COLUMN: Columbia at least gave itself chance to win game

The better team won Saturday for no other reason than the fact that Paris Childress can't throw a football straight. By some accounts, that is exactly what happened with the Lions facing third-and-long and trailing 19-13 on their first and only overtime possession. Columbia's coaching staff, after a careful review of the Quakers' defensive tendencies, decided to send "four receivers vertical." Or in layman's terms, they told everybody to go deep. Now Childress, the Lions' sophomore backup quarterback, had already thrown three interceptions on the day, including two gifts to Penn nickelback Joe Piela, who returned them for a combined 132 yards and a touchdown. (That would make Piela the top offensive player on either team Saturday.) So, of course, with the game on the line, it was again Piela who Childress picked on when he stepped up in the pocket and floated the ball in the direction of Lions wide receiver Dennis Lee, who was cutting toward the middle at the three-yard line. Piela, who is not necessarily known as a speedy cover guy, appeared to be in perfect position to make a play and force fourth down and salvage the game and be the proverbial unlikely hero. Except the ball wasn't where it was supposed to be. Childress's pass, like so many of the balls he threw Saturday, sailed off the mark -- a bit behind his target. Lee reached back and snatched it, spun left and, in a split-second whirl, tumbled into the end zone to a chorus of stunned silence. Kick the extra point. Automatic. 20-19. Game over. End of story? You would like to leave it at that. Call it a fluke, a lucky bounce, an old-fashioned, that's-the-way-the-cookie-crumbles. But to do that would do Columbia a disservice. It would ignore the fact that the teams who win the ugly ones -- and be assured, Saturday's game was not easy on the eyes -- are the ones that give themselves a chance to win. And therein lies just about the only difference between Penn and Columbia on Saturday. Both teams turned in gritty defensive efforts to carry the load for their dysfunctional offenses. Both teams were as likely to score on defense or special teams as on offense. Both teams tried to run the football, and both teams made costly mistakes in the passing game. Both teams drew enough flags to decorate the United Nations. The difference on the scoreboard was exactly one point, and that one point was entirely a matter of fundamentals and concentration. It was a matter of executing the easiest play in football, the gridiron's equivalent of the intentional walk -- kicking an extra point. True, if you consult the Elias Sports Bureau or some other statistical authority, you will find PATs are occasionally blocked or even missed. But there isn't any actuarial chart that can account for the three Columbia players who waltzed through the heart of the Penn offensive line so fast they had time left over to do the Macarena before smothering Penn kicker Jeremiah Greathouse. Brett Bryant got credit for the block, but he just happened to be leading the conga line. As Penn coach Al Bagnoli later observed, "Greathouse never had a chance." They say that no football game is ever won or lost on a single play, let alone a point-after. Well, whoever they are, I'm betting they were somewhere other than Franklin Field Saturday afternoon, because if Greathouse has a chance to kick that extra point, it's knotted at 20, and they still might be in overtime. But he didn't and it isn't and they aren't, and the plain fact is the Quakers now stand at 2-2 -- 0-2 in the Ivies. Each offensive possession is an adventure. Injuries have taken their toll on a defense that was already inexperienced behind the front five. After four games, it is clear Penn is not the team that won 24 games in a row, nor should anyone expect it to be. But what the Quakers' faithful should expect is that their football program live up to its reputation for being well-coached and fundamentally sound. It is acceptable for Penn to be beaten, but not for the Quakers to beat themselves. And by my account, that is exactly what happened. Allow me, then, to correct myself. The better team won Saturday for one very good reason. Columbia gave itself a chance to win.

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