Columbia football implements interesting field goal distraction
By Max Weisman
One of football's greatest unknowns is if icing the kicker really works. Calling a timeout at the last second before a kicker kicks a game-winning or tying field goal might get into the kicker's head, but it rarely seems to work. Instead of calling a timeout, Columbia used their Ivy League minds to come up with a different way to distract college kickers.
Last week the Miami Heat unveiled a statue of franchise legend Dwayne Wade and the internet immediately jumped on the statue because, well, the statue looks nothing like Wade. Columbia knew people were making fun of the statue, and when Yale kicker Nick Conforti came out to kick an extra point, the jumbotron displayed an image of the statue.
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Unfortunately for Columbia, Conforti made the kick and put Yale up 7-3. Maybe, though, putting the image of Wade's statue worked for Columbia in the long term. After a Conforti field goal put the Bulldogs up 10-3, Columbia went to work. A field goal early in the fourth quarter brought the Lions within four points and they took the lead with a 44-yard touchdown by wide receiver Bryson Canty with under five minutes to go.
The Lions would hold on to win 13-10, maybe with some Dwayne Wade clutchness on their side. Columbia is tied for first place in the Ivy League with Dartmouth and Harvard. All three teams have a 3-1 conference record.
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