Connor's Year

Connor makes the grab

All the awardees at the football dinner this past weekend were very deserving. 

One of the best developments was sophomore WR Connor Nelligan winning the Lou Little Most Improved Award.

Nelligan went from 0 receptions as a freshman, (he did get some playing time with the varsity), to leading the team with 62 catches for 636 yards. 

But it wasn't just about the stats. He made a number of amazing grabs and tough runs after catches to earn his role as the go-to guy for QB Sean Brackett. And that was despite the fact that one of Brackett's top receivers from 2011 was still with the varsity for the entire season.

It's a bit of a travesty that Nelligan didn't score a TD last season, but that shouldn't detract from the amazing season he had and how much he meant to the team. 

Nelligan's value became extremely apparent in the 2nd half of the first game of the season against Marist.

Columbia went into the locker room at the half trailing the Red Foxes 3-0 and sputtering on offense. Nelligan hadn't even been thrown to at that point, but everything changed after the Lions took the opening kickoff of the second half.

The very first play from scrimmage was a 22 yard Brackett-to-Nelligan pass that got Columbia out of a field position hole at their 13. Three plays later is was a 15-yard pass to Nelligan that got the Lions into Marist territory.  Four plays later, a 12-yard toss put Columbia in the Red Zone. And three plays later, Marcorus Garrett punched into the end zone for the Lions' first TD of 2012, thanks in large part to Nelligan's break out series.

Nelligan didn't get another pass thrown his way that entire game, but the statement had been made: #84 was going to be a big part of this CU offense.

The following week against Fordham, it was obvious that Nelligan was becoming Brackett's primary target even though he finished the 20-13 loss to Fordham with just three receptions.

Nelligan had his first career 100-yard game in week three, but the 11-catch 102-yard output was overshadowed by Columbia's stunning 33-6 loss to Princeton.

But his best game of the year was the week 7 win over Yale, when he had 138 yards on 11 grabs. The key sequence was on the Lions' final winning drive when Nelligan had back-to-back receptions and runs after catches for 25 and 17 yards, respectively. Then one play later, he had another catch and run for 10 yards that set Columbia up on the Yale 3.

My feeling is it will take moving Heaven and Earth to keep Nelligan out of the end zone in 2013. Even with a very crowded roster full of WR's, this rising junior has a great shot at an All Ivy year.