Moment #87: 40 yards to Nowhere

With the Lions leading 3-0 after their first possession against Fordham, the defense came up big with a three-and-out punctuated by Josh Martin’s nine yard sack of Ryan Higgins back to the Ram eight yard line.

After the punt and nine yard return by Alec Fisher, Columbia was set up nicely again with a 1^st and 10 at the Fordham 40.

But a two yard run by Marcorus Garrett was followed by two straight incomplete passes by QB Sean Brackett, and the Lions had to punt.

While Brackett was one of the most athletic, gutsy, and emotionally-positive QB’s in Columbia history, his inability to ever become a high percentage completion QB was a big reason the Lions didn’t win more of the 32 games he started.

The problem began at the end of his sophomore year, after he suffered a shoulder injury. His passes just weren’t as accurate after that. He also suffered from the graduation of rock solid TE Andrew Kennedy in 2011 and the breakdown of his decent pass blocking protection his senior year.  

Brackett never became a QB who was too prone to INT’s, but his ability to find his receivers in crucial moments faded down the stretch of his career.

In 2012, that was a big reason why Columbia was dead last in the league in 3^rd down conversions at just 31%. The Lions were dead last in 4^th down conversions too, at 14%.

In this game against Fordham, Brackett was an alarming three for ten passing on 3^rd down plays for just 49 yards.

For the season on 3^rd down, Brackett completed just 38 of 95 passes, (40%),  for 401 yards (just 4.2 yards per attempt), for 27 1^st downs, four TD’s and three INT’s. He was also sacked 16 times on 3^rd down for a total loss of 89 yards.

It’s not likely that Columbia will get the Sean Brackett complete talent package of passing, running, and gutsy combo with its next starting QB. BUT if the next Lions starter hits 60% of his passes, we could see a significant improvement on 3^rd down and through the entire offense. 

Sean Brackett