No longer a pushover

When a celler-dwelling team undertakes a rebuilding effort after firing its old coach, the talk around the program is usually focused on the future, not the present. But storm out to a 3-1 start the way Columbia has this year, and it takes on a remarkably different tone.

Now, the question is not whether Columbia can begin winning Ivy League games several recruiting classes down the road, but whether it has the tools to do so right away.

And on that count, the jury is still out.

The Lions, in their first season under former Connecticut offensive coordinator Norries Wilson, took care of business early on with a decisive win over Fordham and then a 23-21 win over Georgetown. They did drop a 19-6 decision to Princeton that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated, but that loss is looking better with every Princeton win (the Tigers are now 4-0 and ranked 22nd in the nation).

Columbia also beat a feeble Iona squad last weekend, but the biggest X-factor it will now see may be its surroundings - on Saturday, the Lions venture away from Wien Stadium for the first time this year, to the far less-hospitable Franklin Field.

More important, they will match up against a Penn team that has proven itself on offense and seems to have worked out most of its defensive kinks.

The former should be a plus for the Quakers as long as they keep the mistakes to a minimum. In Columbia's win over the Gaels last week, the secondary produced a pair of turnovers, both of which led to touchdowns for the Lions. On the season, Columbia has forced eight fumbles (while giving up just two), blocked a pair of kicks and returned eight interceptions for almost 200 yards.

And turnovers have been one of the few areas that has plagued quarterback Robert Irvin and the Penn offense as of late. Irvin threw a pair of picks against Bucknell, and the Quakers coughed up the ball four times (recovering two), half of those on special teams.

"We still have a lot of things that we have to really try to get better at," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "Obviously, the turnover thing is one of them."

The Quakers more than made up for those miscues last weekend, but they might not be able to count on a repeat of that.

The Penn defense, meanwhile, will have to contain junior quarterback Craig Hormann - an imposing presence at 6-foot-4 and 234 pounds - on whose shoulders the Lions offense squarely rests.

If he is to move the chains against the Quakers, he will have to do it through the air, even though the Lions lack a go-to receiver. Penn's run defense has stayed consistent this year, allowing just 92 yards on the ground against Dartmouth and Bucknell each.

"It feels good to get a game in where we can really be dominant," linebacker Joe Anastasio said of the defense's recent performances.

"We think that's got to be the foundation of our defense," Bagnoli said of his front seven - that is, "until our young secondary and perimeter guys get some more experience."

If he is right, Hormann should have his hands full tomorrow - because that moment is fast approaching.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.