season as the nation's second active winningest coach throughout all NCAA divisions. He is the nation's winningest active coach at the FCS level. He is vying for his 260th career win today.

 
ABOUT THE LIONS
 
Columbia is looking to wrap up its non-conference portion of the schedule with a perfect 3-0 record for the third time in the last four years.
 
The Lions enter the contest with a 2-1 record (0-1 Ivy League) after a closer than the score indicates 24-7 Ivy-opening loss at Princeton, a 35-24 win vs. Georgetown, and a 37-14 win over Marist.
 
At Princeton, the Lions dropped a tightly-contested, low-scoring game after Princeton running back Colin Eaddy scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to give the Tigers a 24-7 lead. After Princeton took a 10-0 halftime lead, Columbia cut the deficit to 10-7 on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Joe Green to Luke Painton. The Lions had several other opportunities to score in the contest.
 
Against Georgetown on Sept. 25, Columbia rushed for 232 yards and four touchdowns, quarterback Ty Lenhart scored three touchdowns, defensive back Ben Mathiasmeier intercepted two key passes, and Will Allen returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown in a 35-24 Lou Little Cup win over Georgetown in New York. Columbia led the entire game as the Lions jumped on top 14-0 in the first quarter on back-to-back rushing scores set up by long plays. Allen's kickoff return gave the Lions a 21-7 lead and the Lions held off Georgetown the rest of the way. A Mathiasmeier interception and 68-yard return set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Lenhart with 4:14 to play in the third quarter. After Georgetown scored again, Columbia went up 35-24 and put the game away with a 12-play, 80-yard drive ending with an 8-yard TD run by Lenhart.
 
On Sept. 18, Columbia returned to the gridiron in fine fashion as the Lions claimed a 37-14 season-opening victory over Marist. Marist jumped out to a 14-0 lead just five minutes into the game, but the Lions scored 37 unanswered points, piled up 465 total offensive yards, and rushed for 311 yards in the victory, which marked the Lions' fourth straight win in a season opener.
 
The Marist season opener was Columbia's first game in 664 days as the Ivy League Council of Presidents canceled the 2020 football season in July 2020 due to the COVID-19  pandemic. The Council announced during spring 2021 that sport competition would begin again in the fall.
 
The Lions continue to trend upward as they have registered winning seasons in two of their last three campaigns. Seventh-year Head Coach Al Bagnoli guided Columbia to an 8-2 record (second-place Ivy finish at 5-2) in 2017 and 6-4 record (3-4 Ivy) in 2018. In 2019, Columbia went 3-7 and finished sixth in the Ivy League with a 2-5 conference record.
 
LIONS EXPERIENCE SUCCESS IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
 
In impressive fashion, Columbia has won 10 of its last 12 non-conference games. With a win over Central Connecticut State on Saturday, the Lions would complete a non-conference slate with a perfect 3-0 record for the third time in the last three seasons. Columbia has won two consecutive non-conference games with victories over Marist and Georgetown.
 
A 24-10 loss to Georgetown on Sept. 28, 2019 ended Columbia's school-record non-conference win streak at eight games. The streak began at Wagner on Oct. 8, 2016. Previously, the record was four straight non-conference wins from Sept. 28, 1996-Oct. 4, 1997.
 
BAGNOLI, CCSU, AND EAST HAVEN ROOTS
 
Columbia football coach Al Bagnoli is a 1975 graduate of Central Connecticut State with a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education/History. He was listed as the No. 17 most-famous graduate of Central Connecticut State by Ranker.com.
 
A native of East Haven, Conn. and graduate of East Haven High School, Bagnoli lettered three years as a defensive back on the CCSU football team from 1972-74 and helped lead the Blue Devils to a three-year 23-5 overall record during that span.
 
COLUMBIA SUCCESSFUL AGAINST NEC OPPONENTS
 
Columbia has won four of its last five games against Northeast Conference opponents. Since Al Bagnoli's first season at Columbia in 2015, the Lions have won six of their last seven matchups vs. Northeast Conference opponents.
 
RECAPPING SATURDAY'S 24-7 LOSS AT PRINCETON
 
Following are some notes from Saturday's Ivy League opener at Princeton:

