NEW YORK - Running back Ryan Young had a feat that even surprised Columbia's Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli.

The senior captain's first 100-yard game.

"I wouldn't have guessed that," the longtime Ivy League coach said.

Young ran for 117 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Joe Green went 15-of-21 for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead Columbia past, Wagner 28-7 at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium.

After a scoreless first quarter, Columbia (3-1) broke through when Green threw a 36-yard bomb, that receiver Bryson Canty plucked out of the air and wrestled away from the Wagner (0-5) defender to cap a 10-play, 73-yard take a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

"I hade a post and he [the defender] was heavy inside leverage, so I decided to try and beat him with speed," Canty said. "Joe gave me a great ball up top where I like them and spearfish it as [wide receivers coach/Offensive Pass Game Coordinator Jerry] Taylor would say. Catch it and bring it down."

Canty ended with six catches for 93 yards along with the touchdown.

Justin Townsend tipped the ball at the line of scrimmage before Joshua Powell came up with the interception for the Lions to end the half and take the 7-0 lead into the break.

"We're struggling to do routine things well very consistently," Bagnoli said of the slow start. "And that's really what the message that's been all along. The good teams can do very boring things very consistently."

Young scored an easy 3-yard touchdown to cap an 11-play 75-yard drive after a 22-yard run on 4th and 2 to open the second half and give Columbia the 14-0 lead. 

The Wheaton, Illinois, native is still rounding into form after missing the first couple of games with a hamstring injury.

"I'm still getting my feet wet," he said. "There's definitely some plays out there that I think that I could have done something different, had a more explosive play…Just following those guys up front. They're paving the way for me."

Columbia extended the lead to 21-0 with 3:59 left in the third quarter after a 12-play, 64-yard drive. Green found receiver Cameron Burt for the 11-yard pitch and catch.

Wagner answered with its first touchdown of the game to cut the lead to 21-7, but it was the closes the Seahawks would get.

After Wagner turned it over on downs, Green found Wills Meyer for a 29-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-7 with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter.

The Lion's defense finished with three sacks and two interceptions.

"We struggled in the first half. We were not on the schedule. We weren't in' rhythm." Bagnoli said. "And then we did a much better job of doing all that in the second half, and as a result, we were able to make some explosive plays, control the clock, move the ball and kind of control the tempo, but it's really a game of doing routine things really well and at times we struggled."

Now, Columbia sets its site back on league play and that elusive Ancient Eight Title as they travel to Penn Saturday.

"I don't think we're going to have any trouble getting our kid's attention with the Ivy League schedule from here on out," Bagnoli said.

Columbia returns to action next weekend when they visit Penn in an Ivy League matchup at Franklin Field on Oct. 15. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

POSTGAME NOTES
- The Lions finished non-conference play 3-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
- Columbia's defense has takeaways in all four games this season.
- Young moved up to sixth on the Lions' career rushing list with 1,471  yards. He is nine shy of moving into fifth place on the all-time list.
- The Lions held Wagner to 36 rushing yards, the third time they have held an opponent to 50 or fewer yards.
- Fara'ad McCombs led the defense with seven tackles.

Matt Sugam '23 SPS  has been covering sports in the NYC Metropolitan area for over a decade. He has spent the last nine years covering college and professional sports as a stringer for the Associated Press and contributing to The New York Times, USA Today Network, NJ.com, and SNY.tv. He's covering Lions Athletics for gocolumbialions.com while pursuing an M.S. in Strategic Communication at Columbia's School of Professional Studies. Follow him on Twitter @MattSugam or visit his website at www.mattsugam.com.