After 44 losses, Columbia winning streak hits one

   NEW YORK - It's not often that the 
television crews arrive after the football 
game instead of before it. But then it's not
often that Columbia University wins a game.
   Yesterday was an exception as the Lions 
snapped college football's longest losing 
streak at 44 games with a 16-13 victory over 
Princeton.
   "This time we didn't turn the ball over," 
Columbia coach Larry McElreavy said. "We 
played a football game the way it's supposed
to be played."
   McElreavy said it was "about four minutes 
after the game was over" before he finally 
realized Columbia had won. 
   "I didn't think the game was over," he 
said. "I was trying to keep my players off 
the field so we didn't get a 15-yard 
penalty."
   Solomon Johnson's 2-yard touchdown run 
with 5 minutes, 13 seconds left provided the 
margin of victory for the Lions, whose last 
previous victory was in the fifth game of 
the 1983 season, a 21-18 triumph over Yale.
   After that game, Columbia tied Bucknell, 
lost to Holy Cross and tied Dartmouth. Then, 
in the next-to-last game of the 1983 season, 
a 31-6 loss to Cornell, the defeats began to
build. And build. And build.
   Three of the losses in the streak were 
this year.
   "This is really what you dread," 
Princeton coach Steve Tosches said. "Life 
can be cruel, but this is not the end of the
world. We were not the better team on the 
field today. They deserve the victory and my 
compliments to them."
   The Columbia players surged onto the 
field to celebrate with the 5,420 fans who 
braved a steady rain and temperatures in
the low 40s. Both goal posts were torn down. [one's now in the Band Room]
   The anarchic Columbia marching band 
joined the pileup on the field, complete 
with sousaphone, trumpets, flutes and drums. 
Band members massed outside later, dangling 
from the open jaws of Columbia's bronze lion 
statue and chanting slogans against 
Princeton.
   The victory came on Columbia's fourth 
game of the season. It was also homecoming 
day, when stars of the school's nationally 
ranked teams of the late 1940s were present.
   "They've got the monkey off their backs 
now," said Joe Karas, a 1949 graduate.
   Columbia, an NCAA Division I-AA team, 
broke the Division I record of 34 straight 
defeats set by Northwestern. 
   The only NCAA losing streak longer than 
Columbia's 44 was 50 by Macalester College, 
a Division III school in St. Paul, Minn., 
which did not win from 1974 to 1980. 
   Columbia, which had lost 33 straight Ivy 
League games, is 1-2 in the conference, 
while Princeton is 2-2 for the season and 
2-1 in the Ivy League. 
   Sophomore Greg Abbruzzese rushed for 182 
yards to spark the Lions, who had a few 
anxious moments before finally nailing down 
the long-awaited victory. 
   Princeton came back following Johnson's 
touchdown and apparently scored on Judd 
Garrett's 22-yard run, but the play was 
nullifed by a clipping penalty. 
   After an exchange of punts, Princeton, 
which once led 10-0, had a last chance to 
tie, but Chris Lutz missed a 48-yard 
field-goal attempt on the final play of the 
game.
   John Sharkey, a senior tackle for 
Columbia, said he watched in disbelief from 
the sidelines as Lutz's last-second kick 
fell short and wide.
   "It's hard to believe that we actually 
achieved what we set out to do," Sharkey 
said. "This almost makes up for all the 
rough times." 

LONGEST DIVISION I LOSING STREAKS

44 - Columbia, 1983-88

34 - Northwestern, 1979-82

29 - Morgan State, 1983-86

28 - Kansas State, 1945-48

28 - Virginia, 1958-60