Bwog presents its first sports liveblog: Columbia vs. Princeton in the Homecoming game and Ivy League opener for the Lions. 

Afternoon, sports fans. We’ve got the first big game of the Columbia football season for you, and we’ll keep you updated as the game goes on.

4:09 PM (End of game): And that’s your heartbreaking final, as Princeton runs out the clock. Princeton wins 27-24. Final stats: Shane Kelly passed for 221 yards from 19 completions on 25 attempts, and ran for 54 yards as well. Jordan Davis (11 attempts for 64 yards) and Ray Rangel (13 attempts for 57 yards) added to Columbia’s total of 191 rushing yards. Despite the fumble, Mike Stephens did have 7 receptions for 95 yards. Finally, you have to ask: what if Columbia hadn’t faked the field goal at the end of the 3rd? That was the margin of victory (though, in fairness, the lead was only 3 points because of a missed extra point). Overall, just a very tough loss.

4:03 PM (1:19 4th): FUMBLE! Mike Stephens, who has been so clutch during the game, fumbles the ball at the Princeton 32. Princeton then gets a first down, and this game is, in the most unfortunate of ways, over.

4:01 PM (1:43 4th): Rangel gets another first down. Kelly looks deep, but the ball falls incomplete.

3:59 PM (3:14 4th): Austin Knowlin has woken up, drawing a pass interference call, and then making a big catch. Ray Rangel then runs the ball for a first down at the Princeton 49.

3:57 PM (3:44 4th): Columbia takes over with only 3:44 to go. Can they pull off the big victory in regulation?

3:55 PM (5:10 4th): Big 3rd and 4 for Princeton at the Columbia 49 leads to a Columbia sack! The defense comes up big, and Princeton will have to punt.

3:50 PM (7:10 4th): Kelly’s 3rd down pass is broken up, and Columbia has to punt again. Big play time for the Lions defense.

3:47 PM (8:39 4th): Princeton touchdown. After standing tough for so long, Columbia’s defense gives up another big pass. This time, it’s a 52-yard bomb from Anderson to Trey Peacock, and Princeton leads again, 27-24 (thanks to an unsuccessful extra point).

3:43 PM (9:04 4th): Before we update you about this great game, another set of score updates: in finals, Penn beat Dartmouth 23-10 in the other Ivy League game, Yale defeated Holy Cross 31-28 in double overtime, and Cornell won over 25-24 over Lehigh on a last second touchdown. The other two Ivy League games are both in the 4th quarter: Brown trailing Rhode Island 23-13 and Harvard leading Lafayette 24-13.

3:40 PM (10:35 4th): COLUMBIA TOUCHDOWN!!! Ray Rangel jumps over the blocking pile from the 1-yard line to give Columbia a 24-21 lead!

3:36 PM (13:48 4th): Princeton has to punt again, and Mike Stephens returns it to the Princeton 49 yard line. Austin Knowlin makes a big catch to bring the ball to the 35-yard line.

3:28 PM (1:05 3rd): Two straight plays for losses lead to Columbia attempting a fake field goal. It fails, and the Lions turn the ball over on downs at the Princeton 20. Will that come back to haunt the Lions?

3:24 PM (3:00 3rd): Just as I type that, Austin Knowlin makes a big catch to bring the ball to the Princeton 26.

3:22 PM (4:30 3rd): After Kelly runs for 11 yards, Mike Stephens gets another big reception and gets the ball to midfield. He has 93 yards on the day, which has been particularly crucial with star reciever Austin Knowlin being so heavily covered.

3:18 PM (5:30 3rd): The Lions defense stops Princeton even though the Tigers took over at the 40-yard line. Both quarterbacks have been excellent today: Anderson is 10-11 for 147 yards and 2 TDs, while Kelly has been 13-15 for 151 yards. 

3:14 PM: COLUMBIA TOUCHDOWN! (7:33 3rd) After a false start, Kelly throws to Davis for 6 yards to get them to the Princeton three, and then Ray Rangel runs the ball in on the next play for his first touchdown of the game.

3:12 PM (8:30 3rd): Another big completion! Shane Kelly to Taylor Josephs for 22 yards, and the ball is on the Princeton 4-yard line!

3:11 PM (9:55 3rd): Shane Kelly makes another big completion to Mike Stephens to push the Lions into Princeton territory again. A score here would be critical.

3:07 PM (11:31 3rd): Princeton touchdown. Princeton immediately drives into the Columbia red zone, after Brian Anderson gets out of a long 2nd down with a 34-yard completion. On 2nd and 13 at the Lions’ 17, Anderson throws to Will Thanheiser for a touchdown.

3:01 PM (15:00 3rd): Princeton will recieve the kick.

2:47 PM (Halftime): Here are your halftime stats: Shane Kelly (9-11, 85 yards, 1 rushing TD), Ray Rangel (5 rushes for 30 yards), Jordan Davis (7 rushes for 45 yards), Mike Stephens (4 receptions for 39 yards), Taylor Joseph (4 receptions for 38 yards). As a team, Columbia has 85 yards in the air and 94 yards on the ground.

2:46 PM (Halftime): Scores from around the Ivy League: Penn beating Dartmouth 20-10 in the 4th, Yale handling Holy Cross 21-7 in the third, Cornell holding off Lehigh 13-12 in the third, Harvard leading Lafayette 24-13 at the half, and Brown sputtering against URI, down 13-0 at the half. 

2:41 PM (Halftime): And that’s halftime, with the score 14-10 Princeton Tigers. Excluding that big pass completion by Princeton early in the 2nd quarter, Columbia’s probably been the better team. At the very least, this is a much better game than last year’s 59-28 homecoming loss to Penn.

2:30 PM (0:26 2nd): Columbia Field Goal! The drive stalls on the Princeton 8, and the Lions kick a field goal to cut the Princeton lead to 14-10. Even though it is not the touchdown they would have loved, that was still a fantastic drive: 12 plays, 91 yards, and 7:01 used up on the clock.

2:26 PM (2:45 2nd): With 2nd and 3 on the Princeton 29, Kelly throws deep to Mike Stephens, leading to a pass interference call on Princeton. Columbia 1st down on the 15.

2:22 PM (4:01 2nd): Princeton has to punt again, and the punter manages to stick the Lions at their own 1 yard line. Shane Kelly is back in, and he deals with the awful field position superbly, as the team drives into Princeton territory while the half winds down. 

2:16 PM (7:27 2nd): The teams exchange punts, and then Columbia again has to punt back to Princeton. While the offense has sputtered since the 1st quarter, the defense has been tightening up at least. On that last drive, Coach Wilson also put M.A. Olawale at quarterback.

2:02 PM: As we end the first quarter, an update on the other Ivy League game today: Dartmouth leads Penn 10-7 in the third quarter.

1:56 PM (0:22 1st): Princeton touchdown. Princeton’s Brian Anderson completes a deep pass to Will Thanheiser, who gets pushed out at the 9. Running back Jordan Culbreath runs in his second touchdown two plays later for a 14-7 Princeton lead.

1:54 PM (2:26 1st): The Lions drive stalls at midfield after a botched quarterback bootleg and they have to punt. Princeton takes over at their 17.

1:47 PM (6:20 1st): Princeton touchdown. Princeton responds right back with an 11-play, 60-yard drive for the score. The Lions defense gave up 41 yards on the ground that drive…not a good sign. Score is 7-7

1:38 PM (11:38 1st): Columbia TOUCHDOWN!!! On the opening drive, quarterback Shane Kelly shows his versatility by running 15 yards for the touchdown. 7-0 Lions! One drive, one touchdown, mostly on the ground.