• The loss dropped Columbia to 2-1 on the season.
• Columbia's defense registered four tackles for loss for 18 yards, three sacks for 17 yards, six pass breakups, and an interception.
• Through the game's first three quarters, Columbia's defense limited Princeton to just 161 total yards.
• On its first offensive play, Columbia gave up its first sack of the season through nine quarters. Columbia's offense has now yielded just four sacks in three games this year.
• When Princeton went up 3-0 on a first quarter field goal, it marked the first time Columbia trailed in a game since the first quarter of the Marist contest.
• On its first touchdown of the day in the third quarter, Columbia scored the first touchdown against Princeton this year.
• Columbia entered Ivy League play with a 2-0 record for the third time in the last four seasons.
• Sophomore quarterback Joe Green finished the day with career-highs for completions (23), pass attempts (37) and passing yards (171). He completed 62.2 percent of his passes on the day. He also threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Luke Painton.
• Senior defensive back Fara'ad McCombs intercepted a pass in the first quarter and returned it 26 yards. It was his third career interception. McCombs also finished with seven tackles (five solo).
• Junior tight end Luke Painton caught his first career touchdown pass in the third quarter on a 19-yard strike from quarterback Joe Green. Painton completed the day with a career-high four catches for 37 yards and a touchdown.
• Senior safety Ben Mathiasmeier led Columbia with 10 tackles (seven solo) with two pass breakups. It marked his third career 10-plus tackle game.
• Senior linebacker John Harris registered a first quarter sack. It was the third sack of his career. Harris made four tackles on the day.
• Senior wide receiver and return specialist Mike Roussos saw his first game action of the season. His first touch was a kickoff return. He led the Lions with 104 all-purpose yards including four catches for 16 yards, 31 punt return yards, and 57 kickoff return yards.
• Sophomore wide receiver Marcus Libman led Columbia with a career-high six catches for 51 yards.
• Senior running back Ryan Young caught a career-best four passes for 14 yards and ran nine times for 19 yards.
• Sophomore wide receiver Wills Meyer finished the day with 28 receiving yards on two catches, including a 24-yard catch in the second quarter.
• Senior Paul Akere registered a sack in the third quarter. He finished the day with two tackles.
• Junior defensive lineman Thomas Thibault finished the day with a career-high six tackles and 0.5 tackle for loss.
• Senior linebacker Cam Dillon registered five tackles (two solo) with 1.0 tackles for loss for one yard.
• Cornerback Bryan Bell-Anderson registered six tackles and two pass breakups.
• Ty Lenhart completed his longest pass of the season 23-yards to Ernest Robertson.
• In his first career start, sophomore Ben Corniello made a career-high six tackles on the day.
• Senior punter Drew Schmid averaged 43.9 yards per punt on eight total punts.

 
COLUMBIA, LIONS AMONG NATIONAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
 
Through three games, Columbia is ranked among the nation's top-25 FCS teams in six different team statistical categories:

• No. 1 in passes had intercepted (1).
• No. 7 in turnovers lost (2).
• No. 7 in kickoff return average (29.6).
• No. 8 in first downs defense (50).
• No. 22 in punt return average (11.0).
• No. 23 in fourth down conversion defense (30%).
• In addition, Columbia ranks just outside the top-25 in three key statistical categories: No. 27 in scoring defense, 20.7; No. 27 in rushing defense, 106.0, and No. 27 in rushing offense, 183.7).

 Individually, the Lions rank among the top-25 national statistical leaders in eight different categories:

• Will Allen, No. 1 in kickoff return average (41.8).
• Will Allen, No. 2 in kickoff return touchdowns (1).
• Ben Mathiasmeier, No. 10 in passes defended (1.7).
• Ben Mathiasmeier, No. 13 in solo tackles (5.7).
• Ben Mathiasmeier, No. 13 in interceptions per game (0.7).
• Ernest Robertson, No. 15 in yards per reception (22.0).
• Dante Miller, No. 15 in rushing yards per carry (6.49).
• Drew Schmid, No. 18 in punting (43.4).

COLUMBIA IN IVY LEAGUE STATS
 
Several Columbia Lions are ranked among Ivy League leaders in several statistical categories:

• Alex Felkins, No. 1 in PAT kicking (100 percent, 10-10).
• Ben Mathiasmeier, No. 1 in interceptions (2).
• Drew Schmid, No. 2 in punting average (43.4).
• Alex Felkins, No. 2 in kick scoring (19 points).
• Ben Mathiasmeier, No. 2 in passes defended (5).
• Ben Mathiasmeier, No. 3 in tackles (22).
• Dante Miller, No. 4 in rushing yards per game (74.0).
• Ryan Young, No. 5 in rushing yards per game (69.0).
• Joe Green, No. 5 in total offense (148.0).

ABOUT CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE
 
Central Connecticut State enters its Homecoming contest against Columbia with a 1-3 overall record and 1-0 NEC record. The Blue Devils are on a two-game losing streak after dropping consecutive contests to Southeastern Louisiana (56-10) and Miami, Fla. (69-0).
 
CCSU is led by quarterback Romelo Williams who has thrown for five touchdowns and 762 yards while completing 68 of 123 passes. Williams also has rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. The running game is led by Nasir Smith who has 296 yards on 55 carries for a 5.4 yards per carry average.
 
Five players have at least eight receptions for CCSU led by Tyshaun James, who has 12 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown, Everett Wormley with 11 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns, and Nasir Smith with 11 catches for 49 yards. Isiah Williams also has eight receptions for 115 yards and Keonte Lucas has contributed eight catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.
 
On defense, CCSU is led by Jahlil Brown (33 tackles, 22 solo tackles, one pass breakup, one fumble recovery), Kelvin Apari (21 tackles, 14 solo tackles, 5.5 TFL, 2.0 sacks), Harold Miles (14 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, and Tyler Smith (14 tackles).