EASTON, Pa. — The Columbia football team dropped its season opener to Lafayette, 24-3, Saturday afternoon at Fisher Stadium. The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Lions in season debuts.
Joey Giorgi led the offense with 73 rushing yards on 18 carries. Hayden McDonald registered a career-high 14 tackles, while Anthony Roussos added 12, including 2.5 for a loss.
Columbia's special teams had a strong day with William Hughes averaging 47.8 yards on four punts, including three inside the 20. Carter McFadden posted 65 combined return yards, including a 13.5 average on two punt returns.
The Leopards (2-1) rushed for 243 yards on the day and were 9-of-17 on third down and 3-for-3 on fourth down for the game. The Lions were held to just 157 yards of total offense and were 2-of-11 on third down.
"I was proud of the effort our guys put forth, despite what the final score says," interim head coach Mark Fabish said. "The beauty is we have nine more of these. Joey Giorgi ran the ball well, but when we fell behind, we couldn't really establish the run like we would've liked to in the second half. Defensively, we put ourselves in some tough spots by not converting on fourth down, but their effort didn't waver, and that's a testament to our players and coaches."
Columbia took a 3-0 advantage thanks to a 42-yard field goal by first-year Hugo Merry, who was making his collegiate debut, with 6:00 left in the first quarter. Giorgi sparked the attack and racked up 19 yards on four carries during the drive, to get Columbia within Merry's range.
Lafayette answered with some tough running of its own and put together an 85-yard scoring drive that lasted 17 plays and ate up over eight minutes of the clock. On a fourth down, Dean Denobile found Jamar Curtis four a seven-yard gain to maintain possession, and later in the drive, Curtis found room up the middle for a six-yard touchdown rush to put the Leopards up, 7-3, with 12:54 remaining in the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter, the Lions took an intentional grounding penalty to give Lafayette a short field with 7:06 before the half. The Leopards' Nahjee Adams came up with the key play of the drive with a 33-yard rush that put the ball on the 1-yard line. Adams broke through to the second level of the Lions defense and somehow kept his knee off the ground while being brought down to set up a quarterback sneak on the next play to extend the margin to 14-3.
Lafayette threatened again on its first possession of the second half, driving into Columbia territory again. However, a bad snap out of the shotgun led to a fumble that was recovered by Quentin Autry on the Lions' 37. However, the Lions went three and out to halt the momentum.
On the ensuing drive, Leopards' wideout Carson Persing made a nice catch through good coverage to convert on a key third down for a 30-yard gain, and moments later, Curtis went off-tackle for a 29-yard touchdown to make it 21-3 at the 3:03 mark of the third quarter.
Lafayette capitalized on an interception to tack on a 34-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring as they went on for the win.
Curtis finished with 145 yards and the two touchdowns to lead Lafayette. Denobile was 15-of-22 for 149 yards and Elijah Steward had seven catches for 73 yards.
"Coach Bagnoli always used to say the most growth comes from week one to week two, and we will be up to the task for sure next week (against Georgetown)," Fabish said after the game.
The Lions will host Georgetown for the Lou Little Cup on Saturday, September 23 in their home opener. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and SNY. Tickets are available by calling 888-LIONS-11 or lionstickets@columbia.edu.
For the latest on the Columbia football team, follow @CULionsFB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
POST GAME NOTES
- Columbia fell to 0-16 all-time at Lafayette
- The Lions defense only allowed over 150 rushing yards twice last season
- Marcus Libman was held without a catch for the first time in 20 games, dating back to the beginning of the 2021 season.
