The Columbia Lions will look to rebound from their first loss of the season when they travel to Poughkeepsie to face the Marist Red Foxes on Friday night at Tenney Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET, and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Columbia (2-1, 0-1 Ivy League) opened the year with back-to-back overtime wins over Lafayette and Georgetown before falling to Princeton 35-7 last Saturday at Kraft Field in New York. Marist (3-2, 2-0 in conference play) has won two straight, including a 28-14 victory over Stetson last week.
Against Princeton, Columbia gave up 28 unanswered points. Quarterback Chase Goodwin went 35-for-51 for 331 yards, his second 300-yard passing game of the season. His 35 completions were the most by a Columbia quarterback since Craig Hormann in 2007. Bryce Coleman led all receivers with 89 yards and caught a touchdown pass for the third consecutive game. Keller Patterson posted his first career multi-sack game with 1.5 sacks. Kai Honda rushed for 219 yards and four scores, with runs of 40, 53, and 70 yards.
Marist enters the matchup averaging 25.4 points and 334.2 total yards per game. The Red Foxes’ offense averages 196.0 passing yards and 138.2 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Sonny Mannino has thrown for 972 yards and six touchdowns while completing 61.3 percent of his passes. Mannino leads the team with 210 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, while Isaiah Simmons has recorded 203 rushing yards. Defensively, Marist allows just 14.8 points and 314.8 yards per game, including 213.4 passing yards and 101.4 rushing yards. The Red Foxes rank ninth nationally in scoring defense and eighth in rushing defense. Tyrell Powell averages 1.6 passes defended per game, while Naheem Ridore averages 0.4 sacks per game. On special teams, Marist leads the nation with six blocked kicks, including four blocked punts. Ethan Yuska averages 39.8 yards per punt, while Zach Garmont and Jayden Taylor have each scored a punt-return touchdown.
Columbia holds a perfect 7-0 record in the all-time series, which began in 2007 with a 31-7 Lions win. The teams last met on October 7, 2023, when Columbia posted a 16-0 home shutout. In that game, the Lions held Marist to 34 rushing yards, forced four turnovers, and were 4-for-4 in stopping the Red Foxes in the red zone. Aaron Brebnor had a pair of interceptions, and Reid Spachman registered 2.5 tackles for a loss. Offensively, Columbia racked up 222 rushing yards. Ty’son Edwards eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time with 105 yards and two touchdowns. Joey Giorgi posted 83 yards on 15 carries, and quarterback Caden Bell added 67 yards, including a 35-yard run. First-year kicker Hugo Merry connected on a 40-yard field goal in the rain and wind to extend the lead to 9-0 in the first half.
Senior Chase Goodwin leads the Ivy League in passing yards (975) and completions (83). His 325 yards per game and 27.7 completions per game rank second in the FCS. He began the season going 25-of-39 for a career-high 367 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Lafayette. Goodwin moved into a tie for 15th place with 20 career passing touchdowns after tossing one to Bryce Coleman against Princeton. He ranks third in career completion percentage (58.6 percent), 11th in completions (272), and 13th in passing yards (3,133). He is the 14th Lion quarterback to eclipse 3,000 career yards. The Houston native threw for 1,269 yards and nine touchdowns in seven contests last season. In 2024, he became the first Lion to throw for over 300 yards in a game since 2017 after racking up 334 yards and two touchdowns at Penn, earning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors.
A win would make Columbia 3-0 in non-conference play for the fifth time in seven years. It would be the Lions’ 10th win in night games and snap a four-game losing streak when playing on a Friday. It would also keep Columbia perfect against Marist.
